The Wendover Arm Trust Working Party News, issue 128

Assistant Restoration Director

I am very pleased to say that Tony Bardwell agreed to take on this post following the resignation of Ray Orth and was duly appointed at the Council Meeting in July. We are very grateful that Tony has undertaken this task and I know that you will all give him your support.

July and August Working Parties

Work continued on bank lining with Bentomat and the hollow concrete blocking at the base of the bank and progress as at the end of the August working party can be seen in the photo on the top right.

At the August working party the foundations of the former Bridge 4 swing bridge were exposed and recorded and the excavations backfilled for safety.

What it confirmed to us is that there is no possibility of retaining these crumbling walls in a watertight canal. It had been hoped that WRG BITM could have removed these walls during their visit but CRT seem to have the unrealistic impression that they can be retained and have not yet given WAT the all clear to remove them.

September and October Working Parties

In September work will continue on extending the lining of both banks with Bentomat and hollow concrete blocks ready for a visit by WRG BITM the following weekend for a blitz on solid concrete blocking.

BITM will also be filling the former coal cellar at Whitehouses with brick rubble and pea shingle such that the site will be safe but could always be cleared in the future.

If CRT give clearance to remove the crumbling abutments to the former swing bridge No.4 this is another task BITM could undertake, time permitting.

All being well this will mean that the October working party onwards will concentrate on back filling both banks with spoil and completing lining of the bed; at which point, Stage 3 will be nearly complete before winter (apart from the long awaited works by CRT at Whitehouses after which WAT will complete the towpath side lining).

Margaret Leishman

I was very touched by the number of people who attended Margaret’s funeral and donated so generously to the two charities. The totals donated via the undertaker/web site, including gift aid, were £423.69 to the Retired Greyhound Trust and £1,089.19 to the Wendover Arm Trust, an overall total of £1,512.88. The family’s thanks go to all the donors.

I shall always remember Margaret at the helm of our narrowboat, Mary Beth, on Easter Monday March 28^th 2005. She steered the first two boats in over 100 years from the stop lock and under Little Tring Bridge breasted up with Roger Lewis’s fibre glass cruiser and, much to Roger’s relief, his boat did not touch the bridge abutment. Sadly, I have had to sell Mary Beth and I understand her new mooring is at Aylesbury.

Reed clearance

We have now heard that CRT plan to clear the aquatic vegetation in the canal between the sump at Drayton Beauchamp and the old A41 Bridge this Autumn. Let us hope it does not fall behind schedule as it did last year.

I was very interested to read in a waterway magazine that CRT were being chided over lack of clearing a vital feeder stream elsewhere in the country so we are not the only neglected ones!

Tidy Friday

John Reynolds and his team continue with their good work of vegetation control. See schedule on page 3 for dates.

This is valuable work and I am sure John would like to hear from anyone able to spare a Friday once a month.

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 Tony Bardwell 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.

WORKING PARTIES

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

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