6 C O N T E X T 7 6 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 2 and Stephen Bateman of Bradford City Council, all members of IHBC Council, were drafted in. Mark Strawbridge was entertainments officer for the School, responsible for booking all our live music. Last but by no means least was the team representing our partners in the School: British Waterways. Nigel Crowe heads the Hatton Craft Skills Centre, and Amanda Witherall is the business manager who with Christine Warne turned her administrative skills very ably to the organisation of bookings and the practical sessions at Hatton. James Clifton, is project manager of the Bedford and Milton Keynes Canal Project and our treasurer (and an impressive figure with a flip chart). Sadly, due to circumstances outside their control, a number of the committee were able to make only a fleeting appearance at the actual event. Particular thanks must go to our sponsors for the Day School, Ventrolla, and to Hall McCartney for the organisation of the exhibition. Thursday 4 July: Motivation and inspiration The School’s opening session was ably chaired by James Clifton, a long-serving ACO/IHBC member. James represented the 2002 School Organising Committee in welcoming delegates to the campus. Joyce Bosnjak is a county councillor with Nottinghamshire CountyCouncil. Joyce gave a very spirited and inspirational first paper of the conference about the Littlewood Farm Project, of which she is chair. It is a health and heritage scheme, providing a community-orientated secular retreat, serving both the local former coalfield settlements of Shirebrook and MansfieldWoodhouse and the wider business and voluntary sectors. The site is a former stone-built farmstead on the border of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire with a long history of habitation and of serving the (produce) needs of the local community. It has only relatively recently fallen into disrepair and dereliction. Although not listed, it is in the Pleasley Vale Conservation Area and within an area of natural landscape beauty. As such it is an important and much-loved local landmark. Taking the maxim ‘health is not just an absence of illness’ as her starting point, Joyce described the proposals and how they will interact with local community activity and development. The retreat will provide training in, among other things, stress management, conflict resolution, citizenship and alternative therapies.This, as well as providing somewhere to achieve respite from generally domestic, non-violent situations (it is not a refuge). It will be free at the point of asking to anyone, either from the local community or referred from elsewhere. The building will be solarpowered, super-insulated and have reed-bed sewerage, and the grounds will be managed on permaculture lines. The landscape setting and sense of local history is unique to the place and also considered to be a major asset in the delivery of the proposed service. This project sees health as a three-dimensional process: cultural and spiritual as well as physical. Simon Ainley gave a lively talk about the Foxton Inclined Plane project. Simon qualified as an architect, and worked for some years in the British Waterways architects office on the plans to refurbish Gloucester Docks. In 1989 he was appointed waterway manager for Braunston, becoming responsible for a specific length of waterway. Foxton Locks and the inclined plane were part of his management responsibilities for the next 13 years, and its refurbishment and eventual restoration remain a project close to his heart. For those without a detailed knowledge of canals, the inclined plane was a short-lived piece of technology. The one at Foxton was initially built between 1898 and 1900 to replace the existing flight of 10 locks. It would reduce the loss of water from the locks and speed up the movement of boats. Boats enter wheeled tanks of water that are then transported sideways between two different levels of canal. The inclined plane only worked for about 10 years, when lack of traffic saw the locks reinstated.The remaining structure was largely removed in 1927.The only remaining relatively complete inclined plane is at Coalport in the Ironbridge Gorge. But it does not function. At Foxton, growing use of the canals and an interest in the technology saw the formation of a partnership between British Waterways, the Foxton Inclined Plane Trust, the WaterwaysTrust, Harborough Borough Council, Foxton Parish Council, English Heritage and the Old Union Canals Society. A feasibility study showed that a full restoration was feasible and desirable. At this stage the IHBC Annual School 2002 IHBC Annual School 2002 IHBC Annual School 2002 IHBC delegates at the BritishWaterways Heritage Skills Centre at Hatton Locks.
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