Newsletter of IWA Lee & Stort Branch Autumn 2018
A Non-Boating Visitor’s Take on the Ware Festival
It was the sort of blazing hot day we have become used to this summer, and so being by the water lent a welcome cool and refreshing feel to the afternoon. Having met my sister, a resident of Ware, in town, we settled down by the bridge to watch, as the many boats made their way up the waterway. Although not all of them had followed the announced theme of ‘A Life on the Ocean Waves’, each was gaily decorated and had happy and (sometimes) waving crews. A frequent and highly topical choice, was that of plastic pollution, which is, of course, an equally serious problem on both inland waters and the high seas. I did wonder whether ‘Matilda Blue’, sporting a Southern Cross motif, had indeed crossed the ocean to be there! Good to see that humor is alive on the river, e.g. ‘A wife on the ocean waves’, and a penchant for pink flamingos – indeed, I later gathered that two of these, together with a coral island, helped the boat ‘Obsession’ with John and Christine Swallow, to secure a welldeserved win in this competition. We then moved to the main street to see the carnival parade pass through, before being invited by Monica to join her aboard ‘Dobbin’, for a most welcome cup of tea.