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| Volume 6, Number 3 - Spring 2006 | |
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Restoration Round-up by Colin GreenallSo far this year volunteers have been out on three occasions, the first to do some scrub bashing in Warrington, then to clear the canal outside The World of Glass in St.Helens, and lastly to repair the vandalised brickwork at Hulme Lock Cottage. Sunday 22nd January 2006: Waterways Car Park, Warrington The weather was dry, mild and sunny as 12 volunteers and 2 Rangers assembled at the Waterways Car Park, which is situated alongside the canal near Hood Manor. The plan for the day was to clear the over grown vegetation under the supervision of Warrington Ranger Service, and to open up the car park area so that vehicles parked there could be seen. After some instruction from the Rangers about which tree not to cut down (those with yellow ribbons on) we started with saws and loppers to remove all the unwanted scrub, trees etc. and take it to an area where latter in the week it would be put through a chipper. The resulting chips would then be used as ground cover in between the trees that we didn't cut down. After dinner we moved to another site on the opposite side of the car park and carried on, clearing and moving trees etc.. It was amazing the difference that was made in just a few hours. Sunday 12th February 2006: The World of Glass, Canal clean up, St.Helens. On a cold, wet Sunday morning 6 volunteers braved the weather to clear out the section of canal from Tesco supermarket to the railway embankment just beyond The World of Glass. This is an annual clean-up which we carry out as part of our partnership with The World of Glass. The Museum 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 to the terminus at Tesco's Supermarket and had pulled out a varied collection of stuff that included:
After a break for dinner we focused our attention on the railway embankment where all the floating litter tends to collect, this was raked together and pile on the bank to drain before being loaded into the skips. Once everywhere had been swilled down and the area checked and left clean and tidy we went home. Sunday 2nd April 2006: Hulme Lock Cottage, Winwick, Warrington. A recent visit to the site had confirmed reports that some of the brick work of the cottage walls had been broken off and damage had been done to the faggot oven. On arrival at Hulme lock the clouds were gathering and rain was in the air so an assessment of the damage was made and work commenced. First of all the site was cleared of all the broken bricks, the areas that needed repair were cleaned and made ready. The cement mixer was set up, and a mix of cement had just been made when it began to rain. When the rain stopped we set to work laying bricks before the next shower came and keeping plastic sheets at the ready to cover them up if required. By dinnertime most of the brickwork repairs on the cottage were complete. The weather was now deteriorating so it was decided to finish off, although we had not yet done anything to the faggot oven. It was decided that this requires new stone to make the repair, so we will find some, and return to finish the job. The site was cleared, the tools were cleaned and taken back to the yard, and the four remaining volunteers finally went home. Many thanks to all the volunteers at the above Work Parties. If you would like to join us on our next work party contact me on 01744 731746 (evening) or 01744 732031 (daytime), e-mail colin.greenall@btopenworld.com.
Top: Clearing the undergrowth at the Great Sankey car park allows the slower growing trees to flourish Above, left: The rusting supermarket trolleys still come in useful for holding smaller items of rubbish. Above, right: Has the mystery of Shergar's disappearance been solved? Left: Brickwork repairs to a vandalised section of the low wall we built last year to show the ground-plan of the keeper's cottage at Hulme Lock.
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