Restoring 70 miles of canal and towpath for the benefit of local communities, wildlife and leisure
Come and join us.

thumb big logo largethumb pm logo large

 

The restoration of the 1.2km stretch of canal at Studley Grange has been an ambition throughout the life of the landfill site.  The imminent closure of the landfill gave impetus to the project and the restoration has been taking place since 2015. A brief description follows, read the whole story here.

Discussions went on with Biffa (and previous companies owning the site) for many years and feasibility and environmental impact studies done to convince Biffa that it was possible.

Take a walk down the route with Ken Oliver before any work started here

 

The local branch became involved when it was necessary to cut back vegetation so that ecologists could reach the site. Resident water voles were caught and moved to a new home in early 2014.

Fundraising Director, Kath Hatton, applied for a Peoples Millions Lottery Grant and through a public vote we gained £50,000. A major part of the bid was to complete a wildlife trail. Other .........Members receive big cheque from Peoples Millions representative

 

 

Land and Water Services (LAWS) started work in June 2015, with a completion date of 9th November. Despite ecology studies and a pre-commencement walk over the site the unexpected discovery of a Great Crested Newt resulted in the requirement for further ecologist input and investigation prior to undertaking site clearance and excavation.

LAWS were back at work in July but then issues emerged which meant the work could not be completed before the winter. 

In 2016 a tender from LAWS for the completion of the earthworks was higher than expected, so a partnership GP Contractors was contracted to complete and surface the towpath and move the remaining earth from the channel. The tip was finally closing later in 2016 so there was an imperative to move the diggings up onto the tip, or the cost of removing it off site would add major further cost. 

As at December 2016 the work is largely completed. Over the winter there will be planting and wildlife trail structures installed. There will be a public opening in early 2017. 

 

iframe width="560" height="315" src="/https://www.youtube.com/embed/mULo7O7zbM4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe

 

 

https://www.wbct.org.uk/the-trust/our-branches/247-studley-grange-the-whole-story

 

 

Promotional ImageOn Saturday 27th January, with what can be described as a crisp, bright early Spring Day, 1000s of people descended on The Oval, London, to take part in the Ultra Challenge Winter Walk… with myself included.

Read more ...