I am pleased to report on our February 3rd 2010 Meeting. Our speaker for the morning was Mrs. Margaret Deakin. The talk she gave was entitled Waterways of Russia.
Mrs. Deakin and her husband took a cruise through the waterway from Moscow and finishing in St. Petersberg. Her talk was illustrated by some very beautiful slides of churches and monasteries containing many beautiful icons.
The Moscow canal was commissioned by Stalin in 1932 and completed by 1937. 75 miles of straight waterway was channelled through existing villages, some of the church spires are still visible. The canal was built by Gulag prisoners, of whom 100,000 died during the construction. (No Public Enquiries were held as to whether it was needed, in those days ! ) The completed canal was a huge improvement on the existing narrow canal, which was very limited with the size of the vessels that could navigate it. Apparently 7 concrete dams, 8 earthen dams, 11 locks, 8 hydroelectric plants, 5 pumping stations, 15 bridges, 2 tunnels , a river terminal and a finally a large cargo port, were all constructed. However the canal is only navigable between May to October, due to ice.
One priceless snippet of information Mrs Deakin gave us was that 2 million bottles of Vodka are drunk by the Russians every day – it`s a wonder the canal is straight!
Their cruise finished in the beautiful city of St. Petersberg, where many priceless treasures are stored including of course many of the world renowned Faberge eggs.
A truly interesting and entertaining talk. I believe it will inspire many members of the W.I. to follow in Margaret’s footsteps to see some of the many treasures held in Russia.
The next meeting of Dean Rise W.I will be at 9.45 on Wednesday 3rd March when it will be the Annual Meeting followed by a talk by the Air Ambulance Trust. Visitors are always welcome.
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