The full address is Congleton Road South, Church
Lawton, ST7 3AJ
Telephone: (01782) 782600Friday 16th October 2020 - Friday 19th March 2021 - Our entire 2020-21 season of talks was postponed to 2021-22 because of Covid-19 uncertainties!
Friday 20th March 2020 - Talk postponed because of the Covid-19 outbreak. It will be rescheduled for a future season of talks.
Friday 21st February 2020 - In a change to our advertised talk Patrick Marks presented "Crossing the Wash by Narrowboat". In the first half Patrick introduced us to some of the delights of the Great Ouse, including Ely Cathedral. He then touched on the planning need for crossing the Wash, before leaving us safely moored at the new pontoon at Kings Lynn. After the break we set off (on the ebb) at a steady canal speed into the Wash, before beaching the 3 boats on a sandbank to wait for the tide to turn. Then it was a full-speed run on the incoming tide and up the River Witham. Arrival at Grand Sluice in Boston was just a few minutes before the tide made a level, so that the boats (which were too long for the lock) could pass straight through the lock and tie up safely in the CRT moorings. We are very grateful to Patrick for stepping in at short notice.
Friday 17th January 2020 - Phil Clayton's talk "Down South" was a very interesting look at his cruises along the waterways of London. It was particularly instructive to see the changes between his 2003 and 2015 cruises. He finished the very professionally illustrated talk with a trip from Limehouse through London on the tidal Thames and along the River Wey.
Friday 6th December 2019 - Our Christmas meal at Red Bull, Kidsgrove.
Friday 15th November 2019 - Patrick Marks gave us an entertaining evening with the showing of his film "Down the Tidal Severn by Narrowboat", accompanied by lively explanation as the film played. Their route was from Sharpness to Portishead with a (very necessary) pilot on a beautiful calm day, followed by their journey up the tidal Avon from Portishead to Bristol the following day. As an encore he showed an amusing short film about preparing a chicken dinner on-board a boat on the Canal du Midi! [This meeting was also held at Kidsgrove Town Hall, as refurbishment of the Red Bull Hotel was running late.]
Friday 18th October 2019 - Ros Todhunter talked about "Billinge Flashes– A brine run with an ice age legacy". She explained that melting glaciers and salt extraction have both left their mark on the Trent & Mersey canal at Billinge Flashes and The Lion Salt works in Northwich. After an extremely detailed talk, she finished by saying that both these locations are sites of past and (highly probable) future bank collapses. [Despite this meeting being held at Kidsgrove Town Hall as our usual venue was closed for refurbishment we had a good, and very interested audience.]
Saturday 11th May 2019 - Our AGM at Etruria Industrial Museum. The Wedgwood Trophy was presented to Val & Peter Sibley for their "Towpath Reflections" articles which were published for many years in Grand Trunk. After the meeting we were taken on a guided tour of Shirley's Bone and Flint Mill.
(Photos: David Clegg)
Friday 15th March 2019 - Chris Leah talked about the "Wooden Canal Boat Society Story". He started with his own background and how he became interested in canal boats. This led to the society being founded and various very decrepit boats acquired. Over many years they managed to restore some of these boats (with more still to do) and create a boatyard from scratch.
Friday 15th February 2019 - Patrick Marks showed 2 fascinating films he had made about Indian Hill Railways. The first was a 20 minute film about his journey along the 29 miles of the metre-gauge Nilgiri Mountain Railway. The highlight of the trip was the 12 mile long rack section (the only one in India) whose vintage steam locomotives have a very strange wheel arrangement as the 8 driving wheels are separated into 2 groups of 4 with a large gap between for the rack drive. The second 40 minute film was a journey up the narrow-gauge (2 feet) Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, which is also still steam hauled and criss-crosses the mountain road as well as passing up the main street of one of the towns en-route. Its 55 mile long journey last a full day and climbs over 7,000 feet.
