Showcase: CanalAbility + The London Gardens Society + Marking Time

Edited by Gloria Maloney

Welcome to my final Showcase for June.

On this page, we look at different ways we borrow from time. Time is a precious commodity often freely given to help others and, in doing so, we enrich our own lives.

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In our first piece, Martin’s gives us an insight as to how CanalAbility has borrowed time from him (and others) to help with the smooth running of their charity.

CanalAbility

Hi, my name is Martin and I am one of several people who volunteer at CanalAbilty.

CanalAbility is a charity based in Harlow, set up over 25 years ago to provide the experience of a calming trip in a canal boat along the River Stort, especially for less able people.

CanalAbility has two wide-berth boats which accommodate 10-12 passengers each.

These boats need maintaining and crewing, and I help to crew a boat when needed to take customers out.

There are about 80 crew volunteers who spread the load of crewing the boats when necessary.

There are also volunteers who keep the boats running and look after the office work; all necessary to keep the operation running smoothly.

I heard about CanalAbility a few years ago from a friend who also volunteered as crew. It was something that I thought would be a pleasant thing to do, and something different to other things that I get up to. Before I retired, I used to be a computer programmer, which was basically a sit-down office job, and so doing something outdoors appealed to me.

I signed up in 2019 and completed my training as crew in March 2020, just as Lockdown hit, and so all went quiet until late 2021, when customer trips resumed.

There are three levels of crew on each trip: Crew, basic level helper, First Mate, more experienced and more training, then Skipper, who has a lot more experience and training and is in overall charge of the boat, crew and passengers.

I have risen to First Mate, which means more responsibility and is my comfortable level. I don’t really want to take on the responsibility of a Skipper.

Essentially, most trips last for four hours, which is two hours out along the River Stort and two hours back. Travelling at about two mph, we don’t get very far, but that’s not the point, it’s the experience, the view, mostly fields but often birds can be seen flying around and, ducks and swans on the water, and the tranquillity of the surroundings – a good disconnect from normal life.

I enjoy being able to help; this be achieved, especially for those who are otherwise house-bound, both young and old.

Unless it’s raining, the crew enjoy the atmosphere as well.

It is very satisfying when the passengers leave happy and full of praise, which is nearly all of the time.

On a typical trip, the crew arrives about an hour before the boat is due to leave. In this time, they get the boat ready, ensure the water tank is full, check engine oil and water levels, get the chairs out and turn the heating on if necessary. The passengers are then welcomed onboard when they arrive. During the trip, the crew steer the boat and manage the locks. Passengers are encouraged to have a steer and help operate the locks, which greatly adds to their enjoyment and experience. At the end, after the passengers have left, chairs and floors need to be cleaned and everything put away.

For more information about CanalAbility, I urge you to visit www.canalability.org.uk where you’ll find its aims and history and how to engage, either as a passenger or a volunteer.

© Martin Hamilton, 2026

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Next, Andrew tells us about his volunteering role with The London Gardens Society borrowing his time.

The London Gardens Society

I have been a volunteer with The London Gardens Society (www.thelondongardenssociety.or.uk ) for the past 25 years or so. It’s easy to lose count of the years!

The London Gardens Society is a charity founded over 100 years ago, originally set up to ‘beautify’ the areas of London damaged during the First World War, giving out seeds for people to sow. Subsequently, this became an annual competition regarding who had the best garden in London.

Nowadays, our aims involve promoting:

• Improved Wellbeing
• Improved Urban Environment
• Connecting People To Green Spaces
• Providing Knowledge And Resources

Circa 1900, Queen Mary took an active role in promoting the charity and became our Patron. Since then, we have been fortunate to have had Royal Patronage for the last 100 years. After Queen Mary came the Queen Mother, followed by Prince Edward, who is our patron today. All the Royal patrons have taken an active role in the Society, and all have visited some of the winning gardens each year.

My first role with the Society was as Secretary. The current Chairman took me to a pub and over a couple of beers asked me if I would like to take on the role. “It won’t take up much of your time,” he said! Although I volunteered to do the job, I was paid a stipend as Secretary.

I am now Vice Chair and a judge for the Society, both unpaid.

My role as Secretary involved organising and sending out over 25 judges to judge our annual competitions.

The competitions anyone in London can enter are:

• Front Gardens
• Back Gardens
• Window Boxes And Containers
• Patio, Roof Or Balcony Displays
• Gardens With Paid Or Professional Help
• Garden Displays In A Public Place
• Pubs And Restaurants

Basically, anything that is a garden can be judged! We even have a miscellaneous category.

