 |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|  | | |
|
|
Waterways
This page is a personal indulgence but will give those visiting this site an insight of Andrew's interests and activities.
I've been interested in boats since my teen years. I tried life saving canoing, but learning in a gravel pit in the winter is enough to put anybody off - I settled for an RLSS Award and a small boat on a south coast beach.
I was given the opportunity, by a grant from a Shipphams family trust, to undertake a 'cruise' on the Sail Training Association Schooner Winston Churchill - a great experience, even if the north Sea in Nov/Dec is a little 'cool'.
About 10 years ago a friend of mine began to touch my fancy about narrow boats. After an initial canal trip on a small, plastic boat, which was uninspiring, a subsequent trip led to my wife and I joining a Syndicate Boat. In this syndicate members own shares of the actual boat rather than shares within an ownership company. We have to share all aspects of the running of the boat.
The plan is now that when the time is right (not for some time!) for my wife and I to withdraw from the routine of work - Protirement - we shall commission our own boat to be built. Then use that to explore the canal system for as long as the fancy takes us.
This interest in the canal has recently taken a new twist in being asked to take up a new voluntary role as the Team Leader for the Watford Waterways Chaplaincy. This is a small part of the work within the Watford Town Centre Chaplaincy (WTCC). The WTCC has seen the Christian Churches of Watford supporting many different aspects of the towns life. If you are curious about this then try this website: www.watfordtcc.org
Currently one of the most exciting things is the proposal to move the management of the UK Waterways, currently run by the Government quango - British Waterways - to a new national charity; emulating the long established charities English Heritage and National Trust.
While there will clearly be difficult days ( many of them!) for the creation of this new body the potential for the future of UK Waterways (except in Scotland, where the Scotish Government have decided to maintain their staus quo!) to be supported by many more in the UK population to help protect this amazing heritage is amazing. This is not a project to simply protect the past. There are many restoration projects breathing new life into derelict canals across the country.
There are also plans to build new canals. For me the most inspiring of those projects is the plan (based upon 1811 proposals) to build a new canal from Milton Keynes to Bedford. A study has been found this project to be viabile!
The new charity status will enable funding from the EU to be applied for, something that British Waterways, as a quango, is unable to do. There are higher priority projects first but ......!
To find out more about these moves visit:
www.britishwaterways.co.uk/twentytwenty
End of personal indulgence!
|
|
| |
| |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
