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We're in Droitwich in 
Worcestershire, it's the early 

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May bank holiday weekend and 
it's the Saint Richard's Canal 

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Festival organised by the 
Worcester, Birmingham and 

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Droitwich Canal Society. 
Welcome to this edition of the 

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Water Rd. 
Vines Park in Droitwich has the 

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canal running down one side and 
the River Salwarp on the other, 

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and for this festival, the area 
in between is transformed into a

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lively show site. 
There's a big marquee and beer 

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tent in the middle where there's
music in the afternoons and 

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evenings. 
There are stalls for charities 

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and traders, food trucks and an 
ice cream van. 

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There are fun fair rides. 
And there are boats. 

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The local community boat, Pamela
May, too, is running boat trips,

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and we'll hear from them later. 
And there are some historic 

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boats. 
The festival has its roots in 

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the restoration of the Droitwich
canals. 

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They were abandoned in the 1930s
and restored by volunteers, 

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reopening in 2011. 
The main organiser is David 

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Wheeler from the Worcester, 
Birmingham and Droitwich Canal 

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Society and I spoke to him in 
the sunshine outside the beer 

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tent. 
It all started back in 2011. 

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I was a director of Droitwich 
Canal Trust for about 18 years, 

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restoring the two canals. 
The canal from the other side of

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Vines Park is called the 
Droitwich Junction Canal, which 

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which joins the Worcester 
Birmingham Canal down to the 

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Droitwich Barge Canal, which is 
the one behind us. 

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And the Barge Canal goes down to
the River Severn. 

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And in 2011 we actually restored
the canals from the Worcester, 

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Birmingham right the way through
to the River Severn. 

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So we had a festival here to 
celebrate the opening. 

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Because that was quite a 
remarkable restoration, wasn't 

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it? 
I mean really successful. 

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Restoration yeah, well, we're 
really lucky because we actually

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owned the Droitwich Waterways 
Trust actually owned the the 

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whole line of the of the canal 
apart from a bit on the junction

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canal where one of the old locks
was in somebody's garden. 

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So we we had to build a new 
lock. 

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But other than that, yet it was 
a major achievement really all 

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done by volunteers. 
How is that your? 

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Phone. 
In 2011 we had the celebration 

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ceremony here where we had about
120 votes turned up to celebrate

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the opening because it was 
something special to the to the 

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inland waterways movement. 
And in 2012 I had a phone call 

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from the managing director, who 
was then the managing director 

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of Which Haven District Council,
to say would we be interested in

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organising another festival year
on. 

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So I went to have a chat to him 
and realised that they had a St 

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Richard's festival, but it was 
only on the Saturday of the main

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bank holiday. 
And I sort of looked at it and 

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thought, well that's a bit daft 
really, to have a festival just 

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for one day on a main bank 
holiday. 

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So I agreed that we would 
organise one over the three 

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days. 
And that was in 2012. 

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And here we are in 2026, still 
working our socks off to to put 

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a festival on. 
And that that's really how it's 

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happened. 
And it's slowly but surely we've

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built a team of volunteers up 
that basically they just turn up

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on the Tuesday and everything 
starts to assemble it. 

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It's good. 
Because it's all done by the the

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Worcester, Birmingham and 
Droitwich Canal societies. 

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So I mean, it's all volunteers, 
isn't it? 

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Everything, everything that you 
see is is organised and run 

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totally by volunteers who give 
their time totally free of 

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charge. 
They get nothing if they're 

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working all day. 
Obviously we give them some food

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vouchers so they can go and get 
some food. 

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So we do feed them. 
But yeah, it's, it's all done 

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for the benefit of the residents
of Droitwe Spa and it it, it 

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seems to work. 
And tell me a bit about the 

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Canal Society, because that's 
obviously much bigger than just 

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the the festival, isn't it? 
It is. 

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We now own the boat called 
Cecilia, which we use as a 

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community boat where we get 
quite a number of groups now 

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where we can take them out on 
day trips and things like that. 

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And we'll probably one of the 
smallest in terms of membership 

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canal societies in the country, 
but we're probably one of the 

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biggest in terms of what we 
achieve and what we do. 

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Droitwich is a salt producing 
town. 

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It's one of the reasons the 
canal came here. 

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Vines Park contains one of the 
brine springs, and St Richard 

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gained legendary status when he 
got it flowing again. 

