It has occurred to me that when I have written my monthly blogs about what has been achieved at the sites we are working at, that I have seldom made much comment about the tremendous contribution that all our volunteers make. It’s not just about all the work and effort that has been done to enable us to operate. It’s not just the planning, the finance requirements, the various permissions required, the ordering of supplies, the requirements of the health and safety regulations, the training for first aid, and of course all the technical details that need sorting before work can progress.
It’s the other volunteers who make it happen. It’s the men and women, old and young, from far and wide, in fine weather or foul, that turn up week after week to do the actual work. They deserve more than just the odd thank you, they deserve more recognition and thanks than they get. They come and go, some stay for just a day or two, some stay for years until they no longer wish to contribute. I have been thinking latterly of some of the good old ones who have, it seems, just drifted in to history. I was tempted to mention a few by name, but this would not be fair to the ones I inadvertently miss out. So, and I am sorry that it has not been done before, I wish to thank all those from the past who have given time and effort towards this canal project.
To get back to what’s been going on down ‘at mill’. At Gallows Wharf, the activity has been almost frenetic. Deadlines have come and gone, and there is still a lot to do. The excavations have been completed. RSJs have been positioned to take wooden sleepers to support the adjacent garage walls. Concrete foundations have been laid and the concrete block/ brick wall to the waters’ edge is well under way. There is still a huge amount to do before our Lady Mayor is due to witness the results of our efforts before her time in office expires.
Other work conducted by our volunteers is concentrated down at the Fosseway site. Here Roger and Jean continue to beaver away at the canal wall either side of the future wet- lands area. And I think they will be at it for many a week to come. This wet-lands area is taking shape rapidly thanks to Tony C and his merry men. The recycled plastic material used will fit in well with their surroundings eventually.
We have been blessed with several
corporate volunteer days, their input is a tremendous boost to our progress, and many
thanks to them. These corporate volunteers have done some of the brickwork but they
have mainly been employed constructing the footpath to the West and North of the canal
bed. Their progress is remarkable and sets a very high standard.
That’s it for this blog. With the weather now improving, lets’ hope for plenty of support and
much progress in the months to come.
Hugh Millington
Last week were joined by two teams from Laing Murphy JV - the joint venture of Laing
O'Rourke and Murphy and Sons who are working to deliver the northern section of HS2's
phase one enabling works. A team of four joined us on Monday and with good weather
progress was achieved on construction of a section of the new north Towpath alongside the
old canal.
On the Friday a team of eight corporate volunteers arrived and in very wet conditions set
about seriously progressing the towpath construction towards the Wetland area. Among
these volunteers we had several site engineers including two project managers and the
work rate was very impressive given the very poor weather.
As we had our own Trust volunteers available, we broke out the 5 tonne excavator and the
dumper to assist with transporting and placing stone into the new path, with our corporate
friends taking on the levelling and compacting of the stone to a considerable 60m length of
new Towpath
Our new corporate friends from Laing Murphy JV worked well and the Trust looks forward
to see you all again, but next time can you bring some better weather!
Peter Buck
