Horse-drawn boat is top attraction at Easter Historic Boat Gathering

The four-day festival (bank holiday weekend (29 March -1 April) offers visitors the opportunity to get up close to fascinating old working boats as well as modern narrowboats and enjoy a fantastic range of waterway-themed activities and music.

Flower and Saturn

For the first time in many years, the traditional Good Friday convoy from Chester to Ellesmere Port will be led by a horse drawn boat. Flower and Saturn, along with around 30 historic boats, will leave Chester City Centre early Friday morning and travel along the Shropshire Union Canal, arriving at the Museum between 11am and 1pm.

Located at the junction of the Manchester Ship Canal and the Shropshire Union Canal, the National Waterways Museum site will stage a wide range of special attractions from craft workshops and children’s activities to steam engines working in the Power Hall.

Flower, an eight-year-old mare, will be demonstrating her new towing skills by taking the former Cheshire cheese cargo flyboat Saturn through on-site locks in a series of demonstrations on Saturday and Sunday at 11.45am and 1.45pm.

Rare canal treasures

There will also be a chance to see fascinating rare canal treasures at the National Waterways Archive, giving visitors the potential to track down their own long-lost family connections to the nation’s historic canal network. The Collections Team will also be demonstrating the use of new ground-breaking photogrammetry technology, now providing 3D access to historic artifacts, thanks to a project supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.

Foot-tapping music will be provided by LocTup Together and Sea Shanty Rebels on Saturday and Sunday between 11am and 3pm, and on all four days, visitors will also be able to enjoy short boat trips along the Shropshire Union Canal, run by volunteers from the Wirral Community Narrow Boat Trust.

The Museum’s private collections store at nearby Rossfield Road, packed with old waterway treasures, will again open its doors on Saturday and Sunday for Behind-the-Scenes Tours at 11am and 1pm.

Throughout the weekend, work by the Cheshire Artist Network will be on display in the Island Warehouse Gallery, and on Sunday and Monday (11am – 1pm) Ellesmere Port Model Boat Club will be staging displays in the top basin.

A celebration of canal heritage

Chris Done, our visitor services manager, said: “The 2024 Easter Historic Boat Gathering promises to be a fantastic celebration of our wonderful canal heritage. It will be brilliant to have a horse-drawn boat leading the Good Friday festival convoy for the first time in many years. We’re particularly looking forward to seeing Flower towing Saturn through the site and spending the weekend with us giving lock demonstrations.

“We hope visitors will enjoy the opportunity to explore behind-the-scenes of the museum to view historic boats and heritage artefacts not normally on public display, and particularly to see how the latest photogrammetry techniques are revolutionising access to precious objects.

“For families, there is a special children’s trail, boat-themed playground and face painting. Hopefully this spectacular waterway festival will be the launch of a fabulous summer season for everyone.”

More information

The museum will be open 10am – 4pm over the Easter weekend and then five days a week (Wednesday – Sunday) for the rest of the season. Explorers activities for children will be taking place during the Easter school holidays on Tuesdays and Thursdays (April 2,4,9,11).

From May to September, special themed Sundays will feature a range of attractions from Steampunk to Living History and Canal Town. A day devoted to horse drawn boats will be hosted on Sunday 11 August and music lovers can enjoy a concert from The Old Time Sailors on the evening of Friday 17 May. We would be delighted to hear from anyone interested in volunteering at the museum.