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Get Involved with the Lowland Canals Carnival 24th – 26th May


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To celebrate the re-opening of sea to sea travel along the Forth & Clyde Canal this year, a flotilla is being organised over the Bank Holiday weekend 24th – 26th May 2019 and you’re invited to get involved!

 

This fun-filled weekend is being jointly organised by voluntary canal-related organisations and Scottish Canals to mark the re-opening of the Lowland Canals to sea-to-sea travel. It recognises the success in attracting additional Scottish Government funding to upgrade Bonnybridge and Twechar lift bridges and is a thank you to the Government, Local Authorities, MSPs and all those who helped make the case for additional funding.

 

Works are due to commence on Bonnybridge and Twechar next week and complete in April, along with Bard Avenue at Knightswood. Lock 6 will also be ready for the 2019 season but Leamington Lift Bridge will still be out of operation at the time of the event. 

 

By demonstrating that the Lowland Canals are vibrant, thriving waterways with fantastic destinations along their banks, we hope to pave the way for similar events in 2020 during The Year of Coasts and Waters and again in 2022 to mark the 200th anniversary of the Union Canal.

 

The itinerary is as follows:

 

·         Boats gather at The Falkirk Wheel on the evening of Fri 24th May to meet old friends, make new ones and enjoy some food, drink and music 

·         Leave The Falkirk Wheel on the morning of Saturday  25th May and travel to Auchinstarry for another gathering, food, drink and music (details TBC) plus overnight stay

·         Depart Auchinstarry on the morning of Sunday 26th May and travel to Kirkintilloch (Canal Capital of Scotland) where we are hoping to hold another lunch (TBC)  

 

We’re hoping to welcome as many powered and non-powered craft as possible to the 2019 Lowlands Canal Carnival, including steam boats, yachts, narrowboats, rowing boats, canoes, kayaks – even if you can only make one leg of the event.

 

If you would like to get involved, please contact robinhedf@hotmail.co.uk as soon as possible to register your vessel – please tell us the name of your boat, its size, what day you are planning to join the flotilla, where you are starting from and going to, your telephone number and email address.

 

Transport will be provided to those boaters arriving by sea at the east end of the canal on Friday 24th May so they can reach the Falkirk Wheel for the evening’s festivities and assisted passage will be available through to the top pound and Auchinstarry the following day.

 

We are hoping to attract as many spectators to the canal banks as possible and would like to have live music performing throughout the event – at the Wheel, at Auchinstarry and on individual boats – so if you or anyone you know plays in a band, can pipe, play the guitar, accordion or any other instrument and would be willing to be involved with the event, please emailcommunications@scottishcanals.co.uk and mark your email ‘Canal Carnival’.

 

We will post updates on the Scottish Canals website and social media channels in the run up to the event and will write to you again with more information as the event unfolds.

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13 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

looks a good 'do'.

It will be! The boaters in Scotland know how to party and we will make the most of our canals being open again. Mind you, I hope they don't do what they did at the event to celebrate the reopening on the Forth and Clyde canal. we were wakened each morning at about 6am by  a piper. Not good when you have been partying the night before ? 

 

Haggis

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Bagpipes at any time of day are not good, but fortunately the excruciating sound is mostly confined to Scotland and some other parts of the world that seem to appreciate it.

In the event of Scotland's independence, our embassy there will advise tourists to leave the bagpipes at home when visiting the Split Apart Kingdom or whatever we're called then. There will be a hard border from Carlisle to Berwick just to enforce this, perhaps built out of the leftover bits of Trump's wall bought from a US Government garage sale.

 

Seriously, well done Scotland for getting your canals open again. As I argued on the other topic some while ago, this was always going to set an important precedent for when the UK government's subsidy to CRT is supposed to expire in about 2026.

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Hey, watch what you are saying about our bagpipes! I love hearing them (except in a confined space where they can be a bit overpowering). I come from a big family and no one is the least bit musical until a great nephew at the age of 3 said he wanted to play the bagpipes.  He is now a lawyer and is the Pipe Major for the Scottish Youth Pipe band. He and his sister (who plays the drums) were "poached" by one of the top bands in Scotland which has won the World championship. We don't know where the wish to play bagpipes came from but it has taken Andrew all over the World. 

For a Scot there is something very stirring about hearing the pipes played well in the open air (and I do not wish for Independence!). 

 

haggis

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2 hours ago, haggis said:

Hey, watch what you are saying about our bagpipes! I love hearing them (except in a confined space where they can be a bit overpowering). I come from a big family and no one is the least bit musical until a great nephew at the age of 3 said he wanted to play the bagpipes.

