Diary | Directory

Editorial Comment ~ Wendy Andrews.

Christmas always seems to creep up on me and this year is no different from usual, 3 weeks to go and no shopping done yet?.hey ho!

If you're short on ideas for a present for someone who has everything, how about a WACT membership?

We reached 2,000 members in September 2005 and would definitely like to celebrate our 2,500th member early in the New Year. Whilst checking through the distribution list for WPN, I noticed that some 10% of recipients are not actually WACT members. We are, of course, extremely grateful to you for your 'hands on' help but bear in mind that the size of our membership is a powerful indication of our support. Please join up. Membership forms are available from the WACT office or can be downloaded from our website.

Anyway, for those of you better organized than me, it's not too late to volunteer for the Santa Cruises which will be running on December 15th/16th and from 19th through to 23rd. If you can spare some time to get involved please get in touch with Robert Hutty. There's always a great atmosphere and lots of fun to be had by all. Robert's looking for cabin crew, lock keepers, car park attendants and kitchen help. (Contact details are roberthutty@sunbung.fsnet.co.uk or phone 01959 562 205)

Places for the Christmas Lunch are fully booked. I'm looking forward to meeting some of you there!

Recycling ~ John Wood

The Trust now has two Aylesford Newsprint recycling skips in the car park at the Onslow Arms. Because Southern Water are in the process of rebuilding and extending the pumping station near the entrance the skips have been moved further back into the car park and are less visible. Maybe this is one of the reasons why tonnage collected in the 3rd quarter this year was considerably lower than usual. Adding to our woes the other skip at Crawley Down has suffered a sharp decline for no apparent reason. Last year £3,800 was raised from recycling old newspapers & magazines; also for every tonne the Trust collects, Aylesford Newsprint makes a donation to the Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital. Magazines can include heavy catalogues such as Argos, Littlewoods, Freemans, holiday brochures etc; however 'Yellow Pages', cardboard, junk mail, and food packaging must NOT be put into Aylesford skips. Please make that extra effort, and encourage friends and neighbours to do the same, so that we do at least match the tonnage raised in 2006.

WTS (was TSG) Group ~ Eric Walker

All the coping stones on the wall behind the Onslow for the current phase of the works are now in place. Yes, when the contractors have finished the bridge construction there is more work to do. There are three walls to be constructed, one between the end of Onslow wharf and the tunnel and two others between the lock and the bridge. The coping stones of the wharf to tunnel have been made and are in the car park. For the other two walls the coping stones will be made at Tickners Heath over the next few months.

Finally there will be the 'muckaway' where all the surplus clay and arisings need to be removed to clear the canal channel from the Onslow under the bridge to the lock. But that is all a long way off.

David Kersley tells me the Hanix digger has now done over 500 hours since coming into service so it will go to Tickners along with the tracked dumper for servicing. The other week the concrete mixer started but the barrel did not turn. Fortunately David found someone who, in our desperate times, gave us a concrete mixer, not a worn out one but one that has been refurbished and should have years of life left in it.

Richard Emsley has been reed cutting at Drungewick with RCB Caprice with the team from Lordings doing the hard work of removing the weed from the water. It looks as if there could be a couple of volunteers willing to do land surveying. We have the kit, I just have to get my head round setting up the training for them. The outstanding jobs for them go back quite a number of years.

As mentioned last month the Canal Bridge Loxwood project got the go-ahead on 30th October and then we were waiting for Burras to finish his previous commitment. Well, the road closure for one week has been set for 7th January and Burras says he can be on site by 12th December. Such piling before Christmas will be done as time permits and the traffic controls will be removed over the shutdown. After the work in the road is completed then the remaining piling will be done.

We will be taking our Christmas break between December 22nd and January 2nd.

Mid Week Working Party ~ Peter Jackman

Following our lengthy stint at Utworth and Elmbridge the team made four visits to Run Common, cutting and clearing north of the road, then south as far as the railway bridge. We helped complete repairs to the leaking culvert at Tickners Heath, then returned to Elmbridge to remove tree roots and clear an area of the canal bank by the new extension of the Village, where a narrow channel has been created (presumably for land water drainage purposes).

Our current task is bank clearance at Dunsfold Park, working near the burn site last week and nearer to Compasses Bridge for the next one or two weeks (December 5th & 12th ). The team will be coppicing this month, probably at Beevers Farm, but please check with Peter or e-mail Alison for details of other tasks and dates.

Hedge Laying Group ~ Keith Nichols
or 'November in the Land of Fire, Mountain & Flood (Henry McCunn)'

Fire? - Bonfire on Thursday 1st November

Mountain? - Have you seen the size of the moles down here?

Flood? - Wednesday 21st November the whole valley was flooded with the towpath being the only dry land. There was a good flow in the canal with 18" difference in water level at the Flood Lock. But it was a gloriously sunny, mild day, with geese, ducks and swans enjoying the vast tract of water.

The bramble removal has gone on at a pace with about 22m left to do in the 114m of Blackthorn thicket.

Laying started on Sunday 11th but with 4 visits spent laying, only 18m have been layed. This is about 50% of what would be expected on a planted hedge but this is a Blackthorn thicket! Large amounts have to be cut out before one can see what might be layed, which takes about 65% of our time. Still, we are 60m through the 114m of thicket - only 54m left. Hooray!

Is it a half empty or half full pint of beer?

We have also done some wildflower seeding to get a greater variation in the species available down here. It's quite good anyway but perhaps it will be better next Spring and Summer.

