Nearly there, so nearly there, and the work being undertaken beyond the narrows and
Tamworth Road will be finished. The only holdup now could be horrendous weather, but
that is not forecast. All that remains to be done is to complete work behind the new
wall, The brickwork is now completed and the concrete back-fill to this brickwork is half
way along. So just a bit more concreting to do here. When the concrete has hardened
some barrow loads of top soil will be added to the top of the gabions at the rear of the
concrete to complete the task.
We will then be able to remove the soil access ramp completely, right up to the narrows
planks. And that's it ! Rain water should start to fill up this area, and, if we have an
excess of water in the winding hole we will pump some over the narrows planks to give
us a water depth of, say, 24 inches. The acid test of our work is" does the new area
leak or not". I have high hopes for a leak free area this time.
Talking of leaks, we have not yet resolved where the water is leaking from out of pound
27. A few dams have built across the pound and we have isolated sections to help us
narrow down as to where the leak may be. We have had some good results as to where
the leak isn't, but more work has to be done. To progress this investigation we really
need more water in the pound.
Pound 25 has seen modest progress during the month. More of the concrete base has
been laid and redundant concrete in the mouth of lock 25 has been broken up and
removed. A huge amount of soil out of the now redundant lock 24 has been removed to
an area just short of Cricket lane where a grab lorry can access it and take it to
Summerhill. All things now, regarding pound 25 and lock 24, revolve around the removal
of the 'big pipe'. We are at a stage where the pipe prevents us from progressing the
concrete base,( it's in the way), and in lock 24 where this pipe stops us from completing
the task of emptying the lock of all the soil. (It's in the way there as well).
Towards the end of this month we started to assess the work needed to re-establish the
famous Gallows Wharf. Tony G. has been down by the London Road bridge with his
digger locating the original line of the canal and uncovering the remains of it's original
brick walls. A lot of work needs to be done down there and problems with its remoteness
from our Tamworth Road base may cause us difficulties. We shall see.
Our Tamworth Road volunteer gang have done us proud again this month and many
thanks to you all.
Hugh Millington
Photos by Christine Howles and Uluru
Gallows wharf is just behind the Shell Garage on the corner of Tamworth Road and London Road, close to the site of the Lichfield Gallows. Originally erected in 1532, the last people were hung there on 1st June 1810. Three men had been charged with passing on forged coins and banknotes, known as the act of 'uttering', receiving their punishment.
Read more in the Heritage Towpath Trail
