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Speakers

Many of our members are willing to give talks and slide shows, to other organisations and groups, about the Association, the inland waterways in general, or aspects of them.

The schedule below lists names and contact details for people who are willing to talks and slide shows about the inland waterways, or various aspects of the waterways, along with subjects that they cover (it italics).  The locations given are where the speakers are based (rather than the area they are willing to travel to).  In nearly all cases, you will need to offer the speakers reimbursement of their travel expenses, and most will expect a modest donation (say £30 to £50) to a charitable waterway cause in lieu of any fee – you will need to discuss this with the individual speaker when making contact with them.  Please send any updates or corrections to the information listed to [email protected]

 

Rod Auton (Midlands) – [email protected] / 01246 477569
– A journey along the Chesterfield Canal to where it meets the Trent at West Stockwith
– The building and current use of the Chesterfield Canal Trust boat, Dawn Rose

Ralph Barber (South West) – [email protected] / 07836 347 427
– The Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal

Paul Barnett (South West) – [email protected] / 07833 143231
– Fore and Aft – The Purton Ships Graveyard
– Lydney’s Lost Fleet – The Lydney Ships Graveyard
– Sharpness Scuppered Ships – The Sharpness Ship Graveyard
– Disaster Waiting – The Severn Bridge Disaster
– Port to Port – A historical journey, the length and breadth of the Sharpness to Gloucester Canal
– A Wreckers Tales – Ship Breakers of the Severn
– Run Down River ship – wreck and loss from Bristol to Bridgwater
– The hunt for the Stroudwater Hulks – Brimscombe to Framilode

Gillian Bolt (North West) – [email protected]  / 0151 678 9300
– The Canal du Midi
– Boating in Ireland, based on Tom and Sonia Rolt’s trip there

Peter Brown (West Midlands) – [email protected] (max travel 40 miles from Market Drayton)
– Canal Lifts and Inclines
– History of the Shropshire Union, including the Llangollen and Montgomery canals
– Lost Canals of Shropshire
– Sir William Cubitt
– Thomas Telford
– Trent & Mersey Canal Posters

Roger Butler (Midlands) – [email protected] / 01926 641301
– Canal History and Heritage – a colourful look at all aspects of our waterways
– The Hidden World of Canal Architecture – unusual and unique buildings
– A Canal Honeymoon – 1962 – a hilarious romantic voyage out to Llangollen!
– West Midlands Circuit – 1971 – including the River Severn
– Up the Macc – 1966 – and out to the Peak Forest Canal
– Down the Oxford Canal – 1967 – a luxury cruise in the deep south!
– Canal Holidays – 60 years ago – the early days of hotel boats
– West Country Wonders – unique forgotten canals in Devon and Cornwall
– Lost Canals – exploring hidden waterways
– Birmingham – more canals than Venice!
– The Regent’s Canal – London’s wonderful waterway

Ivan Cane (East Anglia) – [email protected]
– Taking Boats Uphill: Staunches, Flash-locks and Half locks

Bernard Chell (East Midlands) – [email protected] / 01509 670327
-The Nottingham Canal

Tim Coghlan (Midlands) – [email protected] / 01788 891373
– The first 20 Braunston Historic Narrowboat Rallies

Daniel Adamson Preservation Society (North West) – [email protected] / 01928 576967
– The Building of the Manchester Ship Canal
– The Restoration of the Danny

Mark Davies (South East) – [email protected]
– Oxford’s Historic Waterways: from legend to leisure
– A Literary Tour of Oxfordshire’s Waterways
– ‘Alice in Waterland’: the River Thames as Lewis Carroll’s Inspiration
– ‘Professors of Rowing’: the first Oxford-Cambridge Boat Races
– John Taylor the Waterpoet: Civil War humourist and first surveyor of the entire River Thames
– Daniel ‘Damnable’ Harris: convict labour on the Oxford Canal and River Thames

George Eycott (South West) – [email protected] / 07771 775745
– Claverton Pumping Station on the Kennet & Avon Canal

David Fleming (London & South East) – [email protected]
– General history of the British canal system from the 1750s to modern times.

