October 2000 Diary | Directory EDITORIAL COMMENT ~ Steve Jones Most of you must be aware the WACT is celebrating it’s 30th anniversary year but you may not know that another organisation dedicated not just to restoring one particular canal is also celebrating the same anniversary, and that is the Waterway Recovery Group (WRG). The WACT has been the fortunate recipient of innumerable WRG working parties over the years, most recently the Dig Deep Project and the Summer Camp held in Sydney Wood where John Ward our Restoration Manager reports that … “the new diverted towpath was covered with approximately 160 tonnes of road planings along with several tonnes of clay, to bring the towpath up to the required height. Other jobs carried out were the removal of tree stumps from the canal bed, removal of a redundant causeway and unblocking of culvert entrances. Temporary repairs were made to the Gennets weir with sheet pilings.” This is just one example of the tremendous help WRG have given us and I’m sure you will all join me in wishing them well for the future and hoping they have a fantastic time during their forthcoming celebrations.

Water, Water Everywhere - But No Fuel ~ Colin Gibbs It took a couple of visits to Newbridge to remove the debris left near the bridge during the Summer Camp. Landowner, David Mitchell, very kindly let us have the use of a tractor and trailer, plus the bonfire site within the farmyard. The fuel crisis kept numbers down on Friday 15th September, and the torrential rain stopped work at lunch-time but, returning on Monday 18th, a second soaking did not stop the completion of the clear up. The site is now returned to its former beauty. Work Starts at Drungewick Lane ~ Eric Walker Many of you will have seen the progress made building the road bridge over the canal at Drungewick lane by Geoffrey Osborne Ltd. There have been several setbacks to the work but, each slip has been clawed back. The first floods of the winter put water into the site and excitingly six inches of water where the canal will be! Of course it had to be pumped out to enable the laying of further concrete. Building of the bridge training walls is scheduled to start on October 9th. At that time there will be three weeks of concentrated work for volunteers helping the bricklayer setting up and back-filling after the walls are built. All help will be gratefully received. There is also a lot of clearance work to be done from the bridge to Drungewick Lock, in preparation for re-filling the canal after the bridge is finished on December 1st. Colin Gibbs has agreed to lead this work. Devils Hole Lock land-slip was repaired by the beginning of September using a geonet material and sheeps-foot roller technique assisted by a 20 tonne digger. This did not work quite as hoped for but, work restoring the wall on the northern side should now be able to continue. One other job squeezed in at the end of August by Dave Kersley was the replacement of the pipe between the extraction point and the river Arun at Drungewick. A few more days of work and we will be ‘all systems go’ for filling the Drungewick pound either by back-pumping at the lock, installed by Jonathon Heatley last year, or by abstraction from the river. Heritage open days 2000 happened on September 16 & 17 despite floods on the Friday and a petrol famine that weekend. Peter Foulger started the engine at Brewhurst Mill for the hundreds of visitors to admire. There were a number of overseas visitors and we were privileged to have a visit by three generations of the Carter family. It was Henry’s great great great grandfather who was the wharfinger at Newbridge and of course the engine in the mill was built nearby at Newpound by the Carter family business, in the early part of the last century. We meet at the Onslow Arms, Loxwood, Thursdays and Sundays, at 9:30. Check the notice board there, just in case there has been a late change. My answerphone and fax are on all the time on 023 9246 3025 or you can e-mail me on eric.walker@cwcom.net. Race Against Time at Flood Lock Bridge ~ Winston Harwood It’s been a race against time to get all the work completed that will be below flood water level before the first flood actually arrives; which was on September 29th last year (just in time Winston, September 15th this year - Ed). And thanks to the tremendous amount of hard work by the team, rebuilding the abutment walls, pointing (sorry Roger it’s all done now), and erecting scaffolding for the bridge itself, this has largely been achieved. The first thrust blocks have been laid which will counter/absorb the outward force exerted by the bridge arches, and the first centring truss is in place to define the arch. We have also done a lot of work to the access road across the field to allow us more time on site before conditions make it impossible. Working parties are on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Autumn Heralds Change of Tasks for Monday Group ~Brian Crossley The holiday season is almost over and the grasses and weeds have nearly stopped growing, so we’ll be tackling a host of tasks which have had to be postponed during the summer months. For a start, there’s a finger-post to be re-installed at Run Common, some fencing is needed near Orfold Turf Lock and the canal needs an autumn clean-up on both sides of Compasses bridge. Our next meetings will be October 9th and November 13th (meeting location decided during the previous week). If you’d like to come along to help us for a day, just give me a ring to find out where we’ll be meeting. We hope you’ll find the work so worthwhile and the company so good that you’ll find yourself applying to become a regular member!

Working Party Diary for October and early November If you do not attend regularly, please contact the site manager before joining a work party. EVERY SUNDAY AND THURSDAY at Loxwood. Meet 0930 at the Onslow Arms in the field car park. Lot’s of jobs as well as construction. Details from Eric Walker. EVERY TUESDAY AND THURSDAY at Orfold. Details from Winston Harwood. SAT OCT 7/SUN 8 - DIG DEEP with London WRG. WACT members are welcome on any day. Phone John Ward for site and more details. MON OCT 9 - MONDAY W P. (Mrs Bucket Group). Details of site and meeting time from Brian Crossley. FRI OCT 13 - MWWP. Meet 0930 at the Forest Enterprise car park in Sidney Wood for further clearance work. Phone Colin Gibbs for more details. MON OCT 16 - MWWP. Meet 0930 at Drungewick Hill Farm for clearance work in the bed of the canal. Phone Colin Gibbs for more details. TUES OCT 24 - MWWP. Meet 0930 at Drungewick Hill Farm for clearance work in the bed of the canal. Phone Colin Gibbs for more details. MON OCT 30 - MWWP. Meet 0930 at Drungewick Hill Farm to complete clearance work in the bed of the canal (if required). Phone Colin Gibbs for more details. THUR OCT 26 - MID WEEK WALK. ‘Baybridge Canal’. 7mls, 3.5hrs. Depart 0945hrs from the Partridge pub at Partridge Green. Please park in the side road opposite the pub. Bus Nos 2 & 106 pass just south of the pub. Map ref 189190. Pathfinder 1287, Landranger 198. Theme of historical transport remains, including lovely countryside. Return for lunch at the pub at about 1330hrs. Contact Don Gibson for more details. MON NOV 13 - MONDAY W P. (Mrs Bucket Group). Details of site and meeting time from Brian Crossley Working Party Directory ~ Brian Crossley (Monday Working Party) 01737 843192 Steve Jones (W P News Editor) 01444 811747 Colin Gibbs (Mid-week Working Party) 0208 2417736 John Ward (General Enquiries) 01483 527124 or Mobile 0797 1234 338 or Mobile 07971 336535 Peter Wilding (Trees / Maintenance Unit) 01483 422519 Don Gibson (Mid Week Walks) 01903 201375 Winston Harwood (Orfold) 01737 768781 Eric Walker (Loxwood Area) 02392 463025