Overview

There has been no significant progress on the Beggarlee flood storage facility since the summer, the weather has not been very kind.

The plan is currently for FCC to finish off the storage area in May/June 2025 using our excavator and dumper, and also hiring in a sheep’s foot roller again.

FCC volunteers are currently excavating the two ditch connections through to the river Erewash so that the storage area can fill up and drain during the winter. We may also be installing a short length of culvert in each ditch to enable pedestrian access to be maintained all the way around the storage area. Weather permitting, our work party volunteers will also be depositing topsoil and applying grass seeding to the bank along the east side of the flood storage channel.

Since September 2024, FCC work parties have been clearing vegetation around the end of the canal at Langley Mill to start preparing for a possible extension to the canal channel next summer – a short distance of between 25m and 40m. We have applied to WRG for a one-week summer camp for next summer to construct the canal extension and we await their confirmation.

We will be surveying the existing end of the canal once the vegetation has been cleared to establish its construction and then will go on to design the extension to it over the winter. Approvals from CRT and also an extension to the EA’s flood risk activity licence will be needed before any excavation work can begin on this next phase, next summer.

Chris Broome, FCC Hon. Water Engineer

Work party report

Work has now started on clearing the area at the end of the in-water section from the boat moorings in Langley Mill Boatyard. This is an area of rough vegetation and self-set saplings and will be the leading up to the locks when they are built from the in-water section. So far, at the end of October there has been four work parties doing this job. The ground is very rutted from motorcycles using it and is now getting very boggy with all the rain.

We have several large piles of tree branches and vegetation, once they are cleared the area on the canal line will look very open. We have got to the bund at end of the in-water section, it has been well strimmed but the trees and bushes on the edge down to the water have been left so as not to expose a route into the water. Work is now progressing along the edge of the bund on the opposite side to the footpath, clearing some very heavy and old brambles, again leaving the edge for safety. We had to cancel one work party because of the heavy rain, the ground would have been like glue and there was the possibility of the flood plain flooding.

On one work party the new welfare hut came in very useful: It was raining so heavy we all retired to the welfare unit for an early lunch, with so many people crammed around the table it was cosy to say the least, the range of topics talked about from local authors and history to a discussion on how the banks of the flood compensation ditch were to be grassed. On the flood compensation scheme, WRG were going to come back for a long weekend to finish the runoff channels at each end, but they are not now able to come, so we now plan to do the work ourselves.

Our dumper started to sound decidedly sick, with crunching noises coming from the gearbox. Malc Chisnall dropped the gearbox from the dumper and stripped it, new parts have been sourced and with the help of ECP&DA volunteers, the gearbox has been rebuilt. One task that we were very fortunate with, was the pressing of the bearings on to the shafts, one of the ECP&DA group had a suitable press and was able to do the job for us, for which we are very grateful.

Before the dumper went out of action, the gang were clearing around the top of the headwall banks ready for reprofiling the bank angles, some tree roots have also been removed from the old Hall Road bank, where the lock summit will be. WRG will hopefully be back in 2025.

Some of the FCC volunteers have completed training on Bricksaws, (these, are large handheld circular saws, capable of cutting bricks and steel bar), they have also completed training on the extended reach power saw and also further digger training.

 

John Guyler