November definitely reminds us that winter is on the way. Crisp cold starts with damp conditions returning by mid afternoon. Also, lots of fallen leaves to contend with before concreting and the odd falling leaf trying to get into the wet concrete. It’s the new north wall where the more interesting work has progressed over the last month or so.
It’s been an interesting couple of months at old Lock 24, so much so that you can barely recognise that it was formally a lock. The old south wall has been deconstructed down to invert level and a new wall has been toothed into the lower lock opening on the South side.
In this blog we focus on two of our long-time supporters who work on our project even though they live many miles away, Duncan Moore who researches the lost lengths of the Birmingham Canal Navigations, and James Derrick who updates OpenStreetMap with details of the Lichfield Canal.
We've got two new buckets! It's sometimes the simplest of things that give the greatest pleasure! We have been struggling for several weeks now with one bucket having a dodgy handle and another bucket with a split halfway up.
This time we meet the guys working at Lock 24 in a video by Paul Marshall, Peter and Adrian explain what the Trust is doing and why. Simon Mepsted tells how he became a 'Modern-day Navvy' and Tony Cadwallader reports on the progress made in Pound 25 & Lock 24 in June.
At Fosseway and Falkland Road over recent months we have continued the towpath along the road side of Falkland Road once the brick soldier courses had been added to top off the wall. This almost completes the work in Section A with just bit more sheet piling to add to the field side and its towpath to also be topped out.
Behind the scenes there are many volunteers using their unique skills to aid the Trust so this time the blog is handed over to our Artist in Residence Stuart Sampson. If you have come to this website having seen one of the new posters on the route of the canal, then a special welcome to you.
Lock 24 is not needed for the restored route. To avoid a hump back bridge, as it was originally, the restored canal will stay at a lower level to pass under Cricket Lane, with a new Lock 24 built on the other side of the lane.
With lockdown once again in effect mostly only emergency work and maintenance is being done. All work is being carried out following strict COVID-secure guidelines. We don't have anyone writing the blog pages at the moment so here are a few items from our Facebook Page.