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

Wonderful progress, were you not tempted to get some cobbles/setts for the wharf to make the area look less concrete intensive? You lot go above and beyond with restored brick/masonry on the locks from what I’ve seen so far, really need to make my way back to woolsthorpe in the summer!

 

Apologies for the slow reply. I have asked the question of those that know and the reply was:

a). Cost - We were on a very tight budget even before we started and which was severely tested due to spiralling costs of construction materials since the pandemic started.

b). Proofing against future maintenance costs - concrete will be cheaper to repair should the need arise - plus no temptation for ne'er-do-wells to chuck the cobbles into the canal (edge capping stones are already a target for them).

c). Time scale - the slipway had to be finished in order to get our boats out of the water, hull scraped, surveyed, repaired, painted and back in the water for the start of the new season which starts on Mothers Day.

d). ...and inevitably H&S raised its head. Concrete makes for a less slippy surface and less stubbing of toes/trips near near the water.

 

This fascinating thread has gone very quiet. Presumably the canal restoration work is continuing so have we lost our informative poster @baldbof ?

 

“Last seen 19 September 2022” according to his profile.

Tom

 

Yes, I saw that, which made me wonder. @35B may know something as he lives nearby.

 

A neighbour, whom I've shamefully not spoken to in too long, is also involved with the canal society. Unfortunately, though I've once had the pleasure of meeting @baldbof, our paths have not crossed in a long while.

 

@baldbof mostly used to post about lock restoration works ongoing on the woolsthorpe flight, I assume he had a direct involvement in this. there is only the penultimate lock to go on the flight (lock 13) I believe and right now it’s in the funding and engineering assessment stage which isn’t so sexy and not worthy of a post I’d imagine. For those of us heathens that ‘do’ facebook there is regularly posted information, lock 13 has had some scrub clearance for said assessment and so has the Cropwell bishop locks, so plenty going on.
As to those worrying if @baldbof himself is pining for the fjords I’m pretty sure he’s posted recently on a veterans forum I lurk on.

 

Thank you, "Fear",
Good to hear things are still progressing and that @baldboff is still with us.
In his last update on locks, in September '21, he said that they were awaiting approval and funding to proceed with locks 12 and 13. You mention only lock 13 so has lock 12 been done, or does it not require much work ?

 

Well I should say I’m not a volunteer, just that I’ve gathered the more recent info that’s been posted on the other platforms, not sure if funding has been secured but the reason lock 13 is being cleared of trees/scrub is for engineering assessments which would suggest to me that either funding had been secured and they are moving forward with more detailed investigations OR they are assessing the structure perhaps to gather detail to put together a grant application. Sorry for the contradiction when I said “only” followed by “penultimate”, Lock 12 will be the last one in the flight, but lock 13 is what is being prepared for restoration right now, whether they are planning to do both together I cannot tell. Hope this helps.

 

Hi Folks,

Just thought I would pop in and say "Hello".

It's not been a case of nowt happening along the canal, it's just it's not been in the "glamorous" category.

After completing the slipway, the construction team turned their attention to an outflow at Denton Winding Hole and raised the bridge over the outflow by about six inches to allow stop boards to be inserted which will raise the water level in the summit pound by a similar depth. That will provide a greater depth of water for the boats and possibly appease the fishermen who have complained about low water levels in the canal during last summer.

There's been a lot of vegetation clearing and general work going on at various locations along the 33 mile length - our van has been put to good use conveying tools and equipment to various sites. Previously, we relied on volunteers using their cars which kind of limited the size of the kit that could be deployed. A 3.5 tonne van plus a large trailer has changed all that.

A lot of attention has been given to the western end of the canal following an increase in interest in that area. At Lock 1 where the canal joins the Trent, we have been asked by the Environment Agency to tidy up the area, remake the towpath and paint the lock gates. We are constrained in doing that work to weekends when Nottingham Forest are playing away. Unfortunately the EA closed the towpath just after we started because a tree was threatening to fall over....and as it is now nesting season.....!!

