Hulme Lock Cottage

During November work continued on three consecutive Sundays in an effort to get the site cleaned up for the winter. Unfortunately the bricklaying could not be completed because of the frosty conditions, but we were able to continue with the clearance of the infill from the backyard. The security fencing was repositioned along with improvements to the ditch wall.

Clearance of the yard revealed the remains of the corrugated sheeting which made up the walls of a lean-to building, this information being gained from photographs recently found in St.Helens Local History Library.

Our application to the Mersey Basin Trusts "Really Big Project Scheme" for funding for safety fencing has been resubmitted due to simplification of procedures by the sponsors of the fund.

Many thanks to all the volunteers who have contributed their spare time to this project, work at this site will resume in the spring.

After our successful Mersey Basin Weekend with WRGNW they suggested that it might be possible for them to come back with the right equipment to dig out the infill which covers Newton Common Lock, so with permission from St.Helens Council and the co-operation of the St.Helens Ranger Service, WRGNW came up with the dates of t he 8th and 9th of January 2000. What follows is an account of what goes into such an event.

Friday afternoon: leave work and pick up generator and kango hammer from Harlow Tool Hire and proceed to Winwick Quay Maintenance Yard to pick up our tool trailer; return home to St.Helens. After tea sort out equipment in trailer - making sure that wheelbarrow tyres are blown up, there is enough diesel for the dumper, and sort out display boards and sales stock along with tea, coffee, milk sugar, biscuits, spoons, cups, teapot, water boiler and the filling of the water carrier.

Saturday morning: Peter Keen arrives to take the Land Rover and tool trailer to Newton Common Lock, ( I have to go to work ).
Peter eventually arrives on site after experiencing difficulty sorting out the Land Rover’s gears to find that John Palmer has been earlier (his first visit was at 5-30 am!) and left "Blue", the WRG’s excavator. John appeared again soon after with a WRG dumper and compressor. After unloading these he went off to Winwick to bring our dumper. It was about this time that St.Helens Rangers appeared with four wheelbarrows as promised.

By now volunteers where beginning to arrive and work commenced with Peter and Ron Johnson attacking a large lump of tarmac which covered an area of the lock with the kango hammer. John Foley and WRG volunteers unloaded their equipment and Bob Dewey took the controls of "Blue" and started to excavate in the lock, unfortunately the steering box of the dumper which WRG brought with them developed a problem and had to be taken out of service after only two trips to the tipping site. By now the tea, coffee and biscuits where being dished out by Uncle Mac, so Peter left to come and pick me up.

Saturday afternoon: When I arrived the whole site was alive with action and noise, there was the throbbing sound of the compressor the rattle of the pneumatic drill as a WRG volunteer made short work of the tarmac, mingling with this was the gentle hum of "Blue" which was loading our faithful dumper and amongst all this the sound of spades hitting earth and earth hitting wheelbarrow. Further away at the tipping site SCARS volunteers Peter Keen, Bill Highcock and Julian Baines where busy spreading out the waste as it was brought to them either by barrow or dumper, plus the banter which goes along with people enjoying themselves.

As the light began to fade it was time to pack away the tools and the tea cups. While John Palmer and Malcolm Bridge loaded "Blue" on to WRG's latest piece of plant - an Iveco beaver back transporter - SCARS members Peter, Phil, James and Barney packed our trailer ready for when I returned from Woodside Farm where arrangements had been made to store equipment overnight.

Sunday morning: I'm on the road by 8-15 am picking up Darren Clarey and Ian Hornby on the way to Newton Common Lock, we are the first to arrive and soon have the water boiler on and the display boards out. Peter Keen arrived next, followed soon after by Roy Forshaw and the Hurst family Phil, James and Barney. Then John Foley in his red WRG mini-bus appears, but no sign of John Palmer and the transporter.

Work commenced with wheelbarrows being filled by volunteers removing waste from the areas along the coping stones this was helped when Ian brought the Kango hammer into play by loosening hard earth and tarmac. During this early burst of enthusiasm John Palmer turn up with "Blue" and the dumper and so work on excavating the lock began to proceed at a fair pace with Malcolm Bridge at the controls and John driving the dumper.

Sunday afternoon: Dinner time arrived, and so did our special guest the Mayor of St.Helens, Cllr. Pat Jackson, who stepped from her limousine sporting a pair of bright yellow wellington boots. Pat had visited the site during the Clean Up last year, and had shown a great interest in our work.Now she chatted and joked with everyone and even picked up loaded barrow and emptied it on the tipping site. Then she posed for photographs with volunteers and other members of St.Helens Council who had arrived on the scene. It was only during this photo session that some of the workers were persuaded to put on the Action Earth tabards to promote the Whitbread environmental clean-up scheme. They then drifted back to their jobs just as it began to rain. This soon turned to hailstone, so the Mayor bade us all farewell and made an hasty retreat in her limousine.

Work continued despite the weather, with John Palmer taking on the role of excavator driver, and our own Ian Hornby on the dumper. The site by now had become very muddy and care was needed to stay upright, but the lock was there for all to see. During the afternoon St.Helens Rangers appeared with some fencing which I had requested earlier so that the site could be made safe when we had finished.

Once again it was getting dark when the final load was deposited on the tip and preparations made to return our dumper to Winwick, and to tidy up and secure the site. This involved adding to the existing fence to prevent anyone from entering the excavation and the to build up a bank along the tipping site so as it would eventually blend in with rest of the landscape.

Whilst our dumper was being returned to Winwick the rest of us cleaned the tools and packed them away, all the cups where washed as well. When the transporter returned "Blue" was loaded and made ready for its return to Stockport, whilst the rest of us made our way home.

Many thanks to everyone who took part during the weekend, approximately 20 volunteers turns out each day to do their bit, plus people who just came to have a look at what was going on.

Anyone interested in joining future working parties can contact me, Colin Greenall by telephoning 01744 731746.