Branch Diary

Branch meetings are held at our new venue at The Amersham & Chiltern Rugby Club, Ash grove, Weedon Lane, Amersham, Bucks, HP6 5QU starting at 8.00PM

For More Information, See Below

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17th September 2009
The Droitwich Reborn
Martin Ludgate
Martin Ludgate is the Deputy Editor of Canal Boat, has been a keen volunteer with the Waterways Recovery Group for some 25 years and edits their magazine Navvies. He visited Chiltern Branch in October 2007 to tell us about a year in the life of a waterway publication. This evening however, he will be giving a presentation close to the IWA’s heart on the Droitwich Canal, its restoration and WRG involvement therein. The Droitwich connects the Severn at Hawford with the Worcester and Birmingham at Hanbury. It has been a long time in restoration, being recorded as such in the 1975 edition of Hugh McKnights ‘Shell Book of Inland Waterways’. With a fair wind however, it is due to reopen in 2010. Martin has a share in the restored GUCC nb ‘Fulbourne’ in which he cruises the system.

15th October 2009
Cruising the Kennet and Avon
John & Cynthia Sully
Readers of Waterways World—will frequently see John’s name as a contributor to the Towpath Telegraph pages and, indeed, as the author of informed and interesting articles in this publication. In the July 2008 edition, he wrote about the Kennett & Avon and tonight he will talk about the canal and his cruising thereon. By profession, John would say he was a chartered accountant, starting his career with KPMG but changing horses to become a lecturer in accountancy and auditing at Leeds Metropolitan University. He served for 20 years on Leeds City Council and is an Honorary Alderman of the City. Not content with that, he served for 10 years on the West Yorkshire County Council. A public servant indeed! He is an Honorary Life Member of the IWA and has been writing articles about canals for some time. And he is also something of a railway enthusiast, penning pieces for the magazine Modern Railways. Tonight’s presentation will be a ‘duet’ with Cynthia, his wife, and co-cruiser on the waterways.

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19th November 2009
The Thames above Oxford
Hugh Compton
Not that many people venture on to the higher reaches of the Thames. Those in expensive gin palaces, perched high on their flying bridges, can’t anyway because of a certain low bridge around Oxford. Maybe when the Thames and Severn Canal is restored it will be the scene of many passages to the far off lands of Sapperton and Stroud. Hugh will give us a talk on the history of this part of the Royal River and whet our appetite for future explorations. He is an IWA member and served on the Council of the IWA in the far off days of Lionel Munk. He is a past President of the Railway and Canal Historical Society, the former interest resulting, no doubt, from a career in middle management with the Southern Region of British Railways.

10th December
The Annual Christmas Party
Our traditional evening of games, good company, some festive fare and a tincture or two.

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21st January 2010
The Mary Rose Story
Ted Sutton
Not, you may say, much to do with inland waterways. True, but a most interesting diversion none the less. Ted is a member of the Mary Rose Information Group and an amateur nautical archaeologist. He was once a scuba diver and is still a keen yachtsman with a boat stabled in Portsmouth. His interest in archaeology extends on to dry land where he is a member of the Marlow Society and he is also a volunteer with the National Trust and the Chiltern Society. As an expert in polymer technology, he retired from the directorship of a company that produced rubberised textiles such as ‘offset blankets’ for the printing industry. His informed knowledge of the Mary Rose, its raising and restoration, should present us with a fascinating evening.

8th February 20010
British Waterways in the South East
BW Speaker
This presentation will be given by a member of the British Waterways South East Area team. Further details will be issued later. This meeting will be an ideal opportunity to ask BW about their activities nationally and in our local area.

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18th March 2010
The Annual General Meeting
Our AGM will be followed by a Ploughman’s Supper and a social evening.

15th April 2010
Tunnels Now, Tunnels Then and Tunnels No Longer
Alan Gilbert
Ah yes, canal tunnels. For some, they are icons of early civil engineering and fascinating excursions into the bowels of the earth. For others, they are spooky kingdoms of gloom with the ever present chance of some heart stopping apparition appearing to prove the supernatural. Whatever one’s persuasion, they will usually afford an entertaining passage with the inevitable soaking for the unprepared and, courtesy of that certain gentleman’s law, the arrival of a boat coming in the opposite direction. Alan knows a lot about tunnels, those extant and with which we are familiar, and those which we can navigate no more. He will tell us about them this evening. Alan is involved in multi-media productions but he used to be an analytical industrial chemist working on explosives. All this aside, his waterways pedigree is excellent. He serves on the IWA West Midlands Region Committee and edits Navigation, the Region’s magazine. He is a committee member and Webmaster for the Lichfield Branch IWA and he is a boater, owning a 35’ nb based at the end of the Lichfield Canal.

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