Iwa Watford

[peterboat]

Hi just come out of the festival. We have had a good day but have to say it was not busy. There was no where near as many boats and stalls as in previous years or so it seemed? Still weather has been good the cider was nice in the bar so all in all a good day and I have bought a wheel based steering system from Vetus so all is well in my world

 

Peter

[mark99]

Hi just come out of the festival. We have had a good day but have to say it was not busy. There was no where near as many boats and stalls as in previous years or so it seemed? Still weather has been good the cider was nice in the bar so all in all a good day and I have bought a wheel based steering system from Vetus so all is well in my world

 

Peter

Agree - we got there at 10.30 and it was not busy with people and it seemed quite thin re exhibitors - more people did turn up and we left at 2.30 but it was still not really that busy.

[LEO]

Agree - we got there at 10.30 and it was not busy with people and it seemed quite thin re exhibitors - more people did turn up and we left at 2.30 but it was still not really

 

Hi,

 

Perhaps the advertised lack of parking space put people off attending the event................it did me.

 

ATB

 

L

[alan_fincher]

Hi just come out of the festival. We have had a good day but have to say it was not busy. There was no where near as many boats and stalls as in previous years or so it seemed? Still weather has been good the cider was nice in the bar so all in all a good day and I have bought a wheel based steering system from Vetus so all is well in my world

 

Peter

 

My thoughts, already posted elsewhere......

 

So..................

I have not, until today, been to an IWA National Festival in a very large number of years.

So I thought I would give it a try, but found a large fenced compound some considerable distance from boats and canal, meaning it never really "felt" to me like a canal event.

I also saw what looks like it cost a heap of money to set up, and lots of traders who I assume had paid a lot of money to be there.

However what I didn't think I saw, despite the fabulous weather, was the huge swathes of people I would have expected need to be there to make it truly financially successful. In particular many traders seem to be sat there with no obvious interest in what they were selling.

So can those with experience of events from recent years please say how they felt this years compares with those?

Perhaps how it looked to me is wrong, but if this one is typical, I can't see them flourishing for that much longer, or at least not on this scale.

I would say "wrong venue" for a start.

 

 

 

Hi,

 

Perhaps the advertised lack of parking space put people off attending the event................it did me.

 

ATB

 

L

 

We parked in residential street right near nearest entrance to Park, (no restrictions), so didn't even have to consider the walk from the car park!

 

I'd be quite surprised if the official parking arrangements didn't fairly easily cope with what looked like a small turn out to me.

Edited July 20, 2013 by alan_fincher

[wiltshirewonderer]

It was our first one of these. A little surprised by the lack of boats! Old Rosie cider available though so 5* rating for the beer tent.

[alan_fincher]

It was our first one of these. A little surprised by the lack of boats! Old Rosie cider available though so 5* rating for the beer tent.

There are of course lots of boats - just that they are a considerable separation from the main "compound".

 

My feeling about the booze is that I can go more convivial places to drink, without paying a hefty admission charge to get anywhere near the bar, and then £3.60 a pint when I do!

 

That said the "Colley's Dog" from our local Tring Brewery was excellent.

[ChimneyChain]

I thought the big wheel provided the best entertainment for me and I'm 40.

 

Darren

[peterboat]

Yes big wheel was a hit for the Towpath telegraph chaps and chapesses they took some grand fotos from up there

 

Peter

[mark99]

 

Hi,

 

Perhaps the advertised lack of parking space put people off attending the event................it did me.

 

ATB

 

L

Yeah Mike we drove to Moor Park (Metropolitan Line) station where, amongst the multimillion pound houses, they have a station car park and got the train (2 stops) to Watford.

[Laurence Hogg]

Lets face it, the IWA festival (National/rally) has had its day. Having heard from some traders at Watford they feel the same way. The event has been going downhill for years, even back when it was at Netherton there were severe shortcomings and the writing was on the wall. Crick is the boat show now which reigns supreme, then there are all the other well run events, Braunston, Audlem, Middlewich, Pelsall, the latter having attracted 129 boats, thats nigh on 50% of what IWA have at Watford.

I look back on the better "Nationals" with praise and particulary remember Northwich on the Weaver and Wigan, those were the days when the IWA event had a purpose and everyone came along, that is now a thing of the past. Scrap the event and put the effort elsewhere.

[LEO]

Yeah Mike we drove to Moor Park (Metropolitan Line) station where, amongst the multimillion pound houses, they have a station car park and got the train (2 stops) to Watford.

 

Hi,

 

I nearly did that but I find that Steam Fairs are much better - Prestwood SF (close by), earlier in July is brill and has a good collection of second hand and 'tat' stalls well worth browsing - these plus a good selection of Gardner powered trucks made the day well worth paying £6 (sorry, £5 for 'wrinklies').

 

Agreed, the IWA national has had it's day.

 

L.

[Still-waters]

We had two enjoyable days at Watford. I do think they were over cautious in the advertising regarding parking

 

In reality there were lots of spaces on the rugby club. agree that it was not over busy but this allowed peacefully meandering and time to attend the presentations activities and chat with stallholders. Not many boats to go on board to look at but lots to see walking on the towpath.

