Wikipedia talk:WikiProject UK Waterways/Archive 5

CaRT article?
The Canal and River Trust will be on us pretty soon - the launch date is supposed to be April. Do we (a) rename the British Waterways article and make the appropriate changes or (b) create an entirely new article and transfer current stuff to the new article? If (b) is there a policy reason to wait till it actually starts operating or should we have it now?

The main argument for (b) is that BW will continue to exist in Scotland so maybe a new BW Scotland article is required. For (a) that it is just a rebranding exercise - all the assets including most of the staff will remain.

Thoughts? Chris55 (talk) 17:36, 12 January 2012 (UTC)


 * If it is a simple rebranding, with the nuts and bolts of the organisation continuing without change, I'd argue for 'A', with a new separate article for BW Scotland. Just my two pennies! Grunners (talk) 23:51, 12 January 2012 (UTC)


 * Since the name British Waterways is well known and a significant component of the circa 1948 nationalisations in the UK it is an enduring part of UK post-war history. I would suggest that an article with its old name should remain containing its historical contexts. Oosoom Talk 11:06, 14 January 2012 (UTC)
 * I would argue for a separate article, since the organisational structure is quite different, even if the assets are not. In the same way, we have articles about the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal and the Shropshire Union Canal, where one became the other. Bob1960evens (talk) 17:00, 15 January 2012 (UTC)


 * (Discuss) – British Waterways →  – British Waterways has been suggested to be renamed. The place to discuss it is on the BW talk page. Oosoom Talk 12:58, 3 July 2012 (UTC)

Coalport Canal
There is a stub article on the Coalport Canal, with discussion on the talk page for Shropshire Canal which indicates that there never was a Coalport Canal. It was a local name for the southern part of the Shropshire Canal, which is covered by a much more substantial article, rated B. I cannot find Coalport Canal listed in any of my books, and OS maps do not call it that either. Should it be turned into a redirect? Bob1960evens (talk) 19:21, 9 March 2012 (UTC)


 * I agree. It's completely unreferenced. It should be a redirect to the far superior article. I'll tag it if I can find a suitable template.--Shantavira|feed me 15:54, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Google "Waterways"
You might be interested in this announcement on the BBC News website: UK waterways to become active routes on Google Maps. Oosoom Talk 15:54, 19 June 2012 (UTC)

Waterways map and guide
I've put on Commons a set of 6 scans of a map of Britain showing the waterways (and railways) as they were in 1830 by Nichols, Priestley & Walker. These are titled Map of Inland Navigation I to VI and could make valuable illustrations for articles about the waterways. Apart from showing the canal system as it was at its peak, it also shows the resources (coal, limestone etc.) that they were designed to service and is the best map I've come across of the whole country. If anyone wants a portion to illustrate a particular waterway I'd be happy to help.

I've also put on Wikisource the full text by Joseph Priestley (the other one - manager of the Aire and Calder Canal) of Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals, and Railways, of Great Britain published the same year, which links to this map. This has a verbal description of the line of each waterway/railway, the parliamentary terms it was established by, usually an account of construction (there are some projected entries that never got built) and the rates charged for each type of goods carried. It was in its day a useful guide for any company wishing to move goods around and is still a fascinating insight into a very different world only 180 years ago. Its entries could also be of use in editing Wikipedia articles.

Is anyone willing to help proof-read this book? There are about 600 pages to go! The project page is at Index:Rivers, Canals, Railways of Great Britain and the talk page gives some guidelines. There are quite a few specialised templates for wikisource, but you don't need to know anything more than editing simple wikipedia text for doing the first round of proofreading. I'm finding it's a fascinating way of learning more about the history. If you want help use my talk page either here or on Wikisource. Chris55 (talk) 12:50, 4 December 2012 (UTC)

River Lee, Ireland
Does anyone want to look at Talk:River Lee (Ireland) for a move proposal? It relates in some ways to the River Lea. Simply south...... walking into bells for just 6 years 14:18, 29 December 2012 (UTC)

Discussion at Talk:Aqueduct#Split proposal (2)
You are invited to join the discussion at Talk:Aqueduct.  Ron h jones  (Talk) 22:31, 10 February 2013 (UTC)

Nominated for GA
I have nominated 3 articles for Good Article status: I am sure there are others, but I mainly lurk in WP:LINCS --Robert EA Harvey (talk) 08:18, 28 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Grantham Canal
 * Stamford Canal
 * Sleaford Navigation
 * PS I also nominated Deeping Fen, which I know many of you worked on, and it has already gone through Robert EA Harvey (talk)
 * PPS - I notice there isn't a Good Article list on the project page. c.f. WP:UKG Robert EA Harvey (talk)
 * Well historicaly we haven't had very many.©Geni 14:22, 29 December 2012 (UTC)

