Four go mad in Stourbridge
What’s new with the good ship Kilsby in June?
Roving Bridges - a story sharing evening
Tea time and tales at Makespace. Photo: Marta Lomza
How do you start a creative project?
We’ve started with Roving Bridges, a get-together for anyone who wants to join in. We meet and share stories about our wild and wonderful waterways.
During our first session at Makespace, on 11th June, the tales were coming thick and fast, and we were all feeling a bit inspired by the colourful history of the Oxford canal.
What next then? How can we take all this inspiration and make something - together?
The plan is to write a song. The plan might change of course. But we have the vision, and we have a few ukuleles….and next year we will have narrowboat Kilsby to sing it on!
We’ll post the date for the next one when it has been decided.
Please get in touch if you would like to help out with delivering one of these creative sessions. It could be as simple as being the person who welcomes everyone to the room, starts the conversation and keeps the biscuit plate topped up, or perhaps you have a creative game or activity you can share with the group? We can make Roving Bridges whatever we want it to be.
(Wondering what on earth a roving bridge is? CLICK HERE to find out)
A trip to the boatyard
Beth, Sean, Byshe….and Kilsby! Photo: Steph Pirrie
Steph, Beth, Byshe and Sean (try saying that after a few shandies) took a road trip up to David Kemp’s Boatyard in Stourbridge to check in on Kilsby, and chat with David about how the restoration is coming along.
Like most of us, Kilsby has her fair share of battle scars - bits that that have been chopped off, bolstered up, and generally reconfigured as her role has changed over the past 113 years.
David sharing the inside scoop on Kilsby’s restoration Photo: Steph Pirrie
David explained all these quirks, how they came about, and what he and his team are doing not only to preserve all the history in these lines and angles, but make them good and strong so they can be enjoyed for generations to come.
Thank you to David for sharing your expertise and enthusiasm.
Click here if you would like to join one of these trips up to the boatyard.
And finally
Save the date for the canal festival!
We hope to see you there. It is always a great event, lovingly put together by an amazing group of local volunteers.
We always need people to help host the Kilsby tent - chatting to people about the project and recruiting the skippers and storytellers of Kilsby's future! Please click here if you would like to sign-up to help on the day.
The Canal Festival has consistently raised funds, awareness, and enthusiasm for the Kilsby Project. We are really grateful to have people in our community who give their time and energy to make these celebrations happen.
Thank you to them, and thank you to you, for reading!
Bye for now!
