EDITOR'S CHOICE DALES FOLK 'Fly fishing is the new golf' PICK OF THE PAST Craven through the years READERS' LETTERS Readers' Letters COUNTRYFILE From the farm at Yockenthwaite CARTOONS View our Hambone, every day! Or view our Honeyball! GET OUR NEWS BY E-MAIL Just register

Most read Comments 1 Skipton High Street challenges London's finest in award shortlist 2 Cyclists urged to join charity challenge 3 Developer asked to fund road measures 4 Summer-long celebration of hay meadows 5 Lambs battle it out for race victory 6 Work due to start on HML offices 7 Council combats health and safety myths 8 Eastburn pupils praised 9 Davidson’s half-century leads Settle to victory 10 Final course for food couple Today | 7 Days 1 Partner chosen to head £70m regeneration 2 Victory for Cromwell over housing scheme 3 Skipton High Street challenges London's finest in award shortlist 4 Costa Coffee loses appeal 5 Motorists warned of delays 6 New Rotary branch launched 7 A cooler look at global warming 8 Work due to start on HML offices 9 Cyclists set for Dales challenge 10 Skipton to host second beer festival

Comment

Middle-aged Skiptonians can remember when the Leeds-Liverpool canal was little more than a semi-stagnant rubbish tip, particularly the Springs section which connected the main channel with the old quarry workings by Skipton Castle.

In the 1950s, there were even demands that it should be filled in as a danger to children because, even if they could swim, should they fall in they were likely to be trapped in a jumble of old bedsteads, mattresses, discarded bicycles and sundry other scrap.

Now, of course, the canal is a mainstay of the Craven tourist industry, a major leisure asset for boaters, fishermen, cyclists and walkers as well as being an important thoroughfare for wildlife.

All this came about some 40 years ago when amateur canal enthusiasts embarrassed the Government - which owned most of the canal network - by getting stuck in to clear desolate stretches of water and re-build disused locks.

Eventually, Whitehall realised that there was an important asset here and the canals were saved.

Among those pioneers was the late and much missed Peter Walbank, the former Craven District and national park councillor who died three week ago.

Peter spent many weekends on the Springs branch and was proud owner of two narrow boats in succession.

When he was chairman of Craven District Council, he launched a long campaign to improve the canal side even further by converting what was then a virtually disused area of land at the junction of the Springs and the main channel into a rare open space for public use.

And what a success it has been. It is now the site for regular farmers' markets, a bandstand and marquee area for events like the Skipton Waterways gathering and the Skipton puppet festival.

This week, I received an email from county councillor Shelagh Marshall, an old friend of Peter's, saying that she and a group of colleagues had written to the district council suggesting that this precious open space should be renamed Peter Walbank Wharf.

As another of Peter's many friends, I cannot think of a more suitable memorial.

12:40pm Friday 11th April 2008

Print

Email this

Comment

Add your comment

Name:
Email: *
Location:
**
	e.g. 123-123
Comment: Please note: All HTML tags will be ignored. Format Text:
By posting a comment, I confirm that I have read and agree to the terms of use. Comments are not moderated but we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention and we may delete inappropriate postings. Please treat other people with respect. You must not post anything that is abusive, indecent, unlawful or defamatory. Remember, you are personally liable for what you post on this site. If you wish to complain about a comment, contact us here.
* Your email address will not be displayed ** To avoid register now or login