Society Activities and Events
Section 2: Restoration Work
by Colin Greenall, Work Party Organiser
Due to other commitment the work party has not been as active during the past year. Nevertheless the sites we have visited have benefited from the quality work of our volunteers.
Sunday 22nd January, Waterways Car Park, Bewsey, Warrington: Tree clearance
The Waterways car park in the Sankey Valley Park lies alongside the canal at Bewsey and over the past year or so had become a rather remote place for visitors to leave their cars due to dense growth of the surrounding trees and bushes.
Our task was to thin them out and make it more open so that the vehicles in the car park could be seen and give the wrong doers less opportunity to carry out any vandalism.
We were ably lead by Steve and Andrea from Warrington Ranger Service, who told us what to be cut down and what to leave. The weather was good - dry and mild with hazy sunshine.
The first section bordered the path alongside the canal. Here we thinned out the young saplings that had grown up under the more mature trees, and cut down and cleared brambles and other vegetation. By dinner the area was cleared - much to the amazement of the Rangers.
After dinner they found us another area to clear. This was at the back of the car park and once again it involved cutting back over grown trees and bushes. By 3-00pm we had cleared nearly all of the area at the back of the car park and revealed a footpath that I had not seen before.
All the trees and vegetation that we cut out during the day were stock piled in an area were it was accessible for Warrington Council's chipper machine, which had been booked by the Rangers to come in the following week.
A good turn out of 12 volunteers and 2 Rangers helped to make this a really successful day.
Sunday 12th February, World of Glass, St.Helens: Canal Clean up
On a cold wet Sunday morning six volunteers braved the inclement weather for our annual clear out the section of canal in front of and to the sides of The World of Glass. This is a thank-you for their kindly hosting our Annual Meeting.
TWoG had provided three skips and it wasn't long before the first supermarket trolley was pulled from the murky depths of the Sankey. By mid-day we had worked our way from The World of Glass to Tesco's, and had pulled out a varied collection of stuff that included: -
- 16 Supermarket trolleys
- 6 bikes
- 2 pushchairs
- 1 computer 1
- fisherman's umbrella
- Various bits of fishing tackle
- and, believe it or not! ... 1 Horses head (skull)
After our break for dinner we focused our attention on the railway embankment, where all the floating litter tends to collect. This was raked together and piled on the bank to drain before being loaded into the skips. Once everywhere had been swilled down the area was checked and left clean and tidy before we went home.
Sunday 2nd April, Hulme Lock Cottage: General Maintenance
Our last visit to this site was in 2004, and since then the natural intrusion of vegetation growth had began to make the site look untidy. Also the local vandals had been at work and demolished some of the brick work in the rear wall and done considerable damage to the faggot oven.
The day's weather had a telling effect on volunteer numbers, with only six braving the rain.
Our task was to clear away any unwanted vegetation and to repair the damage to the rear wall and oven, but persistent rain showers throughout the day seriously affected progress.
 It was decided to repair the rear wall first, so while to cement mixer was being set up, the rest got to work clearing away the broken bricks etc. When the first mix of cement was ready it began to rain but we carried on laying bricks and covering with plastic sheeting. By dinnertime the wall was complete but the rain was becoming heavier so we decided to call it a day. (Left: Not giving in easily!)
It's not often that we let the weather get the better of us, but today it did.
The faggot oven will require some new stone and lime mortar. The rest of the site needs a good dose of tidying up. This will no doubt form the basis for another work party here.
Sunday 11th June, Bewsey Lock Overflow: Clearance of trees and vegetation
In stark on contrast to our visit to Hulme Lock in April today's weather was hot and sunny.
Our project for the day was to clear away the vegetation that had accumulated on the lip of the overflow and underneath the deck of the footbridge that crosses over the top.
Throughout the day seven volunteers braved the hot sunshine to attack the stinging nettles and brambles that now grew in abundance where the waters of the canal had once flowed.
Once the vegetation had been cut down and raked off the layer of earth it was growing in could be removed, this revealed the large sandstone blocks and made it easier to get under the footbridge so that the paving slabs of the spillway could be cleaned up.
To finish off the clearance the centre arch tunnel was cleared of an accumulation of soil and rotted vegetation, then the rest of the site was tidied of litter.
Sunday 2nd July, Bewsey Lock Overflow Channel: Tree and vegetation clearance
 Six volunteers turn out on this hot and sunny day, today the task was to clear away the over hanging vegetation along the overflow channel.
We began by cutting back any over hanging branches and placing them on the bank to be stacked and layered alongside the fence that separated the overflow channel from the nearby woods.
At first we cleared towards Callans Pool at the bottom of Bewsey Lock as we worked the brick walls of the channel were also cleaned of any vegetation, this was also thrown in with the cuttings off the trees to form habitat for the local wild life.
Then we had the opportunity to cut down a biggish tree that if we had left would have caused problems in the future, once felled this had to be cut up into smaller chunks to go up on the bank. After dinner we began to work on the northern section, this was more densely overgrown and progress was slow or so it seemed - the real reason was that we were getting tired! In mid-afternoon we had a heavy thunderstorm which, although only lasted a few minutes, made us decide to call it a day.
Looking down into the channel from the footpath it was amazing what a few hours hard work had achieved, bring day light back into this overgrown area of water to the extent that a family of ducks appeared to investigate what we had been doing.
Sunday 17th September, Bewsey Lock Overflow Channel: More of the same
 Today we carried on from were we left off in July working along the channel, clearing overhanging trees and vegetation. Part way along we came to a large tree that had fallen across the channel this had to be left because of its size (too big for us to remove) Beyond this tree we found many submerged logs of considerable size and weight, these were lifted on to the bank and hidden under other cleared vegetation. At the top end of the channel two trees that had fallen into the water were cut into short lengths and placed on the bank. We could now look back along the channel and admire our work.
With the tools back in the car it was time to retire to the "Maltings" for some liquid refreshment and to discuss are next project.
Once again many thanks to all the volunteers who have turned out this year, THANK YOU!
Anyone wondering whether to join in Colin's Work Parties can find out more, and the dates of planned projects, from Colin at: 01744 731746 (evenings) or 732031 (day).
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