Easter Holidays

With a late(ish) Easter this year, and the promise of reasonable weather, quite a number of the team decided on holidays for the week before or the week after Easter (or both). The exotic holiday destinations included the North Yorkshire Moors, the Lake District, the Isles of Scilly and Birmingham (for a Genesis tribute band concert).

We can confirm that all the mentions of old railway items on the Isles of Scilly in a recent Heritage Herald blog (https://haylesabbeyhalt.blogspot.com/2025/04/sunshine.html) were April fools (or fake news). However we did spot this shed. Maybe it is a magazine store!

Thursday 17^th April

Just three of the team attending on Maundy Thursday – Martin, Jonathan and John. However, as very successful day with the added bonus of no passenger trains to worry about.

First task was some dye tracing at Stanton Aqueduct. Three and a half minutes after adding dye to the down side inlet, dyed water emerged from the up side outlet, as expected. Shortly after they noticed a small dyed flow running back to the inlet channel underneath the pipe and into the crack between the channel and the down side abutment. This did not immediately appear in the ground crack underneath the aqueduct. So on the assumption that in heavier flows more water would run back from the exit of the pipe they simulated a heavier flow scenario by pouring dyed water around the crack in the inlet channel. After a coffee break they noted dyed water in the ground crack underneath the aqueduct. There was also water seeping out lower down the cutting, but no dyed water had reached there by the time they left. Thus it looks like all of the water getting into the cutting side comes from the crack in the inlet channel. We have passed on these findings to the bridges team and the Infrastructure Manager to determine the repair plan.

Dyed water flowing into the pipe on the down (inlet) side... [Photo by Jonathan]

 

... and seeping back towards the crack between the inlet channel and the trough. [Photo by Jonathan]

The other task for the day was preparing vertical and horizontal poles for culvert/cross drain safety marker rails. We are using old scaffold poles for these – some of which were part of a condemned scaffold tower. Eight horizontal and sixteen vertical rails were cut to the required sizes – these are for the structures 37B to 37G between Gotherington and Bishops Cleeve. Only one requires a marker on both sides, hence then eight sets for these six structures.

Whilst Martin and John were busy cutting the scaffold poles, Jonathan cleared out the drains behind the workshop in Churchward House yard.

Finally the three paid a visit to Stanway Watermill, one of our neighbouring heritage attractions. https://www.stanwayfountain.co.uk/the-watermill.html

Stanway Watermill [Photo by Jonathan]

Thursday 24^th April

Back to a more normal number of attendees – 7. (Jonathan, Dave, Andrew, Nigel, Stuart, Peter, John). A single task for the day – beginning the infill around the one length of 600mm diameter twinwall pipe in the down side crest ditch which carries the stream that comes down from Cleeve Hill alongside the former Bonsai World site at Bishops Cleeve.

First job was to remove a section of boundary fence and undergrowth to allow access from the field track and footpath at the top of the cutting. Then we reversed the tipper Transit loaded with some spent ballast along the track almost to the access point. However the uneven surface of the track and the overhanging branches meant we had to stop a few yards short. So the ballast was unloaded into barrows and manually wheeled into place. This was to level up the ground around the circular concrete manhole, under which the stream makes a 90 degree bend). Pushing loaded wheelbarrows is much easier over level ground!

Gap in the fence and ballast to level the ground around the manhole to make barrowing the pea gravel infill easier.

We then collected three one tonne loads of pea gravel from Elliots (Cheltenhand) Ltd, for the initial infill around the twinwall pipe. Roger Kentfield, the owner of the adjacent field, very kindly let us bring this in across the field from New Road; thus avoiding the bumpy and narrow track from Two Hedges Road. Conveniently Elliots are located on Stoke Orchard Road, just the other side of Bishops Cleeve.

The final barrow load of the first tonne of pea gravel. With a short barrow run and a team of 7, shifting one tonne does not take too long. [Photo by Jonathan]

Stuart makes sure the pea gravel is level and compacted around the pipe. The rest of the infill will be more spent ballast.

As a footpath runs along the track and into the field, we were able to chat with some of the hikers and dog-walkers passing by. One of whom was Andy Protherough, the first Head of the Drainage department, with his dog Jaz. Andy can remember some of the previous attempts to prevent this stream overtopping the crest ditch following very wet weather.

Finally we erected two sections of heras fencing to temporarily plug the gap in the hedge/fence; will will need this as an access point for quite a few more weeks to bring in a lot more infill.

Wildlife report: Very definitely we are into late spring. Apple blossom abounds, Horse chestnut in full flower and Hawthorn blossom is starting. We spotted a pair of house-martins (or maybe swifts, they were zooming too quickly for a positive identification). Also in the adjacent field were some crows and a hare. Strangely the noisy gulls of Cleeve did not appear – even at lunchtime. Back at Winchcombe, this time the circling raptor at tea break time over the station was a buzzard.

Underneath a spreading chestnut tree - not the village blacksmith but the end of the track from Two Hedges Road and where the stream runs under it.

