May News
SEA LOCK FINALLY GETS ITS NAME
Alternate title (With apologies to Pink Floyd) 'Another brick in the floor'
Sea Lock report from Adrian Wills - 28th May 2023
Quite some time ago I spelled out the words ’Rolle Canal Company’ using white Peters Marland bricks and set them into the ground alongside the lock chamber, where they could be clearly seen from the viewing platform on the Tarka Trail which overlooks the site of the Sea Lock.
It had been my intention to do the same with the words ’Sea Lock’ and I duly cut more bricks to the required shapes with a diamond-bladed disc cutter and set them aside until I was ready to begin laying them.
Alternate title (With apologies to Pink Floyd) 'Another brick in the floor'
Sea Lock report from Adrian Wills - 28th May 2023
Quite some time ago I spelled out the words ’Rolle Canal Company’ using white Peters Marland bricks and set them into the ground alongside the lock chamber, where they could be clearly seen from the viewing platform on the Tarka Trail which overlooks the site of the Sea Lock.
It had been my intention to do the same with the words ’Sea Lock’ and I duly cut more bricks to the required shapes with a diamond-bladed disc cutter and set them aside until I was ready to begin laying them.
A few days ago, Tony and Michael dug a trench where the bricks were to go and then on Wednesday (24.05.23) Trevor and I prepared some shuttering to contain the words and began laying concrete and placing the cut bricks on top. By the end of the day all the bricks were set in place. On Thursday, he and I filled the spaces around the bricks with mortar to which a black dye had been added and finished the job off.
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All that remained to do was to remove the shuttering, clean up some excess mortar from the bricks with a wire brush and then level off the ground around the new name where the shuttering had been. But I decided that I didn’t like the shape of the ‘S’ so I dug out the offending triangular ends and replaced them with rectangles and it now looks much nicer. Job done! |
ROSEMOOR RESTORATION REPORT by Tony Nicholls - 24th May 2023
It was all hands to the tucking mill this week as we push on with the remaining tasks needed to complete our restoration of the building.
It was all hands to the tucking mill this week as we push on with the remaining tasks needed to complete our restoration of the building.
General view of the tucking mill
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The rebuild of the mill race wall is progressing well despite the fact that we are now desperately short of good quality stone and should soon be completed. Elsewhere in the mill we concentrated on consolidating a section of the cobbled floor and carrying out repairs to the inner wall of the lower chamber. There are still some damaged areas of cobbling which require attention but in general the interior of the building is now in a good state of repair.
Repairing internal wall of mill
Rebuilding mill wall
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Re-laid cobble floor
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We are now at that time of year when Nature attempts to reclaim what she sees as rightfully hers and vegetation is growing profusely everywhere on site, including the dreaded Himalayan Balsam. With this in mind, we decided to strim the towpath along the lower basin and from the tucking mill in the direction of Darkham Weir as both were becoming very overgrown. We were also very pleased to see how quickly the weed-infested lawn in front of the lime kiln has recovered after just a couple of mowings. This has greatly improved the overall appearance of the site.
Strimming the towpath
Recovering lawn
FINISHING TOUCHES Alternate title 'JAWS' COMES HOME
Sea Lock report from Adrian Wills - 25th May 2023
On Tuesday (23.05.23), the vintage reed cutting launch, affectionately known as ‘Jaws’, was finally hauled back into its parking place, underneath the loft at Sea Lock. It had been temporarily residing under another shelter whilst work was being undertaken to stabilize the loft which was beginning to suffer from subsidence, due to the ground on which it stands settling and compacting.
Sea Lock report from Adrian Wills - 25th May 2023
On Tuesday (23.05.23), the vintage reed cutting launch, affectionately known as ‘Jaws’, was finally hauled back into its parking place, underneath the loft at Sea Lock. It had been temporarily residing under another shelter whilst work was being undertaken to stabilize the loft which was beginning to suffer from subsidence, due to the ground on which it stands settling and compacting.
