The 2024 Southampton Boat Show will be remembered for a number of significant achievements, not least of which was the first inland waterways display at this predominantly coastal event. Robert Parton, MD of Aqueduct Marina, who is also currently President of British Marine, is very keen to see a major part of the Marine leisure sector, the Inland waterways, have a stronger presence at the Southampton International Boat Show. As a result, Glen Knight, a narrow boat builder based at Aqueduct, agreed that one of his stock boats should be taken down, and a C&RT workboat built at Aqueduct was delivered to the show.

The show is a well-known and well-attended fixture on the marine calendar but, until this year, had few, if any, exhibitors dedicated to the inland waterways. So, it was something of an experiment that the team at Aqueduct Marina, supported by C&RT, ABC Leisure, Hoseasons, Kings Lock Chandlery, Land and Water, Promarine, and Lakeland Leisure, put together a display to promote the benefits of the waterways to a new audience.

Over 100,000 visitors attended the show at Mayflower Park, with the vast majority seeing the bright red Knights narrowboat alongside the new C&RT workboat when entering or exiting the show site. As a result, large numbers of visitors stopped off to chat with representatives of Aqueduct, Knights, and C&RT to find out more about what the waterways had to offer visitors from coastal areas.

CRT’s Fundraising Manager, Michelle Collier, said, “We had lots of engagement with the public at the Southampton Boat Show. It was the first time a work boat from The Canal and River Trust had been to this show. It was great to see a keen interest and spread the message about our work as a Charity. A big thank you to British Marine and to Robert Parton from Aqueduct Marina for allowing us to be part of this year’s show.”

Aqueduct’s MD, Robert Parton, added “The level of interest was beyond what I expected with plenty of the show visitors having already holidayed on the canals. I am hoping next year we can repeat having an Inland presence, with a wider selection of Inland operators being involved to be able to cope with the huge amount of genuine interest.”

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