LANCASTER CANAL TRUST
Trustees Annual Report for the year 2021 – 2022
Over the course of last year work on the First Furlong revolved largely around resolving two problems. Having installed the stop planks and tested them to the satisfaction of CRT engineers it was discovered when water levels were dropped that some of the blocks were being pushed up due to pressure of water that was getting underneath the liner from the surrounding land. This was resolved by venting the areas effected but meant we had to relay blocks in several areas. Gallant volunteers, who had manhandled nearly 24000 of them in the course of this restoration and imagined they’d never have to see another concrete block ever, nonetheless got on with job and completed the task in a couple of weekends. The other problem however is ongoing. When the water level is brought up to near full there is leakage at a rate not acceptable to CRT. The most likely place for a leak is the transition walls by the Sellet Hall bridge and a recent work party have packed all the cracks and fissures between the stones with puddle clay. It now a matter of bringing the water level back up to see if this was the problem. Fingers crossed!
Other tasks accomplished in 2021 included raising and repositioning one of the original ‘winching posts’ at a site near the Stainton Aqueduct. Richard Trevitt led a group who dug out the stone and, using lifting gear provided by CRT, hoisted it into its new position and firmly settled it in place. Good for another 200 years!
Still on a heritage theme the team reinstalled the cast iron ‘rubbing’ plates on the bridge at Stainton. The fixing hole were badly corroded up and had to be carefully opened up again. The original fixing method was replicated by driving hardwood timber plugs into the fixing holes (approx. 100mm deep) and the plates were secured using 10mm diameter stainless steel coach screws . The fact that the holes in the cast iron plates perfectly matched the holes in the stonework and that the stonework had been chipped away to accommodate them suggests that they might have been the original from that bridge?
A third job was the completely rebuilding of the steps down the side of the Stables by bridge 166 from the road to the towpath where Waterwitch starts its trips from. Bob Philips led this group and, with the eye of a professional engineer, did a great job using materials provided by CRT.
Moving away from the ‘physical’ we took part in consultations on two huge housing developments adjacent to the canal just south of Lancaster. In both the Bailrigg Garden Village and the Galgate Park developments we liaised closely with CRT and IWA planners trying to ensure they will have has minimum impact on the canal as possible. There is little doubt but that both plans will be approved and that will impact on the peaceful rural aspect of our canal.
Events over the course of the year had been severely curtailed, only getting back to something like normal towards the backend. All the planned walks for example had to be cancelled and when eventually allowed to happen had strict limits as to the number of people who could attend. Nigel Hardacre led a number of walks around the old Tramway Bridge and the Walton summit area.
Speaking of the Tramway bridge, over the last 2 years, the main news item for the south end of the Lancaster Canal is the Old Tram Road Bridge that still stands over the River Ribble, connecting Avenham Park with Penwortham.
The funding to get a new bridge is due to be included with the submission for Levelling Up Funding from Preston City Council to central government. This has been and should still be, the best option for getting the bridge replaced, or repaired if full funding is not granted for a replacement. The
detail of what has been submitted is not available for the Friends of Tram Bridge to view. The group will do its best to follow the progress of this bid and awaits any updates from the council or government.
Nigel is will be continuing with the guided walks around the bridge and along the old tram road route, north and south of the river and this will also feature on Sept 10[th] Heritage Open Days in Avenham Park alongside other community groups.
One event that did happen in August was an annual Youth Engagement Day organised largely by CRT and IWA at Wakefield Wharf, Crooklands. We organised wildflower planting and weeding for young school age people and although not especially well attend (the publicity was late going out) all the children had a good time. Ian Treanor our boat manager had also laid on a boat trip for them which was appreciated.
The annual Heritage Open Days did happen in September though again with strictly limited numbers. Guided walks formed the basis of these days and Wendy Humphreys was largely responsible for organising them for which we thank her.
The Trust had been encouraged to put itself forward for a Queens Award for Volunteers and, although we felt we had put together a sound case, detailing our activities, meeting with the judges and so on, we were not successful. David Joyner and Nigel Hardacre attended the awards ceremony in Preston and reported that the winners had had a far wider reach in the community than LCT and were very involved with young people and we applaud them.
A new edition of the Guidebook was worked on over the winter months of the year by John Laws who has added new sections on the southern end of the canal. We are indebted to Graham Agnew for the design and to John for hours spent chasing advertisers and updating the facts and details that make this book so popular. The new edition was launched at Easter this year
The 2021 trip boat season started late due to ongoing Covid restrictions and sailings commenced after the 19[th] July 2021. Nonetheless Waterwitch carried 397 passengers on 68 trips raising almost £1800 in donations and ticket sales for the Trust. In spring 2022 crew members attended their annual training refresher on the weekend of 2nd & 3rd April as required for our MCA licence conditions and Engineer Neil McGarry serviced the trusty Lister engine to his usual high standard to ensure smooth sailing during the summer months.
