With the world in a very precarious state at the moment due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, it is reassuring to find that apart from the medical experiments and research tests that are being conducted 24 hours a day throughout the world, that another form of vaccine / protection is being developed and is proving to be a considerable success.

Danish company UVD Robots from Odense have created a robot that can destroy microbe viruses by using an ultraviolet light. Vice president of the company Simon Ellison explained whilst demonstrating through a glass window of how the process works. “We have been growing our business at quite a huge pace, but the Covid 19 outbreak has accelerated the demand for the new robots”

Chief executive Per Juul Nielson added “ truckload`s of machines have been sent to

China especially to Wuhan where the outbreak first took place, sales in Asia and across Europe have increased dramatically since the virus spread across continents”

Mr Nielson stated that Italy on reflection had taken the main brunt of the disease along with Spain and the UK and at the moment and are in a desperate situation with the fatality rate rising on a daily basis.

Like every other country across the globe, everybody wants to try and help to curb the virus from getting worse than it already is.

UVD robots on the frontline

Launched back in 2019 after an extensive 6 year trial experimental period between parent companies Blue Ocean Robotics and Odense University, the robots which cost £ 53,370 each, were designed to reduce the likelihood of hospital acquired infections which have surfaced over the past years and can be costly to treat due to the amount of care involved.

Because of the increase and fast spread of the virus throughout the world, production has significantly risen, and now takes less than one day to construct a machine.

Ultraviolet Light

So how does the robot work? Eight bulbs emit concentrated UC-C ultraviolet light that destroys bacteria, viruses and other harmful microbes by damaging its DNA or RNA, stopping it from multiplying further.

At the moment the process is damaging to humans, hence the demonstration behind a closed partition, but it is something that the companies are working on.

The process itself takes between 10-20 minutes per room, once finished there is a noticeable burning smell, something that can only be described like singed hair.

To be effective the UV needs to fall directly onto a surface, if light waves are blocked by dust or obstructions such as shadows or shaded areas, then the areas will not be treated, therefore manual cleaning is needed prior to the UV light being used.

The use of UV light is not new to the scientific field having been used for decades in air and water purification and also in various labs around the world, but by combining them with the autonomous robots they become a different thing altogether.

Professor Hans Jorn Kolmes of the University of Southern Denamrk quoted “if you apply a proper amount of ultraviolet light for an allocated period of time, you can be pretty sure that you will get rid of the organism, the type that have problematic strains that give rise to infections”.

This type of disinfection can also be applied to epidemic situations, like the current Coronavirus / Covid 19 example that we are dealing with right now.

blue ocean robots at work

Although there is no significant proof that the robotic light can be effective against Covid 19, the experiments show that it is successful in killing other similar viruses such as Mers and Sars which have been killed by the use of the ultraviolet light.

Associate professor Dr Lena Ciric who is an expert on molecular biology at the University College London agrees that UV disinfection robots can help fight against the disease, she added “the robots are not silver bullets, but they do provide an extra line of defence alongside any medical or chemical breakthroughs”

Because we are experiencing more and more patients being admitted to our hospitals around the world, its more important than ever to be on top of the cleaning and decontamination routines, these robots definitely work in that area.

American company Xenex have also developed a robot called “Light Strike” which has to be manually put in place, but delivers high intensity UV light rays from a U shaped bulb

The firm has seen a huge rise in orders since the onset of the virus mainly from Italy, Japan, Thailand and South Korea.

Xenex said that numerous studies show that the Light Strike is effective at reducing hospital infections and combating relevant super bugs. One Texan hospital used it in their clean up operation after an Ebola case back in 2014.

Due to the Light Strikes success, more than 500 health clinics and hospitals throughout the US and beyond have installed one into their facilities.

In California and Nebraska it is already being put to good use by sanitising hospital rooms where coronavirus patients have been receiving treatment.

Technical Swerve

China has seen an incredible swerve towards new technology to help fight the disease, with the nation having the highest spend on drones and robotic systems.

Both Japan and China have been seen for years as the forerunners where technology is concerned, one thing is for sure, they will not stop until they find the solution.

Xenex light strike model

Robots have been used in a vast range of tasks for years, mainly for disinfection, deliveries, medical devices, waste control and temperature checking, so this is not new technology as such, but a merging of mechanical and medical minds.

Research Manager Leon Xian of IDC China said “We think this is a breakthrough for the greater use of robotics, both for hospitals and in public places”

Although the robots are efficient, humans have a natural sense of caution when it comes to change of their normal routines, ultimately time will tell and now is certainly the time to do so.

Because the virus originated in China, home grown scientists and technicians have been spurred on to create and develop a type of anti-body / vaccine whether it be mechanical or medical.

One such company YouiBot of Shenzhen were already developing autonomous robots, by adapting its technology to make a disinfection device which can be moved by using wheels and castors automatically, placing them in places without the use of any manual labour.

