Our 1st Kingsland Basin Christmas Fair was a big success. The atmosphere was fabulous and we had great support from volunteers, neighbours, traders, and punters. Particularly popular were our Santa Boat Tours, the Carol Singing, and the fantastic raffle. More than 500 visitors enjoyed a magical afternoon, guzzled some 50 litres of mulled wine – and helped to raise a total of £873.40! Thank you all.

more pictures here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/nknw090jmyim851/FHf_DvxEkq

We at chug are so proud of Hannah (chug resident) who’s current adventure is walking around the entire recently opened Welsh Coastal Path with a donkey!

Here’s a clip from the North Wales daily post….

You can also follow her highly amusing journey on www.seasidedonkey.co.uk Here is another link:

Woman walking round Wales…. with a donkey – North Wales Weekly News

Canoe Slalom Course at Kingsland Basin

This year CHUG are building a Canoe Slalom Course in Kingsland Basin.

The slalom course is a series of pairs of light poles suspended from overhead wires forming “gates” that the canoes have to negotiate.  The paddler and the canoe (or kayak) have to travel through each of the gates (sometimes backwards) in a particular sequence  – in the shortest time possible.

The course is being built primarily for the use of the many local children and young people who attend the Laburnum Boat Club just along the canal. The Laburnum Boat Club (a small charity) is a community-based watersports centre set up by local parents thirty years ago. The Club has an active Canoe Slalom Team that has been competing in events around the South East all year. They are led by one of the Club’s senior members – 18 year old Vanessa Humphries. They are all very keen and work hard but at the moment they have nowhere to practice.

This is why CHUG are coming to the rescue. CHUG are committed to protecting the waterways in the borough and enabling local people to get access to them and enjoy them. Using their own efforts and fund-raised resources they have designed, and are in process of building, a terrific new slalom course for the kids to train on. The course should be completed in the coming months, and will be a valuable asset for local children – encouraging them to take exercise, enjoy a constructive leisure time, and appreciate the canal and its environs.

Canoe Slalom is a worldwide sport and Great Britain won two medals (one gold and one silver) at the Olympics twelve months ago (watched by the Boat Club’s slalom team!).