October News
ROSEMOOR RESTORATION REPORT by Michael Elliott - 26th October 2022
A warm sunny day provided perfect working conditions for the smaller than usual team at Rosemoor. With the help of stone donated by Rosemoor, a further section of the wharf wall was built up to height on the tucking mill side. In a couple more sessions this phase should be complete and the wall ready for capping. Meanwhile further work was carried out to stabilise the side of one of the sets of stairs into the tucking mill and nearby structures.
A warm sunny day provided perfect working conditions for the smaller than usual team at Rosemoor. With the help of stone donated by Rosemoor, a further section of the wharf wall was built up to height on the tucking mill side. In a couple more sessions this phase should be complete and the wall ready for capping. Meanwhile further work was carried out to stabilise the side of one of the sets of stairs into the tucking mill and nearby structures.
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ROSEMOOR REPORT by Michael Elliott - 26th October 2022
Earlier this week, while visiting the gardens at Rosemoor, we spotted exciting signs of the coming extension to their lower woodland walk. This will allow visitors to walk alongside part of the old leat that fed the tucking mill at Rosemoor and Town Mills downstream, before being pressed into service as the canal feeder by its engineer James Green. In a later phase, the walk will be extended so visitors can visit the area of the wharf, limekilns and tucking mill. Join the Wednesday working parties and be part of making this happen.
Earlier this week, while visiting the gardens at Rosemoor, we spotted exciting signs of the coming extension to their lower woodland walk. This will allow visitors to walk alongside part of the old leat that fed the tucking mill at Rosemoor and Town Mills downstream, before being pressed into service as the canal feeder by its engineer James Green. In a later phase, the walk will be extended so visitors can visit the area of the wharf, limekilns and tucking mill. Join the Wednesday working parties and be part of making this happen.
FURZEBEAM WORKING PARTY REPORT by Tony Nicholls - 19th October 2022
We had a fine day for our working party at Furzebeam.
Our main task was to cut down and remove many of the saplings growing in the bed of the canal. The worst affected section is the area between the diversion and the point at which the canal meets the Tarka Trail. A huge number of young trees, mainly sycamores, have sprung up in recent years and will completely choke the canal if we do not deal with them. The job was not made any easier by the presence of well established brambles and a number of fallen trees but, by the end of the session, we had cleared a stretch of around a hundred metres. It is a good start but there is still a great deal to do so further working parties will be required during the winter.
We had a fine day for our working party at Furzebeam.
Our main task was to cut down and remove many of the saplings growing in the bed of the canal. The worst affected section is the area between the diversion and the point at which the canal meets the Tarka Trail. A huge number of young trees, mainly sycamores, have sprung up in recent years and will completely choke the canal if we do not deal with them. The job was not made any easier by the presence of well established brambles and a number of fallen trees but, by the end of the session, we had cleared a stretch of around a hundred metres. It is a good start but there is still a great deal to do so further working parties will be required during the winter.
Working in the canal bed
Fallen tree across canal
Canal after clearing
ROSEMOOR RESTORATION REPORT by Tony Nicholls - 12th October 2022
We were slightly down on numbers this week so could only tackle a limited number of tasks on the Rosemoor site.
On the upper basin wall we laid a few more metres of stone on the western wall to raise it to the required level. We want to complete this work while the canal bed is relatively dry. We also carried out some pointing of the masonry on what we believe is the former bridge pier.
We were slightly down on numbers this week so could only tackle a limited number of tasks on the Rosemoor site.
On the upper basin wall we laid a few more metres of stone on the western wall to raise it to the required level. We want to complete this work while the canal bed is relatively dry. We also carried out some pointing of the masonry on what we believe is the former bridge pier.
Upper basin wall
Repointing to bridge pier
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In the lower basin we made a start on cutting back the vegetation which grew so vigorously during the summer months. Fortunately, the Purple Loosestrife – which looked so dazzling when in bloom – proved to be shallow-rooted and was removed without too much trouble. After we had cut back the invasive reeds we were able to expose the eastern wall of the basin which we built some four years ago. It was pleasing to see that, despite being buried under leaf mould and creeper, the masonry and coping stones were still in excellent condition – testament to the quality of construction. It was also good to see our Rolle Robin appear about five minutes after we started clearing the vegetation, clearly looking for breakfast – a real opportunist!
Next week we will be at Furzebeam to carry out some much needed maintenance work on this section of the canal. |
Rolle Robin
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Lower basin before clearing
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Lower basin after clearing
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ROSEMOOR RESTORATION REPORT by Tony Nicholls - 5th October 2022
The commitment of our volunteers was amply demonstrated this week with a full turnout in the most miserable conditions. We arrived on site in heavy drizzle which lasted for a couple of hours before the weather cleared.
As it was so wet, it was impossible to do any masonry work so we contented ourselves with doing some much-needed tidying up round the site. The tucking mill has now been largely cleared of weeds and is looking much better. We also tackled the vegetation growth around the lime kiln including the little chamber adjacent to the main arch. We opened this up a couple of years ago and were amazed to find that, in that time, a layer of earth about an inch thick had accumulated over the cobbled floor – further proof of the relentless march of Nature.
The commitment of our volunteers was amply demonstrated this week with a full turnout in the most miserable conditions. We arrived on site in heavy drizzle which lasted for a couple of hours before the weather cleared.
As it was so wet, it was impossible to do any masonry work so we contented ourselves with doing some much-needed tidying up round the site. The tucking mill has now been largely cleared of weeds and is looking much better. We also tackled the vegetation growth around the lime kiln including the little chamber adjacent to the main arch. We opened this up a couple of years ago and were amazed to find that, in that time, a layer of earth about an inch thick had accumulated over the cobbled floor – further proof of the relentless march of Nature.
General view of tucking mill
Strimming around lime kiln
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Lime kiln cleared of vegetation
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Chamber before clearing
Chamber after clearing
We continue to excavate the area around the furnace/smelting pit near the tow path revealing more stones which may be part of the original structure and did some further exploratory digging around the curious stone pillar above the bridge pier, the purpose of which is still unclear.
Excavating the smelting pit
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Work on the stone pillar
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Working parties are held every Wednesday morning, meeting in the main car park at RHS Rosemoor, Torrington at 9.30am. Please contact Project Manager, Ian Harrison (tel.01237- 475707) for more information.