Royal honour for K&A volunteers
IN THIS age of awards by the score, many of which really mean very little, the Kennet & Avon Canal Trust has received the ultimate award—The Queens Award for Voluntary Service.
This is an accolade indeed, and honours the work of the Kennet & Avon Canal Trust in its restoration of the Kennet & Avon Canal. It is the highest recognition for volunteer groups in the United Kingdom.
Working tirelessly
The Trust was formed 50 years ago to restore the then derelict waterway, with its members working tirelessly, so that today boaters can cruise from the Thames at Reading right through to the Avon at Bristol, 93 miles in total. The photographs show the tremendous work needed to restore Caen Hill Flight.
The Kennet & Avon Canal Trust celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, and over those years it has enabled the restoration of 85 derelict locks (including those of the Caen Hill Flight) the repair of 172 pairs of gates and a leaking canal bed, crumbling aqueducts and two abandoned pumping stations, not forgetting the many swing bridges, that enabled Her Majesty The Queen to officially re-open the waterway on the 7th August, 1990.
Great honour
Rob Dean, Chairman of the the Kennet & Avon Canal Trust Trustees, enthused:
"This is a great honour for us and an absolute tribute to the tireless work of thousands of volunteers from Bath to Burghfield, Wilton to Woolhampton, and others in between, who have given their time so generously over the past 50 years to complete the restoration of the Kennet & Avon. To receive this award from Her Majesty after she re-opened the waterway 23 years ago is the icing on the cake for us.
"People have given from a few spare hours to the best part of their lives to the K&A, everything from helping out in our tea rooms, crewing our fantastic fleet of boats, hours of form-filling for grants, to clearing canal beds and towpaths. I and the rest of the trustees will always be incredibly grateful to them, many of whom are sadly no longer with us, and also to our present generation of fantastic volunteers who are helping to protect and enhance the waterway for future generations. This award will propel our very necessary work into the future."
Events
The Trust is working on a number of new family-friendly events this year, to continue to make its historic buildings and attractions open to the public, including opportunities to drive a steam engine at Crofton Pumping Station, near Marlborough, a sponsored walk on 22nd June, as well as regular boat trips out of Devizes, Bradford-on-Avon, Hungerford and Newbury.
It is also organising this year's Reading Waterfest on 15th June and Newbury Waterways Festival on 23rd June. It continues to need volunteers with a wide range of skills—both business and practical—to keep the waterway enjoyable for the millions who use and visit it every year.
For more information about the Trust's events or to volunteer, contact