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Each year his Blessing of the 
Well is reenacted. 

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We remember all that we value 
about this community that we're 

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part of. 
I proclaim this moral blessed. 

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Let us proceed. 
In peace. 

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Amen. 
Have a wonderful weekend and God

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bless you. 
Well, my normal identity is the 

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Reverend Laura Handy. 
So Laura, the one of the vicars 

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in Droitwich. 
But today you're playing St 

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Richard, really, aren't you? 
I am. 

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I've inherited a long tradition 
and joined in with it of the 

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local vicar dressing up as St 
Richard to re enact the events 

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of today. 
So just tell me a bit about 

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Saint Richard then, because he's
an important person round here, 

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isn't he? 
He is indeed. 

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He was born and bred in 
Droitwich, but is most known for

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being the Bishop of Chichester. 
Many Droitwich folks will be 

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more familiar with St Richard's 
Hospice and may not know that 

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that was started by folks in 
Droitwich who took the 

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inspiration from Saint Richard. 
So he was a local lad who grew 

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up and found himself working 
hard in on the family farm and 

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to try and ensure during tough 
times they had what they needed.

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He delayed education to do that,
but then found himself in a 

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position as a Bishop, having 
been ordained. 

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And when the salt springs had 
all dried up and the town was 

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going to be in crisis with the 
salt industry, people looked to 

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him. 
And rather than look away, 

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thankfully he helped people have
the confidence and courage to 

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clear everything out. 
And then he had the privilege of

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praying a blessing on the well. 
And when those waters flowed 

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again for the salt industry and 
for all the families who 

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depended on it, it gave fresh 
hope. 

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Which means salt, doesn't it? 
So that's why it's Droitwich. 

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So it's, it's, it's absolutely 
crucial. 

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Yeah, absolutely. 
And there's so many things in 

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our history the the newly 
renovated heritage centre 

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captures brilliantly the the 
salt history. 

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So if anyone hasn't visited that
in Saint Richard's house, 

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there's the link again that 
tells of the significance to the

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population at the time and 
actually the community that that

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grew around it that we're that 
we're part of today and. 

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The well here you've just re 
blessed is is the sort of living

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embodiment of it. 
It is indeed, and it's 

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preserved. 
It's got the big, the big gates 

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around it now, but it's captures
the history in a little 

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information board. 
But absolutely it was the place 

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where that town gathered. 
And of course the the salt 

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barges would would take the salt
to where it needed to go. 

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And the the conical kind of salt
container meant you knew it came

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from Droitwich. 
Sir Richard himself got his 

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statue just the other side of 
the park. 

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Just a reminder, I think of that
this has been always a community

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that's had to work hard, that's 
had to work together, that the 

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times when working hard and 
together has gone well. 

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I mean, it has led to a future, 
the times when people have 

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pulled apart from each other. 
And, and perhaps in these times 

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in which we're living, re 
enacting a, in many ways a bit 

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of an absurd tradition of me 
prancing around bed dressed as a

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Bishop. 
It's just an opportunity for us 

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to kind of look back and maybe 
go actually, even when there's 

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hard times, pulling together as 
a community helps us find our 

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way. 
So now I'm on board Bramble, 

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which is one of the historic 
boats here, and with Eliza I'm. 

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A volunteer with Stanford 
Forward. 

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So just tell me a bit about the 
history of the boat then. 

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OK, well, we're sitting inside 
the cabin of working boat 

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Bramble, and she was built for 
Fellows Morton and Clayton in 

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1934. 
Fellows Morton and Clayton was a

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carrier and they carried mainly 
coal and steel bars between 

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Birmingham and London, sort of 
going up and down the Grand 

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Union Canal. 
And at that time people lived in

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the cabin. 
So Emma and Albert Russon were 

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the captain and his wife the 
best mate, and they lived on the

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boat, but they also had a booty 
boat that they towed behind 

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Bramble. 
So you've got the cabin set up 

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as it would have been. 
I mean, there's not much room in

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here. 
Is there no absolutely when you 

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think a family would live in 
this space? 

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So we've got a bed. 
It's a very small bed actually. 

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I don't need volunteer to do 
this. 

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If you were tall, it's supposed 
to be a double bed for the 

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captain and his wife. 
And then they have, they've got 

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the other boat as well or they 
did have. 

