The Team

Christine (Chair of LCA) and Neil Cameron.

We are Neil and Christine Kitchener, we bought the Duckling in 2014 with no experience of boats or canals. The Duckling is a 57-foot ex Nollie Barge which had been previously owned by a charity and used for educational trips for children. She is moored in Auchinstarry Basin and when we bought her she had fallen into a poor state of repair. We were told that she had been named the Duckling by a primary school in Possilpark. Her engine had been flooded and needed replacing, the wooden floor was rotten and needed replacing (mushrooms were growing on the boards) and the windows were leaking. She had been stripped of all assets, cooker, stove  lightfittings and the electrics were shot, She was a barge in need of a lot of TLC and mountains of cash. However, the jewels in the crown were 3 beautiful stained glass windows and pictures revealed that she had been a real beauty in her day. For the last 5 years we have been working on her and are slowly returning her to her previous glory. We do not live on the boat, but she has made her maiden voyage up the Falkirk wheel and participated in this year’s Flotilla.

We are both retired after long careers in civil engineering and social work respectively and we met on the Inca trail in Peru many years ago. We have family in Australia, Canada and England so travel a lot. Christine is a Highland woman from the Glens and Bens of Fort William and Neil has roots in Bedford and Cardiff. We still enjoy rambling and are keen walkers with Kirkintilloch Ramblers. We became involved in the Lowland Canals Association from the beginning and continue to be enthusiastic about the new challenges that we are presented with. We enjoy cycling the canal, observing the swans, cygnets, ducklings, wildlife, flowers and all the varied life along the canal bank. Our future plans are to navigate the whole of the Forth and Clyde canal and visit Edinburgh for the Fringe with a warm log burning fire and a warm malt whiskey.