Garioch Heritage set for new canal boat exhibition

THE CANAL boat reclamation and preservation project was the subject of an explanatory talk by society member Joan Bruce at the Garioch Heritage Centre in Inverurie on Monday.

After many months of hard work conserving the old boat it should be a star attraction when it takes up residence upstairs in the centre next month.

It will be the star centrepiece in a display which includes information, office reconstructions and period photographs telling the history and importance of the canal, the paper mill, the railway and industry in the Garioch in general.

The 'old girl' as she has become known, had to be dug out of the mud at Port Elphinstone where it had languished for years and has been painstakingly preserved.

Orignal plans to have it suspended outside the doors of the Heritage centre had to be shelved due to Health and Safety reasons, safety for the boat as well as the public.

Monday also provided the Society's volunteers the opportunity to sit down to a lavish thank-you lunch for their sterling work throughout the year at the centre.

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