MORE than 200 boats - long, short, narrow and broad - turned up at Saul Lock last week for the three-day boat festival.

The festival began on Friday evening with musical events after the majority of the boats had moored on the Stroudwater Navigation but really got underway on Saturday, with the official opening at 2pm.

This was the seventh year of the festival which started as a very low-key affair with a few hundred visitors and has grown to the extravaganza of last weekend attended by thousands of enthusiasts.

If you were looking for a miniature stove, a comfortable cabin chair or an elaborately decorated folk-art watering can, Saul was the place to be.

The stalls lining the broad and pretty towpath at Saul sold everything from immaculately coiled lengths of rope to the latest development in saniloos, deck shoes and waterproof clothing.

But there was plenty for the landlubber too, with stalls selling crafts, jewellery, t-shirts, walking sticks and hand-made fudge.

Morris dancers and folk bands provided traditional English entertainment throughout the three days and the beer tent and the very reasonably priced ice-cream stand both did a roaring trade.

But the real stars of the festival were the boats, which ranged from the 24-metre Fleet tender Appleby, belonging to the Maritime Volunteer Service, to the tiny round coracle expertly sculled by members of SARA, the Severn area rescue team.

Long boats and narrow boats bumped bulwarks with cabin cruisers and steam yatchs and many of the owners invited the assembled throng aboard to gaze with admiration at the gleaming woodwork and immaculately tidy interiors.

The whole event was organised by the Cotswold Canals Trust, whose chairman Bruce Hall presented a special award to the trust's 4,000th member and reminded all those who were enjoying a wonderful day out by the water in glorious sunshine that an appeal to raise £500,000 towards the restoration of the the whole stretch of canal from the Severn to the Thames had recently been launched by the Prince of Wales.