Grantham Canal - bits of rusty metal and other interesting stuff.

Good old Blaster Bates, He went to the same school as my mother, my father used him every so often to blow up stubborn things on his construction projects. Dad said that when he came in to the office to talk about a job, work would stop as he raccounted his tales... Then there was the pub lunch.....

 

I'm quite surprised to learn he was an actual person who really did blow things up. I assumed a sort of Fred Dibnah spoof character.

 

Staying sort of on track he does a fun tale about nearly blowing up a canal boat near a council salt depot...

 

If you don't mind a little bit of 'language' then I'd recommend having a listen. Working in the days before any real H&S and showing some wonderful contempt for pompous authority (e.g. On the phone... "We should be able to let you blow up the chimney next Wednesday.." "Oh - hold on a minute..." Bang - rumble "Did you hear that?" "Yes I did, What was that?" , "Chimney just fell down... must have been the high winds...!")

Some wonderful tales there.

 

Dad always tells the tale that when they were clearing some of the trees from what became the M6 through Cheshire they negotiated with another contractor a price per tree with an extra for stumps as they were more difficult. Come the day to start work they find that the trees have become stumps overnight and the cost of the job has rocketed up. In comes Mr Bates and the only thing that rocketed were the stumps and Dad got a bollocking from the CRE as they'd had a complaint of noise from the local Lord.

 

Duplicate.

 

There is also a book of his stories which is worth a read, if you can find it.




Dave B

 

Another landmark day with some material being removed from the upper dam to allow the water to seep gently through and return to the lock entrance. The upper dam will remain in place as access to the towpath side is still required for the construction of the upper mooring wharf ( for which we are still awaiting the piling sheets.) after which it will be removed entirely. The water has caused the gates to close and, with the paddles, are making a good seal as witnessed by the absence of any depth of water in the lock chamber itself.





Eventually, the water will rise to the level of the new by-wash and drain through to the lower pound. The lower dam will remain in place (possibly with a drainage channel cut into it) to allow access to Lock 13 when we start on that phase - access to the off-side of Lock 13 is severely limited by the presence of the lock cottage's garden; the lock cottage itself is currently being restored by the occupant.

Meanwhile, work is continuing in tidying up the fencing on the access track and the unused materials which are being held for use on Lock 13.

 

A couple of photos from today's team to compare with yesterday's view; the forebay and the lock now looking how they should be - full of water. Don't that look grand?

 

I can remember standing about six feet away from him when he demolished the coaling plant at Birkenhead Mollington Street. This was November 1968.
He told us to lean against the wagons behind us as the blast would push us backwards.
No health and safety cordon those days.

Bob.

 

What a sight. Well done to all of the team involved and so good to see another lock in water.

 

This photo taken today by Bob T (one of the Thursday team) from the lower dam showing Lock 14's lower pound now restored to water. What a sight; just needs a boat to complete the scene.

 

Some more recent photos taken by other volunteers - I'm still grounded by order of the quack.

The gate anchors have had molten lead poured in order to seal them into the anchor stones. Note the join in the anchor stone - this was because the quarry couldn't produce a one-piece anchor stone.





A safety grill has been installed over the entrance to the new by-wash - can't have little Johnny going exploring.



At the other end of the new bywash, proof that it works.



More work to do!! The piling sheets for the upper mooring wharf have finally arrived.



Elsewhere on the site, work continues to re-distribute muck, clarts and dirt that was excavated during the early phase of the restoration. I believe the term is "making good".

 

Came across this film today.
Not Grantham but London.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=vUZB6OwfZ2s&feature=emb_logo

 

I love these old restored films.

(And as a bonus the next one which popped up afterwards was Flushing to Harwich, with Dutch and British boat trains each end.)

 

Maybe a new challenge for @baldbof and his gang
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-55016473

Colin

 

Five minute job!!

No thanks. We've still got 25+ miles to go with ours. We have some more projects starting soon - restoring the slipway at our depot and raising an outflow so we can increase the depth of water in the top pound, then there's tackling the trees that have grown in the dry section near Kinoulton/Cropwell Bishop. Funding bids for the repair of the next two locks (12 & 13) have been submitted and we're already getting kit sorted for that phase plus the on-going job of maintaining the current navigable length. There are times when we just wish there were 9 days in a week.

 

Final shot of the year from Lock 14. The volunteers are part way through building the upper mooring wharf and intend to complete it when the site re-opens in the New Year. The rest of the site is currently resembling the Somme. In the distance is Lock 15.

It's been a testing year but the volunteers have stuck at the job and we really are on the home stretch. The other jobs that are left are essentially in the dust pan and brush category - that's how close we are to the finish.


Not my photo

Best wishes to you all . Have a safe Christmas and New Year and hopefully we'll see you on the other side (of New Year that is......., not the other "other side").

John

 

We'll have to wait awhile before we can get back to the lock. We have been told by C&RT that all maintenance activities have been suspended across all waterways. Stay safe y'all.

 

I think this will be my final report on the restoration of Lock 14.

Like everyone else, that damned virus has impacted on us all and work was suspended again during the latest lock-down with the finishing line in sight.

However, every cloud etc etc. C&RT re-opened the site last week week and with a very limited number of volunteers being allowed on to the site and social distancing being rigidly adhered to, it looks like we can say "Job done" on this part of the long-term plan to re-open the canal.

When our volunteers were allowed back on site , a handful of jobs remained to be done:

a. Finish construction of the upper mooring wharf.

b. Finish the landscaping including tree planting.

c. Remove the upper dam (the lower dam is remaining in place to allow access from our work compound when we start work on Locks 13 and 12).

Here are some photos of the final couple of days work provided by some of the volunteers (David C and Jim F) who were allowed on site.

Shuttering in place ready for the final concrete pour at the upper wharf. Note the exquisitely painted bollards resting on the dam ready for installation on the wharf.



The final concrete pour. No fancy pumping machines this time - this needed a lot of shovelling.



Concrete poured, bollards in place, replacement trees planted. The top soil needs raking and grass seeding.

The off-side has been subjected to some extreme hedge-trimming



Final view of the lock from the upper dam before the excavator gets to work.



Upper wharf finished, top soil raked and seeded, dam removed.



There's just a few house-keeping jobs to do on the off-side where we have our compound. We are being allowed to keep the compound for use when work starts on Lock13 and 12. It provides a convenient base close to where we will be working. The occupant of a nearby house is a big supporter of our project and has offered to provide some access to Lock 13 through his property. In the meantime, a submission to the Heritage Lottery Fund has been raised to seek funding for the next phase.

Had it not been for the lockdowns, we would have finished this project by this time last year. We've had our successes and some setbacks - it hasn't been a truly smooth journey but we have learned a lot, especially what not to do! For the next phase, we are on our own as C&RT are stepping back and it will be down to us to manage the project - fortunately we have a couple of civil engineers and project managers from very impressive backgrounds amongst our number. All we need is the money!!!

This is not the end of our work - there is plenty to do on other parts of the canal to keep our volunteers busy and we have extended our workparty activites to clearance of the dry sections further along the canal near Kinoulton and Cropwell Bishop. Our work parties have grown through passers-by seeing what we are doing and wanting to join in - all very encouraging, especially the number of younger new members joining. As the western end of the canal is convenient for those living in or close to Nottingham, this has encouraged people from that area to join.

Well, time to sign off. Thank you all for your kind comments over the past six years. If I'm still around (inshallah) when the next phase starts, I'll try to keep you updated.

Good luck with your own projects - it's vital we save what remains of our historic industrial heritage for future generations and it mustn't be allowed to vanish under developer's architectural monstrosities.

Stay safe y'all.

John