West Vale Branch
Projects
Steppingstone Lane Bridge Restoration

The plan was to load Alan's trailer up with all the necessary equipment and then make a single trip as far as possible down the bridleway towing the trailer behind Orph's 4x4. For once the day went surprisingly well.

Getting the trailer out of its berth in Alan's garden (or Steptoe's Yard as we've christened it) was interesting, requiring as it did the manhandling out of the way of his collection of caravans before the trailer itself could be dragged out.

Then it was round to the Canalside Park to load her up and lash the load down well. Except for the reluctance of one of the trailer's tyres to accept any air this went without problems. The digger, whacking plate, generator, fuel and an assortment of tools and other equipment necessary for rebuilding a bridge and associated works was all loaded successfully. Off we went to Steppingstone Lane...

We stopped 400 yards short of the bridge site - the last safe place where the vehicle could be turned round. We started unloading the trailer and then Chris went to start the digger. It was February 2001 all over again - she (and it has to be a she) refused to go. While the rest of us carried on lugging stuff down to site, Chris did his best to get the digger going and a couple of hours later he'd succeeded - having learnt a thing or too from the last time. [The problem has subsequently been prevented from recurring for the forseeable future.]

Meanwhile we'd started to burn the pile created as a result of cutting the diversion through the copse in November. The warmth was most welcome and by the end of the day, as shadows grew longer, all our goals for the day had been achieved - not quite a first, but nearly.