All BCNS events are extremely well organised and the Bonfire
was no exception. As soon as we arrived on Thursday Roger was drafted in to
help install the heating in the marquee, help build the bonfire on Saturday and
be a fire marshal during the event.
It wasn’t all work though and we spent some time in the beer
tent catching up with old friends and making new ones. As usual the beer came from the local PardoeBrewery. The Black Swan was my favourite.
The firework display had to be delayed by 10 minutes to let
the fire die down a bit as the wind was so strong it was fanning the flames and
ashes towards the display area. The extra 10 minutes made all the difference as
the wind dies down a bit and the display went off without a hitch. It went on
and on and the fireworks were amazing.
While we were in the beer tent on Saturday afternoon we met
the new boss of C&RT Richard Parry. He was one of the invited dignitaries
and was eager to talk to boaters. He seems a very genuine guy and was
interested to listen to our views on a variety of topics from my “favourite”
new water stanchions to mooring problems and winter stoppages. Apparently the
new water stanchions are only going to replace 20% of old ones and this has to
be done to comply with current water supply regulations. He’s already aware of
boaters complaints that they are flimsy and also knew about the silly little
shackles holding the padlocks on in Birmingham
that I blogged about the other day.
Hopefully, by going out cruising with boaters like Tug and Kirsty on their narrowboat Golden Eagle he’ll see first hand the problems the system is facing. I know for a fact that
he’s seen for himself how difficult Stoke Locks are to operate, how many
“pissers” (water jets leaking through lock walls) there are in some of the locks
indicating possible future structural damage and how overgrown the off-side
vegetation is in some parts of the Trent & Mersey.
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