As most members will know by now, Martin has resigned as Secretary to the society after two and a half years. He will be ceasing his duties from 23^rd March.  During his time in office he has worked with other volunteers to achieve the aims of the society. I would like to acknowledge on here, the hours of work and dedication that he has put in, beyond the basic tenets of the Secretary’s job on all the many and varied aspects of the society. I am sure that the other members would agree.

In addition to this he has also covered any publicity – writing articles and taking photos and ensuring events have been reported in the press.

Martin and I have built up and worked on this website together, which has carried 400 blogs since 2013.   Martin, for his part, has written 99% of these blogs and taken 95% of the photos. While he will continue writing magazine articles, he will no longer be doing the day to day writing and taking photographs for this site, so I am asking that other members, or anyone interested in the canal, to contribute.

Members can write up an event or make a point in e-mail to the society, or in word document on any related subject from work parties to wildlife and everything in between , and ask for it to be put on the website . Their photos to illustrate could be submitted as attachments. This would make the website far more democratic and inclusive.  Comments on the blogs are always welcome also, so please join in.   We want to keep the website the vibrant and informative place that it has become, but we will need your help to do so.

Finally, a huge thank you to Martin for all his hard work. The canal and the website would not be the places they have become without him.