News from the hole 4

Progress to date

A Tale of Two Pumps

Working party report

The IWA National's at Waltham Abbey 2000 !

Return from Waltham Abbey

Milton Keynes 2001

Chair Chat ( written September 2001 )

Dear Friends, as I write this ‘Kildare’ should be on the way back from our only excursion this year, the National at Milton Keynes. We are grateful to our friends from the Dudley Canal Trust who towed her down with Bittel. Steve Bingham and his crews have done a great job. ‘Kildare’ was at the show for two reasons, one to show the world that we are still about and secondly as a base for the team manning the sales stand. John Byham and Richard Thomas have put together a great portable unit and it certainly looked good, sales were brisk and we also created a lot of interest. Our thanks go to them and everybody who gave up some time over the weekend. In addition to waving the flag for FoP and the museum a considerable sum was added to our much-needed funds – well done.

This brings me nicely on to the restoration project and the fund raising. It seems that I have spent most of my spare time over the past months trying to raise funds and source materials. Following the initial response from our appeal to you, our members we have received a number of donations from various sources, including a number of IWA branches. The museum have also assisted in obtaining a grant from the Science Museums PRISM fund which will cover 50% of the repairs to the hull and cabin. We have also been able to source some of the materials for the project at a considerably lower price than normal, which has helped a great deal.

So how are we doing? Fund raising - we are just over half way, so there is a lot more to do yet but I am still confident that with everyone’s help will reach our target. Work wise there is a lot left to do, Ian Kemp is just about half way through his contracted work but I expect to see rapid progress over the next few weeks. Dave Stott has outlined the work to be done in installing the boiler, engine and associated bits so you can see there is a lot of work to be done there. We also have a mountain of work to do on all the rest of the boat – cloths, running gear, ropes. So over the next few months we will be having a lot of working parties and you will be needed, no mater what your skills are. When we have finished ‘President’ we will have to turn some attention to ‘Kildare’ as we can’t run around with a smart steamer and a tatty butty, she needs a paint job and a good spruce up. This is all down to us so put some time aside, first trip Easter 2002. We are not far away from the AGM on November 10^th, this year to be held near to Ian Kemp’s yard to give us an opportunity to see the excellent work he has done on the boat. I look forward to seeing as many of you there as possible I am sure you will enjoy it.

David Powell