Saturday

This was not one of our better days. The gas ran out just as we were boiling the kettle for the first cuppa of the day and it was raining again. The Etruria staff were struggling to put up the festival banners in the rain – not a pleasant task. Harry so nearly fell into the canal while he was leaning out with an early morning mug of tea for a banner erector. We all heard the splash, but fortunately the only loss was the ‘John Virgin’ mug and it’s contents. Harry merely wet a boot and a trouser leg. There were not many visitors on the site during the day, due to the rain, but we, the stalwart exhibitors, chatted amongst ourselves and kept our spirits up. Our mooring beside Jesse Shirley’s Bone Mill was a super one and we were able to take on water and use mains electricity – two definite advantages. Joan Egginton arrived and took Paul and Harry home in the afternoon and Bob Jervis joined the crew later in the day, bearing much appreciated provisions! In the evening we went to the ‘Bird in Hand’ for a meal along with Dave and Angie Stott – they being ‘locals’.

 

Sunday

Sunday dawned, dry and sunny. What a pleasure! The site was humming by the time we’d had our breakfast and got the boats looking spic and span. We had loads of interested visitors, sold tickets for the forthcoming Fred Dibnah event and had entertainment from a ‘strolling’ violinist. (Well actually she sat on President’s cabin top and fiddled!) Three members of the crew ‘posed’ for a commercial photographer who told us that the result could be destined for the cover of BW's Annual Report – unfortunately this particular photo was not selected we heard later. Ann Parker joined us at lunchtime and the six of us worked hard showing people round the boats. Of particular interest was the emptying of President’s boiler as instructed by Maurice. We all took up our positions, most standing on President’s gunwales and rocking the boat from side to side to make sure that the sediment was removed at the same time as the water. I stood on the bank holding the mains cable up above the heads of the crowd. We should have staged a "Guess what we’re doing" competition as so many people wanted to know!

The weekend event finished at 5.00pm and we packed, cleaned up and shut down the boats. Ron and I were the last to leave at 9.15pm. President and Kildare looked very peaceful in their spot beside the Bone Mill. Steam beside steam! They were to stay there until the following weekend when their next adventure would begin – the journey through Harecastle Tunnel to Middlewich.

Judy Spencer