As part of the “major expenditure” projects agreed by the Trust’s Committee earlier in the year some of the work has been commissioned and indeed completed!

One of the projects was to replace the carpet tiles in the Brindley Room as those in place could be described as “past their best” having served the room well over the years by enduring huge footfall, subject to various spillages along with everyday ‘wear and tear’. In order to keep costs down it fell to the Tuesday Club volunteers to lift up the outgoing tiles – quite good fun actually as they were removed from the upper floor by gentling dropping them out of the end of building window (honest!) where others collected them into neat piles for onward disposal – some to garden sheds !

It was left to the professionals to lay the new carpet tiles though the Tuesday Club were once again on hand to unload the order from the delivery vehicle and carry them to the top floor – quite a heavy load but it got the cardio-vascular systems going and some thought it was better than going to the gym !

Once laid the we felt the room looked much lighter and brighter due to the fundamental change in colour from brown to grey and indeed the room looks very smart. The Pilates Group were amongst the first to use the room and were delighted with the clean flooring.

The photo gallery below shows the transition brought about by this investment and we hope you all like it as much as we do – it will certainly have to last for a good few years.

Amongst the other major projects scheduled for 2019 are significant roof repairs to the front of the office building, total refurbishment of the upstairs ladies toilets and a new railed wall adjoining the soon to be opened Old Wharf Pub.

SNT are delighted to have ‘joined up’ with Stourbridge Army Cadets Force in a mutually beneficial informal association.

The Army Cadets based in Oldswinford have a very enthusiastic and well managed platoon who were struggling to find appropriate voluntary work to evidence the cadets aspirations in the Duke of Edinburgh Awards scheme so SNT undertook to provide a platform on which to undertake some purposeful community work along the Stourbridge Canal Arm. After several meetings with representatives of the Cadet Force, primarily with Colour Sergeant Sophia Baker, arrangements blossomed with the Cadets playing a key role at the recent Open Weekend by having a big clear up  before the event and then maintaining the site, keeping it  “clean and tidy” over a busy weekend. The Chairman of SNT, David Caunt, has undertaken to write a letter to each cadet who helped over the weekend, thanking them for their valued contribution, thus providing vital evidence of their involvement in a major community event. The cadets also took centre stage at the Open Weekend by performing a march through Canal Street on each day – something that hasn’t been seen before !

SNT have also put the Cadets in touch with the Canal and River Trust with a view to them formally adopting the stretch of canal in order to take formal responsibility for its maintenance along the Canal Arm on a regular basis, doing the local community a great service, taking the strain off SNT volunteers and providing rich evidence for their Duke of Edinburgh applications – win / win !

SNT volunteers are supporting the cadets in return by supply of training bibs and exercise paraphernalia as well as making wooden drill ‘machine guns’ for them based on a rather complicated template as well as seeking more opportunities to put them in the spotlight.

We hope that this relationship will help the Cadets Force who aspire to develop young people aged 12 to 22, creating a disciplined yet enjoyable environment  to hone their personal development as fine young people. We are sure that the Cadet Force will once again hit our News page in the very near future.

Tuesday Club were energetic again this week moving plenty of furniture around – as good as a workout in the gym ! Pictured is Gareth Pollard taking a breather after handling the old chairs down from the large shuttered windows on the circular end of the building.

As part of an internal refurbishment new carpet tiles were fitted in the Dadford/Whitworth rooms on 2^nd May and we also had a further 100 chairs delivered last Tuesday, 32 Burgundy for the Brindley room and 68 navy blue chairs for use in the Dadford room and the coffee bar area. The task for Tuesday Club was to remove the 160 older chairs down to the basement and then to replace them with the colour matched ones – quite a long job and on a warm day we certainly got a sweat on very quickly.

The new additions certainly have freshened up the rooms which do look very nice now as indicated in the photograph below of the new burgundy chairs placed around the walls of the Brindley room. Photographs of the refurbishment of the Dadford Room and the Coffee Lounge with new flooring and matching blue chairs can be found on the “Rooms for Hire” pages.

We were pleased that local community organisations (e.g. Scouts) could extend the life of many of the older chairs which were only slightly cosmetically looking a bit tired and they were soon snapped up and taken off site to their new homes.

We were delighted to be unexpectedly approached by a Mr Norman Shillingford who wanted to safeguard two paintings of canal-side buildings at Wordsley junction. Mr Shillingford is a descendant of the Shillingford family who occupied the premises for several years until the mid 1950’s. The paintings are of Junction House and Junction Cottage, two properties which stood at the head of the Stourbridge Arm at Wordsley Junction.

