Learning at the Lock

"Learning at the Lock" is an education programme available for local school children at key stages one and two and is the most important single element of our work. It includes activities and visits such as working locks, taking a boat trip on the canal to explore wildlife and canal history, learning what life was like on the canals by dressing up and by handling canal artefacts. We welcome around 35 groups every year – that’s more than 1000 children.

The programme, subsidised by Rickmansworth Waterways Trust, is available to all local school children at a cost of £7 each, with free transport provided to teaching rooms at Batchworth Mill, part of Three Valleys Water’s premises on London Road, Rickmansworth. Children come to Batchworth Mill from schools not only in Hertfordshire, but also Buckinghamshire and nearby London boroughs.

What can children do?

On the programme, children can take part in the following activities

Explore the cabin on ROGER, our restored 1936 historic wooden working boat.
Take a trip on the ‘Pride of Batchworth’, and see both boats and wildlife.
Find out how a lock works. Walk around the area and discover traces of the former community.
Dress up in Victorian costume at Batchworth Mill.
Visit the model canal garden, the Little Union Canal.
Re-create the daily chores faced by the canal boat families.
Handle canal artefacts.
Build model canal bridges.
Make lace plates and do some brass rubbing.
Visit Batchworth Lock Canal Centre.

Held between Easter and the end of September, "Learning at the Lock" is also a great way for volunteers to help teach young people. Working alongside Education Programme Leader Michael Coleman and teachers who write the material, the programme is reliant on their dedicated support to help present in an informative and interesting way.

‘Learning at the Lock’ is not proactively advertised – in fact its success has been thanks to the positive feedback from teachers and word of mouth. However it has also had strong support from the Education Department at Hertfordshire County Council, who has promoted it in all schools across the county.

2007 Renaissance Awards

We’re very proud of "Learning at the Lock", so it was with huge pleasure we had reason to celebrate in March 2007 when it beat formidable competition to win the Education Category at the Renaissance Awards. The awards are organised by the Waterways Trust and the British Urban Regeneration Association (BURA) to recognise best practice in UK waterway improvements. It was also highly commended in the community category. Many Applications come from organisations, great and small, engaged in different aspects of waterways-related activity. These are then carefully scrutinised to select the winners. In fact, this was the first time one candidate has been recognised in two categories.

For an operation as small as ours, this was almost unbelievable. The credit, of course, goes to Elaine Dalzell, the Education Programme Leader for four years until 2007, who had done extraordinarily well. But it is shared by all the volunteers who give so much of their time to help her put on such a special show for the children. Michael Coleman has now taken over the reigns as Education leader to lead the programme into 2008 and beyond (click here for contact details)