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So they would have two cabins. 
So the mate there wasn't mate 

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went with them. 
He probably was in the other 

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one. 
But in here we've got everything

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in the cupboard. 
So everything there's a, there's

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a sort of saying that says 
everything in its place and a 

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place for everything. 
And it really is true, isn't it?

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On a narrow boat. 
This is tiny. 

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So when you pull the cupboard 
door off your little food 

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cupboard, the table comes down. 
That makes you table. 

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It's always in the way. 
If you try and eat in here, when

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the boat's moving and you try 
and put the table down, it's a 

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nuisance because people are 
trying to squeeze past it. 

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There's a door to the engine 
room just on that side. 

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There's a little window out to 
the engine room that you can 

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pull across, but you have to put
the bed up every day. 

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And then next to you there's 
this stove, which we haven't got

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on today. 
But if you want hot water, you 

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want to cook anything, you've 
got to light the stove and it's 

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really warm. 
So tell me about the boat today 

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then, what's it? 
Because it's based in Stourport.

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Isn't it? 
Yes, it is. 

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Yeah. 
So it was restored by a man 

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called Richard Brindley back in 
about 2002 and then eventually 

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it came to Starport Forward. 
So it was owned by what used to 

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be British Waterways. 
They sold it to Starport Forward

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for a pound. 
But I think Star put Forward 

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probably didn't realise the 
amount of work is that's 

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involved in restoring A historic
boat. 

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So we work with a boat builder, 
a really good historic boat 

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builder called Martin Brooks. 
He restored the engine for us. 

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He and Joe Hollingshead and all 
boatmen got the stove and the 

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engine going again and amazing. 
It was awesome. 

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Seized up and they filled it 
full of oil and then drained the

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oil out and it worked. 
Incredible. 

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So we've had quite a lot done to
it over the last few years. 

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So probably in the last 10 years
we've been doing a lot more work

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to make it more accessible and 
we've been able to come to 

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Droitwich, which is fabulous. 
And the hold, of course is a is 

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a big open space. 
What do you use that for? 

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Well today we've got it as a 
boat cinema, so people can come 

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and see historic films. 
So we've got a few films that 

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we've allowed to show, which is 
great. 

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And we've got a film about the 
Unlocking the Severn project in 

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Diggless as well, which is all 
about the fish swimming up the 

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River Severn. 
So that's great. 

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But we also use it for we do 
Santa's grotto on the boat at 

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Christmas. 
We do lots of boat trips because

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we were a registered trip boat, 
so we can only take 12 people at

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a time and it's a very rustic 
experience because you've got no

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toilets, you've got no 
facilities. 

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But we stop at a pub so it's all
lovely. 

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So with Gareth on your stall and
you're a painter, you do the 

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roses. 
That's it yes, I've been doing 

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it for a few years now just a 
hobby really. 

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The painting itself. 
I tried to study historic 

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painters such as like the 
Bronston painters and also the 

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painters from like the northern 
style of Roses from like the 

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pottery. 
So just try to keep my painting 

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as traditional as we can. 
Because they look really simple,

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the roses, the canal roses, 
don't they? 

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But they're more complicated 
than they. 

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That's right. 
I mean from a quick glance at 

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the roses, it doesn't look a lot
to them. 

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The trick is there is a lot of 
layers which you build up. 

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But obviously years ago when the
boats were actually working, the

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00:12:48,560 --> 00:12:52,040
idea was to put the flowers on 
as quick as you can, make them 

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look pretty and get the boats 
moving because obviously whilst 

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they were all sat up they were 
earning no money. 

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It's possible to tell who's 
painted particular roses. 

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Isn't it of your own style? 
So. 

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I'm quite a new painter as such,
so really I suppose I have got 

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my own style. 
But yes, certainly if you look 

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at painters from the past you 
can certainly tell who did them 

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00:13:13,920 --> 00:13:16,040
and and who's influenced them as
well. 

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So everyone is usually 
influenced by a certain painter.

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So one of the most eye-catching 
stands in the festival, I think 

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is, is the Little Bradford Model
Boat Club. 

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00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:31,000
And John, you're the chairman. 
Just tell me a bit about the 

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club. 
Well, we started the club almost

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19 years ago, we constructed our
own clubhouse. 

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Now we've got 4 facilities, 
we've got hot and cold running 

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water, we've got everything we 
want really. 

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And then you bring your boats to
things like this. 

