Langley Mill Boat Rally Following on from the hugely successful IWA Festival of Water at Ilkeston in August 2017 which drew many favourable comments from visiting boaters and the wider public, the Erewash Canal Preservation and Development Association (ECPDA), organised yet another very successful rally at Langley Mill over the Spring Bank Holiday weekend at the end of May. Around 80 boats attended together with all the local, and some regional, canal societies and restoration trusts. Chesterfield Canal Trust must be congratulated on navigating Dawn Rose, their newly constructed replica “Cuckoo Boat” round from their canal via the River Trent to attend and play a prominent part in the weekend celebrations. Dawn Rose and ex-working boat Bath provided the platform and transport for the (now traditional) arrival of the Long Eaton Silver Prize Band by water into the top lock. Many of the local and regional “movers and shakers” in waterways circles attended and as usual it was a great opportunity to network and gossip, (isn’t this the same thing?). The weather was brilliant throughout the weekend
and attendance must have been at least 1000+ on each of the three days. IWA Notts and Derbys branch, supported by other branches in the region, gave the first public outing in the region for one of the new branded IWA gazebos, poignantly located right next to CRT’s newly branded gazebos! Our new gazebo is very striking, and many IWA members and public visitors were impressed by the large, beautifully designed map of the entire UK mainland waterways, which formed the entire back wall of the gazebo. This map is very useful in explaining to people new to the waterways the extent of the whole system, and all of the potential restorations and new navigations. It was, all in all, a wonderful weekend and a hugely successful event for ECPDA. David Pullen Aegre 151 - July 2018 Page 9
