Poirot ahoy! Canal enthusiast David Suchet sails in for Braunston boat rally

The actor and canal enthusiast will open the 20th Braunston Historic Narrowboat Rally & Canal Festival.

Tim Coghlan, of Braunston Marina, said: “We are again holding our own very special annual canal event – the Braunston Historic Narrowboat Rally - in its regular slot over the last weekend in June.

"Amazingly this will be our 20th rally since we started what was supposed to be a one-off event in 2003 to celebrate the then re-restoration of President.

David will formally open the Rally on ‘Diana The Dredger’.

"In September last year David kindly presented the Buckingham Canal Society with the restored second hand dredger I gave to them in memory of my late wife Diana – a great canal enthusiast – who died of cancer in 2014,” added Tim.

"Di The Digger’ – as she is now affectionately called, has been hard in action ever since with several hundred metres of reopened canal to her credit. The dredger will come from Cosgrove to Braunston Marina under her own steam, with its restored Lister SR3 diesel engine. Along the way, Di – always a tidy person by nature – will also be doing a bit of spot dredging as instructed for the CRT . She will be dealing with the canal version of potholes!”

To help raise money for the Buckingham Canal Society, David has agreed to allow visitors to take selfies with himself on Di The Digger.

The Braunston Historic Narrowboat Rally is sponsored by Braunston Marina and Towpath Talk, with support from the Canal & River Trust.

The event, being held on June 29 and 30, attracts thousands of visitors who enjoy the boats, stalls, music and many attractions.