West
Vale Branch |
We've finally managed to get back onto the canal and start tidying up the towpaths and hedges. Our work party on June the 16th was very successful despite the weather. The forecast was for "occasional showers with sunny intervals". Hah! Not on your life! It was "wet with very occasional dry moments" in reality. Still, our team of 7 stalwarts braved it all and took to the paths with strimmers and mowers, achieving most of the targets that we had set ourselves.
The grassed areas of the Canalside Park were cut and trimmed with attention being paid to the car park entrance which was becoming dangerous due to the approach roadway being unsighted. The edges around the kissing gates and for the full length of the cemetery path, were cut back where the nettles were starting to encroach. The towpath between the park and Tuckmill Brook was strimmed and mown as it was becoming reminiscent of a scene from the "African Queen"! The towpath from Stainswick Lane was strimmed to just before the electricity substation when the weather beat us. (The water in my wellies was overflowing!) We hope to complete this before the end of June. Also, we brought the new height limiter for the car park entrance but although we fitted the strike plate and cut it to size on site, we were unable to finish the task as the welder failed on us. We will have to finish the job at a "special" work party one evening. The park, and the paths leading away from it, are now looking smarter and are a pleasure to walk again. We are pleased with our efforts.
This is probably a good point to have a moan! With the better weather (I wish!) and the lighter evenings, more people are using the park which really pleases us. However, some of our more junior parishioners are using the park as a place to ride their bikes. That in itself is not too big a problem as long as they give consideration to other people in the park. What is a nuisance though, is when they build ramps and jumps out of the restoration hardware from next to the steel container. If the equipment was replaced when finished with, then that would not be too bad, but it isn't! We have to spend some of our time, that is in very limited supply, clearing up and returning the items to their safe and proper place. So please give this a thought.
The Branch has also been busy giving assistance to Shrivenham Football Club who are extending the football pitch in the Recreation Ground. This has come about because they have been promoted into the Hellenic League which has very stringent rules on pitch size. So, as we have the suitable machinery ("the boys with the toys!") and a little expertise, we gave help to remove tree stumps and install a new land drain. It was good to be able to help out and we wish them all the best in the new season.
The Branch is now making plans to re-start work at Steppingstone Lane Bridge, where we have to divert the bridle way before any real restoration can take place. Also we want to carry out improvements to the towpath between there and Station Road, making use of a generous grant that we have received from GWR of £400. With our labour being freely volunteered we can make this amount go a long way, so why not come and see how we do it? For more information or to volunteer assistance please come along to one of our meetings held in the Shrivenham Bowls Club, Martens Road, on the second Wednesday of every month at 8 p.m. You will be made very welcome. Alternatively, ask any of the volunteers that you see working on the canal or park, they will be more than pleased to stop and talk!
Orph Mable - Branch Project Co-ordinator
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