THOUGH it rained on their parade on Saturday morning, the stalwart volunteers of the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust let nothing dampen their celebration of the fulfilment of their dream, the completion of the refurbishment of the canal.

The previous day's events, when the Prince of Wales visited three locations in the county to mark the end of renovation work, was organised by the Kennet and Avon Canal Partnership which saw through the renovation of the 87 miles of canal and towpath from Bristol to Reading.

The work was made possible by the partnership's successful £25million Heritage Lottery bid.

But Saturday's party was for the volunteers whose determination and unstinting selflessness had reversed the dereliction of the canal in the first place.

It began at 11am when John Laverick, the project manager for the renovation work, arrived aboard his steam launch Scathtan to cut a tape across the canal.

David Lamb, the chairman of the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust, who is standing down after seven years in the post, paid tribute to Mr Laverick. He said: "Forty-seven years ago a petition went up to Parliament that this canal should not be closed and today sees the end of that job. Thanks to John we now have an overhauled canal that is good for another 200 years."

Mr Laverick replied: "I had the easy job. I had £29 million to spend. The trust had to raise every penny by every means at their disposal and my team and I could not have done our work without them."

There followed a parade of 29 canal boats, of all shapes and sizes, from the Devizes and Pewsey boat clubs. There are now 500 boats moored in the area and 2,000 on the canal as a whole.

For people dismayed by the spiralling cost of home owning, living in a canal boat is becoming an increasingly attractive proposition. Modern canal boats are comfortable, warm and well-appointed.

There was a reminder, though, of the days when it was thought that the canal was on the verge of extinction.

Peter Crawford, chairman of the Reading branch of the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust, manned a stall appealing for signatures on a Declaration of Gratitude that will be sent to the Queen. More than 1,000 signatures had already been acquired on the declaration's journey from Reading and Bristol.

Mr Crawford said: "In 1956 there was a bill before Parliament to close the canal for good. A team of enthusiasts canoed from Bristol to Westminster collecting signatures for a petition to save the canal.

"When the government of the day saw the petition they dropped the bill and that was the start of the journey leading to the canal we see and enjoy today.

"We felt we needed to mark the completion of the renovation in some way and we came up with the declaration, which will be sent to Buckingham Palace. After all, it was Her Majesty's Government who made the decision and Her Majesty who officially reopened the canal in 1990."

It was not just boaters who celebrated on Saturday. Canoeists who undertake the gruelling Devizes to Westminster race each Easter put on a demonstration and there were events for both cyclists and walkers.

Attractions for children included a Punch and Judy show, magician Jack Stevens, Wadworth's dray rides, Doug North's Boys Band and the Devizes Boys Brigade Old Boys Band.