The stabilization has been completed, a new floor laid and a safety railing constructed between the loft and the edge of the canal wall. The erection of this railing was started the previous Friday with help from my friend and long-standing volunteer Trevor, who for a number of reasons has been unable to help for quite some time so it was nice to be joined by him again.
The railing was completed by the end of that weekend.
Moving the launch was achieved by Steve, Nick and me, using a combination of rollers, Kubota tractor, Kawaski Mule and brute strength.
‘Jaws’ seemed somewhat reluctant to move home but was eventually persuaded to do so. The launch is now in need of a new coat of paint.
The railing was completed by the end of that weekend.
Moving the launch was achieved by Steve, Nick and me, using a combination of rollers, Kubota tractor, Kawaski Mule and brute strength.
‘Jaws’ seemed somewhat reluctant to move home but was eventually persuaded to do so. The launch is now in need of a new coat of paint.
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Before moving the launch Steve, Nick and I spent some time filling two small areas with concrete to complete the ‘skirt’ around the outside of the loft floor. Tony spent time pointing, or grouting, small gaps between the paving slabs with a sand and cement mix. A tedious but necessary job.
Unfortunately, all this work was upsetting Wrens feeding chicks in a nest under the building at one end and Blue Tits in a nesting box at the other, but all four parents valiantly continued flying in and out, avoiding volunteers and machinery alike.
Unfortunately, all this work was upsetting Wrens feeding chicks in a nest under the building at one end and Blue Tits in a nesting box at the other, but all four parents valiantly continued flying in and out, avoiding volunteers and machinery alike.
Jaws’ temporary home is now occupied by a wooden punt, originally used for mackerel and herring fishing on the River Torridge. It belongs to the Appledore Maritime Museum and is awaiting a new home there. All that is required now, is a little scraping of the yard surface around the loft to level and remove some high spots, which are potential trip hazards. I am well pleased with the completed loft and ‘Jaws’ refurbished home. It all looks great! Back to rebuilding walls soon! |
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ROSEMOOR RESTORATION REPORT by Ian Harrison - 17th May 2023
This week we carried out some gardening ranging from mowing to heavy duty strimming.
This week we carried out some gardening ranging from mowing to heavy duty strimming.
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Masonry work continued on the tucking mill which is nearing completion now. |
One of the "navvies" felt sufficiently energetic even in the heat to smash up some rocks which we couldn't use for building due to incipient fractures. They were placed behind the new coping stones prior to construction of the towpath near the tucking mill.
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NOT SO MUCH TARRED AND FEATHERED AS TIRED AND FLAGGING! - Sea Lock report from Adrian Wills - 17th May 2023
Having completed casting concrete for the ring beam around the interpretation loft at Sea Lock and finished assembling its new staircase just in time for the visit of members of the Filleigh History Group two days before, on Tuesday (16.05.23) Steve, Nick and I gave our attention to the floor space below.
Having completed casting concrete for the ring beam around the interpretation loft at Sea Lock and finished assembling its new staircase just in time for the visit of members of the Filleigh History Group two days before, on Tuesday (16.05.23) Steve, Nick and I gave our attention to the floor space below.
We had already flagged one section the week before and thanks to Tony, now had a good supply of salvaged paving slabs to complete the job.
Nick re-established his relationship with the cement mixer whilst Steve and I scraped level the areas where the next paving slabs were to be laid.
I had already brought the load of slabs up close to the building in my trailer and began unloading them. They were very heavy!
Nick re-established his relationship with the cement mixer whilst Steve and I scraped level the areas where the next paving slabs were to be laid.
I had already brought the load of slabs up close to the building in my trailer and began unloading them. They were very heavy!
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Nick and Steve worked in harmony producing and spreading concrete, and laying slabs while I made a lot of noise and created a dust storm, cutting some of them to required sizes, using the big petrol driven, diamond bladed disc saw. That is also very heavy!
