Wey & Arun Canal Trust Page

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Most had gleaming polished brass work and immaculate varnish and the characteristic scent of coal smoke wafted across on the breeze. Visiting members of the public were invited to cruise aboard some of the craft, including , a beautifully restored Victorian electric launch.

New Electric Points on the River Wey

Not only does Dapdune Wharf look the past with steam boats, it also looks to the future with a row of newly installed electric charging points.

Mike Lewis, G&R River Wey Representative

Wey and Arun Canal Trust

WACT News

MP praises volunteers’ canal restoration work

The Wey & Arun Canal Trust were very pleased to receive a visit from Andrew Griffith, MP for Arundel and South Downs during National Volunteer Week, in recognition of all the work done by volunteers in bringing an historic canal back to life.

Andrew’s visit started at the canal centre in Loxwood, where he met the Trustees and congratulated them on the continuing success and wide use of the restored canal. He enjoyed a short boat trip on Josias Jessop, the Trust’s nine-seat trip boat, and saw how popular the picturesque waterway has become with canoeists and walkers. The next part of his tour was to see the new bridge built at Lee Farm in Wisborough Green. This was largely a volunteer project by members of one of the numerous working parties organised by the Trust. Joint project leader John Reynolds guided Andrew around the site and explained the history of the area and how this part of the canal connects to other

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waterways including the River Arun and further on to the south coast. John explained that the aim of the Canal Trust was to restore all 23 miles of the canal and reconnect to the River Arun at Pallingham, near Pulborough. Andrew commented: “It is hugely impressive what the Wey & Arun Canal Trust have achieved so far in bringing this historical equivalent of a motorway back to life. In National Volunteer Week it is a reminder of the thousands of residents who volunteer their time in many different ways in order to benefit the community. I’m a big fan of a country walk along a waterway and at a time when there is such a focus on mental health, it is terrific what the Trust have done to open up some stunning walks.”

Next major restoration projects gets underway

Work has begun on the Trust’s latest major restoration project at Birtley, near Bramley in Surrey, and a fundraising appeal has been launched with a target of £150,000. The stretch at the Northern end of the canal has already become a favourite with walkers thanks to the opening of a picturesque circular walk at the beginning of the year and the Trust aims to bring the waterway here back to life and open it up to small boats. The project involves the construction of two lift bridges. The substructure of the first was completed in 2019 by regular volunteers and visiting working parties and currently has a temporary fixed deck, set to be replaced with a lift mechanism. Permission to start work on the second bridge has now been granted and volunteers have prepared an access route and compound, and work is underway to build a temporary footpath and bridleway. In a first for the Wey & Arun Canal Trust a water-inflated dam usually used to protect against flooding has been put to use.

AquaDam Europe’s mobile flood barriers have often been used to protect against floods and storm surges but are now being adopted by canal trusts as a fast method of creating a protective barrier during construction work. Volunteers positioned the sausage-shaped device on the towpath in its rolled up state and filled it by pumping in water, causing the dam to roll out and push across the canal. The 3 metre wide cylindrical tube created a 1.2m high barrier in a matter of a few hours, much faster and cheaper than bringing in material to achieve the same result.

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The Birtley project isn’t a simple one as it involves the relocation of a gas main under the canal. Added to this the team have run into wet sand, making excavating tricky. Sand bags, bog mats as well as special metal cages have had to be brought in to house the new gas pipe but the good news is that the gas main diversion under the canal has gone as planned. The next step is to begin work on the bridleway diversion ahead of a WRG Summer Camp in August when the bridge pilings will be constructed. For details on how you can donate to the project, please click here https://weyarun.org.uk/birtley-appeal .

Donations of any size are gratefully received but you may wish to consider a special donation: • Donate £50,000 and you can name the bridge after yourself or a loved one. • Donate £25,000 and you can have a steel plate to dedicate or remember a loved one. • For anything above £5,000 you can add your name to a list of donors on a plaque.

Team effort gets lock back in action

Our Northern team have been in action at Baldwin’s Knob Lock at Loxwood, named for the grassy knoll beyond. It has been out of action since the spring thanks to a leaky cill. Remedial worked involved draining the lock and hiring in a specialist spider crane (one of only three in the country) to lift off the 2-tonne weight of lock gates and lift in steel props to reinforce the lock chamber while work went ahead. Tonnes of built-up silt, clay and debris were removed from the bottom of the chamber and the worn stonework and old wooden mitre from the lock floor were dug out by hand using picks, shovels and pneumatic drill - a painstaking job.