Membership: We currently have 355 members, a modest rise of 8 new members over the previous year. It would be good to have more though, and we encourage all existing members to spread the word, sign up friends and relations – give a membership as a birthday or Christmas present for example. The more members an organisation has the better its standing with funding bodies.
Trustees: As you will read on the agenda, at this AGM David Joyner, Carol Haigh, Nigel Hardacre and Ian Trainor retire by rotation, are eligible for re-election and have been duly nominated. However, David Joyner is not seeking re-election and will be stepping down after seven years. He had previously been the boat manager and an active member of the Waterways Recovery Group as well as a dedicated ‘navvy’ with us on the Lancaster. So, we say a big thank you to him for everything he has contributed to the Trust and our best wishes for the future and hope to see him working with us in the future on the boat or on the land
And finally, we must put on record our thanks to all who make the Trust what it is. To our members for their continued support and to our active volunteers who contribute so much in terms of time and effort. Thank you.
LANCASTER CANAL TRUST
| Balance Sheet Fixed Asset Tangible assets Restricted Funds General Plant & Equipment Cost Cum. Depreciation Total General Plant & Equipment Total Restricted Funds Unrestricted Funds General Account General Plant & Equipment Cost Cum. Depreciation Total General Plant & Equipment Trip Boat Cost Cum. Depreciation Total Trip Boat Trip Boat Equipment Cost Cum. Depreciation Total Trip Boat Equipment Working Party Equipment Cost Cum. Depreciation Total Working Party Equipment Total General Account Total Unrestricted Funds Total Tangible assets Total Fixed Asset Cash at bank and in hand CAF Bank Current Account - NatWest Restricted Funds Total Current Account - NatWest |
March 31, 2021 March 31, 2022 7,300.00 7,300.00 -7,300.00 -7,300.00 |
|---|---|
| 0.00 0.00 |
|
| 0.00 0.00 12,741.60 12,741.60 -12,741.60 -12,741.60 |
|
| 0.00 0.00 8,962.75 8,962.75 3,037.25 3,037.25 |
|
| 12,000.00 12,000.00 1,085.05 1,085.05 -1,085.05 -1,085.05 |
|
| 0.00 0.00 1,202.11 1,202.11 -1,202.11 -1,202.11 |
|
| 0.00 0.00 |
|
| 12,000.00 12,000.00 |
|
| 12,000.00 12,000.00 |
|
| 12,000.00 12,000.00 |
|
| 12,000.00 12,000.00 38,031.92 31,390.42 60.30 904.30 12.00 12.00 |
|
| 72.30 916.30 |
| PayPal Petty Cash Floats PayPal Undeposited Treasurer Trip Boat Total Petty Cash United Trust Bank Total Cash at bank and in hand Debtors Accounts Receivable Total Debtors Current Assets Stock Total Current Assets Net current assets Creditors: amounts falling due within one year Trade Creditors Accounts Payable Total Trade Creditors Total Creditors: amounts falling due within one year Net current assets (liabilities) Total assets less current liabilities Total net assets (liabilities) Charity funds Share Capital Account Unrestricted Net Assets Surplus/(Deficit) Total Charity funds |
0.00 777.33 25.00 0.00 -100.23 0.00 21.06 0.00 25.00 0.00 |
|---|---|
| - 29.17 0.00 83,860.21 84,665.28 |
|
| 121,935.26 117,749.33 645.58 1,055.00 |
|
| 645.58 2,001.29 0.00 |
|
| 2,001.29 0.00 |
|
| 124,582.13 117,749.33 214.87 3,436.86 |
|
| 214.87 3,436.86 |
|
| 214.87 3,436.86 |
|
| 124,367.26 114,312.47 |
|
| 136,367.26 126,312.47 |
|
| 136,367.26 126,312.47 154,981.16 154,981.16 -56,637.50 -60,084.41 38,023.60 31,415.72 |
|
| 136,367.26 126,312.47 |
LANCASTER CANAL TRUST
Income and expenditure year ending 31/03/2022
| Income Sales 6th Ed Guide Book Sales 6th Ed Guide Book Discount 7th Edition Guide Book Adverts Other Book Sales 200 Years of the Lancaster Canal Plaque Sales Post & Packing Sales Fundraising & Interest on Balances Buy a Block Fund The Bund Total Other - Gift Aided General Fund Talks Membership and Donations Membership Subscriptions 100 Club Subscriptions Legacies & Bequests Donations Trip Boat Regular Boat Trips Chartered Trips Trip Boat Tickets Total Income Expenditures Promotion & Events Country Fest - Current Year Westmorland Show Web Site Memberships & Subscriptions LCRP Subscriptions Paid |
