CHUG’s Wildlife and Gardening Group (WAG) has been working hard to spruce up the basin this year. Our allotment is lush and full of produce thanks to our resident green thumbs, and the rest of our green spaces are on the up!

Andy Bees Island, in the southeast corner of the basin, is home to our two bee hives and is a green focal point in the basin. It took some hard knocks after dredging in the basin last year, so the Wildlife and Gardening group is working to reestablish wildflowers for the benefit of our bees, and bring back other flora and fauna on the island.
Check out the Wildlife and Gardening group hard at work:


They even fished an old bike from the canal!

After a long, hard year of poor weather, CHUG is excited to say that our apiary is expanding!
Part of our hive swarmed a couple of months ago, and ever since, we’ve had a little colony in a temporary accommodation awaiting their own hive.
It finally arrived flat packed just last week, and after a morning of assembly by some of CHUG’s beekeepers, we were able to put them in a brand new hive of their own!

One of our favourite parts of beekeeping is doing the inspections to ensure the hive is active and healthy. Check out one of CHUG’s resident beekeepers carrying out a recent inspection:


Happy, healthy bees!
Chug had a great day at the Shoreditch festival on Hoxton Market.
Children and adults alike joined in with traditional canal painting of roses and castles on plates.
Homemade cakes looked delicious and were sold, and all donations collected were towards laburnum boat club’s fund towards a new fleet of boats. Plates made great decoration, enjoyed by the chug community at our annual party.
Come along to the next open day for more traditional plate painting.
Families came as far as Croydon and enjoyed the East End community spirit, Riley and his nan in particular. They promised to come back for the next open day and visit our lovely canal. 








We will be selling organic seedlings on behalf of St Mary’s Secret Garden, The local fire-dept may bring along their fire-engine, an exciting workshop and lots of yummy cakes and treats…