Junction House was originally the residence of the canal manager, and Junction Cottage was the toll keeper’s house and office

Mr Shillingford advises that the small figure by the property on the Junction Cottage painting is his mother. The family operated trip boats from the junction as illustrated in the article pictured below. He also recalled that as a child he once played a game of ice hockey on the well frozen canal – the lock forming one goal and the bridge the other – happy days !

The Junction Cottage artwork was painted by a disabled Wordsley artist named Ronnie Grove in 1979, being copied from the original which was painted in 1938 by a Mr J. Hammond.  The Junction House painting was produced by J.F. Hancox in 1986.

The paintings have been placed on the wall of the Boardroom and flank an existing picture of the lock at Wordsley junction.

Canal & River Trust have joined forces with the West Midlands police to launch a new neighbourhood watch scheme on the region’s historic canal network.

With more and more people working and living by the water, the Canal Watch scheme aims to promote a sense of community and encourage people to help ensure waterways remain safe and enjoyable places.

Peter Mathews CMG, chair of the Canal & River Trust’s West Midlands Waterways Partnership, explains; “One of the attractions of our wonderful waterways is that they’re quiet, tranquil places where you can escape the bustle of everyday life. However while we want people to enjoy the peace we don’t want them to feel isolated or vulnerable and that’s where this scheme comes in. We want to address any misconceptions and reassure people that our waterways are safe and welcoming.

Waterways are safe and welcoming

“With Canal Watch we want to make the fantastic sense of community that already exists on our waterways more visible. We want to show people that collectively those living and working on the waterways, the local police and other stakeholder groups are working together to share information and keep people and property safe.”

Under the scheme people living by the water, boaters and waterside businesses can sign up for police updates and free crime prevention advice.

Fantastic sense of community

Local community groups, businesses and organisations will also be encouraged to build closer links with each other and work together to make sure the waterways remain welcoming places. As well as receiving information people will be encouraged to report and share any suspicious activity so that action can be taken.

Leaflets and stickers will be distributed to local people, boaters and businesses with signage also being displayed across the region’s waterways. Forensic marking kits will also be handed out to boaters enabling their valuables to be traced if needed.

Inspector Imran Mirza said: “The Canal Watch scheme is a free initiative where West Midlands Police will work with various partner agencies across the region to promote safety and send key messages through the WMNow community messaging system. This will help boaters to keep their marine equipment secure and ensure that their journey across the waterways is as safe as possible. 

“The scheme isn’t just focused on boaters however, WMNow will ensure that anyone living or working beside the water is kept up to date and informed.

“By working together and communicating with each other better we can deal with the issues focusing on long term problem solving but also promoting early intervention and prevention.”

A Canal Watch option has been added to WMNow, the new West Midlands Police messaging tool that allows communities to be kept up to date with what is happening in their areas.

The scheme is initially being rolled out in the West Midlands Police region but it is hoped that it could also be introduced in other parts of the country.

The new scheme has already been officially launched for the Black Country’s canal network.

The scheme, launched by the Mayor of Dudley, Councillor Dave Tyler, at Dudley Canal Trust on Monday March 26th, allows people living by the water, boaters and waterside businesses to sign up for updates and free crime prevention advice via WMNow, the police’s community messaging system.

Cllr Tyler added: “It was a pleasure to attend the launch of Canal Watch and find out more about the work of the Canal and River Trust and police to protect, maintain and promote the borough’s waterways.

“Our canals have played an important part in our industrial and cultural heritage and are there to be enjoyed by residents and visitors to the area. I welcome this scheme and encourage local people to get involved.”

Visit www.wmnow.co.uk to sign up.

The Mayor of Dudley, Cllr Dave Tyler, greeted each and every one of the approaching 100 walkers before addressing them from the entrance balcony to the Bonded Warehouse, thanking them for their support to his three chosen charities: Dudley Mind, the YMCA and Dudley Alzheimer’s Society.

Reports from the walkers confirmed that it had been a most enjoyable walk in cool but dry weather with well earned tea / toast available by the Willow Tree tearooms at the half-way point.  It was also suggested that the walk be repeated later in the Spring when perhaps the weather might be even more suitable – this is under consideration by the Mayor’s ambassadors who have a tight and busy schedule to maintain.

As a result of the generosity of the walkers £330 was raised towards the Mayor’s charities which is very much appreciated.