Last Updated 9 July 2021

Latest Work Party News (as at 9 July 2021) (click on photographs to enlarge)

Lots of tasks completed at Pewsham this month.

The wet May and then warm june has provided ideal growing conditions so we have been cutting back grass and vegetation in The Meadow, around Double Bridge and in the pounds around the locks as well as trimming the sides of the footpaths.

Additionally we have carried out repairs to the Green Lane, filling in some potholes which have been slowly getting worse over the last few months.

Reed pulling is something we tend to do in the autumn but as we are hoping to run some boat trips in July a couple of days were spent removing reeds and also some weed that is starting to choke the canal around The Meadow section. There is still much work to do!

In other tasks the walls of the Dry Dock continue to slowly rise like a phoenix from the ashes.

Mny thanks to our bricklayer, Roger, who is doing a sterling job using the reclaimed bricks which seem to come in a multitude of shapes and sizes!

Work continues in and around Bottom Lock.

The loose walling on the eastern side at the southern end of the lock has been removed although it will need to be taken down further so the wing wall can be rebuilt.

A major achievement has been the clearing of the lock chamber of all the silt that has accumulated over the last few years.

A sandbag bund was created at the entrance to the lock meaning that it could be pumped out and then the silt manually removed by shovelling it out over the bund where it was then removed by digger and transported away by dumper. A dirty job but someone had to do it! Hopefully we will now be able to keep the lock clear as we have laid a pipe that will take the water, and any silt, from above the lock around the lock and directly into the pound below.

On our other section to the north of the A4 we have continued to lay bark chippings down on the footpath to make it more accessible to the general public.

 Interested in what we are doing and / or willing to help out? Contact Dave Maloney (07809 374754 dave.maloney@wbct.org.uk) for further information.