Grand Western Canal celebrates 200 years
The Grand Western Canal is celebrating its bicentenary by hosting the IWA National Trailboat Festival. This annual boating festival belongs to the Inland Waterways Association, but is run by a different canal society or navigation authority somewhere in the UK each year.
The event features dozens of trailed boats, which are towed to the waterway and launched at a slipway. However, there is also a significant land-based element to the festival, including entertainment and refreshments, aimed at promoting the waterway and engaging local people.
The festival will comprise three separate events at different locations along the Canal. The main event will be the Grand Western 200 festival taking place on Saturday 24 May at the Mid Devon Showground, near Tiverton from 10.30am to 5pm.
Some 40 colourful boats will be moored along the waters edge from all over the country, decked out with flags and pennants. There will be a packed programme of musicians and performers, great local food and real ale and cider bar provided by Hanlon's Brewery.
Visitors will be able to take a trip with a difference aboard one of the last horse-drawn barges in the UK and there will be plenty for all ages to enjoy, including fun fair rides, swing boats, trampolines, craft and trade stalls, children's activities including a minibeast hunt, face-painting, tin-can alley, lantern-making and much more.
Cabinet Member for Community and Environmental Services, Councillor Roger Croad says; "In what has been an eventful year for the Grand Western Canal following severe storm damage, this event comes at a welcome time. I joined local residents and boat owners recently at the re-opening of the breached section and saw first hand how important the canal is to community life here. Last year, the County Council was able to find £3M to make the necessary repairs to the canal and I am very pleased to see that it is now fully open for business and things are getting back to normal. I'm sure this event will bring many thousands of visitors to the area and be of enormous benefit, both economically and socially. I wish the festival every success."
Local member for Tiverton and Chairman of the Organising Committee Des Hannon says: "Roll up! Roll up! All the fun of the fair. Grab a once in a lifetime opportunity to celebrate our Canal's biggest birthday. There's fun for everyone. Bring the kids. This could be a family day out they'll remember forever."
Vice Chair of Mid Devon District Council Ray Radford is also on the Committee; “What a special occasion, celebrating 200 years of the canal. I am particularly looking forward to the event at Sampford Peverell on the Monday which is a must in my opinion. Every year, the IWA National Trailboat Festival is a spectacular occasion and I'm sure this year will be no exception. This will be a real opportunity to see what the canal looked like when it was built 200 years ago and then to experience it in all its glory today. I would really encourage visitors to venture out to the more eastern parts and to the Mid Devon Show field activities to make the most of their weekend. Congratulations to the organisers of the event and all those involved!"
One of the highlights of the festival will be the MBE Freestyle BMX Display Team who will be performing death defying tricks and stunts using their unique mobile ramp rig.
There'll be plenty of music during the event to keep visitors entertained including the Flower Power Band, a 60s tribute band and Men Behaving Tradly, an accomplished 4-piece jazz band.
Also 'Keepers Lock' a folk duo performing self-penned songs and stories reflecting the joy and the happiness and the colourful lives of a bygone age on the canals of England.
The Tiverton Town Band will also be playing a range of music from modern day pop tunes to traditional marches and classical works.
Entry is just £5 for adults and £1 for children and entry for children is free if arriving between 10.30am and 11.30am.
The fun continues over the rest of the Bank holiday weekend.....
Sunday 25 May - Canal Basin Carnival
2.30pm - Boat handling competition: Following the departure of the horsedrawn passenger barge Tivertonian on one of its 2 ½ hour trips, a boat handling competition will be taking place open to all of the boaters attending the festival. Cheer them on as they navigate around a circuit, demonstrating the manoeuvrability of these nifty trailed boats.
7:30pm - Illuminated boat parade: Later in the evening at 7.30pm in the Canal Basin, the build up to a spectacular illuminated boat parade will begin. Music and food will be on offer as the Street Heat Samba Band pump up the atmosphere.
The parade will start at Tidcombe Bridge at 9.30pm and end in the Canal Basin at around 10.15pm. Crowds will spread along the towpath to enjoy the dazzling display which will also feature many of the impressive lanterns built by Tiverton High and Wilcombe Primary School pupils and Petroc College students in recent years. Entry is free and parking is available at the Canal Hill car park, Tiverton.
Monday 26 May - Navvies’ Fair, 11am - 4pm, Sampford Peverell Picnic Site: The ‘navvies’ – that hard-working itinerant band of men who actually dug the Canal by hand – are returning for one day to put on a vintage Fair.
Set in the Regency/Georgian period, there will be puppet shows, fire juggling, maypole dancing, singing, music and drama. There will be lots for children to do throughout the day including crafts, games and races.
Market stalls will be selling local produce, the blacksmith will be working in his forge, and Charlotte Anne will be there to cure all your ailments!
There’s a bring-and-share lunch, hog-roast, ale and local ciders, all adding up to a fantastic family day of fun.
The field will host a navvies’ encampment and a re-enactment will take place providing and insight into the tough lives of the workers that built the Canal.
Entry free but parking is very limited so please come by foot, bus or bike if possible.
For more information about all the weekend’s events visit www.devon.gov.uk/grandwestern200 or follow @GrandWestern200 on Twitter
