Saturday Task Force success

I am pleased to say that the Canal & River Trust (CRT) Saturday Taskforce was a brilliant day whereby the taskforce were planned to work alongside the ADAPT (Audlem Lock 15 adoption) group and the Audlem Lass trip boat group in making visual, safety, visitor experience, heritage and environmental improvements.

It was a very productive day with a huge amount of work completed to benefit all. A big thank you to everyone who attended and for all the hard work put in on the day.

The day also included training and competence accreditation for the taskforce volunteers in the use of strimmer and mower tools, which I can report was a complete success. We now have four regular volunteers trained and competent which will allow the group to be more effective at tackling some of the tasks we traditionally have done by hand, like cutting back vegetation that impedes access and egress at paths adjoining the towpath, making it safer to use for visitors to the village and the canal.

One major task was already completed as part of the training -- the cutting back of the offside vegetation in readiness for the forthcoming festivals. This was in addition to the planned and requested foliage cutting.

The vegetation being cut back as part of the training was planned and executed, on the request of, the work ADAPT are undertaking at Lock 15 and also the request made by the Audlem Lass group. The completed cutting back of the scrub at Lock 15 paves the way for ADAPT to offer further garden opportunities and completes the tidy up for Audlem Lass. Both these tasks being completed will bring a positive benefit to the village.

The cutting back of vegetation at the Audlem Lass pickup/drop off point was complemented by the sowing of 8 boxes of wild flower seeds, donated by the volunteers, bringing colour to the area and growing flowers that will attract wildlife, the volunteers are keen on improving the environmental aspect of the canal and compliments the recent wild flower planting at Lock 13.

At the same time, the volunteers took completed the task of cleaning and servicing the brown sign directing visitors to local business' and the village.

We were also requested to undertake some preparation work on the lock hut at Lock 15 in readiness for forthcoming restoration work and heritage brickwork training. More importantly this work arrests water ingress damage that is occurring. We removed the hanging basket brackets from the hut and also recovered bricks from the surrounding area in readiness for the project.

Herewith task completed:

• Cut back external vegetation and overhanging branches for 90m beyond bridge 79, especially so that the brown sign directing visitors to the village and shops can be clearly seen, sighted from the towpath
• Cleared overhanging vegetation from the access cobbled surface path from Bridge 79, making the access and egress safer to use
• Cut back the foliage and scrub on the offside of Lock 15 -- Bridge 79 with the ADAPT group
• Planted wild flower seeds around the Audlem Lass pickup/drop off point
• Painted the two picnic benches at Lock 15
• Painted the pedestrian fence along the access ramp at Bridge 79
• Painted 11 totem posts for moorings, fishing prohibition and overhead wires warning
• Painted the Audlem Lass direction post
• Painted the footpath direction sign
• Refurbished, cleaned and sorted the plaques on all the totem posts to a more flowing direction
• Unearthed the footings of the brick hut at Lock 15 in readiness for the forthcoming heritage training and refurbishment of the hut
• Recovered and cleaned approx. 30 heritage bricks and engineering bricks for the hut refurbishment
• Assisted ADAPT with the recovery of rhubarb plants which were split and replanted.
• Cleaned up smashed glass on the ground at the wharf.
• Filled in and levelled the sinking trench between the hut and pole.

A real big thank you to all who assisted on the day, the efforts were immense. Unfortunately, despite planned assistance, the Audlem Lass group were not available on the day to assist. We are really grateful to Geraldine, Martin and Val from ADAPT for supporting the day and the big difference they made and are making to Lock 15.

Thanks also to Roger Birch from CRT for training and assessing the four regular volunteers and assisting with the cutting back for the Audlem Lass.

Dek Owen
Volunteer (Task Leader)
Canal & River Trust

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