August News
ROSEMOOR RESTORATION - Report by Michael Elliott - 26th August 2020
A warm, bright morning greeted us at Rosemoor, ideal for working, with grass cutting already underway when the rest of the team arrived on site.
A warm, bright morning greeted us at Rosemoor, ideal for working, with grass cutting already underway when the rest of the team arrived on site.
One of our first tasks was retrieving a tool left for several months above the rebuilt arch, but only just noticed. This also highlighted the need for repointing some of the facing stonework.
Work also continued building up the corner of the limekiln in order to stabilise the facing stonework above. This is now reaching the maximum height possible without raising the scaffolding, so work on the limekiln will soon focus on repointing.
FURZEBEAM SECTION - Report by Michael Elliott - 25th August 2020
On a very windy day, I took my grandson along the towpath on the Torridge Commons to Beam House section. On the way to the towpath diversion, we came across trees 'on the line’. A tree has ripped out its roots from the hillside, high above the canal bed. Fortunately it was easy to step over the trunk. Then at the Beam end of the path, just past the roving bridge, we attempted to close the gate down to the Tarka Trail, as it had been left open. Unfortunately the base of the post had rotted so it just fell over, so I propped it back up again, open.
On a very windy day, I took my grandson along the towpath on the Torridge Commons to Beam House section. On the way to the towpath diversion, we came across trees 'on the line’. A tree has ripped out its roots from the hillside, high above the canal bed. Fortunately it was easy to step over the trunk. Then at the Beam end of the path, just past the roving bridge, we attempted to close the gate down to the Tarka Trail, as it had been left open. Unfortunately the base of the post had rotted so it just fell over, so I propped it back up again, open.
ROSEMOOR WORK PARTY - Report by Tony Nicholls - 19th August 2020
There was a degree of apprehension in the air as we assembled on site this week. The forecast was for heavy rain for most of the morning and we walked down to the canal in steady drizzle – an unpromising start to the day. Thankfully, however, the rain cleared rapidly which allowed work to progress. The water level in the basin has risen a little after recent rainfall but it would be good to see a greater flow to flush out some of the algae and weeds which have accumulated during recent months.
There was a degree of apprehension in the air as we assembled on site this week. The forecast was for heavy rain for most of the morning and we walked down to the canal in steady drizzle – an unpromising start to the day. Thankfully, however, the rain cleared rapidly which allowed work to progress. The water level in the basin has risen a little after recent rainfall but it would be good to see a greater flow to flush out some of the algae and weeds which have accumulated during recent months.
Our masons managed to lay another four courses of stonework around the damaged corner of the lime kiln which is looking much improved. A lot of work has also been done on the west-facing wall raking out old mortar prior to re-pointing. The wall already looks much better as a result of having the old ivy removed and being generally cleaned up but there is substantial damage above this level which will be a major challenge to repair.
We are blessed with a seemingly inexhaustible supply of stone from the old bridge which originally crossed the leat and mill race below the tucking mill. Much of this is excellent building stone which is ideal for the restoration of the lime kiln. In photo A, the wheelbarrow sits at the location of the old bridge. The stone we have unearthed is just to the right. Photo B shows the confluence of the former mill race and the small leat which runs down through the valley before issuing into the Torridge.. The tucking mill can be seen in the background. It is a pity that this ancient bridge was demolished but at least its stones will live on in re-incarnated form in the lime kiln!
Our ongoing exploration of the tucking mill revealed an interesting feature this week – the base of another wall which seems to extend south from the recently excavated room in the south eastern corner of the building. This may indicate the presence of yet another room meaning that the building is much larger than we originally thought. The wall (if it is indeed a wall) seems to be constructed of stone and brick which – as noted in last week's report – is puzzling. Industrially manufactured bricks did not become readily available until around the end of the 19th century - well after the canal closed in 1871 – so this suggests that this section of the mill may have been a later addition or extension.
General view of tucking mill
Working arrangements may vary in the immediate future as a result of the coronavirus epidemic. Anyone wishing to volunteer should contact Project Manager, Ian Harrison (tel.01237- 475707) or Treasurer, Tony Barnes (tel. 01237-473801) for up-to-date information.
