Words and picture originated from reports submitted by John Guyler Feb-April25
High Peak Junction:
Volunteers worked on maintenance of the swing bridge (Browns Bridge), lubricating the bridge bearing, clearing grit from the stone face got the bridge to open after the winter.
Twenty coir rolls were fitted and backfilled with clay on the section near Kelley’s Corner, several volunteers filled sandbags with clay for the infill of dog-outs, and others walked the towpath cutting back vegetation away from the towpath.
Volunteers continued the filling of approximately sixty sack bags with clay, to use filling the dog-outs” in the bank towards Cromford (“dog-outs” are damaged sections in the bank, caused by dogs scrambling to exit the canal, over time if repairs are not carried out, they can cause serious erosion to the towpath).
After nearly ninety bags had been filled, they were then transported by DCC tractor and trailer down the canal towards Lawn Bridge, where the “dog-out” repairs were carried out.
Pinxton Wharf
Thirteen work party volunteers cleared vegetation the remains of trees that had fallen in the wind and subsequently cut up by the FCC volunteer qualified for chain saw operations at the Pinxton weir area.
Lower Hartshay
Two volunteers fitted a new information board at Lower Hartshay, and six Volunteers finished planting the remaining whips to form the new hedge and some bulbs for next Spring.
Casson Street, Ironville
Eight volunteers cleared along the footpath from the church car park on Casson Street towards the Pinxton Arm Bridge, and managed to widen one hundred meters of footpath, cutting a lot of brambles down which would have grown across the footpath.
Codnor park Reservoir
Eleven volunteers in total went down to Golden Valley to clear the footpath edges so that growth in the spring doesn’t block it and also worked on the DCC section to remove fallen trees and branches from the canal channel, they had to use chain saws and winches. Several more work parties will be required to complete this task This operation is made more difficult because of a restriction on the equipment that can be used by the landowner, DCC.
A group of volunteers went to Casson St and set about clearing the area near the church to enable the footpath through to the main line of the Cromford Canal at the Pinxton bridge, to be clear through the growing season.
Sawmills
Thirteen volunteers cleared a lot of vegetation and there was a controlled burn: a wind damaged tree was removed and the wood disposed in the controlled burn.
Volunteers removed an Ash tree that was leaning over the four span bridge and also removed some overhanging branches off the tree that is causing structural damage to the northern end of the bridge.
A large FCC work party worked at Sawmills to clear the mess left after several trees had been felled, not by the FCC and several wind-blown trees which had been brought down over the winter. The trees near the bridge were thought to be causing damage to the stonework of the old railway bridge put in by the Midland Railway in the 1820’s. Six trees in total in the area were piled up in one big heap. A lot of logs were collected by various local people.
Gregory’s Nip, High Peak Junction
FCC volunteers finished off the fitting of the coir rolls at High Peak Junction, there were four left to fit from the previous work party. The rest of the work party continued to Gregory’s Nip to clear more of the retaining wall. On the wall they continued from where the previous work party had left off, they found that the retaining wall petered out very quickly as it sloped up the bank. A short distance further on however there was a stone abutment, and the wall reappeared and went up to towpath level. We cleared quite away along this section and finished about fifty meters short of the railway below the section that has had a parapet wall near the railway aqueduct. A short section needs clearing to finish, but the wall is quite high towards the railway and is not accessible for it all to be cleared.
Gregory’s Nip, Aqueduct Cottage
Volunteers worked on the swing bridge to relieve the wood, which was catching on the stonework, when the bridge was fully open. We suspected that the wood was very damp and had expanded slightly on freezing. The wood was dressed away where it was catching on the wall. The bridge, upon fully opening, jammed solid and took some pushing assisted by some walkers on the towpath to free off. Bridge was operating without problem on leaving the site, ready for a charter at the weekend. The volunteers then joined the rest of the work party at Aqueduct Cottage section to clear the retaining wall.
A total of seventeen volunteers(!) worked on the retaining wall clearance of vegetation and clearing the dense brambles along the face of the bank for 30m.The top wall underneath the towpath was exposed, with a large void in the brick work. Part way down the slope was evidence of another retaining wall but of poor construction and on the slope was evidence of movement of this wall. A large clump of sizable trees stumps was in the wall and will have the rubble from it dug to expose the wall at the next work party. A visual check was made of the piling on the water’s edge and discovered a gap of approximately 11m at the point where a suspecting leak from the canal is.
The area where we are working, (according to Simon Stoker) is called Gregory’s Nip. has informed me the Nip is the very narrow stop plank position on a bad corner at the end of the straight from the railway aqueduct. It was given that name for the convenience of the DCC so that they knew where the position was. There is a thought that a small swing bridge was at that position, but there is doubt that it ever existed.
Work continued to clear the bank over the required area of brambles. The retaining wall had the soil and rubble build up cleared to expose the wall for inspection. Vegetation clearance continued along the wall for another 40m towards the railway. The banking showing evidence of the previous overtopping. All clearance work is now finished.