Sometimes it isn't easy for people to get out to see, explore or
discover their local waterway due to age - too old, too young,
mobility issues or simply a lack of interest. To help overcome some
of these issues our Canal Community Liaison Officer in Scotland, Steven Cole, got together with the Open Museum at
Glasgow Museum Resource centre to create a Glasgow Canal
Kit.
The kit contains museum objects such as a model puffer
boat, a kingfisher, butterflies, plant-life specimens, a horseshoe,
a windlass, boat tickets and small samples of goods that were both
transported on and made along the canals. There are also
photographs, a map, suggested walks and a history of the canal.
Local community groups such as youth groups, nurseries, care
homes, community centres can borrow the kit free of charge and help
more people uncover the history of their area, the wildlife that
make their homes along waterways or perhaps how of Glasgow has
changed over the years.
This is just one of the ways that the Trust is helping to make
the story, heritage and wildlife of our canals and rivers more
accessible to the local community.
You can find out more about this kit by contacting the Open Museum.
I'm also trying to stick to my New Year's resolution of doing
some kind of exercise each day and with Spring on its way, the
office's location in Gloucester Docks leaves me with no excuse but
to get out and pound that towpath on my lunch break. If you are
able to get along to a canal or river, they can be fantastic places
to set a new PB (personal best). A nice, flat route makes a marked
difference to the hills of Herefordshire where I live!