Just in time

The BBC Midlands television local weather forecast on Monday 23rd September highlighted Winchcombe as one of the wettest places in the region during the proceeding 48 hours. The weather station at Ford, recorded 93.8mm of rain for that Monday. That is equivalent to 135% of the average monthly rainfall for September. However, the Railway’s drainage system coped reasonably well. In a couple of places water collected, such as under Didbrook No1 bridge and in the cess by the B4632 road bridge at Stanton. But these had drained away by the Tuesday morning. So it was fortunate that a couple of weeks earlier, we had completed the improvements to the down side drainage at cross drain 11B at Stanton.

Thursday 19^th September

With six of the team in attendance, the initial split was two teams of three. Jonathan, Ian and Polly took the Ranger and trailer to Stanton to collect the mini-digger. They also finished off the work at 11B inlet, this was to replace the fence in the gap used for access by the mini-digger. Also the safety rails around the chamber were given a coat of paint. Silver colour, as that was the colour of a donated spray can left over from a boat job. They met the owner of the adjoining fields, he expressed his thanks for improving the drainage. Hopefully we will not see any standing water here on either side of the line this winter. After lunch Jonathan cleaned and greased the mini-digger and began fixing the flashing lights on the dumper. Ian and Polly joined the other three at Working Lane.

The completed inlet structure of cross drain 11B. [Photo by Jonathan]

Fence reinstated alongside the new toe ditch on the down (Cotswold) side at Stanton 11B. It did not stay dry for very long! [Photo by Jonathan]

Mini digger on the trailer ready for the return to Winchcombe. But lunch first - the trailer makes a handy if somewhat low seat for Ian and Polly. [Photo by Jonathan]

 

Stuart, Dave and Andrew first placed some warning orange tape around the services manhole next to the stabling point for the Stevie Ro-railer at Winchcombe. This has a pipe to a water tap coming out from the top; so the lid does not fit correctly. Whilst the chamber is not drainage related, a small job like this to highlight a potential safety hazard is easy to accommodate. Then it was on to Working Lane. First stop was culvert 24A; to take some initial measurements to help plan the rebuild to remove the corroded steel lid. The amount of material to excavate is approximately 4' 6" into the embankment and 5' 6" deep; so around 3.25 cubic metres. The big question is whether our mini-digger can safely cope with this excavation. (The answer is no it can not; so we will hire in a larger machine with an operator.)

Then the main task of the day - culvert/cross drain clearance and examinations. The group covered the down side of 24B and the down side of 24C before lunch. Then after lunch with the assistance of Ian and Polly, the attention was culvert 25A [the one under Working Lane bridge] and the triangle of land on the up side where the outlet of cross drain 25B comes in. Whilst the vegetation was quite tall and dense (particularly adjacent to the down side cess); it was noticeable that there was very little bramble. Also noticeable was the low flow rate of water in all the water courses - which just shows how dry the start of September was. The inspection of 25A revealed a couple of minor brickwork repairs. We will be able to sort those out next week.

Two men went to mow - Dave (top) and Ian tackle the vegetation around the inlet of culvert 24C at Working Lane.

 

The brick invert of culvert 25 under Working Lane bridge, after part of the silt was removed.

 

Wildlife report - most noticeable was the proliferation of thin long legged spiders in the old wooden shed at Winchcombe. Also spotted were some fungi growing in the ballast at Gretton - probably mushrooms rather than toadstools.

Monday 23^rd September

Three of the team braved the torrential rain to attend a training class for maintenance and use of brush cutters and trimmers. This was at Manor Farm, Guilting Power, just over the hill from Winchcombe. Fortunately most of the class was inside a classroom or a workshop. However, the practical part had to be outside. Our new PPE kept most of the rain out, it fared much better than that which the instructor or the other class participants were wearing!

 

River Isbourne upstream of bridge 21A at Winchcombe. [Photo by Ian Scholey]

Thursday 26^th September

A day where the weather played havoc with our plans. Although there was no rain in the morning, and just a couple of showers at lunchtime and in early afternoon, the very wet spell in the proceeding five days had an effect. We did not attempt to use our Efco self propelled flail as long wet grass clogs it up and the ground was too slippery at the top of Gretton embankment. The visual inspection of cross drain 25B was impossible because the outlet headwall was invisible as the water level too high as it was backing up in the adjoining field.

Six of the team were in for the full day, with one more joining at lunchtime.

First off two of the team completed their PTS re-examination; Jonathan fixed the flashing beacons on the dumper; and the other three prepared the just delivered new brush cutters and carried out some servicing on a couple of others. Then all six headed to Working Lane.

One of the new brushcutters ready for action. It won't look so pristine by the end of the winter!

