Editorial A little optimism? The editor wonders if a quick scan of the pictures in this issue gives grounds for hope - and ponders the impact of a ‘do not demolish’ culture... I might be daft but I’m not stupid (*)
Dave ‘Evvo’ Evans
In what way might that claimed lack of stupidity manifest itself? Well, for starters I’m not going to claim that things are ‘back to normal’, or even ‘getting back to normal’ - given that exactly a year ago I was already backtracking on the optimistic ‘back to work’ theme that I’d been planning, and which had hit the buffers as the Covid rules tightened up again. I’m also not going to risk using expressions like ‘post-Covid’ or suggesting that there isn’t every chance that it will turn around and bite us on the collective arse if we start thinking that way. And I’m going to repeat that information in this issue about forthcoming working parties should be treated with caution and checked, as the situation could change quickly. But having got those disclaimers in first, I have to say how refreshing it was to see the pictures from the late summer ‘trial’ WRG Canal Camps, particularly the set that Mikk Bradley sent from the Montgomery Canal, and realise that yes, a few things were starting to happen that we’ve really missed over the last year and a half. Look at the front cover for starters: a happy bunch of Duke of Edinburgh’s Award volunteers shovelling gravel, having fun, and genuinely helping a vital project - next year’s rebuilding of School House Bridge - to move forward. And on the inside front cover: one of them being trained to drive an excavator by WRG’s one and only Adrian Sturgess. Oh, and on the subject of Adrian, on the ‘Infill’ pages (which have returned after a couple of issues when I just struggled to find anything amusing to put in the mag at all) a jolly pic of his balloon-bedecked birthday digger to show that the notion of having a laugh on camp is alive and well alongside the serious business of canal restoration. And on the back cover, a picture of our friends in KESCRG on a weekend dig on the Wey & Arun - with a London WRG weekend to follow - while on the ‘Coming Soon’ pages, KESCRG have gone so far as to pencil-in a list of weekend working party dates for the next few months, rather than the few occasional ad-hoc short-notice digs that the regional / mobile groups have managed to organise when possible over the last year. Also on the back cover is the famous WRG North West Sales Stand. And on this page, there’s even a picture of your editor laying bricks at Geldeston, after as near a brick-free year as I’ve The editor helps finish the Geldeston Lock chamber wall: see p14 had since the early 1990s. (*) You may or may not agree. This is an opinion column, after all...
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