31/03/2022 1,416.90 -99.14 2,000.00 176.00 109.50 43.55 292.00 3,938.81 110.00 3,695.92 250.00 805.17 100.00 4,961.09 5,583.50 192.00 147.54 5,923.04 605.00 205.00 1,048.00 1,858.00 16,680.94 36.00 72.00 132.00 240.00 2,500.00 114.00 2,614.00 |
31/03/2021 2,173.90 -315.25 0.00 123.00 0.00 25.50 8.50 |
|---|---|---|
| 2,015.65 40.00 1,191.00 580.00 1,017.41 34.00 |
||
| 2,862.41 5,231.62 902.00 40,000.00 1,377.26 |
||
| 47,510.88 0.00 0.00 0.00 |
||
| 0.00 52,388.94 0.00 0.00 328.52 |
||
| 328.52 2,500.00 114.00 |
||
| 2,614.00 |
| Restoration and Working Parties 2018 FF Relining 2,378.78 Consumables 1,399.24 Contractors 6,032.68 FF Materials 863.22 Miscellaneous 30.00 Plant & Equipment Hire 2020 FF Stop Planks 28.26 Equipment 1,016.04 General 38.30 Land Transfer Costs Working Party Materials 94.00 11,880.52 Trip Boat Expenses Boat Fuel 431.17 Boat Insurance 504.00 Boat Licence (C&RT) 552.43 Boat Other Running Costs 714.43 Boat Refurbishment 67.99 Boat Training 1,094.32 3,364.34 Waterwitch Magazine Distribution 1,026.37 Printing 1,396.00 2,422.37 Governance Costs Accountancy 292.80 AGM 82.50 Insurance 1,500.49 Bank Charges 187.94 2,063.73 Running Costs and Costs Of Fundraising Millness Building & Wharf 54.44 Repairs and Maintenance 90.00 Costs Of Fundraising Small Tools and Equipment 27.92 100 Club Prizes & Costs 295.00 Postage 236.50 703.86 Total Expenditure 23,288.82 Surplus/(deficit) for the year -6,607.88 |
143.70 74.40 317.71 13.60 485.40 152.66 2,943.94 9.00 1,085.00 175.20 |
|---|---|
| 5,400.61 0.00 443.52 541.61 145.48 0.00 0.00 |
|
| 1,130.61 973.85 1,346.00 |
|
| 2,319.85 290.43 429.66 1,194.05 69.86 |
|
| 1,984.00 57.63 0.00 392.99 0.00 0.00 139.73 |
|
| 590.35 14,367.94 38,021.00 |
LANCASTER CANAL TRUST
Treasurer’s Report – year ending 31 March 2022
Income for 2021-22 in total was down on last year as we were fortunate to receive a bequest of £40,000 last year. Excluding Legacies & Bequests, income rose by about £4,500. In preparation for the new edition of the guide book we achieved sales of adverts which raised £2,000. There was an increase in donations towards Fund the Bund Donations which were up by £2,500 at £3,696 and means a total of £4,887 has been donated for this purpose.
The Trip Boat ran again in the year, though with a lightly delayed start against the planned start date, and raised £1,858 in addition to providing a visible promotion of the canal and eliciting additional donations and sales. Membership Subscriptions had a modest rise of £350 reflecting increased membership of the trust. There was a fall in general donations of approximately £1,100.
There was increased expenditure on work on finishing the final furlong of about £6,000 the majority of this being the use of contractors to cover work that would be beyond the capacity of working parties.
Expenditure on the trip boat increased by £2,200 reflecting the lack of boat usage during the height of the pandemic. There a need for crew training after a year or more of inactivity which necessitated a cost of about £1,000 plus costs of fuel which weren’t incurred in the prior year.
Governance costs, costs associated with the Waterwitch magazine and other running costs remained largely static though within this there was a large increase in insurance costs of circa 25%.
In summary we ended the year with a deficit of £6,607 which was funded from reserves.
Jim Mayes BSc (Hons) ACMA CGMA
Treasurer
scrutinees Report to the Trustees of the Lancaster Canal Trust I report on the attounts of the Trust for the year ended 31 Marth 2022 A5 the trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts.. you conslder that neither the audlt nor independent examination requirements of the Charitles Act 2011 apply. It 15 my responslblllty wtthout cafryin8 Out an audit or Independeni examlnatlon to scrutlnlse the attounts and to report to you. In accordan wlth the dlfectlons tsen In the Trusvs constllutlon. I have suutini5ed the rewds and the accounts Set out on pa8es I to 3 In my oplnlon the accounts are in accordan wfth the retyd5 produced to me and compty with the constitutlon. Name., Address..