West
Vale Branch |
Work continues on clearing the ground for the re-instatement of the towpath on the north side of the canal between Station Road and Steppingstone Lane Bridge. The cold winter days are the best time for this strenuous activity and the bonfires help to cheer us up too. There is only a short window of opportunity for this task as it must be completed before the birds start nest building , so we intend to complete this clearing work before March is finished. The first work party of 2004 on the 17 th January saw five Trust volunteers hard at work and achieving a great deal. When completed, this will provide a stone surfaced, all weather path that can be incorporated in the Shrivenham Circular walk.
Progress at Steppingstone Lane Bridge is currently stalled, awaiting engineering concurrence from Oxfordshire County Council on the proposed design. It is hoped that we will gain this very shortly, enabling the bridge rebuild to begin. We have noticed that the bridleway diversion is starting to cut up on the north side and we intend to carry out repairs in the next few weeks.
We also hope to do some cutting back on the hedge line between Station Road and Stainswick Lane before the birds get busy, but we will need a bit more help if we are to complete that also before the end of March. It is hoped that we find time to also improve this path at Station Road Bridge which currently is very narrow and gets extremely muddy in winter.
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. For those with a computer and Internet access please visit our Branch Web Site at www.westvalecanal.org.uk.
Orph Mable - Branch Project Co-ordinator
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