News
The Duchess celebrates the 200th anniversary of the Wilts and Berks Canal
7th September 2010
The Duchess of Cornwall celebrated the 200th anniversary of the opening of the Wilts and Berks Canal today.
The Duchess, who is Patron of the Wilts & Berks Canal Trust, travelled along the Kennet and Avon canal towards Semington, Wiltshire, where a new link is being planned between the canal and the River Avon, known as the Melksham Link.
Formed in 1977, the Wilts & Berks Canal Trust aims to protect, conserve and improve the route of the Wilts & Berks and North Wilts Canals, and branches, for the benefit of the community and environment.
Members of the trust joined Her Royal Highness on boar Wilts & Berks Canal Trust’s first trip boat as she took to the helm.
Trust Chairman John Laverick said: "She was brilliant at the helm, our skipper was alongside her but he didn't need to touch the boat."
Earlier she had joked with him saying: "There's new paintwork, are you sure you trust me with it?"
The Duchess had joined the boat at Whaddon Lane in Wiltshire and took the helm about a kilometre from the end of her 30 minute boat ride.
After disembarking the canal boat, The Duchess chatted with local schoolchildren from St. Georges Primary in Semington.
The Duchess was then handed a bottle of beer and asked to name the boat in the traditional way - by pouring the beer on to the front of the narrow boat, which she named Dragonfly.
She said: “There were a lot of bets on how many of us will still be alive when the Wilts and Berks Canal is finished. I hope I will be able to accompany the Dragonfly on its first journey on the restored Wilts and Berks canal and see you all then.”
The trip boat will raise income for the trust by running trips on the restored section of the Wilts and Berks Canal near Swindon.
The Duchess was also asked to dig the symbolic first sod - piece of earth - of the new Melksham Link.
She was helped by 10-year-old Indiana Champion from Melksham who afterwards said: “I was kind of nervous, but it was good to meet her. She was really nice to me.”
The new link will enable people coming along the Kennet and Avon Canal to make a boating ring, and also give alternative access to the Midlands.
The new route will also provide 60 miles of standing water habitat.
Further information
The Duchess of Cornwall's Charities and Patronages