Friday 18th January 2019 - Mike Walton talked about Murgatroyd's Brine Pump in Middlewich. First he explained the history of salt extraction in Britain, and then moved on to discuss Murgatroyd's. Middlewich Heritage Trust now own the site and are busy working to preserve it for all to visit. Apparently it is the last remaining hand-dug brine shaft, and is over 200 feet deep. The original steam pump is unfortunately long gone, but there are still 3 later electric pumps in situ (2 inside the building + a submersible one down the shaft). They hope to remove the gantry this April for restoration (and later return to the site).
Friday 7th December 2018 - Our Christmas meal at Red Bull, Kidsgrove.
Friday 16th November 2018 - John Pomfret talked about "Braunston - Canal Age Transport Hub", looking at the history of canals in and around Braunston, Northamptonshire, in the wider context of the history of transport - From Roman roads to early river transport, through turnpikes, the canal age, and the railway age to the motorway age. He explained the effects on Braunston of the arrival of the Oxford Canal and the later Grand Junction Canal and the many subsequent changes arising from the rise and fall of freight traffic and the development of leisure use. A thoroughly interesting talk.
Friday 19th October 2018 - Steve Wood talked about the Uttoxeter Canal Restoration. First he explained how (and why) the Uttoxeter Canal was proposed [to stop a rival canal] and built [reluctantly once the rival had failed]. Then he briefly took us through its active life and closure. Next he explained how the Caldon Canal Society was born, its achievements and how it morphed into the Caldon and Uttoxeter Canals Trust. After the break he talked about their proposals for restoration, and then discussed several of their recent projects on the Uttoxeter Canal. One particularly interesting subject was how they keep on finding built relics that they didn't know the location of, or didn't even know existed. Finally he talked about the future, including their involvement in a new salmon ladder at Crumpwood Weir.
Friday 21st September 2018 - Mark Thomas talked about "Three things you don't know about the RNLI" in our first talk at our new home of the Red Bull Hotel. First he showed an interesting film about a 1914 shipwreck, which convinced the RNLI to speed-up the introduction of powered (as opposed to 8-oared) lifeboats. Then he showed us round their new lifeboat factory, explained the reasoning behind their introduction of Lifeguards, and finally discussed their education section and their "Respect the Water" campaign.
Saturday 12th May 2018 - Our AGM at the Water & Wheels Museum in Stone. The museum isn't open to the public yet, but Roger & Martin Fuller delighted in showing us around and even giving us rides on their train afterwards.
(Photos: Roger Evans)
Friday 20th April 2018 - Phil Clayton introduced us to that wonderful network of waterways known as the Birmingham Canal Navigations. He spoke about their beginnings, development, working life, decline and renaissance; together with a little about the work of the BCN Society. His talk was accompanied by pictures, words and music. We thoroughly enjoyed this last talk of the season.
Friday 16th March 2018 - Derek and Jeanne Smith, keen trail-boaters, shared their experiences in this illustrated talk. They looked at cruising on remote waterways, mainly those unconnected waterways that are under restoration. A highlight of their talk was their trip to Ireland which included the River Barrow and Upper Shannon as well as the recently reopened Royal Canal.
Friday 16th February 2018 - Bill Walker talked about Fly Boats (mainly those of the Shropshire Union Company) and Fly Boating. He also showed a film "Towpath Encounter" about horse boats working locks, and passing other horse boats.
Friday 19th January 2018 - Ray Johnson (from Staffordshire Film Archive) talked about Brindley and Wedgwood - Chalk and Cheese. First he gave us a flavour of Brindley from contemporary correspondence and the writings of his great friend Josiah Wedgwood. Next he showed us a film about the early history of canals. After the break he treated us to video clips of some of the Brindley 300th Anniversary events in 2016 (including our own celebration of the cutting of the first sod). One of the clips was of a play specially written for the event with songs, and we were invited to join in with the chorus of "Chalk and Cheese". A thoroughly good evening was had by all.
Friday 1st December 2017 - Our Christmas meal at Red Bull, Kidsgrove.
