As a boater in Ely, I am pleased that the National is coming this way again, pleased that is for the region and tourism. But it will be very interesting to see how many people make it this way, I shall be watch the river in August 2007 with great interest. Having said that St Ives is a superb location and a very interesting town. And I think those who venture to the Upper Great Ouse next year will be well rewarded, especially if they take time to go above St Ives in the direction of Bedford. with best wishes Sallyann Ford ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mike Stevens" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, August 27, 2006 12:17 AM Subject: [canals-list] Re: Why Beale again?
> --- In [email protected], Bob Adams <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> >> >> What is the reason for this years 'national' being at Beale again so >> soon after the last time it was held there? I seem to recall that >> 'nationals' were held at sites 'under threat' in some way - but the >> upper Thames? > > I'm not privvy to the thinking of the people who make the decisions > about the location of Nationals, but it's a long time since "sites > under threat" has been part of the equation. That aspect has now > been taken over by the National Campaign Rally, which this year was > at Brookwood on the Basingstoke Canal, where the threat is very real. > > What the relevant people are looking for as a site for the National > is somewhere that a large gathering of boats can be accommodated next > to a large land site (so why have they chosen St Ives for 2007? > Don't ask me!). The National now is about the other kind of > campaigning - persuasion of the public (i.e. the taxpayers) that > waterways are a good thing. And, of course, about trying to make a > good profit, which past experience shows works best on the Thames. > > Having said that, there were campaigning reasons for choosing the > Thames for 2006. Boating activity on the Thames, especially hire- > boating, has been in decline for a number of years. And when the > ddecision was made, over a year ago, it was felt that there was an > under-funding problem for the Thames, and indeed with navigation > generally within the EA. (This was long before the present situation > about BW funding). > > Another factor that I think may be taken into account in choosing the > location of the National is the closeness of the site to current > restoration projects, in this case the Wilts & Berks Canal. That,of > course, paid off unexpectedly when they were able to follow up the > Festival with the opening of the new junction between the Wilts & > Barks and the Thames. > > Mike Stevens > nb Felis Catus III at Beale Park > > > > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/canals-list/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