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One way or another, all of us were involved with lugging the paving slabs around but by the end of the day, we had completed laying the entire floor area and doesn’t it make a difference?
It had been a lovely day, bright, dry and sunny, enabling us to really get a move on. Apart from a little pointing of the flagged floor still needing to be done, work on the stabilization of the loft is complete and the reed-cutting launch can be returned to its home where it can be displayed properly.
It had been a lovely day, bright, dry and sunny, enabling us to really get a move on. Apart from a little pointing of the flagged floor still needing to be done, work on the stabilization of the loft is complete and the reed-cutting launch can be returned to its home where it can be displayed properly.
Having put all our tools away we trudged homeward-bound, tired but very satisfied. This was another big job successfully completed.
MAGIC ROUNDABOUTS AND MECCANO - Sea Lock report from Adrian Wills - 13th May 2023
The start of Tuesday (09.05.23) was not particularly auspicious, being grey and wet but since it was not raining hard, it was decided to carry on working at Sea Lock in order to complete casting concrete in the ring beam shuttering.
The start of Tuesday (09.05.23) was not particularly auspicious, being grey and wet but since it was not raining hard, it was decided to carry on working at Sea Lock in order to complete casting concrete in the ring beam shuttering.
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Nick quickly got out the cement mixer and continued trying hard to fill barrows with more concrete than they were actually capable of containing. Pushing these fully laden barrows across the wet and muddy ground was great fun! Steve continued enjoying being down on his knees, ‘podging’ the concrete and floating it off and within a very short time we had finally completed casting the ring beam all the way around the base of the loft. And as Zebedee said, “It’s time for bed!”
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Michael had joined us and helped move loads of concrete from Nick to Steve as well as helping me move some picnic tables, which we were going to use as temporary work benches while constructing the external staircase.
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Having completed the task of concreting, we set about opening the various boxes of staircase components and tried to make sense of the order of construction. As children, we had all had experience of building with Meccano. This was a very similar situation. Despite having a set of pictorial instructions, bolting sections together in the correct order was not straight forward, resulting in certain parts having to be unbolted and rearranged.
By this time, John had joined us and his civil engineering expertise helped enormously in sorting things out. Eventually we had put together the two sides (the stringers) of the staircase. We offered up the inner stringer to the building to check heights and levels, eventually bolting it to the side of the loft. By now it was raining quite heavily, making it unpleasant to continue working outside and since it was getting late in the afternoon, we called it a day, retreating to drier places. However, despite the rain, a great deal had been achieved and we were well pleased with our efforts and the progress made. Hurray! |
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RIDD REPORT by Tony Nicholls - 10th May 2023 We split the workforce into two teams this week, one going to Rosemoor to continue work on the tucking mill, the other going to Ridd to do some much-needed clearance work prior to the first guided walk of the season. We arrived at Ridd with mixed feelings. We were delighted to see that much of the ivy growing on the roof of the stable block had died back and hope to remove the remaining growth in the summer. We were not so pleased, however, to see how overgrown the site had become during recent months, particularly with nettles some of which were about four feet high. We spent the first part of the morning clearing the area around the stable block and the base of the incline and then moved to the top of the incline after coffee. There we were joined by Chris Hassall who explained the workings of the inclined plane and the approximate location of the upper docking bays in relation to the wheel chamber. Over the coming months, we plan to put together a grant application for funds to carry out further exploration and restoration of this important and interesting part of the canal. 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. |
Clearing vegetation from stable block
Strimmed area showing location of lower docking bays
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Strimming around stable block
Base of the incline
Clearing ivy around inspection chamber
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Arch above wheel chamber
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Cleared area at top of the incline
ROSEMOOR RESTORATION REPORT by Tony Barnes - 10th May 2023
A much depleted volunteer group made good progress on the canal this morning. The pointing of the newly laid coping blocks was completed and the wooden foundations for the Tucking mechanism were secured with repaired cobbling. The lawn (?) around the kilns was trimmed and the towpath cut up to the control sluice. Well done lads!
