POCKLINGTON CANAL TO RECEIVE IWA FUNDING

The Pocklington Canal Amenity Society has been notified that it is to receive an award of £106,400
towards its Bicentenary Project. The award will come from the Inland Waterways Association
which was charged with distributing a legacy it had received from the late Tony Harrison. The
legacy, which amounted to £200,000, has been divided between four canal restoration schemes,
with the PCAS Bicentenary Project receiving just over half the available amount.

The Bicentenary Project, which is currently underway, will see the navigable length of the
Pocklington Canal extended by two miles. This will involve bringing Thornton and Walbut Locks
back into use, providing landing stages and undertaking some dredging. The scheme is due to be
completed by May 2018, which will be the Bicentenary of the opening the canal.

The Pocklington scheme was one of 28 applications submitted to benefit from the Tony Harrison
Legacy. Paul Waddington, Chairman of the Pocklington Canal Amenity Society, welcomed the
award, saying that it was a major boost to the Bicentenary Project, and to the longer term aim of
restoring the whole of the Pocklington Canal. He added that the success of the application was
largely due to the scheme extending the nation’s navigable waterways by two miles.

This project complements a Lottery-funded project A Gem in the Landscape led by the Canal &
River Trust is focusing on wildlife conservation, heritage work, volunteering and improvements for
the benefit of visitors to the canal.

The Pocklington Canal, which extends for over nine miles from East Cottingwith on the River
Derwent to Canal Head near Pocklington, is currently navigable from its junction with the River
Derwent to the village of Melbourne, where moorings have been established. The Bicentenary
Project will enable boats to sail further up the canal to a point near the village of Bielby. In 2016,
PCAS launched its Bicentenary Appeal to raise £250,000 to enable these works to progress. With
the recent award from the Tony Harrison Bequest, this sum has now been raised, and the appeal will
therefore be closed. In its place, the Society will soon be launching a Sandhill Lock Appeal to carry
the restoration of the Pocklington Canal further towards its eventual goal.

The other canal restoration schemes to benefit from the Tony Harrison Legacy are the Montgomery
Canal Partnership, where £70,000 will go towards the rebuilding of Schoolhouse Bridge; the
Friends of the Cromford Canal, where £15,000 will be spent on a scheme to regulate water levels;
and the River Stour Trust, where £8,600 will be spent on restoring Stratford St Mary Lock.

Tony Harrison was an engineer and a waterways enthusiast with decades of experience of canal
restoration. He visited the Pocklington Canal many times and advised on its restoration, especially
with regard to its water supply.

The Inland Waterways Association campaigns for the retention, restoration and development of the
waterways of England and Wales for the enjoyment of the public at large. IWA has provided
funding for restoration work on the Pocklington Canal and its Waterway Restoration Group has
tackled a variety of projects on the canal.

The Pocklington Canal Amenity Society was founded in 1969 with the object of restoring the
Pocklington Canal. It has a membership of over 300, and organises many fund raising events.
Some of its members attend regular working parties maintaining and restoring the canal.

For further information please contact:
Paul Waddington, Chairman, 01405 763985 paul@gooleboathouse.co.uk
Alistair Anderson 07796890009 enquiries@pocklingtoncanalsociety.org

Pocklington Canal Amenity Society, Registered Charity 500637 www.pocklingtoncanalsociety.org

NOTES FOR EDITORS

The Canal
The Pocklington Canal, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, is 9.5 miles long and has nine locks. It stretches from
the River Derwent at East Cottingwith to Canal Head, which is a mile short of the town of Pocklington. It was
completed in 1818 and last commercial use was in 1932.

The Pocklington Canal Amenity Society was formed in 1969 and started restoration of the canal in 1970.
Boats were again able to reach the present head of navigation at the village of Melbourne in 1987, where
moorings were established.

The Pocklington Canal is entirely rural and, of all the canals in Britain, is probably the one that has
undergone the fewest changes. Its nine locks are Grade II listed buildings, as are the four road bridges that
cross the canal.

The Pocklington Canal is of considerable importance for wildlife. It is included in three Sites of Special
Scientific Interest and is noted for its diversity of aquatic plants, damselflies and dragonflies. The canal is
part of the internationally important Lower Derwent Valley, which includes ings land that floods in winter and
is important for wintering wildfowl and many other birds.

