A Cautionary Tail
by: Buffs
After a short interlude rounding Lands End and St David’s
Head I returned to a yard transformed. I thought that I had walked into a
sculpture studio. There was a large steel structure floating above the place
where the two new boats had been constructed and under the barn roof a pair of
angel wings were being assembled and welded together. I thought that CCT were
being bold in commissioning some monumental works to grace the canal in the
manner of the Falkirk Kelpies.
But No!
The aerial sculpture was the large trailer suspended from
the gantry whilst the final adjustments were being made and the angel wings are
part of the new grillage being prepared for the Dudbridge bypass. However, the
image still lingers and may yet provide a spark for the future. Perhaps a
linear sculpture park along the Stroudwater.
In the bright sunshine workboat Jasper was to undergo
powered propulsion testing. A donated old, but now refurbished, outboard motor
was to be fitted to her and the boat run at powers up to full throttle. After
being wrested from the hungry undergrowth now consuming the banks of the cut
Jasper was brought to Blunder lock to be fitted with the engine. The variable
height engine mount was adjusted to get the best prop depth. This being a balance between best speed through
the water and least risk of clattering the prop on the canal bed.
With engineer Colin at the helm Jasper was put through a
series of runs, turns and astern manoeuvres. She responded well in her very
light state which bodes well for the rest of her working life. She will return
to the yard for some final snags to be addressed before being put on station
below Wallbridge. (Sorry, no pictures, PPPPPPP applies as my phone was not
charged overnight)
The explosion of growth along the canal banks is both a
seasonal blessing bringing forth colour and wildlife and a curse with the
sprouting of giant hogweed and Himalayan balsam. The verdant growth also blurs
the boundary between the wet and the dry. In places where the towpath is
restricted by adjacent properties this is especially true. A volunteer was
returning to the depot with a mowing machine. He was moving along the towpath
when the mower found the edge of the canal where it had been eroded and the
path width reduced. The volunteer was unbalanced as he kept the mower out of
the cut and entered the water. His colleagues were able to help him out of the
water and back to the depot where he received the usual sympathies from his
colleagues.
This incident strongly illustrates the potential hazards of
the canal. It highlights the need to be aware of the potential pitfalls along
the canal edge. When this incident was investigated and the site strimmed to
expose the canal edge and the inner edge of the towpath it was clear that a
contributory factor was the burgeoning and rampant growth of grasses and other
vegetation on both sides of the towpath reducing its effective width and
deviating its line towards the water. The strimming also exposed other short
lengths of erosion (by just a few inches) hiding under the new seasons growth.
If you, dear readers, see or come across parts of the towpath
which have become restricted by rampant vegetation please let the depots, East
and West, know so they can address them.
