Another day on the River

Thursday 21^st August

A late change of plan enabled all nine volunteers to spend another day working on the River Isbourne bridge (21A).

Polly, Nigel and Martin focused on improving the ‘homemade’ steps that lead down from the up side vacant trackbed to the bridge parapet. This involved some chain saw use to remove as much as possible of two tree stumps. They also added two new steps; dug out the bank and added some spent ballast to make the steps level.

Polly, Nigel and Martin working on the up side steps.

The results of the improvement.

Dave and Ian concentrated on the down side low mileage toe ditch. This runs from the B4632 road bridge past the back of the industrial estate. It was very overgrown; but still damp in places which shows that water does flow down to the river The twinwall pipe under the right bank gabions was checked for obstructions. In the river bed some of the silt build up was removed to ensure a channel for the discharge from this pipe to flow away. They cut an access to the ditch; and then began clearing the ditch. This was slow work – by the end of the we think only a quarter of the distance to the road was cleared.

Ian inspecting the twinwall pipe under the gabion. [Photo by Dave]

The toe ditch looking towards the B4632. [Photo by Dave]

Dave surveys the plants growing on the single bank in the river bed. Note the channel for the flow right by the gabions. 

The rest of the group (Jonathan, John, Peter and Andrew) worked on the downstream, up side of the bridge. More use of restraining harnesses attached to the parapet safety rails enabled the headwall to be cleared of moss and other items of vegetation. By working on just below the gabions (the water level is still very low) they removed lots of Himalayan balsam and other vegetation by the wing walls. Peter and Andrew removed yet more Himalayan balsam and some willow trees from the down stream banks. Jonathan dug out some of the silt that had built up where the vegetation has taken hold. John was on stamping duty, treading on the flowers and seed heads of the cut balsam. Hopefully this will reduce the spread of this plant.

Up side (down stream) portal of the bridge. Jonathan hiding behind the grass whilst dredging the silt.

Close up of the up side high mileage wing wall. As this is the north side of the bridge the vegetation stays damper; so the mortar joints are not as good as those on the down side which gets more sunshine.

Wildlife report: Early on we spotted a kingfisher on the down (upstream) side of the Isbourne; obviously there is good fishing here. Lots of ripening blackberries and sloes on the embankment side. And of course plenty of Himalayan balsam. That does seem to attract lots of bees. On the oak tree (down side, low mileage of the river) we noted lots of galls, each containing a larva of the common spangle gall wasp.

Galls on oak tree. [Photo by Dave]

Seven Up - again

Thursday 14^th August

Another work day with seven of the team attending – but a slightly different seven than last week. (Jonathan, Andrew, Nigel, Martin, Polly, Stuart, Peter). The others were either on holiday, doing paid work or had family commitments.

The River Isbourne bridge, structure number BU21A, was the work site for the day.

On the up (Malvern) side; the task was to clear the access from the vacant track bed down to the headwall; then on the safe side of the safety rails down the two wing walls to the stream. The dry conditions making this a much less hazardous task.

On the down (Cotswold) side, the main task was to make the steps leading down to the headwall safe. These were constructed by a contractor during the Isbourne flood works a few years ago; but due to Covid-19 were never fully completed. We used a mix of spent ballast and some smaller spoil to level out all of the 29 steps. Jonathan used the telehandler to transport this material from the PW stockpile in the up side yard at Winchcombe. With careful direction he positioned the telehandler by the Winchcombe up advanced starting signal, then extended the boom to enable the spoil to be deposited on the down side of the running line. This was undertaken under a line block agreed with the Winchcombe signaller, between the empty down train to Cheltenham and the first up passenger train. Nigel, Andrew, Peter and Martin undertook the shovelling and barrowing of the spoil to the steps – assisted by gravity! Stuart attended to the ramming and filling of the steps and Polly constructed some shuttering to form an extra step at the bottom. Four telehandler loads of spoil was more than sufficient for the steps, we spread the extra between the buffer stops of the first down side siding and the top of the steps.

