Focus on Swindon

As I write this, at the end of the Easter holiday, it seems to me that a lot of the last week's activity has continued to be about Swindon.  Our boat Dragonfly has taken a lot of people on a trip to see the canal, and of course the new Waitrose store.  Useful progress made there, we think.  We were also very pleased to hear that Richard Parry, the Chief Executive of Canal and River Trust, has followed up his visit to Wichelstowe and Swindon with a letter of support for the restoration of the canal, emphasising that Swindon will be at the hub of the network in which the Wilts & Berks links the River Thames, the Kennet and Avon Canal, and the Cotswold Canals.

During the week we had a useful meeting with officers from Swindon Borough Council, talking about their plans for the next phase of development in Middle and West Wichel, and our plans for the canal link between Wichelstowe and Westleaze.  In addition there are some other projects we want to move forward, so now we can move on to the next stage, of working up more detailed proposals.  

As some of you will have picked up on, there was quite a lot of publicity about the removal of fish stocks from the water at Kingshill, where we run our trip boat Dragonfly.  The Trust came in for some completely unjustified criticism for this - it had nothing to do with us, as the work was commissioned by Swindon Borough Council.  There was also some misunderstanding about the reason; the water used to be fished by an angling club, but the developments such as the new Waitrose store in the area meant that it was no longer possible for them to carry on.  The fish have been moved to a new lake, and the new stretch of canal, at Wichelstowe where the angling society which used to fish at Kingshill can start again.  We are pleased to have been able to negotiate a lease with the angling society, formalising the arrangement, and generating some income for the Trust.

I was delighted to see that the Trust was able to have a stand right outside Waitrose over the Easter weekend, manned by the Swindon branch plus the odd helper.  When I was there at times, there seemed to be a high level of interest among the public.  And if the Waitrose 'Community Matters Green Disc' scheme is to be taken as a guide, there is a lot of support for the canal - when I looked there were more green discs in our box than in the other two put together.  The general reaction seems to be the usual one:-  'I didn't know there was a canal in Swindon, it's a great idea.  When will it be finished?'  Its now our job to keep the momentum going!

Chris Coyle

Dear blog reader please accept  my apologies for the late  posting of this blog- entirley  my fault.

Ken Oliver