Friday 17th November 2017 - Ann Pollard is secretary of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal Society. She told us about the history of the canal and the society, during an illustrated trip up the canal from Stourport to the junction with our own canal.
Friday 20th October 2017 - Our first talk of the new season. Ian Rogers talked about the International Guild of Knot Tyers, He also demonstrated how knots are tied and used, both in boating and decoratively.
Saturday 6th May 2017 - Our AGM at the Bluebell Inn, Kidsgrove. After the AGM Jon Honeysett took us on a very interesting guided walk to see both Harecastle Tunnel entrances and the railway station.
Turnover Bridge from Brindley to Telford Towpath Group at Tunnel Mouth [Click on Photo to enlarge]
(Photos: Roger Evans, except group at Tunnel: Sarah Honeysett )
Friday 21st April 2017 - Ray Butler (of the Manchester, Pennine and Potteries Waterway Partnership) gave a very entertaining and informative talk about what Waterway Partnerships are, and what our local Waterway Partnership does for the local waterways.
Friday 17th March 2017 - Peter Brown (from RCHS - the Railway and Canal Historical Society) took us through a treasure-trove of 106 Trent & Mersey Canal official posters and notices, mainly dating from the 18th century. These had been found carefully pasted into a scrapbook, but with a printed Index at the back. The posters give an impression of the canal company’s management practices and worries, in a way which doesn't emerge from a study of minute books (although these are missing anyway for our canal) or other sources. Subjects covered included warehousing, instructions to captains, wanted posters and punishment of offenders.
Friday 17th February 2017 - John Pomfret explained the development of waterways in Northern Belgium and the Netherlands from the 13th century. He then looked at the canal networks of trading towns which grew up around waterways (Bruges, Gent, Amsterdam, and Groningen). Next more recent developments were explained, including waterway enlargements and new waterways for freight use, as well as the Zuider Zee and Delta Projects. Finally he talked about the development of recreational use and two restoration schemes. The lecture was accompanied by a large number of very interesting photographs, and was much enjoyed by those present.
Friday 20th January 2017 - In the 1950's Britain's waterways were still full of commercial traffic and lined with the mills, factories and ports of a then leading industrial nation. This was the era recaptured by Andrew Hemmings in words and photographs of the Lytham Sea Cadets' voyage in 1958 from Lytham on the west coast to Hull on the east coast by canal, rivers and estuaries on “Training Ship Queenborough”. He made the journey come alive, and several members bought copies of his book "from Lancashire to Yorkshire by Canal (in the 1950s)" afterwards to read more about the trip.
Friday 2nd December 2016 - Our Christmas meal at Red Bull, Kidsgrove.
Friday 18th November 2016 - Steve Wood entertained us with another evening of historic films about the local waterways. The longest film was about the history of the Caldon Canal. There were also several short films from various sources including both TV and amateur footage. Steve entertained us as usual explaining the background to many of the films. We must thank Steve for stepping in at a few hours' notice when Jo Bell (Canal Poet) had to cancel because she had pharyngitis and couldn't talk.
Friday 29th October 2016 - Our second evening of "Going to the Dogs" again started with a delicious meal of Scouse followed by Apple Pie. Once again there were several "dog" races with members both taking part, and betting on the results (with 50% of the bets going to the society funds). The dogs are actually stuffed toys, and the races involve "twiddling" a piece of broomstick to wind up the string to pull the dog along. A thoroughly good time was had by all.
Friday 16th September 2016 - Our first talk of the season was in 2 parts. First we had Malcolm Turner (ex-Chairman of our society) showing his film of a T&MCS trip on Nb Christina, with Chris Thompson from Anderton to a Society Rally at Shardlow. Captured along the way were Pat & Millie Osborn. Trophies were awarded at the rally by Mike Mitchell to Peter Coppuck (and occasionally to others). Chris & Peter Smith, Alan Bates, Gordon & Betty Diprose, and a number of other stalwarts (either no longer with us or moved away) were also visible. This was a real trip down memory lane for many and an insight into the earlier days of the society for others.
