As Martin has mentioned, this was a great success, generating interest from local press and TV and many appreciative comments from Society Members and the public. Included here is a sample.

From Eric Ruff of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.

Dear Fellow Members of the BCN Society, Congratulations on the re-opening of the Titford Pump house. I am particularly pleased with this as the Titford Canal was the reason I joined the BCNS a number of years ago. I was born at the Crosswells Inn, Langley, in 1945 and grew up in Old Park Lane. I remember seeing Thomas Clayton boats passing up the Jim Crow flight, looking over Uncle Ben’s bridge at the top High Street on the way to cubs and scouts at St Michael’s and eagerly looking for boats coming up to the bridge where the New Inn stands on Station Road on the way to my aunt’s house in Rood End. This memories got me interested in the idea of canal holidays and in 1980 my wife and I along with couple of friends, went on the first of ten subsequent canal holidays. We love it and can’t wait for the next one. We are even hoping to live aboard a boat for, at least, a year when we retire. My further connection with the Titford Canal is that my grandparents were the first publicans, I believe, at the Navigation Inn near Titford Pools, before they moved to the Crosswells Inn. Best wishes for the opening ceremonies. I wish I could be there.

Another e-mail was received from Richard Booth.

"I’d just like to give my congratulations on what has been achieved at long last with the pump house."

Although Richard wasn’t able to attend he had visited the Titford Canal last October with his pair of working boats Dane & Ditton. As Richard comments – Dane would of course be familiar to the area!

Who knows, perhaps it was one of the boats that Eric saw a half century ago on his way to Cubs!

Cakes and Cream Teas.

Thank you very much too all the ladies (and one editor!) who so generously baked cakes and scones for the Pump house Opening. What a marvellous weekend it was – even the weather obliged. Especial thanks go to Joan Kenn who provided virtually all the scones for the cream teas on both days and, of course, my grateful thanks also go to Yvonne Tennison and Elaine Winslow who slaved away in the Galley both days making endless cups of tea and jamming and creaming the scones! Both the Cake Stall and the Teas made over £100 each.

Well done to all concerned

A song was especially written for the occasion of the opening and was sung for the first and possibly last, time during the evening’s entertainment. Sung to the tune of the original “This Old House”, it is reprinted here- with apologies to Shakin’ Stevens!

This Old House This Old House once pumped the water from the bottom to the top, Up the Crow, along the Tat bank Branch, so trade would never stop, This Old House once beat the rhythm; this Old House once burnt the coal, Hissed with steam, echoed the clangour, Industry’s heart and soul. Chorus: This Old House rose like a Phoenix, from the ashes of the fire, Its state had been so perilous, its situation dire, But wise counsels prevailed at last so here’s to its success, For now it’s the headquarters of the BCNS. This Old House pumped up water for a century and more, It’s seen changes in the landscape, demolitions by the score, This Old House saw ruination, no certain future had it got, Became a tat yard by the Tat Bank Branch, and finally went to pot! Chorus: This Old House has been revitalised, again it has a role, Standing proud against the skyline, at the summit of the Crow. This Old House still welcomes boaters, as it did in times long past, And you can always cadge a cup of tea, ‘cause now it’s Kevin’s flat.

(Note reference to Pot: In the latter days prior to re-construction the last very absent tenant was found to be growing cannabis plants in a specially constructed inner room in the pump house. Its discovery led to the fire that destroyed the boiler house.)