Cotswold Canals

[TheBiscuits]

3 hours ago, Athy said:

I was actually joking; when you've been here a bit longer you'll realise that I do a bit of joking from time to time.

 

I've been here nearly 9 years and haven't realised this yet ...

 

 

[Athy]

4 hours ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

I've been here nearly 9 years and haven't realised this yet ...

 

 

This says a great deal about you.

[Tim Lewis]

On 19/02/2023 at 15:56, magpie patrick said:

 

Good stuff, thank you. 

 

One day, the history of individual canal restorations will be written up, and sources like this will be invaluable

 

(If only James Brindley had had a youtube channel we'd know so much more about the original canal age!)  

 

Watching 'The Golden Age Of The Canals' on TV it was sad to see how little filming took place in the 1960's/70/80's canal restoration projects 

 

Tim

On 19/02/2023 at 07:37, SteveCourty said:

I’ll be down later, I’m filming further up the canal this morning but need to come back for some progress shots and some drone stuff. Say hello, I’m the one in the blue, the less famous guy that turned up yesterday 😂

 

WEas aware of being buzzed by your drone whilst setting up a bonfire 🙂

16 hours ago, buccaneer66 said:

Have they dug any of the new route yet, i have it like this:

 

 

The section through the A38 roundabout has been constructed but the section between there and Westfield Lock (Now renamed John Robinson Lock) has yet to start.

[Stroudwater1]

On 21/02/2023 at 07:45, Tim Lewis said:

 

 

 

The section through the A38 roundabout has been constructed but the section between there and Westfield Lock (Now renamed John Robinson Lock) has yet to start.

 

It looks like some excavation has gone on just over from the A38 roundabout on the missing mile, and that seems to be an approximation to the course of the canal. Im aware that there is archaeological digs in the field beyond Westfield Lock where the new course is to run, though that is more clearly laid out as archaeological in squares and not as moorings are planned to exist in the other field? 

 

Surprised that planned restoration group working/meetings are not often mentioned on the forum. 

[SteveCourty]

6 hours ago, Stroudwater1 said:

 

It looks like some excavation has gone on just over from the A38 roundabout on the missing mile, and that seems to be an approximation to the course of the canal. Im aware that there is archaeological digs in the field beyond Westfield Lock where the new course is to run, though that is more clearly laid out as archaeological in squares and not as moorings are planned to exist in the other field? 

 

Surprised that planned restoration group working/meetings are not often mentioned on the forum. 

the field beyond Westfield is to do with forest green rovers and the football pitches.

 

the A38 is archeological but you can clearly see where they’ve dug what will be the new line and the mooring 

[Heartland]

A section near the A38 is shown on a recent post on the Cotswolds Canal website

 

  

[IanM]

51 minutes ago, Heartland said:

A section near the A38 is shown on a recent post on the Cotswolds Canal website

 

  

 

That's the section between the two new roundabout bridges and the start of "The Missing Mile" (a term that really grates on me for some reason!).

 

Edited to add Google Maps link: https://www.google.com/maps/@51.7647099,-2.3297957,429m/data=!3m1!1e3

 

Edited February 23, 2023 by IanM

[Tim Lewis]

12 hours ago, Stroudwater1 said:

 

It looks like some excavation has gone on just over from the A38 roundabout on the missing mile, and that seems to be an approximation to the course of the canal. Im aware that there is archaeological digs in the field beyond Westfield Lock where the new course is to run, though that is more clearly laid out as archaeological in squares and not as moorings are planned to exist in the other field? 

 

Surprised that planned restoration group working/meetings are not often mentioned on the forum. 

 

London WRG excavating Westfield (John Robinson) Lock this weekend past

 

 

Edited February 23, 2023 by Tim Lewis

[Athy]

4 hours ago, IanM said:

"The Missing Mile" (a term that really grates on me for some reason!).

 

 

 

It will grate far less when we can call it "The Completed Mile".

[Rob-M]

1 hour ago, Tim Lewis said:

 

London WRG excavating Westfield (John Robinson) Lock this weekend past

 

 

I presume this is the John Robinson who lived in Stonehouse that I knew through the Heritage Working Boats group.

[Derek R.]

Those brown scars on the fields reminds me of exactly the same patterns I saw in green fields just to the Northern edge of Kincraig, Inverness-shire.

Within two years the entire field was a housing estate.

[Stroudwater1]

10 hours ago, SteveCourty said:

the field beyond Westfield is to do with forest green rovers and the football pitches.

 

the A38 is archeological but you can clearly see where they’ve dug what will be the new line and the mooring 

 

The new Forest Green Rovers ground will be on the other side of the road now beyond and behind the Shell Garage and Starbucks up to the M5. There will be training pitches on the Westfield Lock side but it seems like most digging is where the industrial area is meant to be according to this picture?  

 

https://www.fgr.co.uk/news/eco-park-next-stage-plans-revealed

 

 

 

NB The proposed new football regulator may well have a say though as the club will be moving some distance from Forest Green. Perhaps that why Dale Vince organised drilling of some boreholes this week ! 

2 minutes ago, Derek R. said:

Those brown scars on the fields reminds me of exactly the same patterns I saw in green fields just to the Northern edge of Kincraig, Inverness-shire.

Within two years the entire field was a housing estate.

