News from the Project.
May 2010 - We managed to get Dick's Folly to Rickmansworth
Festival with the help of Richard and his boat, Great Britain. Richard
tied the two boats together and a small group of volunteers helped to
operate the locks and they were tied up along the towpath opposite
Tesco. The festival was a great success and we were able to show people
the boat and its needs [especially the interior]. The
following page
contains pictures of this part of the journey and the festival.
May 2010 - A small group of volunteers joined Friends of Meresworth
[carehome in Rickmansworth]
to organise a float for the Rickmansworth Carnival. This year the float
was also supported by volunteers from
Guidepost
Trust, Henry Smith House, Watford as well as some from SW Herts
Narrowboat Project. As we were using the Roundabout bus you could say we
were an example of community spirit and cooperation. The
following page contains pictures of the
bus at the carnival.
May
2010 - Dick's Folly was taken to a boatyard at Croxley for an out of
the water survey before the refit works start. A group of volunteers
moved the boat under its own power from the base at Hunton Bridge to
Croxley: this turned out to be the last time the engine could be used
until urgent engineering work is carried out as a major fault with the
powerunit/gearbox was found during the survey. The
following page contains pictures of the boat during this journey.
March
2010 - the Watford Observer newspaper has published an article about
the project and the need to raise funds for our continued future. The
article can be viewed from
this link to the newspaper's website, which will open in a new
window/tab.
March
2010 - Surprise work on Hunton Bridge Lock 72 has closed the Grand
Union Canal by the Project's base. The pound between locks 73 and 72,
going north from the base has been drained in order to repair the
chamber, and replace the lower gates. One boater who was heading to the
Ashby Canal from Denham, said he had walked this stretch last weekend
[28 and 29 February] and there was no warning of the impending work, and
nothing on the Waterscape website. He now has to wait until 12 March
before he can move on, assuming the work goes according to plan. The
following page contains pictures of the
work in progress [as of 2 March].
December
2009 - The boat has now been stripped of its interior and is ready for a survey
to give the refit project manager the information needed to make
important decisions for the future of the boat. The plan is to have a
completely new interior fitted to the boat and have Dick's Folly ready
for service in May 2010. Further updates will be posted here.
1
September 2009 saw the launch of Inland Waterways Association's Save Our
System [SOS] 2010 campaign. Because of the savage 16.7% cut in the
Government grant for 2010, British Waterways [BW] will not be able to
meet the cost of maintaining the inland waterways in their care. There
is also a danger BW will be told by the Treasury to sell some or all of
their property portfolio in order to raise funds. This is short sighted,
as the property itself creates an income for BW with which to fund their
maintenance program. The end result will be the canals and rivers BW
look after will fall into disrepair, become dangerous, and finally
unusable. As you are reading this article you are interested in
the canals and rivers of this country, and, hopefully, appreciate them as a valuable
asset. Please go to No. 10's website to sign the
petition drawn up in support of our waterway system - there is also
more information on the
Inland Waterways
Association website.
July 2009 - The base was visited by staff from the local office
of GE Money, Watford for a team-building day. They spent all day working
on the boat and the base, cleaning, gardening and we are very grateful
for the hard work from all those involved.
Gallery pictures.
Boxing
Day volunteers cruise - Gallery pictures.
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