Membership Matters

We welcome new Life Members:-

Steven & Heather Baker from Garswood

Sales Stall

A quiet summer stretched ahead as the Boat Jumble was cancelled and St Helens Council turned down our application for a charity stall at the Festival, so we had plenty of time to prepare for the Anderton Canal & River Festival.  Organised by IWA Chester Branch on 21/22 June, it was very enjoyable weekend with a good atmosphere.  Drama was added as we woke up on Sunday morning to find most of the site flattened by a freak wind and a couple of tents blown into the adjoining field.  Prompted by the risk assessment we had to submit on entry, the caravan awning was securely tied down so we suffered no damage.  The show went on and I doubt the visitors on Sunday afternoon noticed any difference.

As usual over the August Bank Holiday weekend we attended the IWA National Festival, held this year at Autherley Junction near Wolverhampton.  A phone call the day before we were due to travel down telling us that the exhibitors' campsite and car park was flooded, set the scene.  Unbelievably heavy showers over the next couple of days didn't help but every one clung to the forecasters' promise of dry weather for the duration of the show.

The festival campsite was in the centre of Dunstall Park racecourse and we had use of the jockeys' facilities, luxury!  The showground was a bus ride or a 30-minute walk along the towpath away, which was a novelty and focussed the mind on not forgetting anything.  Trade was good over the three days and interest ranged from the "where on earth is it?" to the ex-pats from Winwick, Widnes and Burtonwood who passed on their memories of the canal.  It was good to meet some Society members there, too. 

Ground conditions on site improved each day thanks to the drier weather and a lot of hard work by WRG and IWA.  Stallholders stressed each day about how they would get stock and equipment off the site at the end but as long as we did as we were told, the arrangements seemed to work well. 

Thanks go to Andy Screen and Dave Smallshaw for their very welcome help.

Cynthia Greenall

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