As Monday’s deluge continued unabated into Tuesday we split into indoor and outdoor parties. It may have seemed an easier shift for Gill and Sue looking after our gift and craft stall indoors in the foyer of Clydach Co-op but the weather was not going to make it a bumper  day for passing trade. As it turned out, such was the generosity of the Co-op customers and I am sure, the quality of the hand-made craft on the stall, we ended up with sales and donations of £72.00. We are extremely grateful to Cari, the manageress of the Co-op store, for allowing us to use their facilities. As  you may know the Swansea Canal Society and the Brynamman Institute are the Co-op’s chosen local charities for the next six months. Customers can donate 1% of the cost of any Co-op branded product they have bought to either charity.  This can be done by registering on:-

https://membership.coop.co.uk/causes/5840

Already, customers have donated over £500 to our charity. We thank them and the Co-op for supporting us.

Meanwhile, our outdoors volunteers worked in the rain clearing the litter and vegetation from the Old Stone Barge monument south of the Dynamic Rock Climbing Centre in Hebron Road. The area around the derelict one-storey, flat-roofed building to the south of the monument has not been touched for years. We hacked away at the vegetaion and uncovered  years of discarded ltter and fly tipping. We recycled  what we could and took the rest by wheelbarrow to the skip next to Perfect Pads.  We were pleased to be visited duringour work by Kevin Phillips from the Canal and River Trust HQ in Govilon who brought with him the new CRT Volunteer Team Leader, Jade Hester. She arrived just in time for coffee and a break in the rainfall. We were very pleased to meet her. She has been working for CRT for 13 years and is a qualified electrician. We look forward to  working with her to improve the Swansea Canal.

Later in the day, Toby, who has taken over the role of Old Stone Barge Protector arrived with his petrol mower and cut the grass around it to bowling green standard. This much overlooked tribute to the working boats on the Swansea Canal has never received such careful attention. An info panel to be erected near it must be our next aim.