Wendover Arm Trust Work News, October 2015

Sad News

BRIAN LANSLEY 1937 ~ 2015

We were all very sad to hear the news of Brian Lansley’s death on 8^th September 2015. Brian was one of our early volunteers and a very reliable attendee at working parties despite his long journey from Bledlow. He regularly brought his narrowboat Malaika to join the other working party narrowboats at past annual festivals.

In his later years at working parties he had some difficulty in walking and became a very regular and careful tracked dumper driver. Eventually his ill health forced him to give up coming to working parties, something he missed very much. Our sympathies go to Rosemary and the rest of his family. The working party was well represented at Brian’s funeral on Friday 2^nd October at Amersham Crematorium.

Ray Orth, who knew Brian before working party days, will be writing a more detailed appreciation of Brian in the Wendover Arm News.

September and October Working Parties.

Good progress was made at both working parties completing the pipe capping towards Whitehouses, the end of Stage 3. At the same time spoil was used to replace and consolidate the offside bank that had to be removed to enable the pipe capping to be laid.

From the rubbish found and the line of the pipe trench it is apparent that over the years since the canal closed and the pipeline laid (1911/12) the former Herts County Council tip on Miswell Farm beside the canal between Whitehouses and Bridge 4A had, in the past, overflowed into the canal bed.

During the September working party the ‘hump’ in the former Bridge 4 narrows was removed and the parlous state of the old abutments exposed

It is quite obvious that these abutments cannot remain as they are and WAT recommended that they be demolished and removed. CRT agreed with this but first want a photographic/documentary record for their archives.

The way ahead

For the next working parties we will be continuing with pipe capping and rough profiling both banks behind us as we proceed.

There has been concern over the completion of the Phase II restoration with volunteer labour. The volunteer age profile is increasing although it is encouraging that we have had several new volunteers over the last few months.

Ignoring the time spent on Nuttall’s bund and the two footbridges, it has taken some eight years of re-lining to reach where we are to-day, approaching the half-way point. Using our present rate of progress with pipe capping and relining, I estimate there is another seven or eight years to completion, i.e. around 2022/3. To speed up volunteer work, one possibility is to use contract and other assistance for excavator work and block laying and this will be explored next year.

However, WAT and CRT are submitting a joint bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for an 85% grant to complete all works from the site of the former swing bridge No.4 to the winding hole at Little Tring. To support this bid the CRT term contractor has prepared a contract price based on our drawings and specifications. We should know early next year whether this bid is successful and, if so, contract work would start in 2017 with the aim of completion during that year. In the meantime WAT volunteers will complete the work from where we are now to the site of the former Bridge 4. If this is not complete before the contract works start, the contractor is proposing to form an access via the path up from Wilstone Reservoir so that re-lining between the cart track entrance and Bridge 4 can be tackled from both ends at once. This access could be used by the WAT volunteers to complete their work with a storage site behind the mooring wall at Bridge.4.

Phase II vegetation maintenance

In my report at the AGM this month I mentioned that I will be appealing in the next Wendover Arm News for volunteers, happy to do light duty work as opposed to re-lining construction work. This is because we have a continuing task of keeping vegetation under control, other than the towpath that is mown regularly by the CRT contractor. This could include the ladies including those who helped with clearing the canal bed of scrub etc. but find construction work a bit too much to cope with.

General Notes

We operate as a self-supervising group under CRT and all volunteers receive and sign for the Trust’s Restoration Handbook that includes full Health and Safety requirements for the restoration works.

The handbook is the property of the Trust; if you leave the working parties for any reason, please return your Handbook to either Ray Orth or myself.

Hard hats for use at all times and high visibility jackets to be worn on sites with mobile plant in use are kept in the store at Tringford and must be drawn/returned there.

One first aid kit is kept in the store and one in the Nissan Cabstar and each qualified first-aider will have their own kit with him/her when on site.

Also available in the store at Tringford are ear defenders and goggles that must be worn when using strimmers, angle grinders, concrete breakers and the like. CRT will supply hard hats, gloves and footwear with reinforced toecaps on request.

We normally work from 9am to 5pm (or dark if earlier!). There are breaks for morning tea/coffee, packed lunch and afternoon tea/coffee. We take our own food and drink.

I give below my usual 6-monthly progress report. You will note from the diagram below that the Stage 5 mooring wall has been omitted. This is for two reasons, (a) the pipeline runs too close to the proposed site of the wall and (b) there will be plenty of mooring through the site at Little Tring that is very near.

WENDOVER ARM CANAL RESTORATION PHASE II

PROGRESS REPORT AS AT 8^th OCTOBER 2015

CANAL LINING

FOOTBRIDGES & VARIOUS OTHER WORKS

SUMMARY INCLUDING OVERHEAD COSTS

WORKING PARTIES

So you can plan your diary ahead, the following are the dates of future working parties in 2015/16. The work to be done is very much subject to the weather during the forthcoming winter months.