West
Vale Branch |
For those eagle-eyed readers out there, you will have spotted a slight change to our title this month. No longer are we the “Wilts & Berks Canal Amenity Group” but are now called “Wilts & Berks Canal Trust”. This change came about at our recent Annual General Meeting by unanimous agreement. The thinking behind this is that the Amenity Group was generally considered as preserving the canal as an amenity in those areas where it still existed. However, we inside the group have moved on in our ideas over recent years and now are promoting full restoration for the canal and want to show this to all who will listen. We are still a Registered Charity and now, more than ever, need support and hope that this will help everyone understand our aims.
We have been very busy over the last two weeks moving the tons of scalpings from the carpark at the Canalside Park and I am pleased to report that this has been completed. The carpark is now clear and should remain so for the foreseeable future. We do apologise for any inconvenience that this has caused. The scalpings have been moved over two weekends to our new work site at Steppingstone Lane Bridge. There it will provide a good all weather covering to the diverted bridleway whilst we excavate and restore the bridge. The diversion is not yet completed but we have made a good start, cutting a 2 metre wide path through the small copse and clearing the surrounding scrub.
We expect the diversion to be completed by the New Year and to remain there for approximately 2 years whilst we work on the bridge. Sounds a long time doesn’t it? Unfortunately, there are only a very few of us and we are only able to give a few days per month. More volunteers would speed up the whole programme but we do not seem able to raise any new enthusiastic members at the moment. We fully intend to return the copse to pre-diversion state when the bridge is completed.
We must also apologise to walkers along the towpath between Station Road and Stainswick Lane, who have had to cope with negotiating the sheep barriers. This is totally outside our control. The towpath is open only by kind permission of the landowner who is currently allowing the adjacent fields to be used for keeping sheep in. The hedge is not secure in a short area about halfway between the two roads and sheep can get onto the towpath. So to prevent the sheep getting onto the roads, the towpath has been blocked. Hopefully, this situation will improve in the future.
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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