Pocklington Canal Amenity Society
PCAS was formed to protect and restore the canal as a navigable waterway, which had been under threat in
the 1950s, at a time when the amenity value of waterways was less appreciated. Its members with the help
of other volunteers have carried out extensive restoration work, including rebuilding locks. The work has
been funded by donations from members and the public, together with grants, and support from the Canal &
River Trust and their predecessor British Waterways, the Inland Waterways Association and the local
authority. PCAS liaises with the Canal & River Trust, Natural England, the East Riding of Yorkshire Council,
the East and North Yorkshire Waterway Partnership, the Environment Agency and English Heritage.

In addition to the working on the current Bicentenary Project to extend navigation, PCAS volunteer working
parties tackle maintenance and other tasks on the canal throughout the year. PCAS and has an information
centre at the popular Canal Head picnic site and runs a popular trip boat on the navigable length of the
canal.

PRESS RELEASE – 24 February 2015
CANAL SOCIETY LAUNCHES BICENTENARY APPEAL
Issued by the Pocklington Canal Amenity Society

The Pocklington Canal Amenity Society today launched its appeal fund to raise £250,000 to restore a two mile section of the Pocklington Canal. Since the Canal Society has been able to prime the fund with £80,000 from its accumulated funds, the amount remaining to be raised is £170,000.

The money will be spent on installing new wooden lock gates for Thornton and Walbut Locks, and ensuring an adequate depth of water in the length, much of which is presently overgrown with vegetation. Other items will include measures to bring the locks up to modern safety standards, including the provision of lock landings to allow boaters to disembark before entering the locks.

The Society has chosen this year to launch its appeal as it is the bicentenary of the passing of the Act of Parliament enabling the building of the Pocklington Canal. It is proposed that the works will be completed by 2018, in time to mark the bicentenary of opening of the canal.

The project is being promoted with the support and encouragement of both The Canal and River Trust (the owners of the Pocklington Canal) and Natural England, which has a regulatory role, since the works are to be carried out within a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Work will be designed and scheduled to minimise interference with wildlife.

Appeal leaflets will be widely distributed in Pocklington and the villages close to the Pocklington Canal. Support will also be sought from the Society’s own members and from waterways enthusiasts nationwide, as well as from charitable trusts.

More information and about the scheme and details of how to subscribe to the appeal can be found on the society’s website:
www.pocklingtoncanalsociety.org/appeal

For further information please contact:
Paul Waddington, Chairman, 01405 763985 paul@gooleboathouse.co.uk

Graham Ball, Secretary, 07881528298 grahamball160739@hotmail.co.uk

Pocklington Canal Amenity Society, Registered Charity 500637 www.pocklingtoncanalsociety.org

NOTES FOR EDITORS

The Pocklington Canal, in the East Riding of Yorkshire is 9.5 miles long and has nine locks. It stretches from the River Derwent at East Cottingwith to Canal Head, which is a mile short of the town of Pocklington. Opened in 1818, its last commercial use was in 1932.

The Pocklington Canal Amenity Society was formed in 1969, and started restoration works in 1970. Boats were again able to reach the present head of navigation at the village of Melbourne in 1987, where moorings were established.

The Pocklington Canal is entirely rural and, of all the canals in Britain, is probably the one that has undergone the fewest changes. Its nine locks are Grade II listed buildings, as are the four road bridges that cross the canal.

The Pocklington Canal is of considerable importance for wildlife. It is included in three Sites of Special Scientific Interest and is noted for uncommon aquatic plants, damselflies and dragonflies. The canal is part of the internationally important Lower Derwent Valley, which includes ings land that floods in winter and is important for wintering wildfowl and many other birds.

The Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded the first stage of funding for a partnership project coordinated by the Canal & River Trust, focusing on wildlife conservation, heritage work and improvements for the benefit of visitors to the canal.


Pocklington Canal Amenity Society

PCAS was formed in 1969 to protect and restore the canal as a navigable waterway, which had been under threat in the 1950s, at a time when the amenity value of waterways was less appreciated. Its members with the help of other volunteers have carried out extensive restoration work, including rebuilding locks. The work has been funded by donations from members and the public, together with grants, and support from British Waterways and their successor, the Canal & River Trust, the Inland Waterways Association and the local authority.

The Society liaises with the Canal & River Trust, Natural England, the East Riding of Yorkshire Council, the Environment Agency, English Heritage and the East and North Yorkshire Waterway Partnership.

PCAS runs a popular trip boat on the navigable part of the canal and has an information centre at the popular Canal Head picnic site. Regular working parties tackle maintenance and other tasks on the canal.