The gods smiled on us again. After a somewhat soggy start on our trip up, the weather brightened up and had us all worried on Friday when it rained again. Saturday was dry and Sunday too, only raining in the evening which was fortunate. Every year we keep waiting for the weather to turn as we’ve been so lucky every year. Footfall was good and anecdotally the SWCS stall did well with donations and Julian Souter was on hand both days to sign copies of his new book.

Traders included a good variety of wares, and all guests were well catered for with the Beer Tent, Ice Cream Van and Burger Van all situated right next to each other. We were all able to sit on the side watching the various boats coming and going through the Bratch Looks. We had historical boats in the form of Aquarius and Cactus and on the opposite side of the towpath was Tug No 2 – all beautiful boats.

The VIPs were welcomed onto nb Ernest Thomas II – and our thanks goes to them and their tireless volunteers for hosting us, and to our Rally Committee for the supply of Prosecco and Cakes. The local Parish Council, the County Council and CaRT were all represented and are fully supportive of the Society and the Event.

Forces Veterans Afloat were there with their stand and boats, and Jay treated us to an entertaining comedy set on Saturday night at the bar.

There were many charity attendees including St John’s Church, SRL and Shrewsbury & Newport Canal Trust.

Shout out to Paul and Trish on nb wakamatando for beating me to it on posting Flyers around the site and for some cracking content on the weekend – check out their Facebook page for more, and of course their canal art amongst other things.

Kev Maslin attended and took some beautiful photos on the Saturday, which you can see on his Facebook page – Chasing the Boats.

Some boats started moving out on Sunday but there were still a fair few left on Monday morning and by Tuesday you’d barely know that there had been 30 plus boats and hundreds of people at Bratch.

Despite it being our 5th year there, every year we learn and each year we improve. I’d like to thank the Rally Committee for all of their hard work in preparation and on the ground this weekend, and to all the traders and volunteers who worked hard all weekend and everyone who attended either by boat or on foot.

Finally, we wouldn’t be able to have a rally at all if it wasn’t for Severn Trent who permit us to use the land adjacent to the Pump House.

We don’t have numbers yet for any surplus but all of the Traders make a percentage contribution towards SWCS so every penny spent at the rally – whether it be the bar or a candle - benefits not only the Traders but the Society.

I look forward to next year’s Rally – same time same place.