Picture Perfect!

The results are in! Our annual photograph competition closed on Monday 30th November having received nearly 200 entries across the 7 categories. This is the best return we have ever had for the competition in the 6 years it has been running so obviously Scotland's canals are being well used!

The other encouraging factor was that entries came from all across the UK and even Europe. The winning entries can be viewed here and all submissions have been uploaded onto our flickr page for viewing.

To give you an idea of how far the competition reached, the selected winners were from Portsmouth, Worcestershire, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Kilmarnock, Lochwinnoch and the Isle of Skye! Many thanks to everyone who took the time to enter and keep a look out for the 2010 competition, which will launch sometime next year.

Ammendment To Customer Newsletter Issue 4

It has been brought to our attention that there was an error within Issue 4 of the customer newsletter which was sent out w/c Monday 9th November. On the back page under the headline 'Dates for Your Diary' you will find a paragraph which states that the Lowland canals are closed from 18th December to 5th January - this should read 24th December to 5th January.

It should also be noted that 48 hours notice is required during the winter for all boat movements. We apologise for the error and will be sending out a note to everyone informing them of the correct information.

Sizzling Summer Part 2!

Part two of our round up the season comes from The Falkirk Wheel, our World famous visitor attraction. Our summer campaign was focused on increasing visitor numbers whilst improving the spend on site and dwell time of visitors. This was achieved by using a mixture of TV, radio, press and online advertising to promote all the benefits of a day out at The Wheel.

The new TV advert appeared on STV throughout the summer and we even had Scotland's most listened to breakfast presenter, George Bowie, broadcast his Radio Clyde show live from The Wheel one morning (see image).

Results from the campaign show that revenue is ahead of target our boat trips, cafe and retail elements whilst visits to our website and online bookings were up 18% and 44% respectively n last year. The boat trips enjoyed three record breaking days throughout July and August, including seeing the 1 millionth passenger since opening climb aboard.

As an added bonus, The Falkirk Wheel was given a gold award from the Green Tourism Initiative in Scotland at the first time of asking!

The third and final part of our round-up on seasonal events will be available next week!

Saying Goodbye To A Sizzling Summer Across The Network!

As the nights start to get longer and the air turns a bit colder, it seems like a good time to reflect upon a highly successful season for both the canal network and The Falkirk Wheel. Our continued drive to increase the awareness of Scotland's canals and to challenge existing perceptions has been the driver behind all our activity. This is part 1 of 3.

Starting with the canal network itself, we ran two outdoor campaigns back in June - one in Edinburgh, one in Inverness. Both consisted of a targeted door drop to residents who live along the canal corridor outlining all the different activities that they can enjoy by visiting their local canal. This was backed up by outdoor posters and billboards strategically placed along the main commuter arteries to maximise visibility.

In the immediate aftermath of the campaigns, our pedestrian counter numbers during July rose by an average of 48% in the Edinburgh area compared to the corresponding figure for 2008. In Inverness that increase was 28% and Fort Augustus enjoyed a more modest 4% rise, although it was starting from an infinitely higher base line with it being a popular tourist destination.

Obviously this is unsustainable as you would expect a large spike in usage immediately after the campaign. However, the overall visits to all of Scotland's inland waterways has increased by 4.38% when compared to the same period last year.

Keep checking back over the next few days for a report on The Falkirk Wheel's performance over the season.

Kirkintilloch Festival Soon!

A quick reminder that the award winning Kirkintilloch Canal Festival will be running over the last weekend in August (29+30th). We will be giving people the chance to walk on water with our now famous waterwalkerz all day on the Sunday but there will be plenty of other activities throughout the town!

For more information visit http://www.kirkintillochcanalfestival.org.uk/

Caledonian Canal Cèilidh Trail

Now in its 8th year, the Caledonian Canal Cèilidh Trail brings together a group of talented young musicians playing a variety of locations around Inverness, Loch Ness and the Caledonian Canal. The Cèilidh Trail is organised by The Highland Council’s Education, Culture and Sport Service, and is partly funded by British Waterways Scotland.

Held in July and August, this year’s Cèilidh Trail kicked off with a Grand Opening Cèilidh at Urquhart Castle overlooking Loch Ness, and you can check out a short video of the Opening Cèilidh at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtTfjADueKg.

The 2009 Cèilidh Trail is led by accordionist Cameron Kellow, and trainee lead musician Rachel Campbell on fiddle. Student musicians in the band are Alasdair Taylor who plays guitar, mandolin and banjo; Rachael MacDonald on Highland pipes, Gaelic song and whistle; and Ewan MacDonald who plays fiddle and guitar. The team are also joined this year by TMC Folk and their MD David Bowen as well as Fèis Lochabair Ceilidh Trailers and young musicians from Fèis a Bhaile.

Details of the Cèilidh Trail events along the Caledonian Canal can be found at http://www.waterscape.com/features-and-articles/events/3847/caledonian-canal-ceilidh-trail-2009 where you download the 2009 programme and find out where to buy their CD! The team also have a page on Facebook!

If you have managed to catch the Cèilidh Trail on tour this year, or perhaps you have seen them before, make sure you drop us a note on the blog to tell everyone what you thought!

Hundreds Walk On Water With BWS!

Now if that headline doesn't grab your attention then we give up! The idea that anyone could walk on water may sound preposterous but that is exactly what we have been challenging the general public to do at events over the past few weeks.
How I hear you ask. Well, a couple of months ago we bought up giant inflatable water balls to use as a promotional tool at events we attend. Many discussions, meetings, method statements and risk assessments later we were ready to have a live human trial (we make it sound like a new medicine) at The Falkirk Wheel.
One member of staff volunteered to be the guinea pig, or to be more apt, hamster, that tested out the ball on the water. This was successful in as much as it did not let any water in and they came out in one piece! However, they spent most of the time on their side, back, front - pretty much everything but standing!
So finally on Saturday 20th June, members of the general public were invited to 'have a go' at Muirtown Basin on the Caledonian Canal. This was followed up by an appearance at The Royal Highland Show in Edinburgh where over 600 people tried their luck over four days! To view some footage of the ball in action visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKlT_pkPkrs.
We will be taking it to other events over the coming months, so keep checking back to find out where you can take up the challenge. We're all off to practice!