Comment: I like "Lurk in Lincs"! :) DBaK (talk) 09:27, 13 March 2013 (UTC)

Please help get waterway-related listed structures ready for the start of the Wiki Loves Monuments competition on 1st September
In September the UK is taking part for the first time in the international photography competition Wiki Loves Monuments. Participants will be invited to submit pictures of listed structures of significant importance (eg grades I or grade II* or equivalent), as recorded by English Heritage, Historic Scotland, Cadw and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency. The main external website for competitors can be found here, and you can leave a message there if you have queries about competing. Do please join in, and let people in your local area know of this excellent way in which both existing and new Wiki users can help improve the encyclopaedia by contributing photographs of local listed structures. What about organizing a local Wikimeet to attract new people?

In preparation for the start of the competition on 1st September there is still quite a lot of work to do, and we would like to ask for the help of members of this wikiproject. Many of the listed structures are residential or other buildings, but there are a significant number of waterway-related listed structures that may be of specific interest to members of this project. Your local and expert knowledge will be invaluable in ensuring that the lists of eligible structures are up to date and correctly formatted. If you look at Listed buildings in the United Kingdom you will see how many structures are included. If you then follow the links, you can get to the detailed lists for your area. Alternatively have a look at the WLM planning table. Can you help to ensure that the lists for your area are up to date and well presented?

Some of the lists have been semi-automatically generated from data provided by the official listing organizations. These use pre formatted templates (eg EH header) which will make it much easier for competition participants to upload their photographs to Commons as an automated process. Please don't change the template structure, as we need to ensure that the templates are properly compatible with the WLM standards that are in use worldwide. The format will allow a bot automatically to collect the information and to put it into the international Monuments Database.

The data still needs the attention of local editors:
 * The "title" may need wikilinking to a suitable article name (whether we currently have that article or not). If there are several buildings in one street all of the wikilinks point at an article about the street; however each entry has a separate line in the list.
 * The "location" column looks and sorts better if just the parish or town is included (& wikilinked).
 * The "date completed" column sometimes has eg "C19" for 19th century, and "C1850" for c. 1850 when the date is uncertain - these need to be corrected manually.
 * The "grid ref & lat & long" (which is occasionally missing) may be given to 8 characters — only 6 (grid ref) or 5 (lat & long) are really needed.
 * Clicking on the "list entry number" should take you to the data sheet for that entry on the official database which can be checked if needed for details.
 * The image column should have a picture added if we already have a suitable image on Commons. (N.B. if you are going to be taking photos yourself for inclusion in the competition don't upload them until September)
 * References may be added according to normal WP practice.

For further information, please see [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2013_in_the_United_Kingdom Commons:Wiki Loves Monuments 2013 in the United Kingdom. ]

If you have any queries, please post them not below but on the Organizers' help page on Commons.

Anything you can do to help improve these lists will be much appreciated. '''The final deadline for cleaning up is 31st August.

--MichaelMaggs (talk) 17:03, 22 August 2013 (UTC)

RFC: WP:MOSNUM
There are currently a number of proposals to improve the language at WP:MOSNUM relating to the use of Units in UK related articles. External opinion is invited at WP:MOSNUM. Wee Curry Monster talk 14:32, 28 October 2013 (UTC)

Relevance of RDTs
I am having problems with an editor who feels that RDTs are simply a Navbox or a list of stations, and can replaced with a table and a .png map. Anyone who has an opinion on this should add their comments to Wikipedia talk:Route diagram template. Useddenim (talk) 22:58, 1 October 2013 (UTC)

He is expanding his crusade to eliminate any display of proposed lines, routings and extensions to Wikipedia talk:Route diagram template and elsewhere. If he is successful in imposing his views on the non-notability and elimination of unbuilt proposals, then large sections of many canals’ histories could be deleted. Useddenim (talk) 10:43, 13 November 2013 (UTC)

Leaflet for Wikiproject UK Waterways at Wikimania 2014
Hi all,

My name is Adi Khajuria and I am helping out with Wikimania 2014 in London.

One of our initiatives is to create leaflets to increase the discoverability of various wikimedia projects, and showcase the breadth of activity within wikimedia. Any kind of project can have a physical paper leaflet designed - for free - as a tool to help recruit new contributors. These leaflets will be printed at Wikimania 2014, and the designs can be re-used in the future at other events and locations.