 

If not been yet I would say get down there if possible.

[john6767]

 

Hi,

 

Perhaps the advertised lack of parking space put people off attending the event................it did me.

 

ATB

 

L

Whilst we were not in a position to go, it would have stopped me going had I been. The IWA have been promoting the event on Twitter over the last few days with something like "come along but leave the car at home and come by public transport|". Reminds me of the millennium done thing, where that was their approach.

[LEO]

 

My thoughts, already posted elsewhere......

 

 

 

We parked in residential street right near nearest entrance to Park, (no restrictions), so didn't even have to consider the walk from the car park!

 

I'd be quite surprised if the official parking arrangements didn't fairly easily cope with what looked like a small turn out to me.

 

But was the small turn out due to the warnings over limited car parking? - further restricted by 'No Parking' measures put in place up to 14 days before the event. I think you may have been lucky finding a space in a convenient side street.

 

All good fun, I guess visitors should have used the empty parking spaces at the IWA HQ in Chesham, walked to Chesham LT station, caught the Met Line to Moor Park, changed to Met line for Watford Met line station and walked to the event (at least the excellent new trains are air conditioned). Journey time 37 mins. - then you have the journey back.

 

Great fun if you have travelled say 60 miles by car to get to the event - an expensive day out if you have a family - plus the entry fee.

 

Beale Park (on the Thames) was the best Southern venue for this Rally I have been to.

 

L.

[Tuscan]

With Crick as the main show and lots of well organised rallies around the country , the IWA rally needs a purpose. I'm not a member so not up to me but how about future rallies being staged by and focussed on specific restoration projects.

[peterboat]

Yes they have to think where they stage these events in the future? I am a member and will make my comments the stall holders were worried about parking as well so maybe that kept some away? Anyway the Spitfire flypast was brill but how much did it cost? that was a comment I heard from people on the day.

 

Peter

[Timleech]

With Crick as the main show and lots of well organised rallies around the country , the IWA rally needs a purpose. I'm not a member so not up to me but how about future rallies being staged by and focussed on specific restoration projects.

 

That was how it always used to be, focussing on restoration or threatened waterways.

Maybe the IWA has lost its purpose as a campaigning organisation? It's a long time since I was a member so not really qualified to comment on that.

 

Tim

[saladdays]

I was a member of the IWA for a while but have let my membership lapse.Seems to me the only real purpose of this organisation is to keep the staff within it employed like a lot of trade organisations. They should join the IWA with the canal and river trust and have one single body in my opinion.

[Wanted]

I was a member of the IWA for a while but have let my membership lapse.Seems to me the only real purpose of this organisation is to keep the staff within it employed like a lot of trade organisations. They should join the IWA with the canal and river trust and have one single body in my opinion.

I thought the already had...

[alan_fincher]

Anyway the Spitfire flypast was brill but how much did it cost? that was a comment I heard from people on the day.

 

I kind of assumed, (but don't know for definite!), that these kind of "limited appearances2 of members of that flight, are as a result of it being on its way to some bigger event, and that sometimes a number of "lesser" fly-pasts are built into the schedule of a bigger operation of getting from base (to say) a major air show.

 

If so I'm not sure there would be huge costs to an event where it just does a couple of circuits, and moves on.

[BruceinSanity]

We volunteered at a total of nine Nationals from the first Burton to the second one the year before last, mainly working with WRG on site services, but latterly in other roles.

 

I agree with a lot of what's been said here; it's not clear what the purpose of the event is these days. It doesn't make a great deal of money when you consider that around 1000 person-weeks of volunteer activity goes into delivering it (that's including all the work that's done during the year by organising committee members).

 

It's a victim of its own size restricting where it can be held, and I've never understood the relevance of a lot of the attractions (Spitfire fly pasts, WWII re-enactments, Bronze Age camps…).

 

What's alarming is that IWA has just had a review of the National by a sub group of Trustees, but there's been very little publicity about it and, as far as I know, no report of what the conclusions were.

[junior]

I was planning on going up today but the comments on here from those who have been over the last 2 days, plus the thought of sitting in a traffic jam on the M25, has kept me at home. So I hope nobody comes on here this evening and says it was fantastic today and had a troupe of topless cheerleaders as the main attraction.

[GUMPY]

Came through today on my way home, didnt stop, in fact couldnt wait to get clear of it.

Only disappointment was there were no volunteers working the locks....

[mark99]

There were two muppets people fishing in the pound in a tiny gap between boats where a lot of the boats were 2 and three abreast. As I walked past them, one was swigging on a bottle of whisky moaning that "there is going to be boats going through all bl---dy day".

 

NB I was/am a keen fisherman and these two made me wince with their stupidity of choice of places to fish.

Edited July 21, 2013 by mark99

[jake_crew]

Anyway the Spitfire flypast was brill but how much did it cost?

 

Peter

 

£ 5,000 is the usual rate.