A dust cloud arises as a load of spoil is deposited as close to the down side steps as possible.

Stuart ensures the infill is packed in level.

Looking up - three of the shovelling team take a breather.

The bottom part of the steps completed.

Meanwhile, Jonathan donned a safety harness and suitably attached to the safety rails on the down side headwall removed the bramble and other vegetation that was growing there.

Clipped to the safety rail, Jonathan takes a break from vegetation removal. In the background Stuart finishes off the step infill.

After lunch, attention turned to the vegetation growing on the down side wing walls. Working both from above and below (but not simultaneously!); we removed creepers and moss from the mortar joints. The moss being bone dry came away easily with a long handled hoe. On the high mileage wing wall we removed several inches of soil – with a lot of bramble roots embedded within. The copings of both the low and high mileage wing walls are now exposed – and all the mortar joints are in good order.

Low mileage down side wing wall after clearing.

The now exposed copings of the high mileage down side wing wall.

 

 

From the river the down side looks a lot neater - but not finished. The remaining bushes above the bridge arch require removal. The low level of the river is obvious; Andrew is walking on the lowest tier of gabions, normally these are under water. [Photo by Jonathan]

From above the down side steps are now unmissable.

Wildlife report: One brown trout was observed in the River Isbourne; but with some of us wading in the stream, it made a hasty retreat. Like a lot of water courses in the Midlands, there is a significant growth of Himalayan balsam. Whilst this has pretty pink flower heads, it is a non-native invasive species. However, completely eradicating it is almost impossible. Cutting the stems spreads the seed, so encourages further growth. The only effective way of dealing with is to pull the plant out by the roots, then to stamp on the flowers and seed heads. This prevents the seed from germinating. All in all a very laborious and time consuming process -so we only remove plants that are obstructing the water flow.

Squeeze Avoided

Thursday 7^th August

It was a good thing that only seven of the team attended today. If all the team turn up for work we need a minimum of three vehicles to convey us and our tools to the work sites. Today, only two vehicles were available; S&T and C&M were using the other two. Roger, Jonathan, Dave, Nigel, Ian, Martin and Peter were the magnificent seven; the blue tail-lift Transit and the Isuzu their stallions!

First stop was Two Hedges Road, or more precisely the down side high mileage vehicle track and footpath alongside the former Bonsai World site. The task here was to reinstate the fence alongside the site – removed to allow the new stream inlet pipe to be fitted. The new inlet apron with integral bars looks very smart. This type of collector could in several other locations to stop debris entering the drains.

Many hands help make fencing jobs easier. [Photo by Dave]

The reinstated fence by the gate leading from the vehicle track/footpath into the adjoining field. [Photo by Dave]

 

After coffee the team moved to the ditch behind Willow Drive mobile home site at Woodmancote. This was to finish vegetation clearance of the toe ditch on the low mileage side of culvert 38A; and to cut an access gap down the embankment near to Station Road bridge. We cleared the debris from the other week and dug out the high spots in the ditch. Water is flowing more freely now, further digging may be required if the winter storms do not wash more of the silt out. We also uncovered a third salt glazed pipe which could be an original field drain at the high mileage end of the toe drain. We cleared as much silt out of the pipes as possible. There is a lots of detritus still there as we had no room to put it in vehicles to take back to Winchcombe. A strange find uncovered was what appears to be a "heritage cement fibre pipe" lying in the undergrowth.

Third SGP pipe feeding the ditch near Station Road. [Photo by Roger]

After the rain over the past week, there is flowing water in the toe ditch. [Photo by Dave]

We returned to Winchcombe for late lunch and then some of us went on the train to Broadway to undertake a visual survey of the culverts and cross drains that we will be clearing and visual inspecting next month. The remainder of the team headed for the Rive Isbourne bridge to meet with Peter and John (S) from the Bridges team to discuss further clearance of the wing walls there.

Down side low mileage wing wall of the River Isbourne bridge; moss on the mortar to be removed. [Photo by Jonathan]

Finally, over afternoon tea, we discussed the exhibit that Ian is coordinating for the Railway 200 event at the end of September.

