Number 205 June 2014 THE BOAT MUSEUM SOCIETY President: Di Skilbeck MBE Vice-Presidents: Alan Jones, Harry Arnold MBE, Tony Lewery DIRECTORS Chairman: Jeff Fairweather 07909 990880 6 Thornton Road, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire. CH65 5DF Vice-Chairman: Will Manning 01244 403194 5 Westminster Court, Philip Street, Chester. CH2 3BF Vice-Chairman: Chris Kay 07453304315 3 Rosecroft, Bromborough, Wirral. CH62 6ET Treasurer: Barbara Kay 07952 032935 3 Rosecroft, Bromborough, Wirral. CH62 6ET Membership: Barbara Catford 0151 353 8758 17 The Looms, Parkgate, Neston, Wirral, CH64 6RE Lynn Potts 0151 625 1244 58 Frankby Road, West Kirby, Wirral, CH48 6EF Terry Allen 0151 334 8058 8 Shetland Drive, Bromborough, Wirral, CH62 7JZ Sue Phillips 07745134160 8 Newbury Way, Moreton, Wirral. CH46 1PW Bob Thomas 01928 733061 32 Springbourne, Frodsham, Cheshire. WA6 6QD Cath Turpin 0151 632 5446 1 Market Street, Hoylake, Wirral. CH47 2AD Mike Turpin 0151 632 5446 1 Market Street, Hoylake, Wirral. CH47 2AD CO-OPTED COMMITTEE MEMBERS Andy Wood [Re:Port Editor] 0151 334 2209 34 Langdale Road, Bebington, Wirral. CH63 3AW email: [email protected] Martyn Kerry 07715816768 8 Newbury Way, Moreton, Wirral. CH46 1PW Ailsa Rutherford 01352 756164 14 Tai Maes, Mold, Flintshire, CH7 1RW CONTACTS TO WHOM CONTRIBUTIONS SHOULD BE SENT Publicity/ Ailsa Rutherford 01352 756164 14 Tai Maes, Mold, Flintshire, CH7 1RW. Museum Times email [email protected] Website Sue Phillips 07745134160 8 Newbury Way, Moreton, Wirral, CH46 1PW On production of a current BMS membership card, members are entitled to free admission to the National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port, the Waterways Museum at Gloucester and the Canal museum at Stoke Bruerne. The Boat Museum Society is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England Number 1028599. Registered Charity Number 501593 Visit our website www.boatmuseumsociety.org.uk The National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, CH65 4FW, Telephone: 0151 355 5017 http://canalrivertrust.org.uk/national-waterways-museum Cover: Bottom Lock, Foxton Locks, Leicestershire [CC BY-SA 2.0 Snapshooter 46] Number 205 June 2014 CHAIRMAN’S REPORT The Easter Gathering and planning for other events during for summer have kept volunteers and staff extremely busy. The organis- ing committees normally start the planning for this event in October and in conjunction with the museum staff, the volunteers and of course some glorious weather they organized a first class event. It was a superb boating/musical weekend that showed the history and heritage of the museum at its best. The smooth and skillful operation by the Boat Activity Group and Heritage Boatyard teams, who spent many long hours coordinating the boats and their crews, under the supervision of MartYn Kerry and Dave Linney, was a credit to you all. The stalls, craft displays and exhibitions in the Island Warehouse were buzzing with excitement and gave our visitors plenty to do and get involved in. Let’s not forget the hard work and dedication of the staff and volunteers in the archive, keeping and recording thousands of documents for the reference of future generations. Special thanks must go to Dave Crosby and his team for bringing the engines in the Power Hall back to life after quite a long stand down. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Tony Hales the Chairman of CRT, Richard Parry the Chief Executive of CRT and Cllr Bob Crompton the Mayor of Ellesmere Port for attending and giving their support. Full marks must go to Richard and Bob for their attempts at crocheting. Inevitably the closing of Porters Row, The Lime Shed and Pump House for building work has caused frustration, anger and tension in the build up to Easter and of course there will be times when things go wrong. Through this transitional Contributions for RE:PORT, which is published four times a year, are always welcome Copy Date for RE:PORT 206 - Wed 20th August All views expressed in RE:PORT are those of the contributors concerned and should not be taken as being the policy of the Boat Museum Society, the National Waterways Museum or the Canal & River Trust. - 3 - RE:PORT Number 205 period I think the museum needs our support more now than it has done for a very long time and I am sure we will achieve far more by working with CRT and the museum rather than by being in conflict with them. Generally complaints about CRT get more attention than compliments and this has certainly been the case this year. However I can't think of m a n y other large organisations where you would get the chance to sit around a table with the Chairman or Chief Executive in a group or on a one to one basis and be given the opportunity to express opinions and grievances with open candour, so it pleases me in this report to give my thanks to Richard Parry, Tony Hales and their respective