Sleaford Sports Partnership Fun Day, Sunday 13th September

On the Sunday morning I went to pick up the trailer with all the gear in from storage and drove over to Sleaford Rugby Club. When I arrived I found that it was a lot windier than I had first thought and, although I got the large gazebo frame out of the trailer and its roof in place I decided that it would be a risky operation to go any further. Jenny Osbourne arrived shortly after and after enlisting help from some nearby RAF personnel we expanded the roof out to full stretch. Bearing in mind the wind, we were also very careful to attach the heavy duty guy ropes, it’s a large bit of canvas and I had visions of it being lifted off with us clinging to it floating towards Sleaford.

Despite trying to summon help from members of the work party at Cobblers (why is reception on mobiles awful when you have a real problem?) we made little real progress until Pat Taylor and Ellie Sowerby arrived with the stock. We had to use all the pegs to fasten down the walls of one gazebo that we would have normally used on both of them. Better safe than sorry!

The event proved popular with a steady stream of visitors to the stall and a great deal of support and interest was shown in the work of the Trust and in our current and future projects.

Thanks to all who helped in whatever capacity. It was good to be able to support a Sports Partnership event because on previous occasions dates have clashed and made our involvement very difficult.

Steve Hayes

National Waterways Festival 2009

Once again, August Bank Holiday saw the Trust in action to support and help man the Lincolnshire Waterways Partnership stand at the IWA National Waterways Festival at Redhill on Soar. Many members of the Trust had already been on site for two weeks prior to the Festival. They were working with Dave Pullen, our own Trust engineer, who was the Waterspace Manager for the event and their task was to install the moorings for the visiting boats at the Festival. I know their efforts were very much appreciated by the organisers.

Chris and I arrived at Redhill on the Thursday to get established on the caravan site. Putting the awning for up for the first time in windy conditions was, to say the least, interesting but was achieved in the end!

One of the highlights of the weekend is always the boaters’ quiz, this takes place on the Thursday night before the Festival and is put together by Martin Ludgate, Deputy Editor of Canalboat and Editor of Navvies. Chris and I were joined in the Beer Tent by three people from the Manchester IWA branch and agreed to form a team called, surprisingly enough, Cobblers. We felt that we had done quite well in most of the rounds and at the end were delighted to find that we had actually won the quiz. Not only that, the team only a few points behind us was also made up of Trust members. Well done to them as well, a clean sweep for the Trust and also £165 for our funds and a good start to the weekend.

Early on the Friday Keith and Allen arrived by van with both LWP and SNT display boards. The first job was to locate the marquee, not an easy task in the melee of people arriving to set their own stands! Having found it there was a problem, it wasn’t in the kind of layout that we were used to. The tent was end on to the main avenues and not facing as had been the case previously. There then ensued a period of head scratching to decide quite how we would rearrange the display. We eventually managed to sort out a layout that we felt worked. One of the considerations was not only how were the displays to be positioned but where could the kettle be. An important factor if you are on the stand for three days! The layout must have been good because neither Mary nor Dilys made any major changes when they arrived.

Fortunately it had been decided on the Friday to brace the displays against the marquee because, when we arrived on the Saturday and opened up the ends of the marquee, there was a huge through draft which can only be equated to that of a wind tunnel. Leaflets were blowing everywhere but we finally managed to catch them all and anchor them down. The nearby equipment stall did an extremely good trade as Dilys bought lots of clamps to secure the tablecloths and the leaflets. We were sure that it was a lot warmer outside the marquee than it was inside!

As usual Trust members did sterling work handing out the “Lincolnshire Plum Bread” an attraction that draws in return visitors every year. In fact at the Campaign Rally on the Chesterfield Canal we were asked where the Plum Bread was and had to say that that only happened at the National. Over the three days a total of fifteen loaves were buttered, cut up, and handed out! Pat Taylor, as usual, was in charge of the sales stall and did a magnificent job raising money for the Trust.

One of the aims of the stand is to promote Lincolnshire Waterways and also assess how many people were aware of recent developments and had visited the area. Visitors were asked to complete a questionnaire indicating their level of knowledge of the waterways and the sites they had visited. They were asked to highlight both what they had enjoyed and what improvements they would like to see. Trust members were on hand to explain additional details concerning LWP and SNT and it was gratifying to see the degree of interest and support expressed. Completed questionnaires revealed a surprising number of visitors to the Slea and supported anecdotal evidence that there have been many more boats on the waterway this year than before. All this means more evidence of the need for a winding hole in South Kyme and perhaps a weed-cutting programme!