 

Polly and Jonathan attended to brickwork repairs on culvert 25A we had noted last week. Amazing that we had a task that was on the 'to do' list for only 7 days! Despite the level of the water, they also managed to remove most of the silt and gravel from the brick invert under bridge 25. Dave and Martin baptised the new brushcutters by clearing the access along the up side boundary from Working Lane to the outlet of cross drain 25B. Roger and Andrew cleared around the cess chambers between the top of the haul road and Greet tunnel. They also removed a lot of debris from the outlet ditch of culvert 24C - quite amazing what gets washed in with one week of heavy rain. This time the surprise was a large aluminum cooking saucepan.

Mortar repair on the join between the original invert of 25A and the newer headwall for the pipe to the 25A/25B junction.

 

Outlet of cross drain 25B - there is a headwall underneath the water (honest!).

Whilst at 25C the water level was just below the top of the bore.

Ian joined at lunchtime, so the afternoon saw four completing the clearance of the triangle of land over the 25A/25B outlet junction. The also removed some more of the overhanging vegetation on the haul road. The other three cleared and inspected the up side outlet of cross drain 24C (the down side inlet is outside of railway land and under the garden of a house in Barn Close). Finding and then clearing the access down the embankment was a challenge — it is very obvious that this wet spring/summer/early autumn has resulted in significantly more vegetation growth.

Viewed from bridge 25, the up side at Working Lane is much neater with the vegetation cut. Plus it looks almost like summer - but that only lasted less than an hour.

 

 

Clearing and inspecting commences

Regular readers of this blog probably know that main activity of the Drainage team in the autumn and early winter months is performing a visual inspection of the 24 culverts and 45 cross drains along the line. Additionally we clear the access, in most cases from the adjacent cess, and clear any vegetation, silt or other obstructions in the water courses. Also cleared is the vegetation growing around the cess and crest chambers; and the mileposts. As some of the vegetation is scrub, where birds may be nesting, a lot of this work can not be undertaken during bird nesting season (March to August). So this year we were hoping to make a start on the first Thursday of September. But, not surprisingly, the weather had other ideas.

Thursday 5^th September

Seven of the team attending on a damp, misty autumnal day.

The main activity was at Stanton, cross drain 11B inlet on the down side. The fourth upright and the final cross rails were fitted to the safety railing above the chamber walls adjacent to the embankment. Backfill was added to the level of the top brick course, apart from the tallest wall abutting the embankment. This is to try to avoid vegetation growing there. All the remaining plant, equipment and materials from the site were recovered and returned to Winchcombe; apart from the mini digger. That remains on site, as the deepened boundary ditches are not quite complete. Jonathan used the digger to get the low mileage boundary ditch dug up to the point where we have the access gap in the fence.

Nigel, Polly and Martin installing the safety rails at 11B inlet.

 

Dave fills another barrow of aggregate to be returned to Winchcombe.

Jonathan with the mini digger excavating the boundary ditch by the hedge on the low mileage end of 11B inlet.

Almost complete, the 11B inlet chamber.

 

As the recovery of items from Stanton took longer than anticipated; and as the weather had not substantially improved, we postponed the planned culvert/cross drain inspections and clearing at Working Lane/Royal Oak. So after lunch we took the train to Cheltenham and back. This did allow for:
(1) observing the state of the Working Lane/Royal Oak haul road; it s quite overgrown we will ned to take the self propelled flail to mow it
(2) inspection of the crossing by Cheltenham Racecourse signal box where a silted up run off gully on the racecourse side is leading to water pooling by the down line during heavy rain; clearing this out and making a better soak-away will be straight forward half day task, but a proper fix to take water into the cess drain in the six foot is much more complex
(3) a ride behind 3850 on its third day back in service.

3850 arrives at Winchcombe with the 13.27 to Cheltenham on it's third day back in service.

 

Thursday 12^th September

Definitely another day to keep warm by keeping working! Six of the team attending.

Jonathan and Polly completed the boundary ditch excavation at Stanton 11B down side. Most of this was accomplished with the mini digger - but the last few yards by the gap in the hedge where the mini digger has to come out were dug by hand. Next week the mini digger will be returned to Winchcombe and a fence reinstated in the gap. This will then complete the work on 11B; apart from the painting of the safety rails. Still no decision a yet on the colour to use; but it does need to be visible so yellow, white and silver are the obvious choices.

 

The low mileage 11B inlet ditch with the entry into the inlet chamber top right. The last few yards required digging by hand as the mini digger could not get close enough. [Photo by Jonathan]

The mini digger at the gap in the fence/hedge with the completed ditch. [Photo by Jonathan]

 

The other four (Roger, Nigel, Martin and Andrew) went to Working Lane to start the delayed culvert/cross drain inspections and clearance. However the first task was to use the self propelled flail to clear some of the vegetation from the haul road; and the turning point on the up side of the line opposite the Royal Oak. This has made a significant improvement; but there is more to do. On the first section of the haul road from Working Lane gate the fail can not clear any further width because it is embankment on one side and overhanging hedge the other. We will need to call in one of our contractors with a tractor mounted fail arm.

