Over 100 boats at Chester

THERE were over 100 boats present at the Inland Waterways Association (IWA) National Campaign Festival in Chester over the week-end.

With the gaily decorated craft and thousands of people enjoying the sunshine, The Inland Waterways Association's (IWA) National Campaign Festival in Chester, was a spectacular event.

Never so many boats

Never before had so many boats, from all over the country, been assembled in the basin at Tower Wharf to support IWA Chester and Merseyside Branch's campaign to re-pair and re-open the River Lock leading onto the Dee. Photograph by Dave Chapman.

The festival was opened by the Lord Mayor of Chester, Councillor Bob Rudd, who acknowledged that Chester had been left behind in making the most of its local waterways, and promised that the newly launched Chester Waterways Strategy would be acted upon.

World War music

The event featured live music, entertainment, guided tours, free boat trips and children's activities from IWA's Wild Over Waterways. The Lyceum Brass Band featured WW1 and WW2 music as part of a D-Day commemoration and an RAF Spitfire delighted crowds with five flypasts and a wing wobble.

IWA Chester & Merseyside Branch also organises regular work parties in the basin at Tower Wharf to carry out work such as painting, weeding and litter-picking. The branch has amassed over 200 volunteer hours since they started work in September 2013 and has made a visible difference to the area.