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I mean, there's an amazing 
variety of boats up on the stand

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00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:53,840
there, isn't there? 
Oh yes, well I've been building 

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since lighting, I'm doing 60 so 
I've done a bit, but the 

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00:14:01,560 --> 00:14:05,040
members, they're all modellers 
as well and they're all dead 

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00:14:05,040 --> 00:14:09,440
keen at the present moment. 
There's twenty of us in the club

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00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:14,640
and as you've seen, we do 
produce quite a nice display. 

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00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:17,920
And you've got one of your boats
out on the canal at the moment. 

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00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:20,120
Tell me about that one. 
Oh, that there. 

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00:14:20,400 --> 00:14:24,720
That's Angie. 
Angie's a kit boat produced by a

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00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:29,840
company called Crick, but a 
very, very popular boat with the

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00:14:29,840 --> 00:14:34,480
younger modellers because it's a
fibreglass shell and wooden 

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00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:37,840
construction. 
Some of the lighter kits now are

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00:14:37,840 --> 00:14:42,360
all plastic. 
And it's not quite, no not quite

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00:14:42,360 --> 00:14:46,880
so nice to handle plastic as. 
Plywood and Angie's a fishing 

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00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:49,320
boat and you've just encountered
some Swans. 

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00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:56,840
Yes, but one lesson you do learn
with boats is don't mess with 

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00:14:56,840 --> 00:15:01,240
Swans. 
They don't like boats for some 

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00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:05,240
strange reason. 
Excuse me. 

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00:15:05,440 --> 00:15:06,880
Oh, it's all right. 
I just got it back. 

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00:15:06,920 --> 00:15:10,400
You all right? 
I've lost sight and the Swans 

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00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:11,800
are actually bigger than the 
boats, aren't they? 

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00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:15,280
Well, the Swans are bigger than 
the boats and when they've got 

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00:15:15,280 --> 00:15:17,720
youngsters they're very 
protective. 

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00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:22,640
Another of the stands here is 
Rosie Philpott and you're an 

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00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:26,160
artist based in Droitwich. 
Droitwich seems to be quite a a 

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00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:28,520
painty place. 
It's it's all the wonky 

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00:15:28,520 --> 00:15:29,720
buildings and everything, isn't 
it? 

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00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:34,360
Yes, so my artwork is 
watercolours of local views and 

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00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:37,560
they're all in a quirky, wonky 
style, so I call it wonky art. 

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00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:41,640
And Droitwich High Street is 
just been rebranded the Wonky St

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00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:44,520
on Northern new signage as well,
which was inspired by my work 

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00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:49,760
apparently, so that's great. 
Yes, all my paintings are just a

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00:15:49,760 --> 00:15:52,920
bit different, different 
perspectives of the town and 

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00:15:52,920 --> 00:15:55,400
local area. 
We should say the reason that 

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00:15:55,400 --> 00:15:58,160
Droitwich is wonky is because of
all the brine extraction. 

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00:15:58,160 --> 00:15:58,840
Isn't it? 
Yes. 

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00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:01,640
So that's what inspired the 
first painting I did about 15 

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00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:05,080
years ago of the High Street 
called Wonky Droitwich. 

285
00:16:05,360 --> 00:16:07,800
And obviously, yes, the 
buildings are wonky because of 

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00:16:07,800 --> 00:16:10,240
the subsidence due to the salt 
extraction. 

287
00:16:11,040 --> 00:16:14,640
So I exaggerated the style and 
people really liked it. 

288
00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:16,280
So I've carried it on throughout
all my work. 

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00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:18,880
How big an event is this 
festival for you then? 

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00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:22,760
The pain events I do, so I do 
three of the local festivals in 

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00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:26,960
Droitwich and I get a lot, a lot
of work from here and it's a 

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00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:30,520
great festival to do, It's 
really well supported and it's 

293
00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:32,200
just great to be involved in 
town events. 

294
00:16:32,520 --> 00:16:34,200
And have you painted the canal? 
I have. 

295
00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:35,520
I've got a few paintings 
actually. 

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00:16:35,560 --> 00:16:39,120
I've done 1 based in here in 
Vines Park, and I've got the 

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00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:43,400
community canal boats and I've 
also done one further up the 

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00:16:43,400 --> 00:16:45,000
Eagle and Sun. 
That's in Hungary. 

