Restoration Round-up
By Colin Greenall

Our volunteers have been out on two occasions during past few months, each time we have been at work at Bewsey Lock clearing vegetation from the overflow and the by-wash.

Sunday 11th June 2006:

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.

The accompanying pictures show what was achieved.

Sunday 2nd July 2006:

Its back to the overflow and our project today is to clear the over hanging trees that were hiding the by-wash channel even from those who take the trouble to look on the other side of the footbridge that crosses the overflow to see the stone lined channel, about 10 feet wide and around 100 metres long, running parallel to the canal bed.

At the northern end there used to be a sluice gate that could be opened to draw off any excess water from the canal, at the southern end the channel emptied its contents back into the canal below Bewsey Lock, it also collected the water that had passed over the overflow.

When all the equipment was unloaded and carried to the site work began. Even at this early hour in the morning the temperature was rising to the mid-seventies, but down in the by-wash channel it was cool in the shade of the trees .

The plan was to cut back any over hanging branches and to arrange them along the opposite bank to form a natural habitat for wild life.

Although we were few in number it soon became obvious that chopping down trees was something that gang of volunteers enjoyed and with advice from Steve Meays (Ranger) we actually got the chance to cut down a big tree that was growing out of the channel wall, this was achieved with some style and a big splash.

About thirty metres of the channel were cleared in the area stretching from were the channel empties back into the canal to just beyond the overflow.

All the litter and other debris that had accumulated in the channel were cleared up and by mid afternoon we reluctantly decided to pack the tools away and call it a day.

See the pictures below and judge for yourself what was achieved.

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

Above: Progress at the Bewsey by-wash site was photographed as the day went on.

Left: The scale of the channel taking the flow away from the by-wash may be gauged from this view taken near the start of clearing away the undergrowth.

Below: As described opposite, some of the trees felled were quite substantial.

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