Nigel Hardacre (North West) – [email protected]
– The old tram road bridge and tram road (waggon way) that was part of the Lancaster Canal
– Walton Summit Branch of the Lancaster Canal

Steve Haywood (London) – [email protected] / 07772 460 453
– Waterways as they used to be and as they are now – comedy
– 101 Wonders of the Waterways, with visuals or without
– A Four-year Odyssey Cruise
– The Day I fell out of love with the waterways (the changing nature of the waterways)

Derrick Hunt (South West) – [email protected] / 07986 972 984
– The Dorset & Somerset Canal
– The Somersetshire Coal Canal 

Paul Jacobs (South East) – [email protected]
– Metropolitan Police Marine Unit 

Simon Judge (London) – [email protected]
– Oxford to Cambridge
– Crossing the Wash
– Narrowboats to the Medway
– Five Thames Creeks
– Fenland Frolics
– Boston to Denver
– Narrowboating in the Fens
– Humber and Hull
– Boston and the Wash
– Narrowboating to Hull

Maarja Kaaristo (North West) – [email protected]
– History of Canals in Manchester
– History of Pleasure Boating in the UK
– History of the Pomona Island

Tom Kitching (North West) – [email protected] (www.tomkitching.co.uk)
– The ‘Spey’ story – The Tanker, her history, the group who saved her
– Wooden boatbuilding, engine maintenance, and operation

Matthew Lanham (Midlands) – [email protected]
– Why the Prees Branch never reached Prees
– Memories recorded by a friend of Joe and Rose Skinner
– The canal to Shrewsbury – about the East Shropshire tub boat canals

Chris Leah (North West) – [email protected]
– The Wooden Canal Boat Society
– Restoring ‘Hazel’ to become a Wellbeing Boat
– My life on the waterways

Tim Lewis (London) – [email protected]
– Waterway Recovery Group
– Canal Restoration
– Waterways of London
– General Waterways

Stuart Lines (Yorkshire) – [email protected]
– The Rise and Fall of the Bradford Canal

Chris Madge (Midlands) – [email protected] / 07827 946444
– The Derby Canal and its Restoration

Kev Maslin (Midlands) – [email protected] / 07973 420607
– Chasing the Boats – Adventures of a waterways photographer
– Audlem to Zouch – An Aquatic A to Z in pictures

Ian McCarthy (North West) – [email protected]
– A pictorial history of the Rochdale canal in Lancashire
– A brief introduction to why volunteer on canals
– 50 years on canals
– My mate John Greenway – his view of canals
Other canal subjects on request

Mike Ogden (East Midlands) – 07741 777768 / www.mikeogdentalks.co.uk
– The Slow Road (Journey around the waterways)

John Pomfret (Midlands) – [email protected]
– Braunston – canal age transport hub
– Braunston and Stoke Bruerne – from waterway transport hubs to leisure destinations
– The Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation and other Essex Waterways
– The River Nene and Fenland Waterways
– Freight on Waterways
– The middle Danube and its connected waterways
– Planning and environmental effects of transport of waste by water
– River Waterways of North East England by Boat
– Trading boats to London via Stoke Bruerne
– Waterways and Wildlife
– The Waterways of Bohemia and Leipzig
– Waterways of the Low Countries – from small to large
– Water power in the Nene and Avon valleys
– Railways in and around Northamptonshire
– City of lakes and rivers – waterways in and around Berlin

 

Geoff Pursglove (Midlands) – [email protected] / 01530 272472
– The Ashby Canal

Peter Scott (Yorkshire) – [email protected] / 0114 2 301870
– Peter Scott’s Spot-The-Locks
– Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Pageant
– Sir Peter Scott

Derek and Jeanne Smith (North West) – [email protected] / 07500 300347
– Cruising French Waterways
– Cruising Remote Waterways

Paul Strudwick (South East) – [email protected] / 07885 240291
– IWA Silver Propeller Challenge

Roy Sutton (South East) – [email protected]
– Kent and East Sussex Waterways

Colin Thunhurst (Yorkshire) – [email protected]
– The Local History of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal
– The Bradford Canal
– Rich History of the L&L Canal in the First Half of the Twentieth Century

Chris Witts (South West) – [email protected] / 01452 526202
– My Life on the River Severn
– The Severn Bore

IWA at 75

The Inland Waterways Association has just notched-up 75 years of campaigns to save, restore and protect our canals and rivers.

Follow our photographic journey, which celebrates the work of volunteers and campaigners across the country who saved the waterways and helped to make them what they are today.

Waterway underfunding

Hundreds of miles of waterways – along with their unique heritage and habitats – are currently starved of funding and rely on constant lobbying by us to safeguard their future.

Sustainable Boating

We want boating on canals and rivers to be more sustainable and – even though the current overall contribution to UK carbon emissions is very small – we want to help reduce emissions on the waterways.

Waterways Heritage at Risk

Britain’s canals and rivers are a unique, living heritage. But that heritage is at risk – from urban development, lack of protection, loss of skills and knowledge and climate change.

You can help Save Waterways Heritage.

Waterway restoration

Restoring the UK’s blue infrastructure – our inherited network of navigable canals and rivers – is good for people and places.

LOVE YOUR WATERWAYS

Britain's waterways are vital; together we can campaign for them now and for the future.