WILTS & BERKS CANAL TRUST

Mike Lang (Chairman Swindon Branch ) reports:

Good News - Swindon Branch have secured funding by winning a NatWest Community Fund award for the towpath at Kingshill / Westlease

Many thanks to all who voted for us and the volunteers who worked hard to put the project together.

http://communityforce.natwest.com/project/3910

Swindon Branch held a successful Bar-B-Q on Saturday October 8^th. The venue was a field adjacent to Beavans Bridge. Among the activities were walks to Wichelstowe Lock and trips on nb Dragonfly which were enthusiastically taken up. The Bar- B- Q food was provided by Vowley Farm Caterers and was very tasty.

Though the weather was cool and cloudy it did not prevent us from having a very enjoyable afternoon. A small profit was made for Branch funds.

Grateful thanks to all who made this event possible.

The Swindon Branch has been most fortunate to have been operating the trip boat, DRAGONFLY, during this summer on the Kingshill/Westleaze section of the canal.

The primary function of the boat trips has been to raise the profile of the Canal within the town, but also operating the trip boat has kept the Swindon section clear of weed all year.

After negotiation with the Anglers, it was decided to run trips on alternate weekends and it is good to report that even with these limited operations the boat has provided trips for over 600 passengers during the period April to September.

Our thanks are due to Paul and Christine for providing the mooring for the boat and to all the Skippers and Crew who have operated the boat during the summer.

Swindon's newest section of canal is close to completion, and the developer Barratt Homes marked the progress of the project by showcasing their new canal side homes at Wichelstowe on Saturday 2^nd April 2011.

Chairman of the Wilts & Berks Canal Trust John Laverick said "Projects of this magnitude take years to plan and we have been working with Swindon Borough Council, to ensure that this brand new section of waterway will bring maximum benefit for members of the new community at Wichelstowe. We're delighted to be working with Barratt Homes to highlight Wichelstowe as Britain's newest canal side village."

The new homes benefit from attractive waterside locations because a 4km length of newly-built canal forms a key part of the new "green" housing and business areas in Wichelstowe. As well as being a focal point for the community, the canal will provide routes for walkers and cyclists and make a welcoming environment for local wildlife like herons, little egrets and kingfishers which are regular visitors to the restored canal at nearby West Leaze.

Wiltshire Council's Canal Officer Ken Oliver showing the canal-side homes to Cllr Keith Williams (Swindon BC Cabinet member for Streetscene).

When Wichelstowe is completed over 4km of canal will be restored or newly constructed. The route to Wootton Bassett follows a new alignment towards junction 16 before turning south to a new proposed culvert under the M4.    More information about the Wichelstowe Development can be found on their website: www.wichelstowe.co.uk

On Thursday 9th September 2010 Dragonfly the Trust's new Trip Boat arrived in Swindon. After being officially named the previous day by HRH the Duchess of Cornwall at Semington this was the first time for Dragonfly on the Wilts & Berks Canal.

Dragonfly arrived by lorry and was craned into the canal from the New Bridge just off Mill Lane in the new Wichelstowe development with a number of on-lookers from the trust and the press.

The group met at 11am on Saturday May 1st and were guided along the opened up towpath from Cheney Manor, along the River Ray Valley, behind Nova Hreod School, to where the footpath emerges on Purton Road. At various locations along the route Ray stopped to give information on the history of the canal, the work that had been done as part of the BBC Breathing Spaces project and the future possibilities for restoration.

ARVAL - the UK's leading Contract Hire & Fuel Card provider - are based in Swindon at the Windmill Hill Business Park. Each month ARVAL allows a nominated charity to collect money at their Dress-Down Friday. Employees who choose to dress down are asked to donate £1 to the nominated charity. Thanks to the efforts of ARVAL employee Terry Dixon WBCT was accepted by the ARVAL Cares Committee as the charity of the month for May and we duly held a collection on May 29th. Thanks to subtle bucket shaking by Terry and WBCT member Colin Arch the Trust was able to raise the very healthy sum of £436.

In addition to the collection the Trust also had display boards in the staff restaurant between 9-00 and 13-00 to illustrate the work being undertaken on the canal. Thanks go to Keith Walker and Swindon branch chairman Keith Dowding for setting-up the displays.

Throughout our time at ARVAL we received much positive feedback from employees and the whole day was a great success. Thanks go to Terry Dixon and the ARVAL Cares Committee for giving us this opportunity.

The people in the photo are: Left to Right

Colin Arch (WBCT), Ann Miller, Donna Neale, Elaine Mowbray, Faisal Nari (four representatives of the Arval Cares committee), Keith Dowding (chairman of the Swindon branch), Terry Dixon who works for ARVAL as a business analyst and helped to get WBCT nominated as the ARVAL charity of the month.