September News
RIDD TIDY UP - Report by Tony Nicholls - 29th September 2021
This week the team assembled at Ridd to tidy up the area around the inclined plane in preparation for the guided walk on 3rd October.
This week the team assembled at Ridd to tidy up the area around the inclined plane in preparation for the guided walk on 3rd October.
Clearing the inclined plane
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Top of the archway
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We were dismayed to see how quickly the site had become overgrown since the last working party here. We decided to split the team into two parties. The first concentrated on the area around the old stable block, the docking bays and the bottom of the inclined plane itself. The second party started to clear the area at the top of the plane around the old wheelpit and the entrance to the inspection chamber.
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After a sustained bout of strimming, cutting and chopping, the site looked a great deal better although, when you compare its present condition with the situation back in 2013 after the Environment Agency had carried out some drainage works, you can see how badly it has deteriorated. It should be pointed out that the bottom of the inclined plane was originally some 10 – 12 feet higher than its present level. In the wall on the left hand side it is possible to make out the top of the old arch under which ran the original access road to Ridd cottages and the lime kiln here. We think that this section of the plane was substantially altered when the embankment for the railway was built which necessitated constructing a new bridge and wider access to Ridd linking it to the main Bideford – Torrington road. |
Remains of canal wall
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Clearing the area around the wheelpit
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Old stable block
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Personnel entrance to the wheelpit
When our work at RHS Rosemoor is complete, we plan to devote more time and resources to this interesting feature of the canal and – hopefully – to restore it to how it looked a decade ago.
As the site looked back in 2013 - Photo by Chris Hassall
Generally, working parties are held every Wednesday morning, meeting in the main car park at RHS Rosemoor, Torrington at 9.30am. (.NB. Arrangements may vary during Covid restrictions). Please contact Project Manager, Ian Harrison (tel.01237- 475707) for more information.
ROSEMOOR RESTORATION REPORT by Tony Nicholls - 22nd September 2021
Our team was back to full strength this week so we were able to attack the site on several fronts.
Our team was back to full strength this week so we were able to attack the site on several fronts.
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Our archaeologists have made great strides excavating the lower chamber of the tucking mill. There is a division across the chamber which suggests that this may originally have been two discrete buildings. The cobbled floor seems to stop at the division and beyond this there is a rough concrete surface. The concrete could, of course, have been laid over the cobbles at a later stage in the site’s development – we simply don’t know. If only we had some original plans. |
Our masons continue to make good progress rebuilding the upper basin wall. This has been greatly helped by the purchase of 5 tons of good building stone from a local quarry. Our on-site supply has been pretty much exhausted which was causing real problems. The radius at the ‘winding point’ has been completed and we are now starting to repair the back wall which originally ran in one continuous length to the lower basin. Once this has been completed, we will then be in a position to cast the coping stones.
We are still fighting the steady encroachment of Nature on the site so we spent some time clearing the towpath which was beginning to disappear under an invasion of young saplings, sedges and brambles.
Generally, working parties are held every Wednesday morning, meeting in the main car park at RHS Rosemoor, Torrington at 9.30am. (N.B. Arrangements may vary during Covid restrictions). Please contact Project Manager, Ian Harrison (tel.01237- 475707) for more information.
ROSEMOOR RESTORATION REPORT by Tony Nicholls - 8th September 2021
Heavy rain hampered work on site this week but despite the conditions we managed to make progress in several areas.
Heavy rain hampered work on site this week but despite the conditions we managed to make progress in several areas.
Re-building upper basin wall
The re-build of the upper basin wall is coming on well with the radius corner now being connected to the original wall. Our main problem at present is the shortage of good dressed building stone but we plan to purchase more stone from a local quarry to enable us to finish this task. The recent warm weather has given fresh impetus to the growth of vegetation in the basin and in places the canal is disappearing altogether.
On the tucking mill site, we continue to make repairs to the fabric of the building – restoring the foundations of the internal walls and re-building the external wall facing the mill race. A longer term aim is to remove the earth from the main chamber which we believe may hide an interesting cobbled floor. To do this by hand would be a huge task so mechanical assistance may be required.
Repairs to tucking mill foundations
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Repairs to wall of mill race
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Generally, working parties are held every Wednesday morning, meeting in the main car park at RHS Rosemoor, Torrington at 9.30am. (NB. Arrangements may vary during Covid restrictions). Please contact Project Manager, Ian Harrison (tel.01237- 475707) for more information).
SEA LOCK REPORT by Michael Elliott - 1st September 2021
This week the Rosemoor working party decamped to Sea Lock in advance of the Canal Society guided walk on Saturday 4 September at 2:30pm and a separate visit by the Devonshire Association on the Sunday. Arriving late, work was already well underway erecting a pair of gazebos for housing information panels, and fingers crossed, refreshments!
This week the Rosemoor working party decamped to Sea Lock in advance of the Canal Society guided walk on Saturday 4 September at 2:30pm and a separate visit by the Devonshire Association on the Sunday. Arriving late, work was already well underway erecting a pair of gazebos for housing information panels, and fingers crossed, refreshments!
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It was also good to see the next gabion basket in place at the second breach of the middle basin wharf wall, and a stack of coping stones waiting for the next section of wall to be completed. The site is now festooned in bunting and looking very festive in advance of the weekend visitors.
