camp report Chelmer

A week rebuilding a weir wall on the Chelmer & Blackwater, a navigable waterway run by WRG’s parent body the Inland Waterways Association

Chelmer Week Twain: 30th July to 6th August

In our last issue we included a camp report from Camp 04, the first of two weeks on the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation - which unusually for WRG meant working on an active navigable waterway rather than rescuing one from dereliction. This waterway is run by WRG’s parent body the Inland Waterways Association, and our volunteers were there to rebuild the cracked and deteriorating sidewalls of a weir which carries the flow of the River Chelmer alongside Stonham’s Lock. As we reported last time the first week’s job was to take the damaged brickwork down. Week two’s job was to rebuild it. Or as their scribe reports in his own style...

Once upon a time...

...a band of intrepid WRGies travelled, some far and some not quite as far, to the Essex land of Chelmer and Blackwater. In this land they met the evil concrete monster who had to be vanquished before their quest could begin. After six day of titanic struggle, with some falling by the wayside and the wood being painted black with the blood of big tinny, they were finally triumphant and the scene was set for the construction of a mega str ucture that would hold back the earthy island and allow the waters to flow.

Six more days to achieve our goal which will be documented in this tome, read on dear follower...

Windy Hawk, who hails from Heart Ford Shire, is our builder extraordinaire who spent hour upon hour chipping away at the base of the wall whilst the rest of the band removed the rubble in preparation for the build. Initially we had issues with the waters encroaching on the foundations we were to build on, but finally triumphed in diver ting the torrent and succeeded in getting a dry platform to build off.

Our journey to our place of conf lict was altered by the landowner and we had to travel up hill and down dale, through plantations of willow and the odd pylon, working our sturdy transports hard.

The morning arrived warm and dry as is usual at this time of year in these climes, testing Ollie the brick slicer to his limit; with sweat leaking from every pore he worked tirelessly through the morning to feed the builders. He also undertook the task of cutting lengths of reinforcing bar for strengthen our defences as the wall rose up from the waterline. Lime mortar and concrete were mixed efficiently by the supporting members of the crew. All in all a good day with work progressing apace.

More of the same the next day, fighting the heat and humidity but prog ressing well. On the evening we had an expedition to Haybridge Basin to see the old accommodation that we used in the past, the Haybay converted barge still sat safely in the estuary. We also took a drive to Paper Mill and had a wander.

I’m afraid it looks increasingly unlikely that we will achieve our goal as upon arrival we found the ramparts damaged with several bricks having been dislodged. Once these were cleaned and reset we had some of the younger heroes working to fill the back rows of the wall and continuing with the pointing.

Really went well today and I think everyone was happy with the results. Despite our valiant efforts however we failed to reach our goal, even with everyone of the band going above and beyond. A band member from the previous week, Alana, returned to assist us learning new skills along the way.

In ending this missive I would like to take the opportunity to thank my band of heroes: Claire for been an excellent provider of sustenance, Dave for been a very able assistant and mentor, John for his unflag ging work rate and sense of humour, Olly for dedication and ability to wield a brick saw, Lewis for his knowledge and his enthusiasm to do the tasks asked of him and last but not least Ralf for his unflagging work ethic and the fact that he was prepared to suffer me for a second time.

Scribed by Paul (Arry) Harrowsmith