A SINGING group united by dementia took to the water for a special trip – after an unexpected pit stop!

Haddington Dementia Singing group was offered the chance to enjoy lunch followed by a sail on the Union Canal on a barge run by the Seagull Trust.

The charity organises canal trips for elderly and disabled passengers.

A spokesperson for Haddington Dementia Singing group, which meets every Wednesday in the Maitlandfield House Hotel, told the Courier that its members had enjoyed the experience.

They said: “Despite the bus breaking down after lunch and having to wait for a replacement, we made it to Ratho and the canal basin in time.

“We boarded our barge, the Crusader. The crew cast off and we puttered up the canal at a leisurely pace.

“We sailed along under a canopy of trees and dappled sunlight while the friendly crew served us tea and coffee.”

The singing group consists of people with lived experience of dementia; those with the condition, those who care for them and those who have loved and lost people to dementia.

The spokesperson added: “There are three boats at Ratho which run daily cruises throughout the spring and summer, all crewed by trained volunteers.

“The trees gave way to more open countryside and we passed a couple of old rotting barges, abandoned after their days were over.

“The Union Canal was closed to navigation in 1965 and remained so until 2001, when it was reopened as part of the Millennium Link between the Forth and Clyde Canal and the Union Canal with the building of the Falkirk Wheel.

“We rounded an island and began our journey back to Ratho, where our bus was waiting to take us home – a grand day out!”