fact file Wey & Arun Canal

Length: 23 miles Locks: 26 Date closed: 1871

The Canal Camp project: Towpath surfacing and building landing stages on the restored and navigable Loxwood Link section.

Why? The towpath provides an attractive local walk. Resurfacing will improve it - and is suppor ted by the local authority which provided a grant for the work. The landing stages will make it easier for canoeists to use the enjoy the restored canal.

The wider picture: The Canal Trust aims to eventually reopen the canal to through navigation from the River Wey to the River Arun. It has already opened several sections including through Loxwood, on the summit at Dunsfold, and near the southern end north of Newbridge - and is looking to link these together and to further sections (including at Birtley, the original planned site for this camp). But encouraging local people and local authorites to support the canal (by work such as we were doing on this camp) is cr ucial to raising the necessary funding to achieve these long term aims.

Birtley lished NWPG camp team swung into action, moving the spare chairs and tables into the garage, putting up the gazebos for the outside dining area, storing the spare WRG kit and other sundries (!) in the upstairs room. All of this was with the aim of making as much space as possible in the main hall and back room to ensure compliance with the WRG camp Covid guidleines. The team introductions and accommodation safety briefings done, we enjoyed our traditional first night barbecue ready for the week’s imminent labours.

Our team comprised the NWPG regulars plus Ian, Michael and Brian who have ‘previous’ on WRG digs and new volunteer Peter for whom the week was to be his first time working on a canal. I am assured it will not be his last, as I don’t think that we have put him off. The catering team of Sue and Dave kept us excellently fed throughout the week – including cooking breakfasts so no early starts for reluctant volunteers. Then, of course, Dave and Adam from WACT without whom nothing on site would have happened. So to the work. We divided into two teams and broadly stayed in those teams for the whole week but with people switching tasks within them. The towpath team had the use of two dumpers and two diggers and a sit-on roller. Training was provided, enabling the drivers to be rotated so that the hard graft of raking and levelling the Fittleworth stone could be shared. Well, sort of, as Graham and Peter spent most of their week on the end of a rake. Sorry – to be redressed next time out!

The second team took charge of the landing stage construction. Steve set up a timber preparation operation in the site compound – close to the Burco – where his gas-fitting expertise was needed to keep it alight. The younger team members plus Dave and Adam from WACT led on the landing stages themselves. The first task was to drive the 6in x 6in timber legs into the canal bed. The original suggestion to do this with a sledge hammer being rejected by the camp leader on the grounds of average age of the team and a wish not to spend too much time with the nearby defibrillator.

So Dave sourced a gadget from the plant company that could be attached to a digger and which forced the reluctant posts noisily into their allotted position. We let Dave operate the machine so that he could only blame himself if the posts ended up in the wrong position. Having done the first landing stage, the piling team went onto the next two.

Posts in place, the fun bit of installing the horizontals, braces and deck could begin, with some working from the Aquadocks (floating work platforms assembled ‘Lego’ style) and others from the bank. The landing stage below Devil’s Hole Lock was the most complex as it had decks at two heights - one for the trip boat and the other for canoes. This was tackled first.

Good teamwork and methodical working meant that by Thursday we had completed three of the four landing stages: one each above and below Devil’s Hole lock and another above Loxwood New Lock. The fourth stage, at Brewhurst Lock, was left for another day with time short and the site being some distance from our compound. We were also running out of timber. Not to waste any of the timber off-cuts and to prevent him slacking, Steve spent Friday turning these into attractive timber planters which were later offered for sale at a bargain price. Other camp jobs included fitting new stop planks at Rowner Lock and further towpath works at Birch Copse.

It wasn’t all work. In the evenings, which were getting quite dark being the end of August, we found time to explore the canal around Lordings Aqueduct, where Graham explained his work in helping to restore the unique waterwheel pump that feeds the canal from the River Arun. We visited the Birtley Bridge site to see what we might have been doing, before enjoying wood fired pizzas with our skittles at Wonersh Village Hall. Graham Horn (NWPG) took an evening off from his tour guide duties to run a quiz night for us in the hall and we played Molkky (a Finnish skilttles game) which brought out the competitive streak in some – actually all! Jigsaws and beer also featured heavily in our unwinding. Boat trips were off – no water! It was a relaxed camp, with no Covid or other problems. The plant and WRG kit were returned intact (although ‘Bungle’ of WRG Plant may disagree) and nobody hurt themselves – just what the leadership team likes. That it was so, and the high standard of the work done, was thanks to everyone on the team. It wasn’t the job planned when bidding for a camp last winter but it was fun and rewarding and we achieved a lot. Looking forward to another next year!

Bill Nicholson