This is particularly aimed at highlighting less discoverable but successful projects, e.g:

• Active Wikiprojects: Wikiproject Medicine, WikiProject Video Games, Wikiproject Film

• Tech projects/Tools, which may be looking for either users or developers.

• Less known major projects: Wikinews, Wikidata, Wikivoyage, etc.

• Wiki Loves Parliaments, Wiki Loves Monuments, Wiki Loves ____

• Wikimedia thematic organisations, Wikiwomen’s Collaborative, The Signpost The deadline for submissions is 1st July 2014 For more information or to sign up for one for your project, go to: Project leaflets Adikhajuria (talk) 16:29, 27 June 2014 (UTC)

Comment on the WikiProject X proposal
Hello there! As you may already know, most WikiProjects here on Wikipedia struggle to stay active after they've been founded. I believe there is a lot of potential for WikiProjects to facilitate collaboration across subject areas, so I have submitted a grant proposal with the Wikimedia Foundation for the "WikiProject X" project. WikiProject X will study what makes WikiProjects succeed in retaining editors and then design a prototype WikiProject system that will recruit contributors to WikiProjects and help them run effectively. Please review the proposal here and leave feedback. If you have any questions, you can ask on the proposal page or leave a message on my talk page. Thank you for your time! (Also, sorry about the posting mistake earlier. If someone already moved my message to the talk page, feel free to remove this posting.) Harej (talk) 22:48, 1 October 2014 (UTC)

Sonia Rolt
An article has been created today on Sonia Rolt, a campaigner for the Inland Waterways Association (IWA), as her obituary was published today. I've tagged the article for this project - hope that is OK?&mdash; Rod talk 20:54, 3 November 2014 (UTC)
 * Brilliant, I'd have thought. I'm embarrassed to admit that I didn't know Sonia had died. It's great that we have an article. DBaK (talk) 21:48, 3 November 2014 (UTC)

WikiProject X is live!


Hello everyone!

You may have received a message from me earlier asking you to comment on my WikiProject X proposal. The good news is that WikiProject X is now live! In our first phase, we are focusing on research. At this time, we are looking for people to share their experiences with WikiProjects: good, bad, or neutral. We are also looking for WikiProjects that may be interested in trying out new tools and layouts that will make participating easier and projects easier to maintain. If you or your WikiProject are interested, check us out! Note that this is an opt-in program; no WikiProject will be required to change anything against its wishes. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you!

Note: To receive additional notifications about WikiProject X on this talk page, please add this page to WikiProject X/Newsletter. Otherwise, this will be the last notification sent about WikiProject X.

Harej (talk) 16:57, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

Three Bridges, London
I've created an article on Three Bridges, London - Brunel's solution to the issue of how a canal, railway, and road ought to cross each other at the same site. I made extensive use of one particular source, to the extent where it got flagged by a bot. I've rewritten as far as possible to make the text more original, but would really appreciate more eyes on the piece. Grunners (talk) 18:14, 28 March 2015 (UTC)


 * Looks good! The obvious question about this structure is "why?". There must be some reason why the railway could only cross the canal at that point... Also, how about adding some of the technical details? According to [] the railway was dug last, and there must have been some unusual effort to create the aqueduct. The fact that according to some sources there are technically only two bridges, not three, is also worth a mention? The Brentford Branch Line article has a paragraph on the Three Bridges, perhaps that should be moved / expanded upon in the new article. Spoonfrog (talk) 11:59, 27 May 2015 (UTC)

Hydrology/water chemistry on the River Tone
Can anyone help? The River Tone article is currently on GA review at Talk:River Tone/GA1. Although many of the reviewers comments have been dealt with, I have been unable to find any reliable sources with information about the hydrology/water chemistry of the river, which the reviewer sees as essential. Can anyone help?&mdash; Rod talk 16:59, 16 June 2015 (UTC)

Consett and stanley canal
Could someone please take a look at this orphan article and try link to it if possible? Thanks Gbawden (talk) 07:43, 28 January 2016 (UTC)
 * I cannot find any trace of this canal on Google, Hadfield Canals of the North East or RJ Dean's Historic Maps. Did it ever exist? Oosoom Talk 16:44, 30 January 2016 (UTC)
 * It's gone bye-byes. Neat little hoax but not well-supported by "evidence". DBaK (talk) 12:43, 31 January 2016 (UTC)