Then, after the break, we had Bill Walker outlining fly-boat Saturn's planned May 2017 fly trip from Ellesmere to Castlefield, and explaining what support they will need to help make it run smoothly. A fascinating talk and an indication of just how much work is involved in organising such an event.
Saturday 14th May 2016 - Our AGM at Stone Station. The building was completed in 1849 by The North Staffordshire Railway Company (previous owners of our canal) and is a grade II listed building. It was refurbished for community use in 2003.
The meeting began with a short talk about Stone by David Dumbelton. Stone’s two major industries were brewing and shoe-making. The most famous brewery was Joules (pronounced Jowls). The town is attractive, socially active with beer and food festivals, and very much a canal town.
The Report on 2015 was then discussed. Highlights included :-
- Milepost cleaning and painting continues in the North.
- The Cheshire Locks painting project (joint with IWA North Staffs and South Cheshire) is going well, if slowly.
- Our website is now totally maintained by ourselves. It is frequently updated (especially the news and events section) and can be found at www.trentandmerseycanalsociety.org.uk . This is a new address reflecting the fact that we haven't been a limited company for some years, but the old .co.uk address still works (being invisibly redirected).
- Publicity and sales, now in the able hands of Paula Jackson and Eddie Kingswell, is very vibrant. The society stall can be found at all the main events in the North of our region. Paula hopes to arrange press releases for future events after an offer of help by Harry Arnold.
- This season's talks all went well and were very enjoyable. The Society now has its own talk on the Trent & Mersey Canal from Preston Brook to Armitage Tunnel delivered by Gillian Watson. This means we can give reciprocal talks to other societies.
After the formal business (and an excellent buffet lunch) David Dumbelton led a guided walk along the towpath. For one member (John Tackley) this involved an emotional reunion with the cabin section of butty "Rebekah", used as a flower display below Star Lock. This was originally the stern of John’s butty "Axe" which was discarded after the boat was sold and converted to power.
Friday 15th April 2016 - Ian Edgar took us through the history of his involvement with Bugsworth Basin for over 40 years. We saw the original volunteer restoration work, the various sections openings, and the re-restoration work (both volunteer and professional) as problems were found. Finally we saw the Basin's present magnificent status and concluded with “Where do we go from here?”.
Don Baines then gave a short, illustrated talk on the various types of stone traffic from the Basin including the boats used. One of the destinations was the Brunner-Mond Alkali Works at Malkins Bank, which was discussed in detail.
Friday 18th March 2016 - Unfortunately John Morin had to cancel his planned talk on "President's trip to take part in the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant in 2012" at the very last moment. Unfortunately, the message only reached us after the meeting had already started! Luckily John Tackley was on hand to explain the River Weaver Navigation Society's newly published plans for an inclined plane between the river and the Middlewich Branch of the Shropshire Union. Roger Evans then talked about our planned events over the Summer. After a break Roger Savage gave an impromptu talk about how President's trip came about, and all the work which went into her send-off from Staffordshire (with events at Etruria, Stone and Fradley). He injected plenty of humour into his talk and there was much laughter along the way. Those present (over 30 in total) told us that they had enjoyed the evening, even without the planned talk.
Friday 19th February 2016 - Steve Wood entertained us with an evening of historic films about the Caldon Canal. They included two locally-made films dating from before (Caldon Canal - A Cut Above The Rest - 1970) and after (Caldon Canal Restoration - 1978) the restoration of the canal. There were also several short films from various sources including both TV and amateur footage. Steve made the evening even more interesting with his explanations of the background to the films and by pointing out shots of a very young Roger Savage, who many of the audience know well.
Friday 15th January 2016 - John Pomfret gave us a fascinating visual tour around river navigations (with the odd big canal thrown in) from the Tyne and Tees to the Yorkshire Ouse, Humber and Trent and their tributaries. He even included a few "open" rivers where there is no navigation authority but navigation isn't actually prohibited. As well as pictures of navigations and boats (old & new) we got a short history and navigation advice. A good evening all round.