Wildlife report: Again the highlight sighting was from the River Isbourne, but this time in the river. Three brown trout swimming upstream. Also a large number of dragon flies. And lots of Himalayan Balsam,  which is a non-native invasive plant. However total eradication is very labour intensive.

Home and Away

Thursday 31^st July

Seven of the team in attendance for a variety of tasks. The initial split was into three groups – one group heading south, one group heading north and one group staying ‘at home’ in Winchcombe Yard.

Jonathan, Peter and Martin were the group heading south. First call was to deliver a IBU (large plastic tank) that we had surplus to requirements to a former Drainage HoD at Bishops Cleeve; a small donation to the general railway funds received in return. Then on to Swindon Lane bridge (42). This is on the schedule for a detailed external inspection this year; so the task here was to ensure that access was clear and that there was no vegetation obscuring the wing walls. Next was a visit to the end of the field track on the down side high mileage of Two Hedges Road. This is where our contactor has been working installing a larger diameter pipe to carry the ‘Bonsai World’ stream under the field track and footpath. The contractor started work on Tuesday – by today it was almost complete. Just some concrete to pour around the new inlet. This stream then flows in a crest ditch at the top of the embankment; eventually joining the inlet of culvert 40B. We now need some prolonged or heavy rain to get the stream flowing so we can check that this has eliminated the leakage down the embankment here.

The reinstated road tack and footpath leading to the gate to our neighbours field. [Photo by Jonathan]

The new inlet from Bonsai World with grill to prevent large objects and animals entering. [Photo by Jonathan]

Dave and Nigel took the north work. Again this was access and vegetation clearance prior to a detailed external inspection; the target was culvert 6B by the foot crossing at Laverton.

6B down side before clearing ... [Photo by Dave]

... and after. [Photo by Dave]

Next task was further north at Cross Drain 5A by Little Buckland bridge. Here they cleared and deepened the exit ditch from the lineside fence to the roadside. The roadside ditch that this flows into has a very shallow gradient; and is very shallow. Gloucester County Highways have no plans to improve it.

Nigel working on the outlet of 5A at Little Buckland - the fence is not the railway boundary here. Like at a lot of the underbridges; the railway land extends in a triangle towards the road. [Photo by Dave]

So we are going to take steps to limit the quantity of water flowing through 5A. To this end we will install a brick dam in the downside toe ditch alongside Archer Farm to route the majority of the water flowing from the farm’s drains south to Cross Drain 5B.

Temporary plywood dam in the down side toe ditch - this to be replaced with a nice brick version. [Photo by Dave]

Ian and Andrew were the two who stayed at home. This was to work on the repair of three of our brush cutters. However, the scope of the task soon expanded to start the reorganisation of our area of the old wooden shed. The reason – we first had to locate a new mounting collar for the big FS560 brush cutter. Not in the spares box; not in the small red cupboard, not with the rest of the bits of the 560; not fallen on the floor under the bags of cement; not under the flail – but eventually found on the top of the red cupboard hidden under bundles of paper towels. However, all that searching has meant that we now have more room in the shed; with much easier access to tools, bags of cement, the portable generator and the flail. Further tidying and reorganising of the shed will have to wait for the roof to be repaired and for S&T to complete their move to their new workshop. Ian successfully repaired all three of the brush cutters – so we are now back to full strength of 9 working machines. Once the bird nesting season comes to an end on 1^st September; we, and our Lineside Clearance colleagues, will be making a lot of use of these machines.

Inside the wooden shed after the initial tidy-up.

On return from their expedition south, Jonathan, Peter and Martin lent a hand with the shed reorganisation. Then after lunch they headed to the River Isbourne bridge to take advantage of the low water levels to remove vegetation that had started to grown out of the stone gabions. They were able to complete the down (upstream) side – the up (downstream) side will have to wait for the access and the wing walls to be cleared. Because of the rain earlier in the day – this was too slippery to undertake safely.

