Easter boat gathering at Ellesmere Port to celebrate 50th birthday
Organisers are putting the finishing touches to a special Easter Historic Boat Gathering, set to be held in early April, which heralds an exciting year of 50th birthday celebrations at Ellesmere Port’s National Waterways Museum.
The Canal & River Trust charity is mounting the popular annual event between 3rd to 6th April.
This year will welcome around 40 colourful narrowboats and barges from across the country to the Cheshire museum. The centre is home to the nation’s largest collection of historic boats.
A former horse-drawn tar boat will be one of the stars of the show as it celebrates its own 100th birthday.
It’s currently enjoying a fresh coat of paint following work by canal boat artist Phil Speight – who was awarded an MBE in 2024 for services to heritage crafts.
One of the highlights of the weekend will be a chance to pick up expert tips and techniques from Phil at ‘Roses and Castles’ canal art painting demonstrations on Easter Saturday and Sunday.
The Easter Gathering weekend starts at 11am on Good Friday, with the arrival of a spectacular historic boat flotilla along the Shropshire Union Canal.
Visitors can then enjoy four days of fun boat trips, horse boating, harnessing and lock demonstrations, live music, craft workshops, stalls and family activities.
National Waterways Museum. Image: Ceri Breeze / Shutterstock
‘A valuable contribution to the running of the seven-acre site’
The anniversary is also being marked by several restoration projects, including a Historic England-funded renovation of the site’s Grade II Listed pumphouse.
The pumphouse houses an impressive Victorian steam engine that once powered dock machinery for nearly a century.
Preservation work will also be taking place on two important National Historic Fleet registered boats: Gifford and Basuto.
The latter is the oldest surviving Forth and Clyde puffer boat – it was named due to the puffing sound of her steam engine.
‘The National Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port plays an important role in preserving some of our nation’s key historic boats and explaining the important story of how our canals made a vital contribution to Britain’s Industrial Revolution,’ says Jon Horsfall, Canal & River Trust North West’s Director.
‘We owe an immense debt of gratitude to those early volunteers in the 1970s, whose inspired determination to preserve the past resulted in the restoration of some of the wonderful port buildings and canal features we enjoy today.’
‘Now in 2026, volunteers still make a valuable contribution to the running of the seven-acre site, working alongside our staff to welcome more than 20,000 visitors a year.’
‘During our special anniversary it would be great to see even more people enjoying a fantastic visit to our superb waterside museum.’
The idea for a new waterways museum was first floated in September 1970 at a meeting of passionate canal enthusiasts. The ‘North Western Museum of Inland Navigation’ society was launched a year later.
‘Something very special that continues to have relevance’
Volunteer work parties began to restore the site at the junction of the Shropshire Union Canal and the Manchester Ship Canal / River Mersey.
In June 1976, the new ‘Boat Museum’ was officially opened to the public by canal campaigner and author, Sonia Rolt.
Since then, the museum has hosted over a million visitors and highlights have included a visit by HM Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh in 1979. It also received a ‘Museum of the Year’ award from the Council of Europe in 1984.
In 1999, The Waterways Trust, a charitable arm of British Waterways, was invited to step in to manage the museum.
The result was the linking of it with similar museums at Gloucester Docks and Stoke Bruerne to become a new ‘National Waterways Museum.’
In 2012 the Canal & River Trust charity took over responsibility for the museum, along with 2,000 miles of inland waterways in England and Wales.
‘It was the industrial heritage that drew us in’
Remarkably still volunteering half a century on are Hoylake couple Mike and Cath Turpin, who regularly devote two or three days a week to the museum.
‘I’ve been proud to be part of something very special that continues to have relevance,’ says Cath Turpin who’s been volunteering with her husband, Mike, for half a century.
‘Our early tasks included securing the decaying buildings against vandalism and looking after the increasing number of boats being acquired by the museum.’
‘We also got involved in fundraising. It was the industrial heritage that drew us in. This museum tells the stories of working boats and people that so often go unmentioned.’
‘I am still involved in the hands-on work and Mike volunteers with the collections and archive team, and on boat and lock demonstration activities.’
‘I volunteer in the archive and engage with visitors providing boat commentaries, talks and guided tours. There’s always something to do!’
Breaktime News has previously reported on the popularity of the Ellesmere Port Easter Historic Boat Gathering Festival.
