More from Inglesham
More from Inglesham
by: Jon P.
WET WORK IN THE FAR EAST
The weekend of 29 February / 1 March saw volunteers from NWPG (Newbury Working Party Group) accommodated in the refurbished Kempsford Village Hall and working at Inglesham. Just like earlier in the month, work concerned reaching the end of the 400m stretch of canal owned by CCT. We knew it was going to be wet as we approached the Roundhouse and Lock along the track from the main road – the fields were flooded on either side. The restored Lock was full to within 500mm of the level of the pound above, despite not having any gates, so we knew it wasn’t possible to wade across the canal bed.
At the far end, we were able to cross to the other (towpath) side, where we still had about 50m to clear to reach the end of our ownership. The main obstacle was a fallen Black Poplar tree – two 900mm diameter trunks crossing the entire canal channel. So, once again, we were cutting these trunks into rollable discs, followed by winching the largest section across the canal and parallel to the bank. This task was made easier by the presence of Dave Evans of the Wey & Arun Canal Trust and his large 28” chainsaw, together with some hard work by several on the Tirfor winch.
Other work consisted on removing loads of Blackthorn scrub (good for puncturing the obligatory wellies!) and a few trees blocking the towpath. By the end of Saturday, we were in sight of the end of the canal, where the neighbouring farmer’s track crosses the canal on a causeway. The following day, however, saw the same causeway under 250mm of floodwater, as the nearby (50m) Thames had broken its banks and was flowing swiftly into the canal.
