Annual Report of  Working Party for 2010/2011

The Branch Work Party seems to grow from strength to strength. We now have 28 regular members with attendances at main meetings reaching the upper teens. On the occasion of the Sponsored Walk we had 20 attending at Pewsham which accounted for the amazing amount of work achieved during that day.

The Work Party have been very busy this past year,  working on 161 separate occasions. Much of the work has been carried out by a faithful few which included boat repairs on ‘Willow’ and ‘Damsel Fly’ which without their help we would not have had canal-worthy vessels for the Spring events.

We have been working on the following sites during the year:-

Pewsham A4 crossing

The road verge and the canal towpath at the A4 crossing was mown on 9th & 16th January and I expect after all the heavy rain we have had recently it will need mowing again fairly soon.

Pewsham Locks

Much of the restoration activity has been carried out below the locks at Pewsham. The Spill Weir which was in a sorry state was cleared of all the vegetation including a 128 year old Ash tree which sat squarely on the perimeter wall. Its roots had encircled the whole of the structure. It was a pity that it had chosen that placed to grow and it must have been well established well before the canal was finally closed in 1914. With the tree removed we were able to rebuild the walls on the existing foundations. The work carried on throughout 2010 but was suddenly terminated by the early arrival of winter in November with very severe frosty weather extending right into the New Year. We were not able to re-commence brick laying until the beginning of March but not before all the frost damaged brickwork had been dismantled.

Work on the Spill Weir was finally completed on 17th April when a penstock was installed and traditional iron fencing erected around the perimeter. The latter was painted on 27th. Testing was carried out the next day and minor leaks calked on the 29th, apparently while others were watching a Royal Event elsewhere.

The other major restoration carried out last year was the repair of the entrance to Cocklemore Brook Culvert. This had been attempted in previous summers but the water flow in the brook then was too great for our pumps to control, but last year, being much drier than before and with the help of a 4” diesel pump kindly made available by Chris Gibson, the job was successfully completed by 27th July.

Another repair job which had become a slight embarrassment to us was the exit portal of Triangle Wood culvert. This had been undermined by flood waters during heavy rains in previous winters and had subsided. Being somewhat sheltered from frost by surrounding trees Ray Canter took a gamble to start this repair in February, before taking any chances with the spillweir structure. The work was completed by Ray and a couple of other work party members on 4th March. I must say that the structure now looks quite secure.

Chippenham Folk Festival

The Work Party were involved at this event providing boat Trips and attending the Information Tent during the Festival  There was a significant interest this year in our restoration efforts, possibly due to the extensive coverage in the Press of our recent successes.

Calne

Timber cut last year in Mrs Sutton’s section was removed from the canal bed in December to prepare the way for future dredging.

Starting on the 16th January the land and towpath south of the canal was cleared of bramble and scrub to enable walkers to have access to this side of the canal where it passes through Lord Lansdowne’s property. The mowing extended to the bank of the River Marden before the work was competed in February.

The wharf by Chaveywell Bridge had been looking rather run down for some years and we decided, with the help of a Calne Area Board Grant, secured by the good efforts of Kath Hatton, our fund raiser, to restore it to something worthy of its location. With Jeff Daws leading the project and a little help from 9 other members of the Work Party the job was started on 6th March. Work continued almost daily at Calne and the project, which included landscaping and site drainage, was completed on 24th April with the fixing of an Oak fender. The work was well received by the people of Calne as it complimented the magnificent restoration of Chaveywell Spring nearby.

The wharf was put to good use during the Easter Bunny Hunt on 23rd April when we operated Boat Trips from the new Wharf for the first time.

Forest & Queenfield Farms

I regret to report that not much progress has been made in the ‘care & maintenance’ of the towpaths on these sections of the canal near Melksham. The grass was cut last September and should have been cut again before the end of May. Maybe we should visit there before the month is out.

Attendance at work parties has remained high on all our major events. Recruitment also remains good with several promising volunteers joining us over the past year.

We have worked on canal projects on over 161 days since the last AGM, clocking up 7,315 man-hours of work and travelling over 16,200 miles to attend the work.

This activity is evaluated as £100,949 in Volunteer Matched Funding which I think is staggering. I didn’t think we would beat last year’s AGM total of £63,727. Well done again everybody.

Douglas Harris

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