C O N T E X T 1 1 7 : N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 0 19 to look at the possibility of using documented agreements for managing heritage assets. These take two forms: scheduled monument management agreements and heritage partnership agreements (HPAs). The latter have been under development at British Waterways since 2004.They offer an accountable and cost-saving means of managing heritage assets. Once adopted, they can help to reduce the need for repeat consents and negotiations with the authorities. In 2010 British Waterways has five scheduled monument management agreements and three HPAs adopted, covering around 52.5 miles of inland waterways. These are pilots. A further eight HPAs are under discussion, with others at an aspirational stage. Training In the late 1990s and early 2000s British Waterways, with the help of English Heritage, developed and ran a series of in-house heritage training courses that culminated in a bespoke City-and-Guilds-backed programme of centrally delivered practical skills training. Following a restructure in 2004, the training was moved out to the regions, where live-site training continued to be delivered to key staff. In the past 10 years large numbers of British Waterways staff have received heritage skills training. It is important to run refresher courses. In 2009/10, 190 staff benefited from awareness-raising and/or practical courses on lime-based mortars and repointing, or brick and masonry repair methods. Currently British Waterways is progressing a modest but important programme that aims to develop 50 heritage champions by 2014. These will all be waterway-based tradesmen who follow a course of practical skills assessment through the NVQ3 Heritage Skills with heritage-endorsed CSCS card scheme that was launched by English Heritage, the National Heritage Training Group and ConstructionSkills in 2009. Volunteers In the years since British Waterways launched its vision statement, the number of people involved in supporting and volunteering their time and knowledge to the waterways has grown. British Waterways has only recently started to measure volunteer involvement, but the signs are positive. Volunteer days doubled from 8,000 in 2007 to 16,000 in 2008. Not all of these volunteers helped with specifically heritage activities, but a number did. This ranged from supporting Heritage Open Days to recording historic artefacts, working on databases and carrying out self-supervising, high-quality conservation works. Voluntary contribution of a different kind is made by the British Waterways Advisory Forum Heritage sub-group. This is made up of volunteers who are knowledgeable about a broad range of waterway heritage issues. The group assists British Waterways with advice varying from the disposal of historic workboats to consultations on the development of sites containing heritage assets.Voluntary participation in this and other guises will be increasingly important as British Waterways moves into the third sector. A repaired former building at risk on the Grantham Canal Left: Skilled volunteers from the Lancaster Canal Trust repairing a listed bridge. Right: Live site lime mortars training on the Llangollen Canal Navigation Warehouse, Wakefield, a restored former building at risk
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