National Festival at Milton Keynes

24^th to 27^th August 2001

Arrival on site on Thursday at 9.45 am proved to be a wise move as by 11.30 am the place was heaving and there was a minimum half hour wait to get vehicles through the gate.

An earlier practice run with the twin gazebos was also sensible (place rods A, B and C into multi-socketed thingy D….) and by the time we were joined by David Powell, the entire structure was swaying gently in the breeze and we were hammering 2 foot long crowbars (those 6" wire tent pegs are useless!) into the earth to act as ground anchors for the network of strings to steady the whole edifice.

Shortly after this, reports were received that Bittell and Kildare were nearing the end of their journey, bearing our major exhibit - President’s 8’ 6" long cabin side. It was fortunate we were able to get my van to within 20 feet of the boats, as it weighed about 3 cwts and wasn’t any lighter in metric at 150 kg. So, by about 4 pm the stand was set up, complete with our new Sales Display Unit, the "Win a Buckby Can" competition, the "Fill a Lock with your Donations" collecting game (which offered you the chance of winning your donation back and putting it in again) and Dudley Canal Trust’s exhibition boards. A colourful and highly professional job even if we say it ourselves.

On the first day the bulk of the crowd were boaters and we did very well with our Oxford shirt sales. Friday also saw the advent of the "dogerchief"; by the end of the show, we had sold more neckerchiefs for dogs than we did for humans.

Sales of five-inch long lumps of President’s original rubbing strake, complete with rivet holes and a certificate of origin, were a failure. That is, they were a failure as 5" long rubbing strakes. They did, however, catch the imagination as toothbrush holders (mounted horizontally), doorplates, earrings for people with very strong ears, kedge anchors for Chihuahua dogs, baby sledgehammers, Christmas presents for Aunt Miriam and portable spyholes. No less a personage than the editor of Canalboat and Inland Waterways bought one, although we don’t know to which purpose he put it. Perhaps the most popular use was as a life jacket. Worn round the neck, in the event of falling overboard, it provided the focus for the Sea Searcher magnet and immediate rescue. A later idea for multiple use was in the manufacture of Gale Chimes (a rather heavy version of Wind Chimes), though admittedly sales of this were small.

During the show there were a number of FoP visitors. I am not going to list them in case I miss someone out but you were all welcome and it was good to see you. Once again we were on the Waterways for Youth circuit, though this year it was called Canal Crazy. This brought many children to the stand to answer questions ("What drives President?" – No, I don’t mean the man on the back. "What’s her fleet number?" "Who owned her?" " What cargo did she carry?" and so on.) Only a few of the parents escaped without making some contribution.

Saturday was murderously hot and humid and full President gear was a mistake, particularly the waistcoat and cap. Sunday was blessedly overcast and cooler and sales went up. Monday was hot again but an hour shorter with closedown at 5 o’clock.

The evenings were worthy of note, when the public had departed homewards and left the site to the exhibitors and boaters. The Thai Kitchen had a menu slightly too long to work through in the four Festival nights, so we stayed late on Monday after clearing up, to savour the Beef in Oyster Sauce. On Thursday evening we were completely undistinguished at the Boaters’ Quiz. On Friday we ooh’d and aah’d at the fireworks. On Saturday, the WRG Music Hall was its usual unusual standard and the Illuminated Boat Parade on Sunday revealed imaginative secondary uses for Christmas tree lights.

The cast for the Festival included (full time) Steve Bingham and James Brookes (both Dudley Canal Trust), Celia Byham, John Byham, David Goodman (and me) supported by Geoff and Jack Dean, Nick Haynes, David Powell and Nigel Wood for shorter periods. My thanks to everyone. We finished with takings of just over£1500. When the cost of all the products is deducted, this will leave a healthy balance to put toward the Restoration Fund. Probably just as valuable was the spreading of the awareness of President and all the extra people who will be looking out for her when she returns to the public eye next year.

Richard Thomas