December 6-8
Defined by Darragh. Whilst spared the very worst of Storm Darragh endured by other parts of the country, we still suffered a washout on Saturday. One hour of hedge planting was sufficient to convince us we’d be better off at home.
The last work party of the year is characterised by the volunteer’s Christmas party (thoroughly enjoyable, as ever), a large proportion of environmental work and, sometimes, better weather. It turned out that Friday was the lull before the storm and good progress was made on various environmental activities. Hedge-laying continued towards Schoolhouse Bridge and another team planted hedging whips north of Crickheath Bridge. A further team undertook scrub clearance on the off-side bank beyond Schoolhouse Bridge which enabled surveying to take place and levels established – a vital input to the design of this future section.
By Saturday, the storm was at its peak. Those volunteers who made it to site and huddled in the welfare container made the rather optimistic decision to continue hedge planting. But an hour in the gale and rain convinced us this was over-optimistic. After a refreshing brew-up, most went home. A couple of jobs persisted till lunchtime – removal of the haul road by the now-completed section in Phase 1B and a reorganisation of the storage container. For both these jobs, volunteers were mainly inside (cab or container) but nevertheless, everyone was off site by 12.30.
Sunday was still extremely windy but at least dry and even with some sunshine. Further hedge planting took place in a variety of locations and more work was done on the haul road and in the storage container.
The rain at least is filling the restored sections nicely and they look more and more like a canal as each day passes. 2024 has seen substantial progress and achievement thanks to volunteers contributing over 5,500 hours of their time. Happy Christmas to all.
