Tidy Ups in the East
Tidy Ups in the East
by: Neil D.
The last few weeks have seen a number of sites in the East receive a good tidy up and clearance of storm damage and vegetation overgrowth . The Monday morning team have been hard at work keeping the Towpath clear in the Spine Road to Siddington sections which included several large Trees brought down in the recent storms. These needed additional attention from the Eastern Depot’s Chainsaw operatives such was the size of the task. The largest Tree was an Ash that had suffered from Ash die-back disease and so this was cut into manageable rounds and brought back to the Depot to supplement our logging operations. The local walkers have been very appreciative of our efforts in keeping the rights of way clear.
Elsewhere we have received another visit from our BITM friends of the Waterways Recovery Group. For those not acquainted, BITM stands for ‘Bit in the Middle’ a name adopted for all those volunteers not falling within the catchment of the other Waterway Recovery Groups such as WRG North West or Kent and East Sussex etc. The main activity for their weekend visit was a return to a site we first worked on some 2 years ago. This was Paradise Farm Kempsford. This has just changed ownership and the new owner was keen for us to give the Canal our attention. It’s only a short section but, contains the site of the former Kempsford Swing Bridge. Also on site was a professional Tree Surgeon hired by the owner to deal with several diseased Trees, so there was plenty of action on site! The WRG’s accommodation for the weekend was as usual Kempsford Village Hall so they only had a short way to stagger home after all their hard work. The new owner also took good care of us all with Bacon and Egg sandwiches which were gratefully received. Our thanks to all involved for the help in keeping this site looking cared for.
The next section ear marked for our attention is between Cerney Wick Lock and Weymore Bridge Latton, so if you are free Monday mornings and fancy a work out and some friendly banter, give the office a call and they will give you details.
