Monday 24 February 2014

Museum Repairs

The museum (next door but one) is being repaired at the moment.  Lighting, floors and some repairs to the outside.  The photo shows the contractors erecting the scaffolding.

It is planned that the museum will reopen on Saturday 12-April-14.

Sunday 23 February 2014

The Flag Pole

A flag on the flagpole soon?
Stoke Bruerne has a flagpole on the island between the top lock and the old dry lock; right outside the Boat Inn

The very brief history of the flagpole is that it was erected in time for the opening of the Canal Museum (Easter 1963).  It was replaced in about 1984 by a more modern fibreglass pole.  At some stage BT (may be even the Post Office!) put telephone cables across the canal which route very close to the flagpole; so close that it is not possible to lower the flag pole to maintain it.  It needs maintenance because the halyard is missing; the top of the flagpole is 8m above the ground!

Openreach (the BT subsidiary company) have kindly come to the party and have agreed to cover the cost of re-routing the offending cable.  All that remains now is for a Risk Assessment to be agreed between Openreach and the Canal & River Trust. The happy band of volunteers will then be able to lower the flagpole, undertake the required maintenance and then raise it again.

To celebrate this occasion - there's not been a flag raised on the flagpole for a number of decades - we plan to have a 'bit of a do' on Wednesday 23rd April by raising a flag of St George in honour of the day and to celebrate the Morris Sides who will be dancing on the lockside that evening.

The photo on the right shows why we need assistance from BT Openreach. The flagpole folds towards the left of the photo.