Peter's Waterways Blog Festivals of Water This was first published in IWA West Riding's Milepost in September 2018, comparing the 2018 Festival at St Neots with earlier ones.

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IWA's August Bank holiday festivals - nowadays the Festival of Water - this year revisited the Great Ouse at St Neots, eleven years since our previous Festival st St Ives. The traditional illuminated boat procession filled the walkways of the main river bridge, and this was followed by a firework dislplay put on by the local council. At least two of the days were dry!

The site from the bridge at St. Neots

Visitors enjoy the food court

The announcement of the 2019 Festival of Water at Waltham Abbey on the River Lee followed some passionate debate on why we have a roving festival and what it achieves for IWA and our campaigning for the Waterways. We compared our current efforts with that first Festival at Market Harborough in 1950 (which had some of its own passionate debates), and some of the attractions were very different from today's.

My Illustrious Namesake, then an IWA Vice-President, was for that Festival both thespian and philanthropist. Aickman wrote that Peter Scott, with mad impulsiveness, had guaranteed a play, Springtime for Henry with performances on five successive evenings, against loss, for a substantial sum. Having recruited the three professional actors, Barry Morse, Carla Lehmann, and Nicolette Bernard. Peter Scott. said he would like to have a try at the remaining part himself. Peter had never acted before, though he was good at reciting 'The Hunting of the Snark' and at singing American railroad ballads. "Peter's extraordinary capacity for excelling almost immediately at everything he undertakes, emerged even in this unusual context".

One of the new gazebos

Enjoying the boats

Then there was the conducted tour of the corset factory ("too uniformly pink" wrote Aickman), and the member who charged a shilling to see around his boat. For comparison, it seems that St Neots' own lingerie / corset factory closed long ago, and its building was demolished around 1997, and I could match neither the acting nor the moneyraising.

By happenstance, until the 1990 Festival in Gloucester Docks, the Peter Scott Challenge Trophy was awarded to the boat covering the greatest distance to the festival on salt water.

Interesting moorings

Wrgies at rest

Our travels to that festival included only a short wait at Upper Lode Lock on the River Severn for the last effect of the tide to disperse, and our trip this year was only the second since then. The trip to St Neots also requires a short tidal passage from Salter's Lode to Denver. Peter Scott @peterjohnscott

Wrgies at work