A YouiBot spokesman said “We have been trying to do something to help, for us technically it is not as difficult as people imagine, it is just finding the right formula, like building Lego”.

We have already supplied factories, offices, airports and hospitals in Wuhan.

The machines are running for 24 hours a day, checking body temperature during the day and are killing virus spores at night.

Due to the devastating affect the Coronavirus has had on manufacturers, plants, and engineering  facilities, there has been a major problem getting parts and accessories to keep production and assembly lines moving, when a vital component is missing it slows down the production and hampers development.

Companies such as Bearingtech can help to solve these problems by supplying such parts and accessories to all major and minor establishments to help keep production moving in the right direction, which helps to keep the assembly lines and food production conveyor belts rolling.

Unfortunately most epidemics do not bring good news, when one does appear, companies including research labs, chemical companies, technical plants and inventive institutions step forward and try to solve the problems that they bring, the robotic side of technology has and will help in this situation.

YouiBot robots checking temperatures in public places daily

We are at present in the midst of the worst peacetime catastrophe since World War 2, when faced with problems or conflicts the human spirit and nature is to survive and to protect what we hold dear to us, whether the threat comes from an epidemic or military force, one thing is certain we must and will stand together and share our information for the good of all others, be sensible and think before we act no matter what this disease throws at us.

There is no doubt that this virus has got far worse than anyone expected, but be assured the people of the world will not rest on their laurels and wait, we will do whatever it takes to combat and defeat this threat to mankind.

Former president of the USA Ronald Reagan once said “If World War 3 is declared then no one will turn up due to the technical advancements that we have made”

This might not be a war in the conventional mould, but everyone on the planet will turn up, take part and defeat it!

Amidst all the doom and gloom about Covid 19 it’s a really nice change to have something positive to announce!

Over the past year or so The Merchant Navy Association (MNA) and their Boat Club  have agreed an operational partnership with the RNLI whereby MNA Boat Club members have been encouraged to join forces with the  RNLI  to promote the RNLI’s Respect the Water campaign to reduce the almost 200  fatalities as a result of drowning in and around the UK every year; 70% of those drownings occur on inland waterways where the RNLI has no lifeboat stations and hence no Water Safety officer or Advisers either so the MNA Boat Club have taken the initiative in the form of launching  their new “MNA WaterWatch” scheme

MNA WaterWatch, along with the recent introduction by the RNLI of their micro-volunteering “Local Ambassadors” scheme means that all members of the MNA and  MNA  Boat Club  now have the opportunity to become Local Ambassadors for the RNLI to actively promote the Respect the Water Campaign.

Initially the RNLI Local Ambassadors initiative is focusing on promoting safety on and around the UK’s beaches where as a result of Covid 19  many of these  beaches have become crowded to a far greater extent  than is usual even at this time of year with the result that  the RNLI's Lifeguards, and the Coastguard Rescue Service’s  resources are being hugely stretched.

However the RNLI are well aware that many of the MNA’s  members live inland and are quite often situated close to our rivers, canals, lakes or the Broads and the Fens and are ideally located to act as Local Ambassadors in those areas,  so the MNA Boat Club is working with the RNLI to develop a Local Ambassadors focus aimed specifically at promoting safety on and around our inland waters.

In the meantime the MNA Boat Club is already working with various organisations to promote the Respect the Water campaign on the coast and inland waterways of  East Anglia and the new RNLI Local Ambassadors scheme, with its very simple and straightforward on-line registration process provides the ideal  vehicle for delivering water  safety messages both for those taking a holiday either at the coast or afloat on,  or  near to, our many inland waterways such as the Broads and the Fens.

Further information is available on the MNA Boat Club website and on the RNLI website  or by email from Clive Edwards

Please note the walks were done before National Lockdown on 23rd March 2020.

My Dad and I walked the Chesterfield canal over a six month period in five stages.

West Stockwith to Clarborough – 7^th September 2019

On our maiden walk, we walked from West Stockwith, where the canal meets the River Trent, to Clarborough, a village near Retford.

We began our quest with a coffee at the Waterfront Inn then had a look at the marina and joined The Cuckoo Way to Clarborough.

It’s a beautiful stretch of the canal with the surrounding countryside and remnants of past industrial activity such as the brickworks near Gringley On the Hill.

Thirteen miles later we reached Clarborough and stopped for a drink at The Kings Arm before returning home.

Clarborough to Worksop – 9^th November 2019

We drove to Retford and caught a bus to Clarborough…our plan was to walk from there to Worksop because catching a bus (as we thought at the time) back to Retford would be easier.  It wasn’t a long walk to the outskirts of Retford.  I bought a takeaway coffee and used the facilities at the canal side Bay Tree Café Bar and enjoyed the market town’s ambience.  We did notice a considerable amount of flooding around the River Idle.