LOCK STOPPAGE AT SEA LOCK (AGAIN) - Sea Lock Report by Adrian Wills - 19th August 2020
This week I’ve been joined by my friend Alistair Ogden who used to work for British Waterways (now Canal & River Trust. He is a very experienced crane operator and amongst other things just happened to work my 22-RB when it was brand new. It was our intention to remove timbers from the inner gate apron which water was leaking underneath and replace them with a concrete raft to make the gates more watertight.
This week I’ve been joined by my friend Alistair Ogden who used to work for British Waterways (now Canal & River Trust. He is a very experienced crane operator and amongst other things just happened to work my 22-RB when it was brand new. It was our intention to remove timbers from the inner gate apron which water was leaking underneath and replace them with a concrete raft to make the gates more watertight.
A while ago, along with my friends Norman and Trevor, he and I had already driven in sheet piling in front of the apron to try and prevent water that was finding its way through. However since the collapse of one of the gate quoin posts, this has been postponed yet again.
Alistair and I spent quite some time scratching our heads whilst trying to decide on the next course of action. After debating the pros and cons of attempting to repair the damage, we decided that the simple temporary solution was to try to close and wedge the gates together so that they would at least support each other until a more permanent answer (i.e. sourcing some new gates, hopefully!) can be found.
After some very tentative and gentle lifting of the damaged gate and some ominous creaking and groaning of distressed timber, Alistair was able to swing it into its closed position, later followed by the other. Both gates were then manoeuvred tight in against opposing walls as if retaining water and then wedges were driven underneath the closed edges to keep them tight.
The next stage was to firmly wedge the gates the gates shut using acrow props to prevent high tide surges forcing the gates open and causing even more problems. What next? |
ROSEMOOR WORK PARTY - Report by Tony Nicholls - 12th August 2020
We arrived on site this week in fine sunshine and the temperature rose rapidly during the day which meant that we had to work at a sensible pace. There can be no doubt, however, that many calories were sweated off during the session!
The pattern of work was very much as last week and this will be the case for the foreseeable future as we continue to devote most of our resources to the major task of repairing the lime kiln. Steady progress was made this week. We have rebuilt the base of the external arch which ran parallel to the wharf wall to give an indication of how this would have looked. This will be capped off and work will then continue to repair and reconstruct the south- and west-facing walls. Parts of the west wall are still in reasonable condition and we spent some time re-pointing the stonework here. We have laid approximately three feet of new stone since we started and this has helped to stabilise this badly damaged corner of the kiln.
We arrived on site this week in fine sunshine and the temperature rose rapidly during the day which meant that we had to work at a sensible pace. There can be no doubt, however, that many calories were sweated off during the session!
The pattern of work was very much as last week and this will be the case for the foreseeable future as we continue to devote most of our resources to the major task of repairing the lime kiln. Steady progress was made this week. We have rebuilt the base of the external arch which ran parallel to the wharf wall to give an indication of how this would have looked. This will be capped off and work will then continue to repair and reconstruct the south- and west-facing walls. Parts of the west wall are still in reasonable condition and we spent some time re-pointing the stonework here. We have laid approximately three feet of new stone since we started and this has helped to stabilise this badly damaged corner of the kiln.
Repairs to the lime kiln
We also continued with the excavation of the tucking mill and removed a lot of earth from the floor (or what we believe to be the floor) of the room in the south east corner of the structure exposing more of the brickwork we revealed last week. As all the external walls of the mill are constructed with stone, it seems odd to encounter brickwork here which may point to this being a later addition or modification. Having said this, bricks were used to form some of the internal steps in the building so, as usual, we have another riddle here to add to the growing number of questions the mill has already thrown up.
Working arrangements may vary in the immediate future as a result of the coronavirus epidemic. Anyone wishing to volunteer should contact Project Manager, Ian Harrison (tel.01237- 475707) or Treasurer, Tony Barnes (tel. 01237-473801) for up-to-date information.
CATASTROPHIC SET-BACK AT SEA LOCK - Sea Lock Report by Adrian Wills - 14th August 2020
Work on rebuilding the very badly damaged wharf wall at Sea Lock has progressed well this week despite now being desperately short of good facing stone.
Work on rebuilding the very badly damaged wharf wall at Sea Lock has progressed well this week despite now being desperately short of good facing stone.
However on Thursday, Trevor noticed something about one of the lock gates which didn’t look right at all!
Unfortunately the very hot and dry weather we have experienced this summer has caused the lock gate timber to dry, shrink and warp. This has resulted in one of the gate posts distorting, cracking the head stock (where the gate is hinged) and breaking the joint between the top-most horizontal beam and the post itself.