Wildlife report: Today’s highlight sighting was that of a kingfisher flying low over the River Isbourne.

To the Deep South

Thursday 24^th July

This year, the programme of detailed inspections of our civil engineering structures includes some of the larger culverts and bridges over watercourses. To facilitate the visit by the external contractors, we are clearing the access routes, and any obscuring vegetation. At the beginning of the month, the team tacked some of those at the northern end of the line, today it was the turn of the southern most end at Cheltenham Racecourse and south of Hunting Butts tunnel.

A team of nine arrived early at Winchcombe yard, the school holidays making a significant reduction in road traffic and consequently quicker journey times. We loaded up three vehicles with our tools for the day – then all set off for Swindon Lane. With the closure of the A435 past the Racecourse, this proved to be a slow journey via Winchcombe and Prestbury. All the team then carried the equipment to the first work site, culvert 44A. Martin, Ian and John tackled the down side inlet, this involved some chain saw work to remove branches of several fallen trees. Dave, Nigel and Peter headed to the up side; quite a walk as that as access is from the adjoining field, not directly down the embankment.

Nigel and Peter working on the up side outlet of 44A. Very rarely is it possible to stand on the culvert invert here. [Photo by Dave]

44A down side inlet headwall. [Photo by Dave]

Looking right through 44A from the down side. [Photo by Dave]

We had to leave one big tree trunk on the access to 44A down side; it is too big for our chainsaws. [Photo by Sarah]

Meanwhile Jonathan, Polly and Andrew took a small set of tools further south to culvert 45A, Wymans Brook. This is on the boundary of GWSR land; further south the embankment is breached by Prince Regent Avenue. After clearing the west side exit, they headed over to the east side. Here the challenge is to find the chimney manhole which is above the burred headwall where the pipe from Pitville Park lake ends. Infrastructure Manager Sarah joined for the search, her first visit to this outpost of the GWSR empire. Having completed the work at 44A, the other two teams then arrived. This enabled three of the team using brush cutters to very quickly clear an access route to the chimney. After that it was lunchtime.

An interesting piece of ironwork we found in the outlet of 45A Wymans Brook. Has anyone an idea was it was used for?

Jonathan raking up cuttings from the bed of 45A outlet.

The 45A inlet manhole chimney.

Lunchtime at Prince Regent Avenue. This time of year, deck chairs are important items of kit. [Photo by Jonathan]

After lunch, all nine headed for Cheltenham Racecourse to tackle the Hyde Brook watercourse which runs through underbridge 42A. Ian, John, Peter and Andrew tacked the up side; access to that is from the lineside by the Cheltenham Racecourse Up Advanced Starting signal. The other five dealt with the down side inlet – accessed from the footpath beside the racecourse road. This was another location where the winter storms had brought down some large branches. They also pruned a large willow tree which was overhanging the footpath.

Looking through bridge 42A from the up (outlet) side - reflection of one of the team working on the inlet down side just visible.

Bridge 42A, Hyde Brook inlet (down side) after clearing. [Photo by Jonathan]

 

Close up of the 42A inlet wing and headwalls - this is a big structure, hence why it is a bridge not a culvert. [Photo by Dave]

Wildlife report: One word sums up today – blackberries. Lots of berries ripening at all of our work sites. Our taste testers found some of the sweetest on the down side near 44A. Some ripening plums on a tree at Wymans Brook were noted – but they are not quite ripe enough to eat yet. 

Blackberries.

  

Jungle bashing

Thursday 17^th July

A return to a normal size work force of  nine today.

Jonathan, Polly and Peter travelled to Pecked Lane crossing at Bishops Cleeve. The main task was to fit mesh over the grids covering the down side entry of culvert 39A. This is to prevent some anti social behaviour by some users of the crossing who regularly toss filled dog poo bags into the culvert.

Wire mesh added on the top of the metal grids of culvert 39A inlet.