Nigel gets to grip with the vegetation on the high mileage side of the 24C outlet ditch at Working Lane.

In the distance, Martin is clearing the exit of 24C by the boundary fence. The outlet ditch is not now in a green tunnel.

The effect of the wet spring and summer is very evident with the length and thickness of the vegetation. Before lunch we cleared the outlets (up side) of 24C and 24A; including the full length of the 24C outlet ditch from the haul road to the boundary exit grill. Silt and debris removal in this ditch will be a regular task until next spring. After lunch we cleared the up side exit of 24B and the down side inlets of 24A. Hence total for the day was one and two half clearance; so only one internal inspection fully carried out. Importantly that was 24A, where the under track bore has an extension consisting of a 24” x 24” rectangular brick channel with a steel plate roof. This steel plate is now seriously corroded, and giving cause for concern. A tentative plan for fixing this will be discussed with the Civil Engineering team.

The up (Malvern) side exit of the main bore of 24A with the corroding steel plate roof.

 

 

3850 again - at the top of the haul road by the rear of the Royal Oak pub.

Summer is over

As we work outside during daylight hours, we adhere to the meteorological definition of summer (months of June, July and August), rather than the astronomical definition (the period between the summer solstice and the autumnal equinox). So this is the last report of this summer!

Thursday 8th August

A full complement of nine team members working, hence we split into three teams.

Nigel, Polly, Stuart and Ian progressed the bricklaying of the new inlet chamber for cross drain 11B at Stanton. Around 150 bricks were laid, three courses. It is likely to need two more days of brick laying here, this is turning out to be a deep structure to ensure stability of the embankment. The joint in the bore between the new plastic extension and the original SGP was cleaned from the inside.

The 11B inlet, this shows the unusual plan section. And the soon to be redundant old supermarket basket which had been in use as a grill.

Dave, Roger and Martin attended to the rebuilt of the down side crest chamber immediately adjacent to the low mileage end of bridge 10 at Stanton. Only one course of 36 bricks, all the removed bricks were reused and a new stub pipe entry added to catch water coming from the road was added. An attempt to rod out the outlet pipe between this chamber and the down side cess chamber was made; but there is quite a solid constriction of limescale about 1m up from the cess. We will see how this pipe behaves when the wet weather returns.

Rebuilt with all the original bricks, but a new inlet for road run off.

Jonathan and Andrew completed a few odd jobs. First a visit to Toddington to deliver five blue mesh catch pit covers to Walsh construction for use on the reinstated crest drain on the up side at Toddington North cutting. They also took the opportunity to remove several old wooden pallets from Winchcombe yard to the steam loco lighting up stack.

Our first use of the new blue transit (LBT - large blue transit to us, the other, older one is SBT for small blue transit). Toddington Steam Loco lighting up stack.

 

Then to Townsend Farm down side at Gotherington to inspect the recently rediscovered end of the toe drain. The clearance teams have cleared the fence line alongside the farm, which was where plastic twinwall pipes replaced the original cast iron pipes in the toe drains. These connect cross drain 27A and culvert 27B. Probably this was done in the 1990s - the high mileage end of the new pipe is an open connection to the old cast iron pipe and also allows inlet from a field boundary ditch. Now this join is accessible again, we will include it on the annual inspection and clearance of 27B.

Open connection between old and newer toe drain pipes by Townsend Farm. Maybe one day we will rebuild this with a proper chamber.

 

Next was a quick visit to JT Vehicle Services to get the tow hook on the new blue LWB transit raised - this to ensure that it does not catch on some of the steep slopes used to access the lineside. Finally they joined the groups at Stanton to unload aggregate for the back fill at 11B.

Wildlife report: Several rabbits that are afflicted with myxomatosis at Gotherington and Stanton; roe deer at Stanton. Plenty of fruit noted - apples, pears, plums and blackberries. However, all apart from some blackberries are not yet ripe enough.

Thursday 15^th August

Six of the team attending, but only five working on drainage projects. Jonathan was attending a 360 mini excavator proficiency refresher class.

Sorry no pictures of the works due to a technical problem with the author’s phone - it took the pictures but then failed to save them or up load to cloud storage.

Nigel and Polly headed straight to Stanton down side 11B inlet, to continue the building of the walls of the new inlet chamber. Almost 200 bricks laid, so the walls are now complete except for the top course of bull nosed bricks.

