The restoration of the Fosseway length of the canal continues to proceed at speed. To
express the progress in words or pictures does not do justice to the amount of work and
effort put in by the volunteers. We have been lucky to have entertained a large contingent
of Corporate Volunteers from JLR one Wednesday this month. A fairly large contingent of
men and women. Between them they carried out a tremendous amount of work,
particularly along the northern foot path and also on the bund alongside Faulklands Drive.
They were most welcome when at the lunchtime break one of the young ladies brought
around slices of homemade cake. Can they not come more frequently?
Again this month our work party detail has often been split between the Fosseway and Gallows Wharf. Often Gallows Wharf taking priority over Fosseway. At Gallows Wharf there was a need to finish the work before the Lichfield in Bloom judging in mid July. I can report that, except for the installation of the staircase from the wharf to the London Road, the task is completed. Go have a look. See the boat being assembled along the A51 by junior volunteers, see the flower beds on either side of the canal just short of the London Road bridge. See the crane bases and boxes and gates decor on the wharf itself. See where the 'P.Buck' staircase is to be erected, go see the canal boat artistry under the London Road Bridge, job done, or nearly.
As above, Fosseway continues. Many loads of clay have been delivered, eventually to make the wetlands area water tight. (With all the dry hot weather we have been having it is now unworkable till we have had a got load of rain to soften it again). The rebuilding of the towpath wall continues at pace. Again the hot dry weather has had an effect on it's progress. The mortar had to be mixed rather wet or it was drying before one could lay a trowel on it. And there is little or no shade in that region, so not only was the mortar drying out but the bricklayers as well.
And finally, repair and alterations were being made to our LHCRT display trailer. A more useful configuration of its insides was needed. Again against a deadline. The SMART van, as it is now know, had to be ready for the Beacon Park 'Cars in the Park' event. No problem there, well done those who worked on this.
With no end in sight of this spell of dry hot weather, Fosseway is now like the Gobi desert.. We do need some rain. Lets hope that it doesn't come in one big downpour or we will be back to a mud bath again. There's no pleasing some people!
Thanks to all our merry men, 'keep on volunteering'!
Hugh Millington
