Boaters' Update August 2011
This month we feature some watery suggestions to help make the most of your bank holiday weekend. We bring you a taste of chocolate history as the newly restored narrowboat Mendip, who prepares to recreate her old route to the famous canal-side Bournville factory. We look ahead at the options available for boaters seeking winter moorings and ask for volunteers to lend a virtual hand testing features of the New Waterways Charity’s website.
++ **Bank holiday weekend on your local canal or river**
If you’ve not yet made plans for the August bank holiday, it’s not too late to make the most of the last long weekend of the summer by visiting one of the many great waterway events taking place across the UK. From canal festivals to art exhibitions and heritage gatherings, you should be able to find something to float your boat.
[/features-and-articles/features/bank-holiday-weekend-on-the-canals Read waterscape’s pick of the best bank holiday days]
++ **Britain’s canals: nature’s nursery**
Or why not make your own [/wildlife wildlife] documentary this weekend? Britain's canals and rivers are brimming to the full with young wildlife as parents take advantage of the warm weather and long summer days to raise their young, making now the perfect time to take part in BW’s Wildlife Survey.
The waterways offer a unique haven for wildlife as they provide lush green corridors cutting through Britain’s cities, towns and farmland, and a green infrastructure linking clusters of woodland. Now is a perfect time to go out and spot nature’s new arrivals..
To take part in the Wildlife Survey or download a guide to waterways wildlife visit [/wildlifesurvey www.waterscape.com/wildlifesurvey].
The survey, which helps BW ecologists monitor the health of the waterways, is open until the end of September.
++ **A taste of chocolatey history**
The restoration of the historic narrowboat //Mendip// is complete and she’s ready for next month’s recreation of her old route to the Bournville factory along the [/canals-and-rivers/worcester-and-birmingham-canal Worcester & Birmingham Canal].
//Mendip// spent much of her working life carrying chocolate crumb between the Cadbury factories at Knighton and Bournville. The trip through the canal network will mirror the trips the boat made when helmed by Charlie Atkins (or ‘Chocolate Charlie’ as he was known to many of the children who lived near the canal).
Much of the boat’s restoration has been undertaken by young people learning boat building skills as part of a Future Jobs Fund scheme assisted by Ellesmere Port’s Heritage Boatyard staff and skilled volunteers from the Boat Museum Society. The project was supported by a generous donation from Cadburys.
[/features-and-articles/news/3170/former-working-boat-to-recreate-old-route View more information about Mendip and the cruising schedule for September]
++ **Winter moorings**
As usual, BW and many private marina operators will be offering shorter term mooring agreements to boaters without a home mooring who prefer to stay put over the winter months. Details of private marina offerings can be found via waterscape.com (search for moorings), [http://www.berthsearch.com www.berthsearch.com] and other websites.
BW’s offerings will be at broadly the same locations as in previous years and will go on sale in early October on [http://www.bwmooringvacancies.co.uk www.bwmooringvacancies.co.uk]. You can view a list of the sites selected for the coming winter from this page.
BW winter moorings are generally located along up to 50% of the length of established visitor moorings, ensuring that space is left available for cruising boats to use. All boaters are asked to respect time limits and not stay for extended periods on visitor moorings without a winter mooring permit.
++ **Boat checker update**
During July, customers reported 72 sightings of unlicensed boats via the BW website. Of these, 26% have subsequently relicensed and a further 52% were already in BW’s enforcement process. 8% resulted in new cases being opened for action, and the remaining 14% were boats which were not identifiable through a valid boat index number but the details have been passed to BW’s enforcement teams for further investigation.
[http://www.britishwaterways.co.uk/license-it/license-it-or-lose-it/online-boat-checker Visit the online boat checker]
++ **Canals in the spotlight**
Canals continue to be in the spotlight this month. The [/canals-and-rivers/droitwich-canals Droitwich Canals] were featured on BBC One’s Countryfile, taking a closer look at the restoration, including the wildlife and local community that will benefit from the restored waterways. Closely followed by BBC One’s One Show who featured community-minded volunteers in a clean-up of the Swansea Canal. Last week the [/canals-and-rivers/kennet-and-avon-canal Kennet & Avon Canal] was in the spotlight on BBC One’s Village SOS and this week BBC One’s The One Show is running a series of items about the canals which are available to view on [http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/search?q=One%20show BBC iPlayer].
++ **Guinea pigs wanted for new website**
With just eight months to go until the new waterways charity in England and Wales becomes operational, the web team is looking for helpers to test features which will help keep business listings up-to-date and to review the site map for the new website.
BW is looking for waterway businesses to check that new web forms enabling businesses to ensure that the new charity displays correct details of their services are user-friendly and intuitive, and another group of testers can look over the new site map. The new site is being built for all waterway visitors and so we need a wide variety of testers.
If you would like to be one of our testers please email [mailto:feedback@waterscape.com feedback@waterscape.com] with your name, what you would like to test (business listings or site map) and what is your main relationship with the canals is (boater, cyclist, angler, dog walker etc).
[/blog/authors/odette/building-a-new-website Find out more about testing features of the new charity website]
++ **Register now for the Boaters' Update**
Sign up for your free monthly boaters’ e-newsletter, the weekly waterscape newsletter or stoppage alerts by clicking on [/signup www.waterscape.com/signup].
