Note 2: A summary of the 2005 Annual Accounts, subject to audit, is available on this website (Click here for accounts). Any member wanting a copy of the full accounts in advance of the meeting should contact the Treasurer, Bob Williams.

Note 3: Non-members are welcome to attend but can not vote at the AGM.

Work Party News
A productive period of work at Tamworth Road from October to December has seen us make good progress with rebuilding the canal walls in the garden, recovering buried stones, hedgelaying and further excavation of Lock 24.

Much of the brickwork on the towpath wall through the garden has now been completed, as far as the missing section where the stones were buried, thanks to dedicated bricklaying by our volunteers and some assistance from London WRG in October. However, the top coping course has been left until the concreting and backfilling is done to avoid any damage to it. The offside wing wall below Lock 25 was also finished. Feeding the bricklayers has required cleaning thousands of reclaimed old bricks, and these plus many thousands of new ones have all had to be moved and stacked, some more than once ! A visit from some Ash Tree Boat Club members in November helped with the cleaning, despite the awful weather. A start has also been made on completing the gaps in the wing walls above Lock 26, with concreted and reinforced foundations and the bricklaying progressing well. The cache of quoin and coping stones above Lock 26 were recovered at the end of October thanks to the loan of a 13 tonne excavator by Chasetown Civil Engineering and the pit was then backfilled, although bridging this gap with a new section of towpath wall will be left awhile until it has had more time to consolidate.

Trust and London wrg volunteers rebuilding the towpath wall		Brian adds some new courses to the rebuilt towpath wall through the garden
Photos by Phil Sharpe

Removing the 4 small trees growing in Lock 24 was delayed by a late leaf-fall until November, when we also planted some 250 mixed hawthorn and other hedging plants to fill gaps in the towpath hedge behind the garden and down towards the A38, and to create a new hedge around the landscaped ‘triangle’ area below Lock 25. Once the trees were out we were able to resume excavation of the main chamber of Lock 24 with the long-reach capacity of our new JCB804 and the manoeuvrability of the loaned WRG red dumper proving an effective combination. The work was slowed by the need to recover the very large quantities of bricks in the spoil and by uncovering some more large coping stones, all just demolished into the lock chamber when it was infilled nearly 40 years ago. The remains of the offside wall are in fairly good condition, so far, but the towpath side has some large holes in it. However, the weather turned very wet in early December and the surface of the towpath which we needed for access was deteriorating so a temporary halt was called to the excavation pending drier, or freezing, conditions.

Numerous other jobs in the period have included pointing in Lock 25, vegetation maintenance, surveying and, less productively, the removal of graffiti from the new brickwork below Lock 24 and a visit to Fosseway Lane to retrieve and repair vandalized safety fencing at Lock 18.

We are very pleased that the Dig Deep groups have renewed their commitment to supporting our work at Tamworth Road with 7 weekend work party visits between February and October 2006, two each from LWRG, NWPG and KESCRG, and one from WRG BITM (translations on application !). WRG have also given us a 9 day Canal Camp at Easter this year, so we should be able to maintain the momentum of the restoration. However, we start the year with a joint visit from WRGNW (Waterway Recovery Group Northwest) and Essex WRG in January to Fosseway Lane where we hope to plant about 250 yards of new towpath hedge and clear a lot of scrub.

We have been well supported again this last quarter by our regular volunteers with at least 24 different people helping, not including the visiting groups. Many thanks to them all – you know who you are! But a lot of work falls on those of us who are there most Saturdays and Sundays including Brian, Dave, Keith, Clive and myself, so some extra help, however occasional, would be much appreciated.

HATHERTON CANAL

Autumn came late this year and the hedges and grass continued growing well into November, necessitating an extension of our towpath maintenance season so as to get it all in order for the winter. We did find time in October to remove some saplings from the canal bed above the Roman Way and also some concrete fence posts previously thrown in from under the bridge. Our mid-week team has helped us keep on top of the mowing and our monthly work party has attracted consistently good attendances of 10 or 12 volunteers. November saw the final session of maintenance and a start on construction work, building up the narrow and sloping sections of the towpath between Saredon Mill and Oak Lane by barrowing in some of the old dredgings spoil. This work was continued in December and has already made a real difference to this awkward section of path, but will need another session in January to finish it off. After that there is another, although shorter, section near Cats Bridge to do and several sections of invasive or overhanging offside trees which need more cutting back.

The regular date is the third Sunday of each month, from 10 am, with some occasional extra days as required. Contact Denis Cooper on 01543-374370 (work) or Phil Sharpe on 01889 583330 (Email: phil.sharpe@lhcrt.org.uk) for details of meeting places.

Monthly work parties: Sundays; 19 February, 19 March, 16 April, 21 May, 18 June.

ALL SITES: Bring old clothes, stout footwear, work gloves, and refreshment. Hard hats and basic working tools can be provided as necessary, although you are welcome to bring your own.