SDC Thursday in three pictures. 

The day started, as all good days should, with a toilet. The chap inside it made a bit of a fuss at first but soon settled down once we were on the move.

We then moved onto loading up the wheelbarrows for wheelbarrowfest at Gough’s Orchard lock. Most of the team went up there to continue the towpath construction.

At Wallbridge Lower lock we replaced a drain, seeded the lockside and continued the slow withdrawal from our “garage”. The final, rather mundane, picture shows the racking in its new home.  What the picture does not show is the scene of utter chaos that the racking left behind.  So the next task is to sort out a mountain of random stuff and a lesson for the future is to be much more selective about keeping broken and/or useless things.

Tuesday/Thursday Dredging

by: Andrew Rendell

The Dredger team is still trying to load hoppers Warp and Weft.  It often seems we take one step forward and two back.  Problems we face are rain/ snow/ ice but this week we thought we finally were making progress and the Dry Dredging team could work again.  But disaster struck again.  The long reach was out of action as it had ram to bucket issues.
They assessed the situation and decided to unload with the smaller 8 ton digger. This is restricted but enabled progress.

We have 3 new trainees starting their training, Andy, Brad and Alex, with another to start soon.

Today John and Sue worked with Andrew hard filling hoppers on one of the hottest April days.  As a reward John and Sue faced the challenge of removing rotting willow trunks that had fallen into the canal over the years.  After careful removal we arranged them on the hopper buoyancy tank and one could say it was a piece of modern art.

John is chuffed with his new found skills.

The video shows what we are discovering in the silt bed.

We are hoping there will be more volunteers willing to help with the easy task of hauling hoppers and if they are interested in getting involved in training on the Dredger operations.  The Wet and Dry Dredging teams need support to increase the pace of Dredging progress if this part of the Canal is going to be navigable.

The sun's out and the few involved are enjoying the experience.

Sponsored Brick - update

Today, we received another batch of engraved bricks to be added to those already laid at Capel's Mill.

Each one is checked against the original order and then we create a layout diagram for our volunteers to work to onsite.  Once this happens, you'll be sure to know.  Below is the previous order which has had laying delayed, due not least, to the weather.

Thank you for your support, we're making steady progress towards the railway viaduct.

Pat's Progress

A team of six assaulted the various jobs today on Pat.  Work continued on the electrics and water system fitting.  Discussion with the chippies as to how the interior of the welfare cabin was to be arranged and modified took place.  Many small and interesting jobs to do and great to see it coming together.

New work saw the large pile of rail ballast sections moved to a location where they could be pressure washed and the congealed grunge removed.  We hope to return these to the boat in a more compact painted form and spaced off the vessel's hull. 

At the stern end, much noise from hammering, grinding and vacuuming accompanied the days activities.  Thick rust from the top surfaces of the fuel tanks was chipped away.  That area and surrounding parts are now ready for painting - provided it stays dry.

Also down in the bilges, we cut some additional Limber Holes to permit the free movement of any water, so that the bilge pumps are more effective.  These were difficult to cut as two slots had to be ground into the webbing and then holes drilled at each end, followed by driving the unwanted piece out with a chisel and lump hammer.  The steel is very tough, quite capable of blunting drills and destroying hole cutters, as we have now discovered.  Not to mention, the access was extremely uncomfortable at times.

In the workshop, replacement pins for the spud legs were to be found in various stages of manufacture, together with new bushes which will be pressed into the various components.

Soon, we will have the hull shot blasted and epoxy coated.  The colour scheme for the cabins has been decided following what could almost be described as a formal a team meeting!  

The Sun Shines on the Western Depot

by: Buffs

A dull start to the morning belied the rending of the clouds of winter asunder by a bright and almost hot sun before elevenses.

Depot manager Reg read out the day’s tasks to the assembled volunteers and closed with a serious note that WD has a large and growing list of tasks which always seems to outstrip the increase in numbers of volunteers coming to the depot.  The summer programme of grass cutting and bank maintenance gets underway with the advent of the warm days ahead.

The yard was soon resonating to the asynchronous beat of hammers underlying the wailing song of the grinders and cutters.  A descant from the chippies saws and routers joined in the response to natures more melodious offerings.

Western Depot has a goodly number of mowers of varying vintage alongside an even greater number strimmers and hedge trimmers from equally diverse sources.  This year with two dedicated volunteers devoting most of their time to the task, preseason maintenance has been carried out on most of the mower fleet.  Some mowers have required more time and spares than others but the mowing team can set to work with machines in the best state for a while.

  

I would take this opportunity to observe that mowers of all types are more efficient and effective if they are kept clear of grass cuttings.  Cuttings accumulate on the underside of the machine and need to be cleared regularly during the working day and before putting the machine to bed for the night.  A 1 inch scraper is an excellent tool to keep to hand as it can get to most places under the mower.

A small team were sent to Dudbridge Locks to clear bramble on the island. Brambles were beaten back but not until they had staged a vicious defence which saw at least one volunteer wounded.  Sympathy at the depot was expressed in the usual manner.

The digger was taken to Harper’s field to remove a small stump at the water’s edge.  It finally yielded and revealed itself to be 2m (6-7 feet) in diameter. This may be the subject of a post elsewhere. 

DBS Work in Progress

DBS, the hours accounting Project Code
In full, this relates to the Dredging (wet) between Bowbridge Lock to Stanton's Bridge. 

Today, Tuesday saw maintenance work in progress.  Continuous engine and hydraulic oil leaks need to be contained in the bilge, today much progress was made to empty the waste oil and water. 

About a dozen drums were filled.  While greasing the digging bits, a suspicious looking bolt was found. It should have been securing the slew ring!  A quick bit of heavy tightening the remaining bolts has hopefully avoided a complete disaster! 

Now back to action and the channel on the towpath side was deepened and widened as we wait for the dry dredging boys to have the long-reach bucket ram repaired. (It's not just us to suffer breakdowns then!) 

Next time, I'll post a few pictures of the restored section, both DBS and DSG. Guess where that is! 

Bob Hallam.

"May your bilges always be dry and your anchor always hold."

More Western Depot Notes.

by: Buffs

What felt like the first real day of spring saw the yard filled with hi vis waist coats.  Gone were the heavy winter coats and bright was the head gear of at least one stalwart of the team.  If Wednesday’s forecast is to be believed we look forward to bright red heads and faces by the end of the day.

Today’s big task was to move Mole from the yard to her home on the water.  But first we had to move the water on Mole.  When the bottom boards were lifted there was rain water to the top of the frames.  The small whale pump was put to work while the electric pump was brought out.  After several false start the pump responded to the cajoling of the team and being primed with half a bucket of water. 

Followers of the blog will know that a tilting trailer for moving our small workboats has been under construction in the yard.  Today boat and trailer were finally introduced and brought together.

Boat and trailer were brought to the slip by Pike lock.  The trailer was reversed into the water and tilted.  Mole proved very eager to return to her natural habitat and raced into the canal to be brought to a halt next to her sister Ratty.

Later in the day the new cover for Mole was fitted for the first time on the water.  Many lessons were learnt and will make future fittings more flowing.

Ratty has lain open to the weather for longer than was expected and was beginning to look a little sorry for herself.  She is indebted to Jill and John who spent much of Saturday giving her the TLC she deserves.