Restoration Round-up
by Colin Greenall
HULME LOCK COTTAGE
SUNDAY 12th NOVEMBER After a week of heavy rain when parts of the country were suffering from floods it didn't look too promising for our work party.
Our tasks for the day were to clear up the site of rubbish and old bricks, to repair the gate which had been broken by vandals, to service the two dumpers and to build the
wooden revetment alongside the entrance path to the cottage.
On arrival at the yard it was decided that the dumpers should be taken down to Hulme Lock where the service work could be carried out. After struggling to start one of
them, (the other started first time of asking ) we loaded them with the wooden bars and posts which were to be used for the revetment work and with the tool trailer hooked
up to the Land Rover we set off for the site.
The clean up of the site had been arranged with Warrington Ranger Service, who had ordered a skip, but when we got there no skip and no Rangers. A quick call on the
mobile to their base at Bewsey Old Hall and we where informed that Ranger Tim was waiting at the entrance gate in Old Alder Lane for the skip to arrive. Some time later
they appeared, the Rangers, that is, with no skip, but they did have a Transit van to take the rubbish and bricks to the tip. Using the van meant that it would take a few trips
to dispose of the waste, and when the tip refused to take the first load we had a problem, but thanks to Rangers Tim and Mel another site was found which needed the old
brick as hard-core.
While Ron and Darren where clearing the site along with Simon and Damian other jobs were taking place, the gate was repaired by Peter and Roy, the dumpers were
serviced by Ian, whilst Julian and myself got on with the revetment work. When Phil, James and Barney appeared just before dinner time we found them work investigating
the area known as the "Coal Hole" which is behind the oven.
The "Coal Hole" area had not really been investigated before, although we knew that it contained a couple of items of interest, these being some Doulton Pottery drainage
channels and pipes. The only other point of interest to be found was the sandstone foundation blocks on which outer retaining wall is built. There was no trace of any kind
of solid floor in this area.
After dinner the weather deteriorated into heavy rain, so all material which it was thought might be useful at a later date were placed in the dumpers and taken back to the yard.
Many thanks to everyone who as been on work parties over the last twelve months, I hope you have enjoyed them as much as I have.
May I take this opportunity to hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a good start to the New Year.
For details of work parties contact Colin Greenall
Tel 01744 731746 (evenings) 01744 732031 (daytime)
WINWICK DRY DOCK
In the heavy rains in November/ December the Dry Dock actually became wet. There was so much water in the flood meadows that the Sankey Brook broke over
its banks south of the M62 and water flowed into the dry dock through the sluice which was used to empty the dock in its working days. Fortunately we managed
to get some photographs.
New Footbridge at Winwick
The footbridge has been ordered, and we hope that it will soon be erected on site.
Hey Lock
In the last issue of Cuttings we reported that a £20,000 grant from the European Regional Development Fund had been awarded to restore this lock. We had begun
preliminary talks with the Waterway Recovery Group to undertake the task as a volunteer project. In preparation for this we had a JCB on site digging trial holes to find
out what material had been used to fill it in during the 70’s.
Samples of the spoil were analysed to determine how it can be disposed of under the current waste disposal regulations. Although the material looked innocent enough,
the tests proved that it was contaminated enough to require specialist handling. This would entail removing the material from the site and paying for tipping. The costs
involved in this are quite high, and this consideration led to a radical re-think about the project.
Thankfully at this juncture, Brendan Cassin, in his role as Project Officer of Sankey NOW, was sent details of a request for bids for funding for regeneration work from the
North West Development Agency through the Mersey Basin Campaign under the Strategic Programme for Waterside Reclamation. The Hey Lock restoration work seemed
to fit the criteria laid down under the programme, so an application to pay for the whole works to be carried out as a contract was duly made. The total cost was estimated at
over £165,000.
Brendan has now been asked to work our bid up into a full-costed scheme. To carry out the detailed pricing involved we have approached British Waterways for assistance.
Their response was positive, and we will be meeting with one of their staff very soon to take this forward to the next stage.
The project has been extended to involve the whole length of the Sankey from Bradley Lock to the St. Helens boundary with Warrington. This will include restoring the swing
bridge by the “mucky Mountains”. This section is the most scenic on the canal, and rivals any waterway beauty spot in the country. Once the bridge and the canal are working
again it will be possible to run trip boats along the stretch.
In addition to the value of carrying out the work in itself, this section is the next one downstream from the area around the Earlestown Viaduct and the Sankey Sugar Works
site - themselves the subject of current restoration hopes, backed by serious money under the Merseyside Objective 1 funding. Once that restoration has taken place we
would have brought back into use the most significant stretch of our canal, and added considerably to St. Helens’ heritage value.
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Click images to enlarge
The JCB reveals a wall of the lock at its first bite when digging exploratory trenches for the sampling of the infill material.
Environment Agency officials discuss infill material with SCARS Secretary Peter Keen.
Peter Keen and Dave Nilsson (Environment Agency) take a sample from the material dug up from one of the trial trenches.
The JCB fills the trenches again. Hopefully the next machine on site will be digging material out permanently.
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