The story of Madeline

A FEW days ago Eckington School, close to the Chesterfield Canal, had a boat naming ceremony, where its Head Teacher Patrick Cummings, officially named the school boat Madeline.

Rod Auton of the Chesterfield Canal Trust tells her story:

This is in memory of Madeline Siddall, a student at the school who died suddenly from an undiagnosed heart condition at the age of 15.

Simple ceremony

The simple ceremony, held at Hollingwood Hub, was attended by members of Madeline's family, staff and students from the school and members of the Chesterfield Canal Trust.

Mr Cummings spoke about Madeline's qualities as a very popular and able member of the school community. He thanked the Siddall family, the staff and students who have worked on the boat and members of the Chesterfield Canal Trust, who have helped with the project.

Bought a narrowboat shell

Four years ago, the school made the decision to buy the shell of a 40' steel narrowboat and took delivery in October 2011. Over the course of the following 2½ years, a dedicated team of students and staff from the school has fitted out the boat completely.

This work has included everything from the engine to the seats, the galley area to the toilet. The verdict of all those who have seen the finished article is that the standard is fantastically high.

Trained as skippers

During the early months of 2014, several members of staff and some students were trained to be skippers by members of the Chesterfield Canal Trust.

Madeline was finally put into the water at Staveley Town Basin on the Chesterfield Canal on 26th June in time for the Chesterfield Canal Festival, where it was inspected and admired by many members of the public.

Since then, the school has made much use of Madeline, firstly on an Activities Week and subsequently for familiarisation cruises. A full course of science work, based around the boat, is currently being written. Madeline will soon be used by Eckington feeder schools.

Madeline is used by the Chesterfield Canal Trust to run public trips from Hollingwood Hub on Saturdays. Originally only scheduled to run in the summer holidays, they have proved very popular, so the season has been extended until the end of October. They will restart in April. All takings are split equally between the school and the Trust.