It is unlikely that this damage is repairable and the whole gate has now sagged away from the coin stones.
Unfortunately the very hot and dry weather we have experienced this summer has caused the lock gate timber to dry, shrink and warp. This has resulted in one of the gate posts distorting, cracking the head stock (where the gate is hinged) and breaking the joint between the top-most horizontal beam and the post itself.
It is unlikely that this damage is repairable and the whole gate has now sagged away from the coin stones.
The gates at Sea Lock are not original to the site but were donated by British Waterways, now Canal & River Trust, quite a few years ago, as being old and redundant to it then. They required considerable repair and modification to make them fit at Sea Lock and have never been sufficiently watertight to retain water for any length of time. Not having an outer pair of gates has not helped nor the very meagre supply of freshwater into the basin. The timbers need to be kept wet in order to swell joints and keep tight fits.
I have on occasions made enquiries about the cost of acquiring new gates but they are astronomically expensive and since Sea Lock is a privately owned site, grant funding is almost impossible to get.
Maybe Crowd Funding is an option?
Maybe Crowd Funding is an option?
WORKING PARTY AT SEA LOCK - Report by Michael Elliott - 12th August 2020
Once again a sunny day revealed the steady progress made on the wharf wall since I was last there, with a newly cast coping stone in place. Work on the wall continued, involving prodigious quantities of mortar, and more hard labour breaking bricks for the concrete for the next coping stone. Hopefully this will be in place next week. Then there will be the next section of the wall to dismantle prior to re-building.
Once again a sunny day revealed the steady progress made on the wharf wall since I was last there, with a newly cast coping stone in place. Work on the wall continued, involving prodigious quantities of mortar, and more hard labour breaking bricks for the concrete for the next coping stone. Hopefully this will be in place next week. Then there will be the next section of the wall to dismantle prior to re-building.
ROSEMOOR WORK PARTY - Report by Tony Nicholls - 5th August 2020
A grey, overcast day today but fortunately the rain held off until we had finished this week's session at RHS Rosemoor. With the lack of rainfall, the canal basin is looking in a pretty sorry state at present and vegetation has started to grow again despite our intense efforts of a few weeks ago. Our team last week was rather depleted (hence no report) but this week, with a larger team, we were able to make good progress in a number of areas.
A grey, overcast day today but fortunately the rain held off until we had finished this week's session at RHS Rosemoor. With the lack of rainfall, the canal basin is looking in a pretty sorry state at present and vegetation has started to grow again despite our intense efforts of a few weeks ago. Our team last week was rather depleted (hence no report) but this week, with a larger team, we were able to make good progress in a number of areas.
We continued with the restoration of the corner of the lime kiln. We intend to build up the side of the arch for another 2-3 feet and slope this back to the main wall to form a 'buttress'. This will stabilise the corner and we can then turn our attention to repairing the wall itself. It is only when standing on the scaffolding with a close-up view of the stonework that it becomes apparent how badly degraded the structure is. It seems as if some of the stones are only held in place by the ivy! Reconstruction will be a slow and painstaking task but it is important to get this right if the building is to be preserved. Certainly, there are many weeks if not months of work ahead of us and this will require a lot of good quality stone. With this in mind, we returned to the trove of loose stone we discovered many months ago which we believe to be the remains of the old bridge which crossed the mill race. There seems to be a good quantity of stone here still to be unearthed which will be a valuable resource.
The damaged wall
We also cleared the interesting chamber (adjacent to the former tower) which we excavated last year (see reports January 2019). This has become badly overgrown with weeds during our absence from the site. Sadly, the cobbled floor has already disappeared under a layer of earth washed down from the earth bank so further work is required here.
Our archaeologists continued with the excavation of the old tucking mill. Further digging has exposed more of a brick wall which runs perpendicular to the canal although this seems to come to an abrupt end. We think this may be part of a later building which was constructed after the canal closed as it appears to have been built over the towpath. In the absence of any plans or drawings, we are still speculating about the extent and use of this intriguing structure.
Working arrangements may vary in the immediate future as a result of the coronavirus epidemic. Anyone wishing to volunteer should contact Project Manager, Ian Harrison (tel.01237- 475707) or Treasurer, Tony Barnes (tel. 01237-473801) for up-to-date information.