Picking up the Threads

Just back from a family holiday in Canada, and picking up the threads, they seem to be pretty much as they were before I left, but with good progress on all of them.
The Peterborough Arms is looking much better for its 'wash and brush up', both inside and out. My thanks to the many enthusiastic volunteers from the Trust and the local community who participated so willingly in that effort. We are starting the process of detailed planning for the next stage; this will include involving our members and the local community in the plans by having them involved in the steering group for the project.
On that theme, I was asked at very short notice to give a presentation on the whole Dauntsey Lock project, including the Peterborough Arms, to the Rotary Club of Royal Wootton Bassett and District, so it was an excellent opportunity to give them an update on where we are, and our plans.
The Melksham River Festival is almost upon us - next weekend in fact. I am hugely impressed by the hard work being put into its planning and organisation. This is a Trust-wide event, but a lot of the work is being done by the members of MCC branch, and we are very grateful to them for taking this on. I am sure offers of help would still be welcome, and in any event we would love to see as many members of the Trust and the general public there as possible.
Meanwhile, work goes on as usual on a number of projects. The breach in the culvert carrying the Cocklemore Brook under the canal at Pewsham Locks is turning into a major reconstruction task, which is well under way now that water levels have dropped enough to allow the team to start work.
The team in Swindon are making progress as quickly as they can on a number of projects, including the landing stage at Waitrose. In the meantime we continue our dialogue with the authorities in Swindon, trying to persuade them of the merits of restoring the canal back through the town centre.
So, as always, a lot of enthusiastic support and effort, on both short and long term projects.
Chris Coyle