teams for listening and, where possible, addressing the issues that have given us cause for concern. One of the society’s priorities is to ensure that historic boats are being used and displayed up and down the system during the summer months. This always requires a lot of careful planning with experienced volunteers and leads. Unfortunately this year due to a reduced number of experienced leads being available we are not able to visit as many festivals and gatherings as we would have liked. As the saying goes “time and tide wait for no man” and boating is no exception to this. With many of our members becoming septua- genarians this year, myself included, it reminds me of the importance of attracting and recruiting new younger members to carry on the traditions that we have all worked so hard to preserve. I realise with the retirement age being increased, the days of early retirement with “golden handshakes” being a thing of the past and many other organisations trying to attract volunteers that recruiting new members is that much harder, but if we are to keep our societies, boats and museums alive and moving as opposed to becoming nothing more than static displays then BMS and CRT, working together, have to take this seriously and embark upon a recruitment drive like never before. Finally my thanks go out to all the members of the society wherever you are for your support in keeping BMS and the museum alive and active. Rare Tragedy a Warning for Canal Users Specialist police divers conducted an underwater search of the 1½ mile long Harecastle Tunnel on 20 th May before recovering the body of Michael Holgate, 58, at around midnight. He had apparently hit his head on the roof of the tunnel, which dips at one point. His wife Susan had tried in vain in pitch black conditions to locate him, but after two hours had to raise the alarm. After Mr Holgate's retirement, the couple had planned to live out the rest of their lives together travelling the canals. - 4 - Number 205 RE:PORT Thoughts of a Waterways History Heretic Part 3 – Reviewing Literature THE SECOND PIECE in this series writes Joseph Boughey considered one part of “literature review”, the searching of (or for) published sources. Formal “literature reviews” apply mostly to academic research, in which it is essential to position your proposed research within existing knowledge. It is, I concede, valuable to establish some sort of continuity with present knowledge, in the hope that it will be enhanced by your research. However, much waterways history research simply uncovers and adds details, rather than develops a field of knowledge; my piece about Norman Anglin in 2013’s Waterways Journal is an example. A literature review would have been out of place in such work. Despite this, a formally conducted and written literature review can assist some research. It may serve to set the proposed and presented research within existing published work. This pre-empts the response by a reader as to whether the work is original, and how it relates to what has already been published. For instance, there is growing evidence about the kind of people who became shareholders in waterways concerns, and new studies could be proposed to consider the implications of this data. Any research would have to consider J R Ward’s classic The Finance of Canal Building in the Eighteenth Century, amid more obscure published work. This specific literature would benefit from a broader setting, within studies of shareholding in early industrial enterprises, and from studies of canal companies; further, yet wider studies of the development of corporate economic structures would assist. If a new study was to be carried out, the consideration of broader literature would enable an analysis rather than solely description of canal shareholdings. It would then be possible for others to consider alternative interpretations, so that the study go beyond the narrower field of canal or transport history. (Whether such studies are under way, I do not know, although there is a new database of waterways shareholders). The review of literature is more than a listing of publications. It may well attempt to evaluate which published sources are more helpful, reliable and valid. Academic reviews tend to focus on publications that cite their sources, often in extensive footnotes or endnotes, although this is not always essential. One problem with the idea of literature review (certainly a formal one) is that it can deter a researcher from getting started with the material that has excited interest. Often an exploration of the literature will need to be carried out while original materials are being studied. It is possible that, as research progresses, it becomes clear - 5 - RE:PORT Number 205 that much has already been considered and published, so that an early review can obviate much wasted work, or inspire a change in direction or emphasis.