Naming convention
What is the naming convention for sections of rivers that share a navigable waterway with a named canal? I'm trying to categorise images on commons for the River Kennet, but there are sections where the Kennet and Avon Canal is parallel and sections where they are combined. When combined, which name takes precedence? --Scillystuff (talk) 12:51, 17 November 2016 (UTC)
 * I know the bit you mean, through the middle of Newbury. All those swans. Anyway, you could put them in both c:Category:Bridges over the Kennet and Avon Canal and c:Category:Bridges across the River Kennet. -- Red rose64 (talk) 14:17, 17 November 2016 (UTC)
 * I was rather hoping there was a definitive source, i.e. "The naming precedence is river, navigation, navigable waterway, canal, estuary, whatever...". I'm sure to be half way through whatever option chosen when another editor will reverse it all and explain that King Davy Jones mandated the order in the Magna Canalta and why didn't I know that :) I've already had that fun with "Bridges over / Bridges across" Scillystuff (talk) 13:53, 22 November 2016 (UTC)

Queen Elizabeth II Canal
Hi, as per http://www.scotsman.com/news/transport/scotland-s-newest-canal-named-queen-elizabeth-ii-canal-1-4490828 I think Millennium Link should be renamed and updated, Thanks...GrahamHardy (talk) 12:23, 5 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Eh? I think you've misunderstood something somewhere along the line; the QEII Canal is a (small) part of the Millennium Link, but only one small stretch. (The Millennium Link runs from Bowling, west of Glasgow, to Lochrin in central Edinburgh; the QEII Canal is a small section near Falkirk that was built to by-pass an old flight of locks.) What you're proposing would be akin to suggesting that East Coast Main Line be renamed Selby Diversion. &#8209; Iridescent 17:55, 5 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Eh? I think you've misunderstood something somewhere along the line; the QEII Canal is a (small) part of the Millennium Link, but only one small stretch. (The Millennium Link runs from Bowling, west of Glasgow, to Lochrin in central Edinburgh; the QEII Canal is a small section near Falkirk that was built to by-pass an old flight of locks.) What you're proposing would be akin to suggesting that East Coast Main Line be renamed Selby Diversion. &#8209; Iridescent 17:55, 5 July 2017 (UTC)

Tributaries
Quick question, what is the convention for deciding whether a tributary is to the right or left? Do you work upstream or downstream? Murgatroyd49 (talk) 20:30, 13 May 2018 (UTC)
 * As you are facing downstream. See Bank (geography), or indeed Tributary. -- Red rose64 &#x1f339; (talk) 20:41, 13 May 2018 (UTC)

Icon renaming proposal for Route Diagrams
Please see Commons: Talk:BSicon/Renaming/Canals. Useddenim (talk) 03:37, 14 May 2018 (UTC)

WikiProject collaboration notice from the Portals WikiProject
The reason I am contacting you is because there are one or more portals that fall under this subject, and the Portals WikiProject is currently undertaking a major drive to automate portals that may affect them.

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Background
On April 8th, 2018, an RfC ("Request for comment") proposal was made to eliminate all portals and the portal namespace. On April 17th, the Portals WikiProject was rebooted to handle the revitalization of the portal system. On May 12th, the RfC was closed with the result to keep portals, by a margin of about 2 to 1 in favor of keeping portals.

There's an article in the current edition of the Signpost interviewing project members about the RfC and the Portals WikiProject.

Since the reboot, the Portals WikiProject has been busy building tools and components to upgrade portals.

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If you would like to keep abreast of what is happening with portals, see the newsletter archive.

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Thank you. &mdash; The Transhumanist  11:02, 31 May 2018 (UTC)

A new newsletter directory is out!
A new Newsletter directory has been created to replace the old, out-of-date one. If your WikiProject and its taskforces have newsletters (even inactive ones), or if you know of a missing newsletter (including from sister projects like WikiSpecies), please include it in the directory! The template can be a bit tricky, so if you need help, just post the newsletter on the template's talk page and someone will add it for you.
 * – Sent on behalf of Headbomb. 03:11, 11 April 2019 (UTC)

Request for information on WP1.0 web tool
Hello and greetings from the maintainers of the WP 1.0 Bot! As you may or may not know, we are currently involved in an overhaul of the bot, in order to make it more modern and maintainable. As part of this process, we will be rewriting the web tool that is part of the project. You might have noticed this tool if you click through the links on the project assessment summary tables.

We'd like to collect information on how the current tool is used by....you! How do you yourself and the other maintainers of your project use the web tool? Which of its features do you need? How frequently do you use these features? And what features is the tool missing that would be useful to you? We have collected all of these questions at this Google form where you can leave your response. Walkerma (talk) 04:25, 27 October 2019 (UTC)