Mud and Maritime Festival

This weekend saw Preston Docks hosting the Riversway Maritime Festival, and the Ribble Mud Festival too!

The hundreds of people who flocked to the Docks in droves had a fantastic weekend enjoying the sight of the boats in the harbour...



...and finding out about why Ribble mud is so important!



There are a huge variety of boats using the Ribble, and many of them came to celebrate Preston's maritime heritage at the weekend, from sailing yachts and dinghies of all shapes and sizes, to canal barges...



...and large boats like the Environment Agency's maritime survey vessel...



...to the smallest boats such as inflatable dinghies...



...and even a catamaran.



A huge variety of boats use the Ribble week in and week out, all year round, as they have done for centuries, without the necessity of a barrage, as boat users wait for the tides and weather conditions to be suitable for their journey, whether at work or play. Many boat users use the Ribble because they enjoy the excitement and fascination of a tidal river, and appreciate it for the natural habitat and wildlife wonderland that it is.

As part of the Maritime Festival, the RSPB and Action Ribble Estuary held the Ribble Mud Festival amongst the many other attractions on the Docks, and had a wealth of information about the Ribble ecosystem and how it works - and just why all that glorious mud is so important!



...and there was also a wealth of brilliant activities for children (of all ages!) to enjoy as part of the Maritime Festival, from Ribble painting activities...




...to clay creatures of all sorts of wonderful variations, made by children (and their parents!) who like nothing better than getting their hands dirty...












There was also wildlife badge-making...



and basket weaving...



amongst the many activities for everyone to enjoy.

The Ribble wildlife who frequent the Docks didn't seem to mind all the activity - the gulls particularly enjoying the extra snacks available...



...while the ducks had an afternoon nap...



...and the swans concentrated on the serious business of making sure everything on their imaginatively-constructed floating nests were ship-shape...



Out on the Ribble, there was an angling competition on the Bullnose...



...and the view downriver at high tide was fabulous as the rain stopped and the sun came out...



...sparkling on the Ribble waters through the open dock entrance...



...as the traffic came and went.



All in all, it was a fantastic event for everyone, and we had a great time.

The Ribble, as an intertidal river and estuary, is great for people as well as wildlife.

Long Live the Ribble Wild!

Another event which we went to this weekend was a special invitation-only Celebration launch at Brockholes Wetland, which we will tell you about in a couple of days...

savetheribble@tiscali.co.uk