Just a bit further along, the residents of West Bridgford started getting interested in the canal and a weekend of clearing vegetation around Locks 2 and 3 had the locals coming out to join in...special thanks to the residents who provided tea and cakes. It helped that a couple of local councillors were keen to help which resulted in valuable assistance being given in the shape of a contractor coming in with an industrial chipper to dispose of cut/fallen timber and the street cleaning service providing 1 tonne builders bags to fill with brash and rubbish. Similar work was carried out along the stretch of canal alongside Radcliffe Road in the Lady Bay area. The original route of the canal will never be re-instated due to urban development. However, a new route to the Trent has been identified and can be found in the Autumn 22 edition of our "Bridge" magazine.

In the Hickling area, a group has been formed to re-water the canal and it is led by Councillors from that area including the Mayor of Rushcliffe Borough Council. A big thumbs up to the Mayor who's council recently provided a large sum of money for the canal in that area to be dredged.

Repair work to the offside bank has been carried out at a couple of leaking culverts in the Kinoulton area where holes in the bank were sufficient to drain the canal in that section. The holes were re-packed with puddling clay - C&RT provided the materials and we done the work. After all the winter rainfall that section of canal is now back in water.

One area which has received attention, having been neglected since the canal was officially closed in 1932, is the feeder stream from Knipton Reservoir. Knipton is the second feeder reservoir on the canal, Denton Reservoir being the other. Previously, Denton was the main source of water for the canal (apart from field drains)
and during summer months C&RT would shut off the flow due to low water levels or blue/green algae. Over this winter, a team has cleared the nearly-4 mile length of Knipton feeder stream; removing trees, rubbish, mud, clarts, dead sheep and other debris where the feeder flows above ground. A lot of the feeder runs through underground culverts because previous Dukes of Rutland didn't want their pristine lawns ruined by a ditch running across the Castle grounds. Once the feeder had been cleared, the very nice man from C&RT came down with his big key and let the water flow out of the reservoir; the flow along the whole length was checked by a roving team. It took the best part of five hours for the water to reach the canal at Muston, mainly because the feeder was dry and needed to be filled. A couple of problem areas were identified requiring minor remedial work but the feeder was proved meaning we can now top up the water in the 19 mile stretch between Lock 12 and Lock 11. There are still issues with the dry section in the Cropwell Bishop area caused by gypsum and will take some time and effort to resolve.

We have also cleared the vegetation from Locks 9, 10 and 11 in readiness for inspection by C&RT - another job which had to be completed before the start of the nesting season. Lock 11 sits on a geological fault resulting in some "interesting" brickwork.

Back at our depot, workboat 'Centauri' is on the slipway having her hull scraped, primed and painted with sacrificial anodes being fitted. Work continues in the engine room.

The clearance team is visiting Lock 13 preparing the ground in readiness for a detailed assessment of the work required; they have also being clearing access routes for plant/machinery. I'm not sure when the work will start in earnest but it will most likely after the nesting season. The funding side is a 'work in progress' and some generous bequests have helped in that area. Lock 12 will follow once 13 is finished.

There's a lot of work to be done in different locations - mainly leaks which need to be located and dealt with. After years of focussing on one end of the canal, our activities are now spread along the entire length and drawing in more support and volunteers and that can only be a good thing for future plans.

For myself, I have eased off the heavy stuff due to a knadgered back which has limited my involvement in a lot of the activities. Tis bloody frustrating but at least I can drive the van, wield a paintbrush, make the tea and eat Mary's chocolate flapjacks. Next time I post, I will try to include some photos but our society's web-site does include photos on its Twitter and Facebook feeds. There are also loads of photos in the on-line edition of our magazine "Bridge" - viewable on http://www.granthamcanal.org

edited; spulling errors caused by posting at stupid o'clock.