A much depleted volunteer group made good progress on the canal this morning. The pointing of the newly laid coping blocks was completed and the wooden foundations for the Tucking mechanism were secured with repaired cobbling. The lawn (?) around the kilns was trimmed and the towpath cut up to the control sluice. Well done lads!
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GUIDED WALK - ANNERY KILN TO RIDD INCLINED PLANE - 14th May 2023
Starting from Annery Kiln by Halfpenny Bridge on the Bideford to Weare Giffard road, see the site where tub-boats were hauled up an incline from the river level to the canal summit level. Part of the underground water-wheel chamber is visible beside the Tarka Trail. In spring orchids and other wild flowers abound in the dry canal basin. Distance less than 2 miles. Please note that the route includes 100 metres walking over rough meadow grass which may be wet after rain. Please make sure you have suitable footwear.
Meet at 2:30pm on Sunday 14th May at Annery Kiln. The walk will be led by Tony Nicholls.
No booking is required – all are welcome. Please note that this walk includes private land where dogs are not permitted! A £2 donation will be requested towards the work of the Rolle Canal Society.
Starting from Annery Kiln by Halfpenny Bridge on the Bideford to Weare Giffard road, see the site where tub-boats were hauled up an incline from the river level to the canal summit level. Part of the underground water-wheel chamber is visible beside the Tarka Trail. In spring orchids and other wild flowers abound in the dry canal basin. Distance less than 2 miles. Please note that the route includes 100 metres walking over rough meadow grass which may be wet after rain. Please make sure you have suitable footwear.
Meet at 2:30pm on Sunday 14th May at Annery Kiln. The walk will be led by Tony Nicholls.
No booking is required – all are welcome. Please note that this walk includes private land where dogs are not permitted! A £2 donation will be requested towards the work of the Rolle Canal Society.
SILENCE IS GOLDEN - Sea Lock report from Adrian Wills - 3rd May 2023
This Tuesday (02.05.23) saw another great step forward in the stabilization of the interpretation loft at Sea Lock. The base for the new staircase is now finished. I had previously shuttered the required space and with Nick working hard mixing yet more concrete, he and I had filled the staircase base and another section of ring beam, all before 2 o’clock.
This Tuesday (02.05.23) saw another great step forward in the stabilization of the interpretation loft at Sea Lock. The base for the new staircase is now finished. I had previously shuttered the required space and with Nick working hard mixing yet more concrete, he and I had filled the staircase base and another section of ring beam, all before 2 o’clock.
When we first started laying concrete, we only had 2 bags of cement in stock and Nick quickly used them up. There was a brief hiatus whilst we waited for a promised delivery and it duly arrived without too much time being lost. Once the 20 bags of cement had been unloaded, Nick continued abusing the mixer and me with large quantities of concrete.
Steve wasn’t available, having other commitments for the day and it was strangely quiet without him. He might be interested to know that Nick and I didn’t go to Widdecombe Fair.
While Nick and I were laying concrete, Tony and Michael began digging out an area, which will become the foundation of some bricks arranged to spell out the words ‘Sea Lock’, which will be visible from the lookout point above the site on the Tarka Trail.
Steve wasn’t available, having other commitments for the day and it was strangely quiet without him. He might be interested to know that Nick and I didn’t go to Widdecombe Fair.
While Nick and I were laying concrete, Tony and Michael began digging out an area, which will become the foundation of some bricks arranged to spell out the words ‘Sea Lock’, which will be visible from the lookout point above the site on the Tarka Trail.
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How Sea Lock got its name is something of a mystery since it is a tidal lock where the canal enters the River Torridge. Via the river, the sea is about 11 miles away!
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It is hoped that next Tuesday will see the end of constructing the ring beam and the beginning of the construction of the new metal staircase. Progress on this whole project has been much more rapid than I ever would have thought and soon we will be able to turn our attention back to rebuilding the upper wharf wall, which is in a very sorry state.