 

Thereby confirming the family trait.

You know what they say -- all bagpipe tunes are both the same.

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Sounds great, but I suppose I’m slightly disappointed - when I read “To celebrate the re-opening of sea to sea travel along the Forth & Clyde Canal this year, a flotilla is being organised” I kind of imagined the flotilla doing what it said on the tin ie navigating coast to coast. Now that WOULD be worth travelling for! Maybe next time?

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When I worked in London, I used to see a Piper on Westminster Bridge, in the full outfit, on my shuffle back to Waterloo station, one thing I noticed, he never looked very happy, I always wondered if it was due to wearing the outfit the sounds, or possibly the tourists doing the selfy ting and not leaving any dosh!

 

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30 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

Sounds great, but I suppose I’m slightly disappointed - when I read “To celebrate the re-opening of sea to sea travel along the Forth & Clyde Canal this year, a flotilla is being organised” I kind of imagined the flotilla doing what it said on the tin ie navigating coast to coast. Now that WOULD be worth travelling for! Maybe next time?

We did that when the Forth and Clyde reopened after being closed for about 40 years. The flotilla started at lock 16 in falkirk and went west to Bowling but we thought that was a bit of a cheat so we launched gamebird in the river Carron, which was a bit hairy, and cruised into the canal via the new Sea Lock. The next day us and sea going boats which were taking part in the flotilla went through the locks up to falkirk and it was a memorable occasion!  We were one of 4 boats in the first locking and people were cheering us on and giving us glasses and bottles of whisky to celebrate the fact that boats were going through the locks again.  The flotilla set off the following morning and chaos reigned (it was like herding cats) but we all got to the drinking establishments for the evenings. At Auchenstarry, one of the overnight stops, the drinking went on far into the night and there is a photo somewhere of gamebird at 2am with bottles lined along her roof and lots of merry boaters. 

That trip earned us the accolade of the first ever narrow boat to boat from end to end of the Forth and Clyde canal as they didn't have narrow boats up here before then. 

What a trip that was! 

 

Haggis

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 07/02/2019 at 16:10, nicknorman said:

Sounds great, but I suppose I’m slightly disappointed - when I read “To celebrate the re-opening of sea to sea travel along the Forth & Clyde Canal this year, a flotilla is being organised” I kind of imagined the flotilla doing what it said on the tin ie navigating coast to coast. Now that WOULD be worth travelling for! Maybe next time?

Your disappointment is shared. The flotilla was originally going to finish in Glasgow, but now we hear that the Glasgow Branch will be closed for 3 months for bridge construction. A small group of boats from the Forth will be continuing through to the Clyde as part of this event, but thereafter the through route will only be open one day a week. It is really celebrating the full opening of half a canal.

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6 hours ago, Up-Side-Down said:

The number of boaters that have signed up  – robinhedf@hotmail.co.uk – for this event is steadily growing so don't miss out. Hope to see you there Ronnie!

Unfortunately, I can't get time off work then, and I've no easy way of getting to the Falkirk Wheel/Auchinstarry. It does sound like a grand old time though. Don't forget to take us all some photos. :)

 

Will you be boating up to the festivities?

Edited by ronnietucker
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On 07/02/2019 at 10:06, haggis said:

Hey, watch what you are saying about our bagpipes! I love hearing them (except in a confined space where they can be a bit overpowering). I come from a big family and no one is the least bit musical until a great nephew at the age of 3 said he wanted to play the bagpipes.  He is now a lawyer and is the Pipe Major for the Scottish Youth Pipe band. He and his sister (who plays the drums) were "poached" by one of the top bands in Scotland which has won the World championship. We don't know where the wish to play bagpipes came from but it has taken Andrew all over the World. 

For a Scot there is something very stirring about hearing the pipes played well in the open air (and I do not wish for Independence!). 

 

haggis

 

Edited by Ray T
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On 17/02/2019 at 15:16, ronnietucker said:

Unfortunately, I can't get time off work then, and I've no easy way of getting to the Falkirk Wheel/Auchinstarry. It does sound like a grand old time though. Don't forget to take us all some photos. :)

 

Will you be boating up to the festivities?

Yes I will. Should be a good ruck going from Bowling, most moving their boats up to Falkirk over the previous weekend Ronnie as, like you, we are working during the week. Getting from Falkirk back into Glasgow is feasible: mix of cycling and train from Falkirk High or cycling/train combo from Croy if you spend the week ay Auchinstarry.

