By John Guyler
The work at Beggarlee has continued most Wednesdays from late November, first we started clearing the thick growth of bushes over the area covering the approach to the site of the new locks and the right turn towards the A610 bridge. As piles of brush were created and moved to points where the chipper could be sited, small trees, large bushes and saplings were exposed. These were cut to about 3ft height, so that straps or cables could be attached to pull the roots out.
The Erewash Canal Preservation & Development Association work parties, based at the Great Northern Basin, have been working at Beggarlee on Fridays from December. First, they cleared the access up to the area where the locks are going to be built so that the dumper can pull the chipper up to site. The FCC work parties cleared a lot of the bushes and saplings on this section on several Wednesdays. The result was good access, but with the large amount of rain in January this has developed into a very muddy track. We are now able some Wednesdays to get access through from Hall Road, so the chipper can be towed by a road vehicle on to site.
We are fortunate to be able to use the chipper owned by ECPDA, for which we are very grateful. The FCC has two volunteers trained and certificated to use it – John Dyson and Malc Chisnell – and the Erewash group have several certificated operators.
On alternate Saturdays starting on 7th January, FCC and ECPDA work parties combined, mainly to feed and operate the chipper. This has worked very well; probably the bacon cobs at the start in the ECPDA cottage at the Great Northern Basin have something to do with it. There were problems at the start with the chipper; we needed to replace some of the pull through mechanism and then have the chipper blades sharpened, but now with several weeks of work behind them the operators have got to grips with how it is working. One indication of a problem is the change of chippings being produced, so now the machine is stopped and adjusted, or small brush which drops out of the bottom chute is cleared to prevent the cutters clogging up.
The main areas concentrated on for clearance are two open culverts which were put in when the A610 road was built, they are piped under the road and then they are open about 50 yards from the road and then run to the River Erewash. These culverts will now have to be piped completely, with one diverted to feed into the other and then down to the Erewash because they will be under the canal, and the embankments will cover them.
At the time of writing, at the start of February, the work parties have almost finished cutting the bushes back, and the exposed self-set saplings over the whole area are starting to be pulled out with a winch and cables. Because time is getting short to complete the clearance especially around the culverts, we have a team of contractors coming in on the second week of February, for a week to pull the tree roots.
We have been fortunate to have the services of a Waterway Recovery Group trainer, who has put five FCC volunteers through the first part of dumper training. For training purposes the dumper was driven up to the main area being worked and loaded with a large amount of cut tree trunks, to give experience of driving with a load.
We also have one volunteer on training for using a chain saw (with all the protective clothing and helmet needed). There is a training period planned for large digger instruction; a digger and trainer has been identified, so four or five FCC volunteers will be going on that course.
The total FCC work party hours in 2022 were 2874.75 plus 500.5 travel hours.
With the building of the Beggarlee Extension getting closer, we need a Site Manager, someone who has the experience of managing contractors and keeping the job on track. If anyone has the experience and is interested, please contact David Martin. The FCC will also require suitably certificated (to WRG standards) volunteers to work various pieces of machinery. The machinery will include, but is not limited to, dumpers, diggers (large and small), vibrating rollers and tea urns. We are looking at funding the instruction courses to operate the machinery and the volunteers will then be certificated to work on projects. If enough volunteers are trained then the FCC will be able to work in areas not under the control of a contractor. This is a good chance train up on what could be a useful skill.
If you would like to get certification on any of machines as above, please let myself or John Barker know: john_guyler@yahoo.co.uk or work@cromfordcanal.org.uk.
If you would like to participate in the work parties, the volunteers are a sociable bunch, they look out for each other and are great to work with; contact John Barker at work@cromfordcanal.org.uk.