Canal Trip on Beatrice for Prizewinning Pupils

When Graham Churton, Chairman of The Beatrice Charity, heard about the competition run by Stoke on Trent Boat Club with St Luke’s Primary School in Endon, to celebrate the Club’s Golden Jubilee, he immediately suggested that the successful contestants be given the chance to cruise on Beatrice.

He offered the winners and runners-up a trip on Beatrice, to give them a taste of boating. James Redford, winner of the writing competition, and his runner-up Lauren Pickford were invited, along with poetry winners Lily Grundy and Charlie Eardley, the successful artists Bethany Horwell and Neriah Brassington, and successful photographers Archie Johnson and Lauren Potts.

They spent some hours cruising the delightful Caldon Canal on Beatrice, the trip boat for children with a need to get afloat, seeing for themselves some of the things they had learned about during the ‘canal week’ held by the school in March, when members of Stoke on Trent Boat Club visited the school, showing films, demonstrating canal art and introducing the youngsters to the wonders of the waterways.

Everyone agreed that the event was hugely successful - the head teacher and staff, pupils and the boat club - and the trip on Beatrice was a most enjoyable reward for the successful pupils.