Whilst attending to this, they noted that just inside the down side entry, there is a large accumulation of silt which is causing the flow of water to enter the down side cess. Removing the metal inspection lid on the up side exit confirmed that no water is actually flowing through the culvert. To gain access to remove the silt will require removal of the metal grids on the down side inlet. We have provisionally planned for this next week.

The bar of silt is just visible immediately under the inlet entry on the down side of 38A.

From above.

Whilst at Pecked Lane, they checked on three items on the defect register concerning fencing – one had already been rectified. Also Polly added more mortar to the cracks in the down side wall of the crossing approach ramp. Obviously the continuing dry weather is causing the ground to shrink further. Maybe some attention to this structure, combined with a facing of blue engineering bricks will be one of our future projects.

More repointing on Pecked Lane crossing down side access ramp. 

The other six attendees (Roger, Ian, Andrew. Nigel, Dave, Martin) headed to the Willow Drive mobile home park at Woodmancote. One of the residents there had grated us permission to access the down side of the line through his garden, even removing the larch lap panels from his fence to facilitate this. This enabled us to safely and comfortably access the inlet of culvert 38A and the toe ditch that runs either side of it. This was like a jungle. First we removed a large quantity of bramble and ivy covering the original fence line by the resident’s garden. Dave and Nigel then proceeded in the Cheltenham direction, clearing the toe ditch up to the point where it ends.

Dave and Nigel's handiwork on the high mileage end of the ditch. A month ago this was impenetrable. 

Clearing the vegetation from the ditch reveals a lot of other debris, including old concrete fence posts that will have to be removed later

In places the land outside the railway boundary has been raised, but the ditch is now undercutting that. Our current thoughts are to pipe some of the sections of this ditch.

They also cleared around the down side headwall of culvert 38A. Ian and Roger headed in the opposite direction, clearing the ditch back to the point where our colleagues from Lineside Clearance had reached a few weeks ago. Meanwhile Martin and Andrew, our chain saw operators, tacked some of the larger branches around the stream.

Martin gets to grip with some of the thicker ivy.

The continuing dry spell was a bonus, the 38A stream was just a trickle and the toe ditch was just damp in places. However the hot humid weather made for uncomfortable work whilst wearing full brush cutting or chain sawing PPE. Fortunately for most of the day the sun was not shining.

In this hot weather, frequent breaks are essential. (L to R: Ian, Roger, Martin, Nigel, Dave)

Jonathan, Polly and Peter joined the team at Willow Drive at lunchtime. They loaded the tipper transit with the larger items of debris, tree trunks, fence posts and rails and several lengths of wire from the original GWR post and wire fencing. Broken wire is a hazard to brush cutters. Finally we cleared the area on the down side embankment above the culvert bore. This prevents any roots from vegetation penetrating the brick arch. Special mention to Roger and Ian who skilfully handled brush cutters on this very steep embankment.

Roger clearing from the trackside down the embankment - immediately prior to discovering the wasps nest.

Ian clearing up the embankment, watched by others in the group from the resident's garden.

The original line of the boundary fence is apparent from the remaining GWR post now at angle.

At the end of the day, the transformation was very noticeable. However, we will need some further visits here to fully mulch the vegetation we cut today; to remove some more large branches and saplings; also to clear some obstructions in the toe ditch on the low mileage side of the culvert and to clear along the boundary fence line up to Station Road Bridge. Also back towards the exit of cross drain 37G near footpath underbridge 38 is another length of toe ditch requiring vegetation cutting. This will have to wait until a treated patch of Japanese Knot Weed has finally died off and the contaminated stems removed.

Near the 37G outlet the marked off section with treated Japanese Knot weed on the other side of the ditch

End of day - looking in the low mileage direction from culvert 38A inlet.

Wildlife report: As ever at Bishops Cleeve, some of the resident black headed gulls were noted circling over head at lunchtime. A lone red kite swooped low over the embankment, obviously spotting some small mammals we have disturbed. In the ditch we noted several large dragonflies – but less welcome were some angry wasps who are nesting on the embankment. Our helpful resident informed us that there is a family of foxes living under an empty home of the site; and he often spots a lone badger in the same spot.