299
00:16:45,880 --> 00:16:47,440
Yeah. 
And those paintings seem to be 

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00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:51,400
popular with people. 
There are two swing bridges over

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00:16:51,400 --> 00:16:54,400
the canal in Vines Park, and 
each time the trip boat comes 

302
00:16:54,400 --> 00:16:58,080
along, which is many times in a 
day, some of their volunteers 

303
00:16:58,080 --> 00:17:00,200
have to swing the bridges out of
the way. 

304
00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:05,839
First of all, there is the 
Pamela May 1 which was a 

305
00:17:05,839 --> 00:17:10,520
traditional engine. 
Pamela May 2 now is all electric

306
00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:14,000
and it proves to be very 
successful. 

307
00:17:15,079 --> 00:17:18,880
People enjoy it along the canal 
stretches here that we operate 

308
00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:22,240
on. 
We because of the the number of 

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00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:27,000
winding holes. 
Our maximum length of boat is 50

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00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:32,240
feet, so that's a bit of a 
restriction, but we take up to 

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00:17:32,240 --> 00:17:35,560
12 passengers. 
That's our licence number. 

312
00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:38,120
So David, what sort of trips are
you doing then what? 

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00:17:38,120 --> 00:17:39,520
What sort of people are coming 
on the boat? 

314
00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:44,840
Well, we promote it amongst the 
various care homes, social 

315
00:17:44,840 --> 00:17:50,360
organisations and a few private 
parties because that helps to 

316
00:17:50,360 --> 00:17:55,640
defray some of our costs. 
We also have bridal parties. 

317
00:17:56,160 --> 00:18:01,360
We've taken a party down to the 
Church of Salwar that's normally

318
00:18:01,360 --> 00:18:03,440
a 2 hour trip. 
Took a little longer on that 

319
00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:07,880
occasion but we also took a 
bridal party down towards 

320
00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:09,480
Worcester as well on one 
occasion. 

321
00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:13,680
So it's really introducing 
people to the waterways who who 

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00:18:13,680 --> 00:18:15,200
might not otherwise know much 
about. 

323
00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:17,040
Them. 
Well, very much so, yes. 

324
00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:22,960
I think for the elderly and the 
more infirm groups, we've got a 

325
00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:28,800
lift so we can offer the trips 
to those who are less able or in

326
00:18:28,800 --> 00:18:33,200
wheelchairs and it just gets 
them out of their normal sort of

327
00:18:33,200 --> 00:18:36,480
four walls situation and they 
thoroughly enjoy it. 

328
00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:41,320
They just come out and have a 
good Nat of and we do cream tea 

329
00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:45,680
trips which are very popular. 
We do fish and chip trips which 

330
00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:51,720
are equally popular, but 
primarily we do 2 hour trips, 

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00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:57,160
three hour, 5 hour and 8 hours. 
And the canal and your boat are 

332
00:18:57,160 --> 00:18:59,200
a fantastic resource for the 
town, aren't they? 

333
00:18:59,480 --> 00:19:02,480
Well, very much so. 
I think we're undervalued at 

334
00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:06,640
times, but people are getting to
know us more now. 

335
00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:17,160
The festival here in Droit, 
which has traditionally ended 

336
00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:22,200
with a duck race with about 1500
plastic doves racing down 

337
00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:25,680
another soldier and. 
A few going round in circles. 

338
00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:33,200
497 lost the leader we. 
Have a winner. 

339
00:19:34,360 --> 00:19:38,200
All the adjudicators trying to 
get through the cow crowd to 

340
00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:43,600
find out 452 was the winner. 45.
2. 

341
00:19:46,120 --> 00:19:49,120
And the duck race brings to an 
end this bumper edition of the 

342
00:19:49,120 --> 00:19:52,080
Water Rd from the Saint 
Richard's Canal Festival in 

343
00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:54,640
Droitwich. 
The podcast is produced and 

344
00:19:54,640 --> 00:19:58,120
presented by me, Adam Porter. 
Don't forget, if you haven't 

345
00:19:58,120 --> 00:20:01,560
already followed or subscribed, 
please click that button and 

346
00:20:01,560 --> 00:20:04,800
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347
00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:07,920
And don't forget also that every
previous episode is always 

348
00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:11,280
available to listen to. 
Thank you for listening to The 

349
00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:12,000
Water Rd.