 

Yup, Dale Vince is planning an "Eco Park" on both sides of the main road to the M5. Then when Forest Green stadium is currently (In Forest Green Nailsworth) will be housing. Naturally all environmentally sound sense 😄

 

All the land pictured is pastureland currently. 

 

[RichM]

20 minutes ago, Stroudwater1 said:

 

The new Forest Green Rovers ground will be on the other side of the road now beyond and behind the Shell Garage and Starbucks up to the M5. There will be training pitches on the Westfield Lock side but it seems like most digging is where the industrial area is meant to be according to this picture?  

 

https://www.fgr.co.uk/news/eco-park-next-stage-plans-revealed

 

 

 

NB The proposed new football regulator may well have a say though as the club will be moving some distance from Forest Green. Perhaps that why Dale Vince organised drilling of some boreholes this week ! 

 

Yup, Dale Vince is planning an "Eco Park" on both sides of the main road to the M5. Then when Forest Green stadium is currently (In Forest Green Nailsworth) will be housing. Naturally all environmentally sound sense 😄

 

All the land pictured is pastureland currently. 

 

Good grief! Let's hope it never floods like how they've depicted in those renderings!

[Francis Herne]

I took the canoe up there in the autumn, covering all the in-water sections up to Ebley, so some photos of the part that's left to do starting from Saul end:

 

Very low Whitminster Bridge, to be replaced by a lift bridge (this is the second bridge, for some reason I failed to photograph the one at the end of the moorings at Saul which is similarly low).

 

The air draft is less than a canoe. This can be worked around by sliding from end to end, getting one under the beams and then the other.

 

This is completely pointless, because the canal in water ends about 50 yards further along at Whitminster Lock. The River Frome is on the left just over the bank.

 

This section of the River Frome upstream of Whitminster Lock will be used as part of the reinstated navigation; the parallel canal isn't being restored. It's very pretty.

 

This is the section of canal the other side of the River Frome. It's in water, starts out well but gets steadily more overgrown.

Edited February 23, 2023 by Francis Herne

[Francis Herne]

This short culvert under a farm track is in the way.

 

Then a gas pipe; ok for canoes but not narrowboats. The bridge behind is in very good shape.

 

The reeds become impassable near the pillbox before reaching the A38, and there's a short gap with no channel at all.

 

...but with a canoe you can do this:

[Francis Herne]

Progress was being made on the far side. I was told this is archaeology rather than full excavation, and that they'd found some interesting Roman stuff.

 

The next mile is completely missing, so I carried the canoe into the Frome and back at the other end.

This is the motorway bridge over the Frome. The canal channel will share this bridge on the left with a lower water level.

 

The canal restarts from Pike Lock, which was being restored at the time.

[IanM]

10 hours ago, Francis Herne said:

The canal restarts from Pike Lock, which was being restored at the time.

 

We've already restored it once! 🤣

 

 

 

[SteveCourty]

6 hours ago, IanM said:

 

We've already restored it once! 🤣

 

 

 

No gates! Half a job that  

 

that scaffold has been in for a while now, I’m not sure what’s happening at Pike 

Here’s the video I made from pike to Ocean. There’s loads going on here at the moment now the railway bridge is all done, dredging etc 

 

https://youtu.be/p6bqqZy9JLM

[Stroudwater1]

16 minutes ago, SteveCourty said:

No gates! Half a job that  

 

that scaffold has been in for a while now, I’m not sure what’s happening at Pike 

Here’s the video I made from pike to Ocean. There’s loads going on here at the moment now the railway bridge is all done, dredging etc 

 

https://youtu.be/p6bqqZy9JLM

 

You got the leak in as well! 

 

around 18.36- right hand size looks like a small lake, obstructing the footpath 

 

 

[IanM]

34 minutes ago, SteveCourty said:

No gates! Half a job that  

 

There was no bridge at the time so gates would have been pretty pointless 😄

 

 

(Picture taken during the construction of the new bridge)

Edited February 24, 2023 by IanM

[SteveCourty]

41 minutes ago, Stroudwater1 said:

 

You got the leak in as well! 

 

around 18.36- right hand size looks like a small lake, obstructing the footpath 

 

 

thank you! I wasn’t sure what was happening there, I did get the drone up and closer to it (it didn’t make the video) 

[SteveCourty]

One of the many ways the Cotswold Canals trust help raise money and go green is the Dudbridge Hydro Plant running between 2 locks on the Stroudwater canal. 
 

In todays video I interview Keith Tibbitts and have a look at the turbine behind the scheme.

 

https://youtu.be/vJnmMTdO0Pc

[SteveCourty]

More on the Westfield lock. This was the work party 2 weeks ago. I was back there today but unfortunately there’s been an access issue so no further digging has been done 

 

https://youtu.be/yaXbg4UZpl8

[RichM]

1 hour ago, SteveCourty said:

More on the Westfield lock. This was the work party 2 weeks ago. I was back there today but unfortunately there’s been an access issue so no further digging has been done 

 

https://youtu.be/yaXbg4UZpl8

Great video Steve! I was chatting to my Dad about this lock only a week ago. Unfortunately he is less mobile now but thanks to you he can see it for himself! 

 

Thanks again

[Chris Lowe]

Yes I enjoy these restoration videos, I spent over 10 years on the Wey & Arun when young but I'm too broken now to do anything.