Boats, boat lovers and shoppers flocked to Ellesmere at the weekend to visit the floating market on the Shropshire Union Canal, held by the Roving Canal Traders Association. While visitors enjoyed the wide range of goods available, Jackie & Mick Warren of Jays4Jewellery presented a cheque for £600 on behalf of RCTA to our chairman,Tony Hales in front of their narrowboat 'Half a Shilling', from which they sell soaps and crafts.
The RCTA has held a series of seven floating markets around the country since April this year. The RCTA collects a fee from each trading boat taking part in the market to cover its costs of advertising, provision of site signage, and other administrative costs. Now that the season is coming to a close, the RCTA has decided to donate its surplus to the Canal & River Trust to support our work caring for the nation's waterways.
New and exciting
Tony Hales said: “I'm delighted to receive this donation from the Roving Canal Traders Association and I am grateful for their support. It's always a wonderful pleasure to come across a boat selling things when you're out on the canal, and the range of things you can buy always astounds me. I'm a big fan of the floating markets the RCTA have been holding. They draw more people to the waterways and offer something new and exciting that visitors really love.”
Paul Howland, membership secretary of the Roving Canal Traders Association, added: “The Floating Markets, organised by the Roving Canal Traders Association working in conjunction with the Canal & River Trust, began less than a year ago with the first market in Birmingham. This year has seen RCTA members bring a vibrant taste of the waterways to nearly a dozen locations around the canal network to be enjoyed by boaters and non-boaters.”
