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Once
again the weather forecast suggested that a considerable
amount of the weekend would be spent inside drinking
tea! In the event, amazingly, we defied the weather with
the sole heavy shower conveniently coinciding with lunch
on Sunday. Up to 50 metres of the towpath are being
worked on at any one time on the present site. Unlike a
compact site such as a lock, covering this length in a
manner which allows work to continue in poor weather is
impractical. The best that can be done is to cover the
finished product with tarpaulins leaving the wall
builders to the mercy of the elements. The attendance
was a healthy 38 over the two days. The start of the
holiday season and other commitments meant that half a
dozen regulars were missing but this was partially
compensated for by two welcome new volunteers.
Progress
was made on the towpath batter wall with 33 metres
completed and a further 27 metres finished to, or above,
first course. This takes the wall building to over 150
metres from Redwith - all right, 151 metres to be
precise - with the heartening sight of Pryces Bridge
clearly visible from the working area.
The wall
building may not be getting any easier physically (at
least that is what my knees tell me) but
organisationally it is. The latest improvement has been
to provide piles of stone from the stockpile at
convenient intervals along the canal bed - the result of
a ‘stone moving day’ a couple of weeks ago. This was
time very well spent.
The
‘before and after’ photographs illustrate some of the
changes that have been made in the few months that the
various organisations have been working on this length
of canal. The present view from Redwith Bridge contrasts
with that of less than a year ago. The second pair of
images taken from the south end of the current worksite
is toward Redwith. The seat on the towpath is just
visible on the right of the image. The photographs also
illustrate how much work remains to be done but that, as
they say, is another story. Watch this space!
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