Steve Hayes

New Sleaford Lift Bridge

On a bitterly cold 29th December the bridge finally arrived in Sleaford! The crane arrived on site about 7.30 in the morning to set up, though I have to be honest that was before I arrived to view the events!
At first sight the bridge looked a bit like a giant Meccano Kit with two large artic lorries carrying all the parts. The first part to be unloaded was a large frame, a jig, for the bridge to be assembled on. This made sure that all of the parts were in the correct alignment for a quick and accurate assembly. First to be put in place on the assembly jig were the two ends. This was achieved with a few lifts from the crane and use of crowbars from Briton’s assembly team to sit the ends in the correct place. The second lorry was then unloaded with the counterweight, lifting deck and joining beams being put onto the ground next to the main assembly.

The next part to be assembled was the lifting deck. This had to be a very careful lift as the deck had to be lifted at an angle so that the pivot points had room to fit into the slots made for them in the end part. After one or two tries and some adjustment to the lifting strops to get the correct angle this was eventually achieved successfully.

The next stage was to lift the four joining beams and bolt them into place. This took place fairly quickly with the two beams on one side being lifted and bolted up closely followed by the two beams on the other side.

All this work took till lunchtime. Time for a quick sandwich and a warm up in the car! After lunch it was a case of a final tightening of all the bolts with an air spanner to prepare for the big lift. This was going to be best viewed from the New Street side of the river. Unsurprisingly a number of local Trust members were present at this time! Excitement mounted as we could see the assembly team placing the lifting strops onto the bridge and the crane swinging into position.

The crane revved up and the bridge, minus the counterweight, was lifted up and over the trees. This was quite a height, in fact, big as the crane was, it was nearly at its full reach.

The new abutments were ready to receive the bridge, the team having already removed the nuts from the anchor bolts. Despite one or two doubters who thought that the bolts weren’t lined up correctly, the bridge dropped into place with little fuss or effort and the lifting strops were finally removed.

The last big lift of the day was to put the counterweight into place. This was not part of the original lift as it would have contributed an extra four tons to the overall weight and would have made the lift very unbalanced. The assembly comprised mainly of bolting the pivot bearings to the main structure and fastening connecting rods from the counterweight arm to the end of the lifting span.




With the counterweight in place the final shape of the bridge was complete.




The only work that now remains to be done is to fit the mechanism to raise the bridge and also to make good the access walkways either side of the bridge. Both jobs should be happening by the middle of January.

After quite a while in the planning the refurbishment of Bottom Lock was finally finished in early November.

Much research was carried out by Dave Pullen to try and establish how the lock was dammed off when the lock was originally restored in the late 1980's as nobody could remember how it was done. All we had to go on were a few black and white photographs so any details were, at best, sketchy.

The contract for piling off the lock was awarded to Black Sluice Drainage Board but when they started to put the piles into position they hit an obstruction. This resulted in twice as many piles being put further away from the lock at double the cost.

Before the new gates could be installed Trust volunteers had quite a bit of work to do. This included repairs to the brickwork on the lower wingwalls and also brickwork repairs in the lower gate recesses. Under normal circumstances neither places are easy to access. When we were carrying out the repairs we were careful to leave a few holes in the wingwalls for nesting Grey Wagtails as it had been established that the area was one of the few sites in the county that they nest.

As the lock was going to be drained for a while it was also decided, as a safety measure, to take the opportunity to fit lock ladders.

The new gates that had been manufactured for us by Hargreaves of Halifax arrived on site on 5th November and were quickly fitted into place by Nigel Lord and his team. Gates were quickly followed by the balance beams and the paddle gear. The next couple of days were taken up with final adjustments to make the gates fit correctly.

There were, however, a few diversions during the work. One particular one comprised an unscheduled fish rescue. During the initial draining of the lock Dave Pullen and John Line made sure that all the fish had been rescued. Later on though the water level rose for a short while and a Pike managed to make his way into the lock. We didn't have a net so we managed to encourage the Pike into a large plastic bucket which we hauled up the lock wall and then released it above the lock.

