Volunteerring at the National Waterways Museum

I made the decision to get involved in volunteer activities this winter as there has not been much to keep me busy while wintering in Liverpool. Just prior to Christmas I contacted the National Waterways Museum in Ellesmere port to see if they had any need for volunteers.  I thought that since I like boats, like working with wood and have been interested in the history of the canal system in England that this would offer me something I would enjoy doing.

Last week I was contacted by the museum and invited to join the volunteer staff at the museum.  

On Tuesday I traveled to Ellesmereport for a meeting with two of the volunteers.  I traveled from Liverpool to Ellesmere Port which is a 30 minute train ride for me.  I have a 10 minute walk at each end of my train journey so getting to the museum is easy.

On Tuesday I was given an introduction to the museum and an overview of the various volunteer help that was going on there.  

The volunteer group is divided into various areas such as archives, training, guiding, maintenance of boats, restoration of boats etc.  After spending several hours touring the museum and meeting various members of different volunteer groups it seemed to me that the groups that were of most interest to me would be the boat maintenance and restoration groups.  Since I was new to the museum and knew nothing about traditional boat restoration I thought it would be best for me to start by helping with the boat maintenance and boat movement group and eventually once I become more familiar with the museum try to get involved with boat restoration.

On Thursday I spent the day with the maintenance group.   The head of the group met me and gave me a more in depth tour of the museum where I was shown the various restoration shops and given an overview of the restoration projects taking place.  He also explained some of the maintenance projects that were on his to-do list.  I had a chance to meet some of the volunteers who have been helping on a regular basis.  Most of them are retired like myself.  

On Sunday I am scheduled to work at the museum with what is called the Boat Activities Group.  This team has the responsibility for operating the boats and keeping the restored boats maintained.  I was told I would be receiving training on boat operation and safety on Sunday.