Dave, Martin and Andrew first reinstated the heavy lid on the down side crest chamber immediately on the low mileage side of Stanton Road bridge (10), thus finishing off the repair here. They tested the exit from this with 10 litres of dye coloured water - but this did not reach the cess chamber. Hence the obstruction discovered last week is quite substantial. Next they started the 2024 culvert & cross drain clearance and internal visual examination programme. Culvert 11A was cleared and inspected, and the up side 11B to 11A diversion chambers were cleared of surrounding vegetation.

After lunch all five completed a request from the farmer of the adjoining fields to clear the full width of Gallery Farm crossing. This is to enable wide farm machinery (combine harvesters) to cross the line. Most of the vegetation was bramble - but also some tall grasses which were preventing the high mileage gates from opening. In the undergrowth on the up side of the crossing was the remains of the cattle grids which were removed by PWay last winter. These are now stacked vertically so to not impinge on the width of the crossing. We noted that the down side low mileage gate post of the crossing is rotten at the base, so this needs the fencing contractor to replace.

Gallery Farm crossing at Stanton, full width cleared. (Photo taken 22nd August).

 

Finally back at Winchcombe we found suitable lengths of scaffold tube to form the safety fence of the new 11B inlet. The uprights of these will be installed next week.

Wildlife report: Evidence of deer at Stanton. The small plums on the trees at Stanton yard entrance are still not fully ripe – they will need quite a few more warm sunny days. The sloes in the hedges are far from ripe, all very hard. So too are the Stanton pears - but these are perry pears and will stay rock hard even when they drop off the trees in October. We noted a covering of the pink flowers of Convolvulus arvensis (field bindweed) particularly near bridge 11.

Thursday 22^nd August

Another day with a full complement of 9 team members - hence the need for 3 vehicles to transport everyone plus tools and materials to site.

The site was of course Stanton, mainly the down side inlet of cross drain 11B. Following delivery of the last required aggregate and bull nose bricks, we returned the dumper to Winchcombe yard. Jonathan cleaned and serviced it. Nigel, Polly, Ian, Stuart and Roger concentrated on the prime task of concrete backfilling of the walls adjacent to the embankment. Three of the four uprights for the safety rails were inserted into the concrete. Some of the final course of bull nosed bricks were laid. A start was made on clearing back the boundary hedge to enable ditch digging to commence next week.

11B inlet concrete backfill.

First three uprights for the safety rails.

 

Meanwhile Dave and Martin worked on clearing the access and ditches of culvert 11C, enabling Andrew to under take the internal visual inspection. Also they cleared the down side embankment around the slip marker posts - all appear to be in line and upright and there is no signs of recent earth movement. Andrew also revisited culvert 11A and the up side chambers of the 11B to 11A diversion to re-take photographs for their internal visual inspections.

Culvert 11A has a bore than runs alongside the farm track under bridge 11.

Culvert 11C was extended on the down (inlet or Cotswold) side several years ago. Like many undertaken at that time, no headwall was built.

In contrast, the 11C outlet on the up (Malvern) side is the original GWR brick headwall. Just to prove that summer 2024 was not all wet, this culvert was bone dry at the time of inspection.

Also bone dry was the first chamber of the 11B to 11A up side diversion we constructed last year. This is the exit from the bore under the track.

 

Work after lunch was somewhat disrupted due to the gas main fracture on the B4632 leading to the road being closed between Toddington roundabout and Stanton Road. All the team spent some time pruning the overhanging trees on the entrance to Stanton yard. A lot of these are plum trees - and most of the fruit is now ripe. Most of the team went home with some of the fruit.

Thursday 28^th August

The blog author was in Killybegs, once the western most terminus of the County Donegal Railway. No trace of the railway now remains in the town. Roger provided the following notes of today’s work.

Six of the team in attendance to progress a number of jobs all in the Stanton area.

We completed the hedge clearance on the downs side low mileage of cross drain 11B, this now enables access for the mini digger. This was brought to site and Jonathan commenced digging of the new (or rather instated) boundary toe ditch.

On the new 11B inlet structure (it is a combination of a chamber and an embankment retaining wall) the final bricks in the header courses were laid. A further intermediate bar to the safety handrail was added.

Almost complete, the new 11B inlet chamber. All bricks laid, and blue mesh lids cut to size. Just some earth backfill to add, and one more safety rail. Oh - and painting the safety rails. But what colour? Should we go for bright yellow as per Network Rail safety guide lines, or white, or silver, or GW light stone? [Photo by Dave]

 

Brush cutters were in action all day to clear the ditch which runs on the up side from culvert 11A back to the cess outlet. Also cleared were the three crest chambers and the ditch collection pit on the down side between bridges 10 (Stanton Road) and 11 (farm accommodation under bridge). Finally, all the cess chambers between bridge 11 and Stanton aqueduct (bridge 9) were cleared. Well almost, the very last one before the aqueduct escaped treatment as we ran out of 2-stroke petrol. A brush cutter in full cry is a thirsty beast!