Friday 4th December 2015 - Our Christmas meal at Big Lock, Middlewich.
Friday 20th November 2015 - Mike Bonson spoke about the long history of the many attempts to get the Macclesfield Canal built, with much opposition in Parliament from the Duke of Bridgewater and the Trent & Mersey Canal. After the break, he took us on a brief cruise along the canal highlighting interesting historical facts. We must thank Mike for stepping in at very short notice when Jo Bell (Canal Poet) had to cancel her talk. His talk was well worth listening to.
Friday 16th October 2015 - Mike Walton brought us historical information, maps, and pictures of Croxton Flint Mill; of which the only remnant that now remains is the path leading from Croxton Lane towards the site of the long-gone buildings. He told us of the mill's association with the Trent and Mersey Canal; the reasons for there being a flint mill in that location; where the flint came from and how it was transported; where the milled flint was delivered to. and its use and the reasons for the eventual decline and dilapidation of the mill and its associated buildings. All thoroughly interesting to the audience of around 30 people.
Friday 25th September 2015 - A fun evening of "Going to the Dogs" started with a delicious meal of Scouse followed by Apple Pie. We were then invited to bet on, and take part in, a series of dog races. As this event took place in the upstairs room at the Red Bull pub, there should be no surprise that the dogs were actually stuffed toys, and the races involved winding up their string leads onto a piece of broomstick to move them along. A total of 8 races were held with, with much encouragement of the volunteer winders. There were 3 ladies races followed by a winning ladies' race to decide a champion, interspersed with a similar men's competition
Friday 18th September 2015 - Our first talk of the new season was by our own Gillian Watson on unusual and interesting aspects of our canal. She stressed that this talk was still being developed (ready for giving to other organisations) and asked for our help in making it even better. Starting at Preston Brook and working slowly South much extra useful information was supplied by the audience. Despite this being very much a "prototype" talk, everybody seemed to enjoy themselves greatly.
Saturday 9th May 2015 - Our AGM at Lion Salt Works. After the formal business over 30 members had a tour of the site (even though it wasn't yet open to the public). This tour was excellent, especially for those of us who remember the works in its last working days. Our two guides were apologetic that it was their very first tour, but they worked hard to explain everything to us, and to answer our questions. Afterwards we had an excellent buffet lunch to round off a very interesting day.
The AGM Old Pump Old Salt Wagon
Friday 17th April 2015 - Rob Maddock gave us a fascinating talk, illustrated by his own unique photographs, of the painstaking work that he and his team carried out to dismantle and rebuild the Anderton Lift.
Friday 20th March 2015 - Darren Green explained what Central Shires had been doing in the past few months around his patch, with special emphasis on the progress of the recent maintenance work on the Trent & Mersey and neighbouring waterways. It was an interesting talk and Darren was always happy to answer questions, explain in depth, or even suggest ways in which we could help him to prioritise problems by making sure that we report them to his enquiries team.
Friday 20th February 2015 - Brian McGuigan and his wife Anne-Marie live and trade on the waterways of Cheshire: Making fenders, selling fuels & oils, fenders & kindling and providing services to boats and to the bank side. Their talk gave us a fascinating insight into their world, and in particular NB Alton.
Moving on to regular work, the good progress with vegetation clearance (towpath and off-side), and the extent of the bank repairs underway were explained. The proposed works necessary next winter to re-open the temporarily closed lock 63 on Cheshire Flight was also discussed. Finally how to find out about volunteering (and what opportunities are currently available) was outlined.
Friday 18th January 2013 - Ivor Caplan talked about the joys and perils of living afloat.
Saturday 15th December 2012 - Our Christmas meal at The Moorings, Anderton.
Friday 16th November 2012 - Tony Hirst (former director of The Boat Museum) delved into hidden histories of the waterways.