Paddington arm

John McDonnell is the M.P. for Hayes and Harlington and he obviously has a hot line to God because he arranged for an 'awareness' day on Saturday last [19 March] which turned out to be the hottest day of the year so far!

It made our task of 'selling' the canal to the local populace so much easier!

John is hoping to 'educate' local people into becoming aware of the wonderful facility of the canal as it runs through Hayes, and to establish a 'Hayes Canal Club.' One of the problems we canal-loving folk have is the fact that most people are unaware of the canal's very existence, or, if they are, then no thought is given to the leisure aspect of it. Unfortunately, some see it as a place to dump rubbish-a situation not unknown to canals nationwide.

Enough of the downside-this day was all about positivity!

John Boswell and myself brought Pisces and Spirit to Station road bridge by 13:10 ready for the first trip by 13:30, south towards Bull's Bridge. As is the way with these things there was a slight delay before things got going. We had already liaised with Ian Long, a friend of H.N.A, who told us that the event was being co-ordinated from the St. Anselm's church just across the road. Eventually, John appeared and made a short speech asking people to help get a 'Hayes Canal Club' off the ground, then it was time to load the first batch of people onto the boats and set off south.
One of the aspects of an 'out and back' trip to be taken into account is the availability of winding holes. Both boats are 70 feet long and the canal is frequently only 50 feet wide or less, so it was largely 'suck it and see' as to just where and when we would start the return journey to Station road bridge. Bull's Bridge was soon reached with people on board oohing and aahing with the novelty and enjoyment they were experiencing. They were probably unaware that this particular stretch of canal between say the Slough Arm in Cowley and Bull's Bridge is the most heavily polluted, in terms of floating rubbish, in West London. It is this fact that John McDonnell is trying to address and to get people to take a pride in the waterway. I put the pollution down to the fact that the Hayes stretch has a history of industry where in times past no thought was given to the effects of treating the canal as a linear rubbish dump, let alone considering for one moment that it could ever be regarded as a leisure facility!

I digress, back with the oohers and aahers John on Pisces phoned me from 100 yards ahead that he would wind opposite the "Old Oak Tree" in Southall. I looked at my watch and said I'd wait for him at Bull's Bridge as the trip, already some 40 minutes in duration was exceeding the plan of out and back in thirty! The lucky punters of course were not complaining!

John came back slowly alongside Spirit where we 'breasted' tied stem to stern and became a 'push-me-pull-you' of 70 feet long and 14 feet wide. It was then just a matter of John winding up Pisces' motor to propel us back to the start. This gave me the unique opportunity of wandering around the two boats in the manner of an airline pilot, asking folk if they were enjoying the trip, to which there was a unanimous chorus in the affirmative!

On trip number two, with Pisces' engine switched off, John was able to do the same. This also meant of course that we could return wherever we felt like it. By trip number three the numbers of people waylaid in the High Street had understandably dwindled somewhat but we still had about 14 customers [plus one keen chap that climbed out of Pisces and into Spirit for a second go! We told him that he had to disembark but, after seeing we had the space, let him have another go--a possible future convert?]

Our return to Station road, this time separated as we untied and I turned Spirit in the mouth of the Paddington Arm and trailed John back, was followed by our departure back towards Cowley and the waters on the canal in Hayes stilled as the throb of Pisces engine receded into the distance. Spirit's engine was still running of course, but it's no match for Pisces in the volume stakes!

The waters might have stilled but let's hope that some hearts have been stirred!!

Barry Holland