Spring is on the way

Saturday 25 January 

Another day spent around Winchcombe, more down side crest ditch excavation and a continuation of the search for signs of an up side crest drain. Dave found some snowdrops up on the crest, a sure sign that spring is round the corner. We haven't had any of the snow that the newspapers keep warning about (yet). 

Spring is on the way
(Photo: Dave)  

The shallow ditch on the down side crest got extended a bit. 

Ditch starting at the top end near the tunnel 

Dave and Micheal searching the up side for a drain

Back on the down side there was a small hole next to the fence, naturally this needed investigating, the hole seems to be an underground water run from the field. It means we need to ditch a bit further towards the tunnel 

Down side crest, the hole by the fence 

Down side crest, looks like an underground flow 

The top end of the down side crest drain has an open end on the 24" pipe, there's a 12" pipe running in from the field, but we need to see of the pipe runs any further up the crest. 

Down side crest drain start 

Down side crest opened so that a headwall can be constructed 

Grating uncovered, there must have been some structure on the end 

Dave clears off round the crest pipe 

No sign of a large pipe running further up the crest, but there is a 2" plastic pipe at the bottom level 

Fragment of pipe dug out, possibly a section broken out for the field drain 

Part of the crest drain investigation is ruling things out, so we had a look in the chamber on the up side fence opposite Carriage & Wagon. 

Up side chamber uncovered 

Pipe from station cess drains and the rear of Platform 2 coming in
outlet to the River Isbourne 

The sun has degraded the safety fence round the yard chamber

Up in the cutting the gang found 3 pipes down the slope running into the cess chambers, a small manhole was found on the crest above the pipe nearest to the bridge. 

Roger head off up the slope
(Photo: Dave) 

Searching for the other end of the down pipe
(Photo: Dave) 

Manhole as found
(Photo: Dave) 

Crest manhole has a pipe running in from the garden
out to the cess
(Photo: Dave) 

Michael gets the job of clearing it out
(Photo: Dave) 

Crest manhole, outlet pipe
(Photo: Dave) 

Crest manhole, inlet pipe
(Photo: Dave) 

Down side shallow ditch extended to the oak tree... 

Ditch progress 

Monday 27 January 

We've had a quite a few favours from Carriage & Wagon, today was our turn to help out. A couple of the more mature trees that Lineside Clearance removed have been planked at the local sawmill. This wood had been dumped outside the works and needed to be stacked. The idea being that the wood can be seasoned and then used in carriage restoration works. After that a quick run down to Gotherington to measure the slip at Bridge 37 and then some confined space measuring. 

Wood pile from the sawmill as dumped 

Dave and Nigel stacking the first planks 

Luckily Steve was on hand to help with the heavier planks 

Wood stacked with spacers 

Another stack of older wood, possibly needs sorting out 

The bridge 37 slip is still on the move, not quite as fast as before but the face is now 1.9 m.  

No sign of a dip in the track over the slip site 

Dave and Nigel setting up the level 

The snout at the toe is looking impressive 

Bridge 37 up side slip face 

Still some ancillary work going on at the River Isbourne, the end of the down side stream is being excavated ready for when the gabion installation starts and new safety rails are being installed on the head and wing walls on both sides.   

River Isbourne, Culvert 21A, down side, plus safety fence 

Downs side stream being cleared 

New safety fence going in on Culvert 21A up side 

The confined space survey involved measuring all the catchpits from Winchcombe Station to Greet tunnel, Dave and Nigel just got them finished as it started raining (for a change).  

Dave and Nigel measuring, these are 1.9 m deep 

Fresh safety fence around the yard chamber
only there while the building works are going on  

Digging for victory

Thursday 23 January 

The piped end of the crest drain at Winchcombe Cutting down side has been finished, all it needs now is the rest of the ditch to be excavated and that's been started. First job was to look for a manhole on the up side at Winchcombe, it's shown on the GWR's 1902 plan, and there's a mark visible on a 2010 satellite image. The 2017 satellite image doesn't show anything though, the contractors didn't see anything when they excavated up there. Nothing was found, but we will have one more go on Saturday. 

The river Isbourne works have been put on hold for a while as the ground is too wet for the excavations to continue. The river level has dropped, but it will rise again when it rains. Gotherington slip is still on the move, we went to measure it again this afternoon. 

Dave has sent a couple of pictures from Monday of the work up at the tunnel portal... 

Greet Tunnel, channel around the down side wing wall
(Photo: Dave) 

Andrew checking the portal steps
(Photo: Dave) 

At the River Isbourne the old course has been left to take the flow from the stream that runs down the back of Winchcombe Yard. 

River Isbourne, Culvert 21A down side 

Winchcombe Cutting, up side slip area 

Site where the 1902 map shows a manhole 

Winchcombe cutting down side drain has been piped past the access gate so that machinery can get in and out. 

Winchcombe cutting down side 

Winchcombe cutting down side piped drain 

Winchcombe Cutting down side ditch 

New lids placed to replace the broken lid 

The signal cabling is being moved from the up side of the cutting to the down side so that it's out of the way of the slip area. 

JCB trenching the cable run for S&T 

The shallow ditch at the tunnel end of the cutting needs to be reinstated to catch any run off that get under the fence. 

Ditch line along the cutting crest 

Edges taken off round the middle chamber so that it can be built up 

There's a plan to start repairs on the Gotherington slip in the next week or so, until then we are keeping an eye on it. 

Gotherington, Bridge 37 slip area, cracks appearing in the slope 

Bridge 37 slip face 

Sleeper spotted in the crack on the slip face 

Cracks appearing in the snout at the fence 

Gotherington slip toe drain snout 

It looks like the toe drain is intact, either that or no water is getting into it. The middle chamber sump level is up to the outlet pipe, with no build up of water. 

North toe drain chamber