Fieldfares have been in abundance, with flocks being 30-50 strong and 2 swans and their 4 mature cygnets have moved in, pushing the other 2 swans to the Harsfold Bridge end. Frogs are being quite vocal with the relatively mild weather. Festive Greetings or Bah Humbug to you all.

Winston Harwood's Group ~ Lawrie Wraight for David Junkison

At Lordings some necessary clearance has been done on the riverbank in front of the aqueduct and the debris has been burnt. Richard Watson succeeded in restarting our dumper so it is now working well. The removable post and rail fence, near the depot, has been refurbished and more surplus materials were removed and returned to Tickners. Over the years, and particularly of late, some members of our group have regularly taken equipment etc. back to the main depot using the rear of an estate car or a small trailer. At the same time we have benefited enormously from the co-operation of Dave Kersley who has driven the Land Rover and big trailer across the rough route to the Lordings site on several occasions. Here he has loaded the heavier items and removed them to Tickners where he may have had to unload them unaided. I hope our efforts to restore this corner of a field to its former condition have not gone unnoticed.

The waterwheel is now out of action so that we can plan lock maintenance. More recently the group has visited Drungewick to clear weeds.

Monday Working Party ~ Nick Wood for John Empringham

A busy and highly satisfactory November for us with three meetings. All our sites have been tidied up for the winter and we have started off our winter programme by working with the MWWP on clearance north and south of the road at Run Common. In addition, and at the request of Peter Wilding, we cleared bramble and willow around the winding hole at Baldwins Knob lock and trimmed overhanging branches on the towpath side of the canal throughout the length of the restored section. We meet again on December 3rd and on the morning of December 10th for work in Sidney Wood, carrying on from the 3 visits we made in the winter of 2005/06.

Loxwood Link Maintenance ~ Peter Wilding

Apart from our routine tasks of monitoring water levels and keeping the navigable section tidy we have been painting the gates at Brewhurst Lock. We've also been trimming trees and collecting logs in readiness for Santa's seasonal bonfires.

Educational Project Infoposts? ~ Don Gibson

Please will all leaflet monitors be aware that the boxes of leaflets have now been moved from Tickners to the WACT office. My thanks to Bridget and to Alan Trudgett for all their help with the removals. Hopefully I'll soon have the 'OK' to install Infoposts? at Southland Lock and Southland Bridge.

Administration ~ Wendy Andrews

Please remember to let me know if you no longer wish to receive WPN or, better still, if you are able to receive it by e-mail. Copies are sent free of charge to any one who has worked with a working party or expressed an interest in doing so. However contributions towards the cost of envelopes and postage are always gratefully received by way of sae's, stamps or cheques. Please forward them to me either to my home address or care of the WACT office. Thank you to those who have contributed in recent months.

Keeping the list of WPN recipients current is very much dependant on group leaders sending in their attendance records to Colin at the end of each quarter. Thank you for remembering.

If you do not attend regularly, please contact the site manager before joining a work party.

Usually first & third Mondays of the month
'Mrs Bucket' - Keeping Up Appearances, Details from John Empringham

Most Tuesday mornings
Maintenance sessions at Tickner's Heath Depot Check with Colin Gibbs

Every Wednesday; Mid-Week Working Party, Check with Peter Jackman or Alison Saville for confirmation

Every Wednesday
Loxwood Link maintenance, Contact Peter Wilding

Every Thursday & Sunday
Christmas break December 22nd to January 2nd
Mainly construction work. Meet at the Onslow Arms, 09.30., Contact Eric Walker for details

Every Thursday
Winston Harwood Group. Contact Lawrie Wraight for details.

Some Saturdays Conservation and Maintenance
Get in touch with David Jessop or Michael Joseph

Hedge Laying
Check with Keith Nichols before turning up
Provisional dates: December 5th, 9th, 13th, 21st

Santa Cruises
December 15th/16th, 19th - 23rd
Contact WACT office

WACT Office, General enquiries, 01403 752 403 email: office@weyandarun.co.uk
Wendy Andrews, W P News Editor, 01403 752 170 email: wendy_andrews@weyandarun.co.uk
Turlough Bamber, Restoration Manager, 01483 421 305 email: restoration@weyandarun.co.uk
David Jessop, Maintenance Manager, 01403 269 384 email: david_jessop@weyandarun.co.uk
Eric Walker (Loxwood Area) 02392 463025 email: eric_walker@weyandarun.co.uk
Peter Jackman (Mid-week Working Party) 01483 772132 a.m.saville@btinternet.com
John Empringham, (Mrs Bucket) Keeping Up Appearances, 01483 562657, email: john@empringham.com
Dave Junkison (Lordings Lock & Aqueduct) 020 8941 0685
Peter Wilding (Loxwood Maintenance) 01483 422519, email: peter_wilding@weyandarun.co.uk
Colin Gibbs (Tickners Maintenance) 020 8241 7736 email: colin-gibbs@blueyonder.co.uk
Don Gibson (Midweek Walks) 01903 201375 email: doncanalgibson@hotmail.com
Lawrie Wraight (The Winston Harwood Working Group) 01903 721404 email:Lawrence17@tiscali.co.uk
Bill Nicholson, Visiting Groups, 01844 343 369, email: bandsnicholson@tiscali.co.uk
Graham Baird, Brewhurst Lock Reconfiguration, 01403 262 515, email: graham@gbaird.plus.com
Conservation Manager 01403 783 485 email: michael_joseph@weyandarun.co.uk
Don Gibson Educational Projects 01903 201375 email: doncanalgibson@hotmail.com