RESTORATION ROUND-UP
by Colin Greenall

Hulme Lock Cottage

Sunday 11th May: The morning of our first visit in May was spent transporting the crushed road stone up to the site from Winwick Dry Dock; this was achieved with the help of Warrington Ranger Services Transit van and Steve Meays the Ranger. Meanwhile, other volunteers began laying membrane in the reveted areas ready to receive the filling. This continued throughout the morning and by dinnertime most of the areas had been filled and leveled. Unfortunately Steve had to leave us at 11-30am to attend to other Ranger duties, so we turned our attention to bricklaying.

During the morning Peter Keen had been quietly beavering away at clearing the site of the retaining wall, which is to be built at the north end of the site. Fortunately the footings of the original wall appeared to be in good condition.

When the first mix of cement was ready, work began on leveling the foundations, then we commenced laying bricks. By the end of the day four courses of brick had been put down - our bricklayers had enjoyed themselves so much that we had to send out to B&Q for more sand and cement, resulting in a late finish.

Sunday 8th June: Heavy over-night rain gave way to a dry but cloudy morning as we arrived on site to be met by Ranger Steve with his new assistant Helen. The plan for the day was to transport the rest of the crushed road stone up to the site to be stockpiled until it was needed, and to continue with the building of the retaining wall. The first couple of loads were used to finish off filling the revetments and other areas of the cottage, and the rest was piled in the washhouse until required.

While all this was going on Ian Hornby and myself made a start on the wall. Ron Johnson and Paul Fletcher soon joined us and good progress was made, two more courses being laid. We had now reached the level where the HULME LOCK name stone would be located, so Ian and I set off back to the yard for the said name stone. It was at this point that the rain came down which put an end to any more building. By the time we had quickly covered our work with plastic sheets every one of us was soaked to the skin. So we called it a day and went home.

Sunday 29th June: The weather was perfect, warm and sunny. Although there were only a few of us, it was surprising what was achieved. However, first of all the tyres on the tool trailer were attended to, as one was almost flat. Then the building materials were loaded and taken to the site. The mixer was soon in action and with the HULME LOCK name stone temporarily in place, bricks were being laid in fine style either side of it. It will be permanently installed when the rest of the wall is complete.

Early afternoon saw the arrival of John Hughes and his strimmer, what a difference this made to the overall look of the site. Another after dinner appearance was made by George Bruce and his trusty camera, and we all know that sometime in the near future our pictures will appear in Canal Cuttings. [Sooner than you'd think - two of George's pictures are printed below. Ed.]

By late afternoon we ran out of sand and cement so we called it a day, washed out the mixer, cleaned the tools and put them back in the trailer and went home.

If any one is interested in joining our work parties please contact Colin Greenall: Tel 01744 731746 (evenings) 01744 732031 (daytime) e-mail colin.greenall@btopenworld.com.

Two of George Bruce's shots of our Work Parties in action: On the left: on May 11th, a start is made on the northern retaining wall at Hulme Lock.

On the right: The "Hulme Lock" stone is placed temporarily in its position on June 29th to allow the surrounding brickwork to be set up in readiness for the final fixing of the stone on another Work Party day.

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