This summer we welcomed some of our Friends to iconic waterway sites at our Gifts in Wills events. Our experts took them behind the scenes to see how we care for canals, heritage, nature and communities.
Our Friends explore Gloucester Docks, aboard former Dunkirk small boat, Queen Boadicea II
Apart from being a great day out among fellow Friends, and an exclusive chance to get closer to the huge range of work our charity does to keep canals alive, each event was a wonderful opportunity to consider how a gift in your Will could help to shape their future.
At the National Waterways Museum, Gloucester, we took our Friends deep into row after row of our archives to hear about some of our rarest canal artefacts from collections officer, Julia Morgan. Meanwhile, volunteer Chris Witts shared our exciting plans to restore Steam Dredger SND No4 thanks to support from players of the People’s Postcode Lottery.
Our gifts in Wills events are a rare opportunity to tap into the knowledge of our canal experts
Up on the Lancaster Canal, Friends cruised over the beautiful Lune Aqueduct. Our local ecology team and volunteers also proudly shared the work they’ve done to restore local ponds and nature trails leading up to the aqueduct's towpath.
Learning more about the history of the Lune Aqueduct
It was another voyage of discovery on the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal, where Friends were treated to lunch and a boat trip aboard Dragonfly, before enjoying their own personal tour of the local lime kilns that once used coal from the valleys to supply local farmers with lime to fertilise their fields.
All aboard, for a grand day out
After further events exploring Foxton Locks in Leicestershire, The Roundhouse in Birmingham and the Museum of London’s Docklands, all roads led to Leeds for a day beside Granary Wharf – a canal that’s just as busy today as it was in its industrial heyday.
As summer walkers, cyclists and sunbathers looked on, our group toured the canalside, hearing from community engagement co-ordinator, Sharron Bright about her powerful work to bring wellbeing by water to groups of local people experiencing isolation and loneliness, especially in the covid lockdowns.
Admiring ‘Pauline’, an original Leeds and Liverpool short boat
Project manager and chartered engineer, Dan Timbers, also talked through his ingenious plans to restore the leaking locks gates, where the Leeds & Liverpool Canal meets the Aire & Calder Navigation.
We’ve been delighted to see, meet, and talk to so many Friends this year, and so grateful that so many of you later told us that you were planning to remember canals in your Will. Every penny pledged is delivering real change on our canals and rivers which we look forward to sharing more on soon in the next edition of Waterfront Magazine.
The next event will take place at Anderton Boat Lift on 20th September, if you are interested in attending or would like to know more about our special events or any other aspect of gifts in Wills, please get in touch with the team at [email protected].