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On 04/02/2019 at 21:39, Up-Side-Down said:

To celebrate the re-opening of sea to sea travel along the Forth & Clyde Canal this year, a flotilla is being organised over the Bank Holiday weekend 24th – 26th May 2019 and you’re invited to get involved!

 

This fun-filled weekend is being jointly organised by voluntary canal-related organisations and Scottish Canals to mark the re-opening of the Lowland Canals to sea-to-sea travel. It recognises the success in attracting additional Scottish Government funding to upgrade Bonnybridge and Twechar lift bridges and is a thank you to the Government, Local Authorities, MSPs and all those who helped make the case for additional funding.

 

Works are due to commence on Bonnybridge and Twechar next week and complete in April, along with Bard Avenue at Knightswood. Lock 6 will also be ready for the 2019 season but Leamington Lift Bridge will still be out of operation at the time of the event. 

 

By demonstrating that the Lowland Canals are vibrant, thriving waterways with fantastic destinations along their banks, we hope to pave the way for similar events in 2020 during The Year of Coasts and Waters and again in 2022 to mark the 200th anniversary of the Union Canal.

 

The itinerary is as follows:

 

·         Boats gather at The Falkirk Wheel on the evening of Fri 24th May to meet old friends, make new ones and enjoy some food, drink and music 

·         Leave The Falkirk Wheel on the morning of Saturday  25th May and travel to Auchinstarry for another gathering, food, drink and music (details TBC) plus overnight stay

·         Depart Auchinstarry on the morning of Sunday 26th May and travel to Kirkintilloch (Canal Capital of Scotland) where we are hoping to hold another lunch (TBC)  

 

We’re hoping to welcome as many powered and non-powered craft as possible to the 2019 Lowlands Canal Carnival, including steam boats, yachts, narrowboats, rowing boats, canoes, kayaks – even if you can only make one leg of the event.

 

If you would like to get involved, please contact robinhedf@hotmail.co.uk as soon as possible to register your vessel – please tell us the name of your boat, its size, what day you are planning to join the flotilla, where you are starting from and going to, your telephone number and email address.

 

Transport will be provided to those boaters arriving by sea at the east end of the canal on Friday 24th May so they can reach the Falkirk Wheel for the evening’s festivities and assisted passage will be available through to the top pound and Auchinstarry the following day.

 

We are hoping to attract as many spectators to the canal banks as possible and would like to have live music performing throughout the event – at the Wheel, at Auchinstarry and on individual boats – so if you or anyone you know plays in a band, can pipe, play the guitar, accordion or any other instrument and would be willing to be involved with the event, please emailcommunications@scottishcanals.co.uk and mark your email ‘Canal Carnival’.

 

We will post updates on the Scottish Canals website and social media channels in the run up to the event and will write to you again with more information as the event unfolds.

 

Bumpity Bump!

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2 hours ago, Dr Bob said:

It's not for dodgem boats is it?

 

Always could be if Forth & Clyde 10 was anything to go by. Spent much of the time dodging the wee steam launches which, once they'd got up a good head of steam, seemed unstoppable (and often unsteerable)! 

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  • 3 months later...

What a weekend that was and it is not quite finished as we have a BBQ at speirs wharf tonight - possibly  in the rain ?. Over 70 boats took part - narrow boats, wide beams, rowing boats, steam boats and there was even a small electric boat powered by a car battery. It was great fun meeting old friends and making new ones and if there is one thing Scottish boaters do well it is party. It took some organising, mooring so many boats every night and working them through locks and lift bridges and there were all those photo shoots! 

I think what made the event special for so many of us was that's it was like in the good old days when boaters and Scottish Canals worked together and we saw what can be done when we are all on the same page. Hopefully the "bad" years are behind us. 

 

Haggis 

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33 minutes ago, haggis said:

What a weekend that was and it is not quite finished as we have a BBQ at speirs wharf tonight - possibly  in the rain ?. Over 70 boats took part - narrow boats, wide beams, rowing boats, steam boats and there was even a small electric boat powered by a car battery. It was great fun meeting old friends and making new ones and if there is one thing Scottish boaters do well it is party. It took some organising, mooring so many boats every night and working them through locks and lift bridges and there were all those photo shoots! 

I think what made the event special for so many of us was that's it was like in the good old days when boaters and Scottish Canals worked together and we saw what can be done when we are all on the same page. Hopefully the "bad" years are behind us. 

 

Haggis 

 

Pictures or it didn't happen  :lol:

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