| UK. British Waterways Heritage & Waterways Trust to exhibit restored working boats |
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| Thursday, 06 April 2006 | |
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Company news: A unique partnership between two major heritage organisations will enable even more people to gain a unique insight into the lives of those who worked on our waterways at the height of the industrial revolution. The British Waterways Heritage Lottery Funded Working Boat Project and the Waterways Trust will be working together to exhibit the restored working boats they own between them, bringing the fascinating history of this period to a wider audience. The Working Boats Project operates a fleet of craft in the Midlands which take part in a large number of waterways events, festivals and rallies and support regeneration schemes, canal history projects and community schemes. Visitors to these events will be able to go aboard the historic boats and listen to experts talk about the people who once worked on the industrial arteries which changed the face of the country. The Waterways Trust owns 80 craft, which are kept at the National Waterways Museum at Gloucester, the Boat Museum at Ellesmere Port and the Canal Museum at Stoke Bruerne. Usually the boats do not leave the museum, but thanks to this new partnership those which have been restored will be joining the British Waterways craft at a number of events around the region. Meanwhile, the British Waterways boats will visit the three waterways museums. In addition, one craft has been specially adapted to provide a mobile venue for canal history exhibitions using material from the Waterways Trust National Waterways Archive. Working Boats project co-ordinator Richard Lacy said he is delighted to be involved in the scheme. “The history of our canals and the people who worked on them is fascinating and through this project we will be able to tell more people than ever before about them. “The Waterways Trust and ourselves have the joint aim of keeping our waterways heritage alive and this new partnership will help us to achieve that.” Sophie Fowler, Head of Collections at The Waterways Trust commented: “Today canals are used for leisure purposes – walking, cycling, fishing and boating. However, for more than 300 years our waterway network had a profound influence over life in Britain and enabled the Industrial Revolution to happen. “By joining together with British Waterways, The Waterways Trust will be able to take the history of our waterways directly into communities, telling more people the story of the canals, providing an essential link between our heritage and contemporary life.” Boats from both organisations will be operated by a team of volunteers drawn from The Working Boat Project, the Boat Museum Society (Ellesmere Port), The Friends of the National Waterways Museum (Gloucester and the Friends of the Canal Museum (Stoke Bruerne). In addition to taking the history of our waterways directly into communities, this project will give volunteers a far wider range of opportunity for handling and experiencing different boats and boating situations and open up a whole new range of training opportunities. You can see the working boats on the following dates: April 15 – 17 – Working boat rally at Ellesmere Museum June 17-18 – Stoke Bruerne Museum June 24 – 25 – National Waterways Museum, Gloucester. June 30 – July 3 – Sagitta provides exhibition venues for the Waterways Trust Archive at Saul Gathering, Gloucester & Sharpness Canal. July – Boat Museum Society horse-drawn run with Gifford from Ellesmere Port to Oldbury to mark the 40th anniversary of the closure of Claytons of Oldbury. August – December - Waterways Trust boat Shad attending a series of events in the Midlands and South in company with Working Boat Project boats including the Historic Narrowboat Owners Club Anniversary at Marple, IWA National Festival, Black Country Boating Festival, Parkhead Dudley Tunnel Rally, Dudley Festival of Water & Light , Stourbridge Bonded Warehouse Rally, Birmingham Christmas Illuminated Boat Parade. |
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| Last Updated ( Thursday, 06 April 2006 ) |
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