Braunston Historic Boat Show 2009
June 27th -28th

     It had been many years since we had last visited the Braunston Historic Boat Show, on the Grand Union Canal near the junction with the Oxford Canal. It just so happened that Tim Coghlan, MD of Braunston Marina, gave a talk to the Swindon Branch last Christmas time and mentioned this fact. Struck by conscience we made application and were booked in.
     We (John Minns, Keith Walker, Keith Dowding & I) arrived there on the Friday afternoon and were allocated a prominent spot outside the main marquee, near the beer tent, ice cream van and burger bar. The tent was soon erected and we were able to retire to the Mill House for a bit of lunch.
     The weekend was very busy, surprisingly so. The visitors were not to be disappointed. There were 84 historic boats on show and they paraded twice a day; no mean feat in the confined waterway. The weekend, although overcast, was very, very hot. There was a lot of interest shown in our project and several possible new recruits.
    Normally be have to pay to attend some of these events; this one was free. Even better we were presented with a cheque for £200 by Sonia Rolt. This was part of the profit made by the event, all of which is donated to local charities and attending canal groups.
     It was a very enjoyable weekend, and thanks to Johns instinct for the weather we had everything loaded into the car on Sunday evening just minutes before the heavens opened. So the marquee came home dry!

     Just in case there is someone who doesn't know who Sonia Rolt is: Sonia was one of the "Idle Women", from the Second World War, who crewed some of the working narrow boats. After the war she married Tom Rolt (co-founder of the IWA). Sonia is a totally dedicated waterways campaigner. We thank her.

Here are just a few pictures.......