With a view to future maintenance of the lock Dave Pullen decided that while the lock was drained we should fit grooves in the lock entrance for stop planks. This meant that we also had to fit a beam into the lock apron. On the Sunday a small select team of volunteers lowered a concrete mixer into the lock and proceeded to mix about 2 tons of concrete to provide a haunch either side of the beam.

The water levels were a bit changeable and although Dave Pullen had intended to raise the top gate and 'christen' the new gates was beaten to it by the river. In fact the team from Hargreaves only just manage to finish and get their gear out of the lock before the river came up and flooded the lock.

Many thanks to Dave Pullen for all his hard work organising the program of works and also to Norman Osborne for his efforts transporting materials and equipment.

Dave Pullen


Norman Osborne

STORM DAMAGE

The recent storms have caused an amount of damage on the Slea. On Saturday 1st March we received a phone call from the staff at Cogglesford Mill to say that two trees had blown down just below Cogglesford Lock and, ���������What could we do about it?��������� Our intrepid photographer, Debbie Scott, went down to have a look and confirmed that the situation was indeed quite serious. The two trees had blown down and, although not blocking the river, were blocking the footpath on the far bank. The following day was a work party so after the main task was completed a small number went along to assess the problem. On looking at the task it was decided that, although we had the tools to clear the footpath, it would make the situation more dangerous for the general public. The reason for this was that as the trees were falling they broke some of the branches of the trees on the other bank and some of them had not completely broken off and were swinging in the breeze. Any clearance could have left the Trust liable if there had been an accident. The Trust are grateful to Andy Martin who managed to get down to the river on the following Thursday to clear away both of the trees and to make the area safe.

Series of photos showing the trees after being blown down, during removal and the scene afterwards.

BOTTOM LOCK - PREPARATIONS FOR REFURBISHMENT

Before refurbishment can start in the Summer there is a certain amount of preparation to complete, so on the 17th February a Work Party was held at Bottom Lock to carry out some initial work. An Ecological Survey had been carried out for the Trust by consultants ESL to check that there were no protected species in the area of the proposed works. There were no potential problems for us but it was recommended that any vegetation in the area that could be used as cover be stripped back to deter nesting, etc. This was our first task of the day but, in the event, little vegetation needed to be removed from the area.

The second task determined by our Engineer, Dave Pullen, was to find out the profile of the river bed below the lock so that a dam can be designed to ready the area for the work on replacing the gates. This was quite a complicated but low-tech process involving a boat, a rope, two men and a long pole. The task was achieved in the end but did afford some amusement to onlookers. Those who bet on a sinking were disappointed!

A general tidy up also took place and there was a large bonfire of wood gathered and piled up during previous work parties.

Steve Hayes

Two men and a pole

Two men and a Boat

Classic conversation of the day. Dave "Norman. My end's sinking." Norman "Well my end's OK"

BOTTOM LOCK

The restoration of Bottom Lock was an early major achievement of the Sleaford Navigation Society and opened up the waterway from Chapel Hill to Cobblers Lock. Sadly, over the years time has taken its toll on the bottom lock gates and, in spite of some valiant patching they are looking very much the worse for wear and are in need of replacement. Thanks to Lincolnshire Waterways Partnership we shall have a wonderful new set of gates made out of Ekki from sustainable sources. All those who have used Bottom Lock will remember the mechanism to raise the top guillotine gate! 350 turns are needed to raise the gate to allow a boat to enter or leave the lock and a further 350 turns to lower it again when you have passed through! It can be possible to persuade young children that turning the handle is great fun but it has to be said that this ruse is quickly discovered to be a con! New gearing will now mean that far fewer turns will be needed to operate the gate to the delight of all users! Plans are also in place to install floating moorings above and below the lock which will make access both easier and safer. The current landing stage below the lock, shown on the photograph, is somewhat limited and awkward to use. At present there is no landing stage above the lock and this makes alighting from the boat there quite an athletic process! The new landing stages will also aid the portage of canoes around the lock. We are delighted that these improvements will make boating on the Slea a safer and more pleasurable experience. Bottom Lock is held in affection by many people who travel there by boat or on foot and it’s hoped that new seating there will make visiting even better.

Chris Hayes