|
|
| Volume 5, Number 12 - Summer 2005 | |
|
|
Our Presence at The Inland Waterways Association's 2005 National Waterways FestivalWell, it was certainly a nerve-racking June, but on the morning of the 29th we received the news we had been waiting for – confirmation that the National Lottery Awards for All had granted the maximum £5,000 to promote Halton Waterways to a consortium consisting of SCARS, Runcorn Locks Restoration Society and the River Weaver Navigation Society. The money was to be used to promote all three schemes at the Halton Show in mid-July and the IWA National Festival at Preston Brook over August bank holiday. It was a race against time to get: 20,000 brochures designed and printed (see Press Release to download copies); six sets of display boards chosen and bought; three telescopic banner stands designed and constructed, and a slide-show presentation set up on a laptop computer and projector to run for the duration of the show.
Halton Rangers had very kindly offered the use of the Spike Island Visitor Centre for us at the Show, and this saved us the hassle of acquiring and erecting a large marquee on site. At this point I should add that Halton Borough Council have given us a grant of around £1,000 to cover the cost of the marquee we are hiring at Preston Brook so they are, in every sense, ensuring that Halton Waterways has a roof over its head. Somehow we managed it all, and although elements of the display and the slide-show presentation will be expanded and enhanced in time for Preston Brook, it was an excellent dry-run for us all, so that we know what to do at the National, where we will potentially have some important visitors who we will desperately want to impress. We have time to sort out the wrinkles - some of the photographs may have to be retaken as they didn't all blow up to A3 size as well as we would have liked. The laptop presentation through the brand new projector went surprisingly well once we had worked out how to do a full-size projection.
While Colin and Cynthia Greenall ran the existing SCARS stall on the main part of the Halton Show site, Dave Smallshaw and Andy Screen kept the SCARS end of Halton Waterways stand going, all ably assisted at various times by Peter Keen, Neil Forshaw, David Long and Pam & Richard Chester-Browne. Thanks to the Runcorn Locks team, primarily Roy, Pat and Sylvie for keeping us on our toes throughout the weekend. Very many thanks also to the Rangers, and Anthony and Carol in particular, for their very kind hospitality (and leaflet-wrapping and IT skills). We distributed rather fewer of the 20,000 brochures than we had planned so we would really love to see as many members as possible at Preston Brook to help us hand out the remaining forty-odd boxes of them! If you can spare an hour or two, contact Andy Screen (details below), who will arrange either a free pass (first come, first served!), or one at a concessionary price. Depending how much time you can commit, you may even get a Halton Waterways polo shirt to wear!
Everyone seemed to think the display at Halton Show was really good, which was a great relief to those who have worked hard over the recent months to put it all together, and I know we can only improve it for Preston Brook. We would welcome any thoughts and idea for how to best promote both the Sankey and Halton's Waterways to the local people, local councils and the more distant funding agencies who will one day (hopefully!) help us restore them all. Please come along to Preston Brook and tell us what you think. Andy Screen Index for this issue Index of all Canal Cuttings issues Home Page Site design and content © 2002 - 2005 Sankey Canal Restoration Society |