All of the above categories are entered in the ‘All London Competition’ and the winners of each category mean they are the best in the whole of London

We also judge specialist areas:

• The Almshouses Gardens
• The Almshouses Residents Garden Competition
• The London Hospices Garden Competition
• The London Hospitals Garden Competition
• The London Ambulance Service Garden Competition
• The London Fire Brigade Garden Competition
• The London Squares Garden Competition
• Community Gardens Competition

All the competitions are judged in July and winners finalised in late August.

Winners are invited with their families to an awards ceremony at the Guildhall in the City of London. The building is the ceremonial and administrative centre of the City of London.

We normally have our presentation in one of the Great Halls and in the Crypts, which are very impressive.

Winners receive a certificate and if they are first, they get a cup ranging in size from eight inches to over 24 inches.

We have about 25 judges, with an age range of 17 to 85. This represents nearly a thousand years of experience!

My role was to gather all the entries to the competitions and divide them up in geographical areas and assign the judges to judge. Judges always judge in pairs and usually have six to eight gardens to judge per day. Judging is to a strict criterion. I usually assign a younger judge with a more experienced judge. Most of our judges come from within the professional horticultural world, with some very knowledgeable amateur gardeners  also included.

I, along with all the other judges, are volunteers. We do this because we love gardening, and one of the bonuses is that we get to visit some beautiful gardens.

If you are in the London area and love gardening, why not enter?

(c) Andrew Babicz Dip. Hort. (Edin), 2026

Connect with Andrew via his website: www.babicz.com

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Finally for this month, Sue gives us this entertaining piece, borrowing from time to keep in step with the beat of marching feet.

Marking Time

I am sitting in my garden with a cup of tea, enjoying the summer sunshine, admiring the flowers that are blooming, and watching the birds as they drink from the birdbath. Being retired means I can enjoy more moments like this. My time is my own. Today, I find myself reminiscing, as I often do, about my younger years and the time  I spent serving in an all-female military band….

To begin with, there were six weeks of basic training where we were marched everywhere, and it felt as though everything had to be done ‘at the double’. “Come on, ladies, make it snappy!” bellowed the sergeant major. Then there were room and kit checks – the dreaded sounds of footsteps in the corridor as officers went from room to room to do their inspections. Whispers of: “Quickly, hurry up, she’s almost at the door.” There were times when I felt my heart was in my mouth, and that time was running out. Tick tock, tick tock. Phew, got away with it!

It feels so real that I am reliving it now.

Sessions on The Square for drill were a thrill, but not if you had two left feet. Corporals barking out instructions: “Watch your dressing!” (keeping in line with others in your row) and: “Keep in step. Left, right, left, right!” at the pace of 120 beats per minute. Tick Tock, tick tock.

Having joined the band, I discovered more drill skills to learn, such as the thrill of being able to play my clarinet, read music and keep in step, while also keeping my dressing. To begin with, one imitated playing one’s instrument, because it was more important to be ‘dressed off’ in line correctly, for the choreography and overall appearance to be smart. Multi-tasking was a good attribute to have. You needed to keep in step, keep in line, read your music and also keep an eye on the Drum Major, who marched at the front of the band with a mace (a highly decorated regimental type of pole). With the mace, she signalled to the bass drummer, who, on her command, did double beats, often indicating an imminent cut-off of playing.

The ability to play and march at the same time came with hours of practice, listening to the beat of the bass drum. I had a mini music holder (a lyre) which screwed onto the bell at the end of my clarinet for marching purposes. Our music (march cards) was approximately A5 size and held horizontally by the lyre clip. Each sheet of music would be inserted into a plastic cover for protection against the elements. Imagine marching along with this thing, full of march cards, bouncing around on the end of the clarinet. In wet weather, these plastic sheets would stick together, making it extremely difficult to turn over to the next tune, and we only had nine beats of the bass drum in which to do this. In strong winds, it was a common sight to see music blowing across the Parade Square. The best remedy was to learn your music from memory.

Musicians who played larger instruments like the tuba or bass drum could sometimes be navigationally challenged because the size of their instruments blocked their view. On one occasion, a band member marched into a concrete bollard!

Sometimes it felt as though we were playing on instruments that were on borrowed time, particularly during the winter months when we were on parade and the weather was freezing cold, or wet and windy. Both musician and instrument were still expected to perform to a high standard.

On one occasion we were performing a marching display that involved playing The Flight Of The Bumblebee. Unfortunately, on this particular day the heavens opened, and it poured with rain during our entire display. Our instruments were underneath the capes we were wearing for protection, but they were still soaked and one by one ceased working. Our time well and truly ran out that day.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable season of my life. In the fullness of time, I married and moved on to other things. Now, my life resembles more of a rubato or largo, as opposed to an allegro or prestissimo. Oh well – time for another cup of tea!

(c) Sue Rummery, 2026

Thank you for reading and I hope you have enjoyed my June Showcases.

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