After admiring the autumn colours around the town’s cemetery, we approached and ascended up the Forest Locks.

We stopped at the Forest Middle Top Lock for lunch.  We were hoping to stop for a drink at Ranby but it was a long walk to the pub (the canal bridge where we needed to get off was a bit of a walking distance). Instead we soldiered on passing Obserton Hall and reached the outskirts of Worksop as it was getting dark.  After 12 miles or so of walking, we had a well earned drink at The Liquorice Gardens before supposedly catching our bus back to Retford.

We learnt that due to the heavy localised flooding, our bus was cancelled! Instead we had to catch a train and it was a bit of walk up a hill to the town’s station (it was tough going after already walking so many miles).  We had to wait a bit for the train but we eventually made it to Retford for our return home.

Worksop to Norwood Tunnel (East Portal) – 23^rd December 2019

We continued our adventures on the Chesterfield Canal by parking the car in Sheffield and catching the train to Worksop.  We had a quick coffee stop at the station’s café before descending down the hill towards the canal.

We picked up where we left off on our previous walk and walked via Shireoaks to the tunnel.  I remember the walk for its many locks set in stunning scenery with the canal travelling through incredible woodlands and reflecting the engineering ingenuity as far as the locks were concerned.

We meant to have stopped for a drink at the Station Pub at Kiveton Park but the pub didn’t open until 4.00pm and we couldn’t hang around till then.

We walked the remaining stretch to the tunnel entrance and continued attempting to walk overland to the other portal but couldn’t find The Cuckoo Way signs so we diverted ourselves through a country park and numerous muddy fields towards Killamarsh.

We eventually went under the motorway (M1) and walked into Woodall village and on its main road we spotted a bus stop and the bus we needed to get back to Sheffield stopped there!  With half an hour to spare we had a drink at The Travellers Rest.  A hot chocolate with cognac was well received after another tough walk especially the latter stages!  Bus bound and on our arrival at Sheffield we went home.

Chesterfield to Renishaw – 11^th January 2020

This was one of our first walks in the new year.  We parked the car in Chesterfield where we had breakfast and also had a little look round the town centre including its market square and of course St Mary’s and All Saints Church (which is infamous for its crooked spire).  A short walk out of town, we picked up The Cuckoo Way and crossed one of the main roads where we walked along the River Rother until reaching the canal.  It was a short walk to Tapton Lock Visitors Centre where we had a coffee and I bought some canal souvenirs including the official canal guide.

The Transpennine trail shares the same path as The Cuckoo Way.  After a few more locks we reached Hollingwood Hub where we visited the café and facilities and enjoyed coffee again with cake in its outside seating area.  There was a consultation event happening at the same time so we found out more about the canal’s restoration proposals.  Their aim is to have the canal completely restored in 2027 and I feel it’s doable as there are only a few miles now that are still yet to be restored. Afterwards, we had a look at the Staveley’s Basin where they usually have annual canal events (though the events in 2020 have sadly been cancelled due to COVID-19 though they will be reinstated in 2021 all being well).

We saw the recently restored town lock and continued our way.  The Cuckoo Way appeared to have been blocked so we pick up the Transpennine Trail to finish the remainder of our walk.  We finished our walk in Renishaw and after some confusion where we should be catching our bus back to Chesterfield; we eventually caught the bus for our drive home.

Renishaw to Norwood Tunnel (West Portal) – 7^th March 2020

There was one jigsaw puzzle missing for our completion of our Chesterfield Canal adventures and this was to reach Norwood Tunnel (West Portal).  We parked our car in Sheffield and got the bus to Renishaw.  On arrival we had a lovely breakfast at The Sitwell Arms and afterwards picked up The Cuckoo Way for our walk towards Killamarsh.

We briefly joined the Transpennine Trail and enjoyed a stop at its “town station” (the trail is on a disused railway and there used to be a station).  We got slightly lost in Killamarsh and ended up wandering in Rother Valley Country Park.  With the help of Google Maps we eventually rejoined the Cuckoo Way for our ascent up to Norwood Tunnel (West Portal).  We then retraced our steps back to Killamarsh and caught our bus back to Sheffield where we picked up a take away coffee for our journey home.

Final thoughts

We thoroughly enjoyed our adventures on the Chesterfield Canal.

The canal offers some of the most incredible and rustic scenery I’ve ever seen on a waterway and its set beautifully in its rural settings.

However logical planning needs to be done as the canal (apart from the Chesterfield to Renishaw stretch and of course the towns) do lack canal side facilities and also the lack of public transportation - particularly in Nottinghamshire as the Retford to Gainsborough bus (which runs along the main road near the canal) is every two hours during the day!  This was definitely something we had to be mindful about as most of our walks were between 10-13 miles.

