West
Vale Branch |
The wet weather that we are experiencing at the moment may help to keep water in the cut but, boy does it slow down restoration! At Steppingstone Lane Bridge, our excavations are continually suffering from flooding and we were struggling to keep on top of it with our small 1 inch pump and our very ancient, failure-prone, 2 inch pump. To the rescue came one of our Branch member's parents (also a W&BCT member) with a donation that enabled us to purchase a brand new 3 inch Honda pump. Our thanks go to Bernard Breese for his generosity. In keeping with “tradition” we have given the pump a name that we think will help us remember this generosity, calling the pump “Bernard”.
Despite some minor vandalism in the autumn, the excavations at Steppingstone are moving forward relentlessly with both ends of the bridge now fully visible and showing that they are in better than expected condition. Tree roots have been found not to have penetrated the basic structure, which was a relief. The culvert pipe and concrete end walls will be removed before the end of 2002 hopefully, or very soon into the New Year. (Yes, we do work through the winter - keen aren’t we?). This will then enable us to excavate the invert in the Spring.
The hard-core surfaced lengths of the bridleway diversion needed extending in November to ensure that the slopes did not cut up too much by horse use. This was a strenuous task as the wet grounds prevented the use of any mechanical barrows when moving the hard-core, and it was all down to wheelbarrow work by Phil Large, Graham Banks and Orph Mable. Even so the work was completed, including being “whacked” by our Chairman, Alan Norris, within one work party!
One of our other “non-restoration” aims this last year has been to raise local visibility of our work and awareness of the Canal itself. To this end, and bearing in mind comments in the last issue of Dragonfly, we have begun, when funds permit, placing signs at selected points along the Canal. These signs whilst not too large, give the “right message” and thus far have not run us foul of local bye-laws. We also gave a presentation on “Waterway Restoration – Nationally and Locally” at Shrivenham in November. This was attended by about twenty interested individuals and not only raised awareness but put us in touch with some new people who appear to be able to bring some much needed new skills into our Branch.
The AGM was well represented with several Branch members attending. Alan Norris (Branch Chairman) was re-elected and Orph Mable (Branch Project Co-ordinator), who had been co-opted to Council in the previous month, elected. Well done to both.
On the social front, November saw the Annual Skittle Challenge taking place between the Abingdon, East Vale and West Vale branches at the Plough near Shrivenham. I am pleased to report that again West Vale were the victors and retained the beautiful “Das Boot” trophy. East Vale came a close second with Abingdon supporting from the rear. However, for those of you who follow this annual event, this year George Eycott excelled himself and actually hit pins, ensuring that he did not collect the Gentlemen’s booby prize. (The first time for several years!) It was a well supported event and a good time was enjoyed by all and our thanks must go to Brenda Forward who did such a good job in organising it.
[Final results of the skittles evening were:
To keep abreast of the progress at Steppingstone Lane Bridge and other aspects of our branch activities please visit our web-site at www.westvalecanal.fsnet.co.uk . If anyone feels like helping out in any area whether it be digging or writing, please contact the Branch Chairman or Work Party Organiser or attend our monthly meetings at Shrivenham Bowls Club.
1. West Vale 243
2. East Vale 234
3. Abingdon 103 (adjusted score 223 1/6)
High-scoring lady: Barbara Murrell 24
High-scoring gentleman: Allan Williams 33
Ladies' booby prize: Verity Banks 16
Gentlemen's booby prize: Trevor Smith 12]Orph Mable - Branch Project Co-ordinator
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