Monday 1 August 2011

Waterways Festival -- Burton on Trent

This past weekend we spent 3 beautiful days at the Waterways Festival at Burton on Trent. For those of you who don't live in England river canals are making a huge resurgence amongst the population as a means of vacationing and living full time on the water. During the GeorgianVictorian Era there was a massive building of canal networks all over the Britain as a means of moving transportation from area to area. This was before the boom of freight trains. Back in Sept of 2010 I posted about a museum on the canals and the canal workers, you can go here to read it and learn more about locks:)

We had a wonderful time learning and exploring at the festival. The family now want to take a summer holiday on a narrow boat and explore the canals.

Going inside a narrow boat. This one was on the fair grounds they had over 300 boats parked in the canal, unfortunately all of those pictures turned out to dark:( even tho it was a beautiful 3 days, my camera settings must have been off:(





We took a tour inside, while small it is comparable to being inside a camper with some modern conveniences. The guide showing us this boat lives in the boat during the summer months.






They had radiators and heat stove -- lots of hidden storage throughout the boat.











Living room was big enough for a love seat or two slim chairs.







We were told that narrow boats are approx 6 feet wide on the inside and no longer than 60 feet. there are strict standards for these boats as some canals/locks can only manage the narrow boats and any boat that is wider is not allowed in the canal because they will get struck.

There were many activities for the kids to do to learn about the canals, life on a boat and the old way of life .
They learn about brick laying, which is what is used to build the locks.








Since we were there for 3 days we tried this activities every day. Here they are using a clay mixture and not cement for safety.



Every evening the volunteers took down the wall and the next day the children help to rebuild the wall.







Kids also learn knot making but again all my photos turned out to dark:( I bought a few books and cords and we are going to continue practicing at home:)

Also at the festival were several rides that the kids enjoyed.




















My husband doesn't want to know how much money went into these rides for 3 days;).







Lots of fun entertainment, various music shows

Dog show






Bike show







Fire fighter demonstration








Bobbies as they are known here. You don't see them with these hats much any more.









There was also a viking encampment and show which I will post about later this week:)








A new month means a new start up for the Field trip hop. We had an amazing 60 link ups last month. Please share your home schooling field trip adventures at




Also there is a new month of blog hopping at NOBH, come share your posts

13 comments:

  1. Looks great! I live near Burton on Trent. :) I'm not a fan of narrow boats I always feel "claustrophobic"

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  2. Looks fantastic! The canal nearby us in being regenerated and is lovely to see it coming back! We would love to have a holiday on one too. Our friends went with their 4 children this year and raved about it afterwards
    Zoe x

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  3. A river trip on a narrow boat is one of our biggest dreams! Why does everything look like so much more fun 'across the pond'?! Thanks so much for sharing!!!

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  4. That looks like a great time! :) I've always wanted to go to England. I am now following you as Beagle Mama. :)

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  5. Fascinating! I've never heard of narrow boats. Looks like the whole trip was lots of fun!

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  6. Hi Bibbity Bobbity Boo (love the name) if I had know we could have tried to met up while we were there. We had a great time:)

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  7. Hi Zoe,
    It would be fun to see how they are fixing the canal near you. From what I read it is a lot of work. We are planning a canal trip next summer I think and we are looking forward to it

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  8. Hi Diane,
    Do they have canals in Canada? I am not sure. We are really hoping to give it a try next summer:)

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  9. Hi Beagle Mama
    Thanks for following and I am following back:) Hope one day you can visit jolly ole England we are having so much fun here:)

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  10. Hi Maureen,
    I hadn't seen narrow boats either until we lived here. I really wish my picture of the canal came out so you could see the boats in the actual canal it was amazing and so colorful.

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  11. How neat Anna-Marie! Looks like a lot of fun and I love dreaming about living in campers, house boats. :) It looks like the narrow boats were beautiful inside and out! Clicked a vote for you!

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  12. Your blog adventures are so fun to follow. Your lucky children to be able to have hands on learning. I am learning about many different aspects of your country through your adventures.
    Blessings to you!

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  13. I have missed so much. Really neat field trips and posts. I enjoyed catching up with all you and your family have been up to the last two weeks. Thank you for the prayers and thoughts, so glad to be back. =)

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