The canal isn’t too busy so crowds aren’t an issue (especially with the current situation) whatsoever and it is a perfect waterway to explore.  The canal will for sure open up a lot more places once it’s fully restored – only a few miles between Staveley and Kiveton Park.

Further information about Chesterfield Canal Trust can be found here.

Dawn Smallwood
September 2020

Hi, Devid Scowcrovich, you may have read my lockdown diaries.  I’m the new Chief Executive Officer at the Banal and Dither Truss and I wanted to reassure that my appointment will not mean any changes for cyclists on the inland waterways.  In fact, I think my appointment can only add to the enjoyment of that leisure activity.

You will be relieved to know that my background is not in water.  The Truss’ officers, in the past, had concentrated far too much on the waterway system and not enough on the towpaths of the system.  Indeed, you will be appalled to learn that several rivers (that’s the watery things that run from mountains to sea, taking away sewage) have no towpaths.  I am sure that my O-level in geography contributed to my appointment, that, and the fact that I have never been on a boat in my life.

It is one of my ambitions never to go on an inland boat except for media interviews.  I will be seen shaking hands (pandemic permitting) with boat owners of all kinds from the safety of the bank.  It is, as if, I will be at a funeral shaking hands with all the bereaved - less the flowers and the sincerity.  Not that I will be destroying the boating way of life, as for many it is just a hobby and a leisure opportunity.  Those who live on a boat are probably desperate or demented.  Certainly, there must be some mental instability when it is known that a boat is a ‘hole in the water into which you pour money’.

So why would anyone buy a boat?  The boat is going to sink in the future at some stage.  Even vintage boats have had their front bit (what’s it called again - the pointy bit?) and the back end, now don’t tell me it’s not the bottom – you will have to be stern with me here and tell me again, anyway the back bit has probably been replaced at least once.  There is probably very little left of the original boat isn’t that right, Mr President?  One famous such ship, someone told me, isn’t really the right boat for that name; they merely took the name and put it on a better-preserved boat.  So, not all you see on the water is necessarily - real truth.  For instance, you would think our headquarters was somewhere handy for the canal users like Birmingham or Leeds, but no I am writing this to you from a railway station in South Shields.  And very quiet it is too; none of those horrible boat fog horns, running diesel engines and smoking chimneys.

Just to underline my point, on ‘historic’ or is it ‘hysteric’ boats, the name of a certain boat will be changed to ‘The Donald’.  We hope to achieve funding from America once they are informed that the canals are merely a water-hazard and the surroundings could be made into the biggest golf course in the world.  As ‘The Donald’ would say ‘That’s huge, that’s a biggie, I am probably the world expert on canals having seen that one in Central America; is it called ‘The Pineapple Canal?  Well it is now; I will sign the Executive Order.  Then we can start changing all the canals in Englandshire into a golf course.  After all boats don’t go anywhere just cruise round in rings.’

How reassuring, I think you will agree, to have such a ringing endorsement from probably the most important idiot person in the world. And with him being such an expert on canals his support of our new direction for the Waterways of GB can only be positive.  Even our own Prime Minister (between making children) has launched the idea that canals become cycle tracks.

Speaking to boaters, last week.  I was cornered by several eccentrics (oddities) wearing bobble hats and smelling faintly of engine oil. They admitted that if one could aim golf balls at speeding cyclists this would be a plus for the canals.  An entirely new sport and activity on the canals, and I have only just begun my appointment - much more to come from South Shields.  Like our new slogan ‘Making life better by South Shields’ – copyright Scowcrovich productions.

There’s going to be a new normal on the waterways - Keeping fit and well.  Our Truss has, as far as records exist, always been a ‘Wellness Charity’: previous records were lost on a Bonfire Night.  We can extend this ‘keep fit’ regime to include boat owners not only dodging speeding cyclists but golf balls as well.  With our new motto ‘Fore’ we will be for ever going forward.  Particularly boaters who will have to go forwards only, as Winding Holes will now become fishponds.

I know, you are keen for me to get off cycling and on to the historical subject of – fishing.  Traditionally there has been conflict between fishers with long poles (mainly men) and cyclists in tight Lycra (mainly men).  Cyclists claim fishers are blocking the towpath, fishers claim cyclists are travelling too fast.  All this will end when the towpath is widened at the slight expense of water width.  A narrowboat is only 6ft 10ins wide and that could be the width of the water, not sure why they need the extra ten inches but let’s be generous.  None of this towpath widening will cause any protest since in a pilot scheme, only a few years ago, the towpath was widened at the Edgbaston Tunnel without any fuss or protest.  The widening allowed two cyclists to pass whilst boats waited at the tunnel entrance.  This innovative project can now be rolled out nationally.

To conclude: My period as Chief or if you insist ‘The Chief’ will concentrate on the majority of persons in the UK, that is those who don’t have a boat and not on that very small minority who own a boat.