West
Vale Branch |
With the long summer days and warm dry weather comes the problem of vandalism to both private public property. The Canalside Park has been afflicted by this over recent weeks additionally suffering an attempted break-in to one of the cabins. The cabin only contains a couple of makeshift benches, to sit on when we are hiding from the rain, some empty oil drums and two broken lawn mowers. Not worth the effort or risk I would have thought. Also a trailer has had a mudguard and lamps broken with rope rubbing strips removed. Not major damage but very annoying none the less. We are also trying to identify the boys (?) who keep using our building material to make a “den” in the wild area of the park. Their skills could be put to good use in restoring the canal if they want to build things that last a bit longer!
On a hot day in June some Branch Members set up a canal display and information point near the ticket “office” for the Shrivenham Open Gardens organised by the Shrivenham & District Gardening Club. The weather was glorious which helped the activity to be very well patronised and hopefully it raised a lot of money for charity. This is from a very selfish point of view as we believe that the Gardening Club expects to be able to make a donation to the Canal Amenity Group. The leaflets and booklets displayed at the information stand are also available from the Shrivenham Hardware Shop and other outlets in the village. These leaflets give local flora and fauna information plus maps of permitted walks in the area and contain details of the canal itself.
Things never stand still with this restoration lark! The Branch has been contacted by a contractor on behalf of the Environment Agency about a problem at a large culvert under the canal bed (an aqueduct possibly?) at Uffington which is in our patch. It seems that the culvert may be the cause of winter flooding in the immediate area. A visit to the site was organised at very short notice and an assessment made. The culvert consists of an 8 foot diameter brick tunnel (190 years old) carrying Rosay Brook under the bed of the canal. The canal bed in this area is in good condition and holds water (or would) but a hole has been knocked through the roof of the culvert to drain the canal into the brook. Additionally large trees have tried to gain a foothold in the culvert brickwork and the roots trail into the brook. There is about 3 foot (we like Imperial measurements on the canal!) of silt in the culvert which along with the roots appears to be impeding flow. Also the hole in the roof is now partially blocked necessitating a local landowner to dig a runoff through the canal bank into the downstream side brook. The contractor is wanting to dig through the canal bed to remove both the canal and culvert to ensure that there is no impediment to flow of the brook, but we are considering our options at the moment. It would be a shame to destroy a 190 year old structure which is in basically good order. Further reports will follow, watch this space!
Summer is now with us and the days of good weather have brought out the walkers (with and without dogs) to the towpaths and Canalised Park. This is very encouraging to our Branch members who have worked hard on getting the paths open after Foot & Mouth Disease. The towpath between Station Road and Steppingstone Lane Bridge still needs a good cutting with the strimmer but is passable if somewhat “wild”. If anyone wants to help, please volunteer, we have all the tools (including an ancient, but serviceable ride-on mower) but not enough bodies to put up an equal fight with nature during the summer!
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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