A Royal day, project recognition and an update

If only we could legislate for the British weather! -I heard these words many times on Monday when many of us were dodging the showers.  The day was very significant for  the Wilts & Berks Canal Trust as we were all delighted that the Trust’s Patron, HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, made a visit to Swindon to officially inaugurate the new landing stage at the Waitrose store in Wichelstowe.  The event  is well recorded elsewhere on the Trust’s web site and social media but Roderick Bluh wanted to use this blog to record his thanks to  all who were involved:-

The visit by HRH the Duchess of Cornwall on Monday went off very smoothly and was a great success.   Even the rain couldn’t dampen the occasion.

The visit may have been all over in little more than an hour but that belies the huge number of hours and number of people involved in making it all happen.  Such a visit is a massive undertaking and my sincere thanks therefore go out to everyone who worked so hard.  In particular, I must mention Chris Coyle and the event team who have spent a huge amount of time ensuring that the arrangements were all in place.
We used the short time we had on Dragonfly, very effectively, to fully apprise our Patron of the current plans and work taking place to accelerate the delivery of the canal and she responded very positively and with great interest.

Well done everyone!

The Trust’s newly appointed President, Sir William McAlpine, hosted the event together with the ever supportive President of the Wiltshire Swindon & Oxfordshire Canal Partnership, Lord Lansdowne.  We were pleased that a large number of invited guests from Partnership organisations and sponsors of the project were able to attend to see this latest milestone in  the canal’s restoration.

Some more recognition for the Wilts & Berks this week as it was announced that the Pewsham Locks Centenary Celebration is a finalist in this year’s Living Waterways Awards. The awards ceremony will take place  in London at the beginning of October and is hosted by the Canal & River Trust.  Special thanks to Val Melville and the team - we will all be keeping our fingers crossed when we hear the winner is........

 

Finally a quick update on Studley Grange  -  I am sorry and frustrated  to report yet more delays in starting the actual excavation work but all other things being equal I hope that next week’s blog will confirm that work has started.

 

Ken Oliver