 

Replanning

Thursday 10^th April

Always have a plan B, and a plan C. A good mantra for any activity; though sometimes the formulation of the alternative plans takes place ‘on the hoof’. Today was a good example.

First of all, a job that we had expected to undertake but we found another team had already completed it. This was the replacement of some fencing alongside the Wychavon footpath near bridge 2, Childswickham Road.

Secondly our plan to use both of the Transit vehicles had to be changed. The white tipper Transit was out of action requiring repairs to the tail lights. Jonathan in his capacity as chief vehicle maintenance person spent the day sorting that out.

Final item of replanning was the rebuild of the down side syphon inlet chamber of cross drain 39B at Two Hedges Road. To obtain level brick courses with even mortar joints, we decided to remove a few more of the existing coping bricks. Hence the plan is now an all brick chamber with concrete lids, instead of GRP catch pit rings and a blue mesh lid.

Whilst the Toddington to Stanton section of the B4632 road was closed for gas main replacement, a lot of traffic diverted along Laverton Meadow Lane. This prevented us from working under bridge 6 to clear the silt traps. Now the main road is open again, we could safely attend to this. Hence, Dave, John and Martin just managed to squeeze two wheelbarrows, traffic cones, road work signs, shovels and rakes into the Ranger for this task. Almost a month of dry weather made this task a bit easier than usual; however the silt in the traps on the low mileage (Broadway) side of the road had the consistency of thick soup. Then back to Winchcombe to clear out the final Drainage items from the office in the old wooden C&M workshop that is soon to be demolished.

Martin and John attending to the low mileage silt traps at Laverton Meadow Lane bridge (6). [Photo by Dave]

Nigel, Stuart and Roger were deployed on the rebuilding of the 39B inlet chamber at Two Hedges Road. Again the effects of the dry spell was obvious, no water was flowing through this. However, a work platform was required in the chamber to keep the bricklayer feet above the sump. The removed coping bricks were taken back to Winchcombe to join our stock of spares.

Roger working on the revised brick building at 39B syphon inlet.

Peter and Andrew also headed for Two Hedges Road, but south of the bridge. They inserted some more sandbags around the end of the length of 600mm diameter twinwall pipe in the down side crest ditch which carries the stream that comes down from Cleeve Hill alongside the former Bonsai World site. Next was some careful measuring of the ditch further south. The plan here is to pipe the stream for around 60m to avoid the sections where water is seeping into the cutting side. We also noticed some damaged lids on cess chambers where a non-railway drain pipe under the line. So these were measured up for replacement lids and additional chamber rings to raise their height.

Sandbag headwall slowing rising around the Bonsai World down side crest ditch pipe.

After lunch all nine of the team attended a presentation from Gareth Mead of Severn Trent Water. Gareth explained the somewhat opaque division of responsibility for drainage between water companies, Environment Agency, high ways authorities and landowners. He also showed us a water testing kit that Severn Trent use to determine levels and type of contamination in water courses. The main item was revising the internal Severn Trent maps of all the pipes and water courses which run alongside or under (or over) our railway. This was very useful, as we now know what some of the pipes are; and know of some more (such as one running under the filled in bridge 41). [This included the pipe we inspected earlier between cross drain 40A and culvert 40B, this is a combined foul water and surface drain pipe, which does belong to Severn Trent.]

Wildlife report: The team at Laverton Meadow Lane spotted Cardamine pratensis, the cuckoo flower, lady's smock, mayflower, or milkmaids; plus the expected primulas in flower. Whilst at Two Hedges Road, the resident flock of gulls was noticeable fewer and quieter. On the ground we spotted a hairy-moth caterpillar taking advantage of a flowering white dead nettle plant. Very early signs of blossom was seen on some apple trees, whilst blackthorn and some other varieties of Prunus (which includes ornamental cherries) are in full bloom. Also noted was the first sighting of a cabbage white butterfly this year.

Cuckooflower (Cardamine pratensis) also known as: Milkmaids, Lady's smock, Cuckoo bittercress, Whitsuntide gilliflower, or mayflower. [Photo by Dave]

 

Hairy caterpillar on a white dead nettle plant.

Another result of the dry spell - a burnt patch of cutting side at Bishop Cleeve.

A flowering ornamental cherry tree nicely frames the single unit DMU at Two Hedges Road.

 

 

 

On the beach?

Sitting in a deckchair in warm sunshine, eating sandwiches for lunch, with gulls circling and screeching above, we could almost have been on the beach! However, it was old ballast under our feet – not sand or even pebbles. Plus no ice cream sellers in sight at Two Hedges Road.

Tuesday 1st April

More overtime for two members of the team! Roger and Martin, attended a training course on the use of abrasive wheels and cutting discs. This was run by Greenway Training, conveniently at Guiting Power, not that far from Winchcombe.

Thursday 3rd April

Seven of the team attending today.

Jonathan continued with the repair work on the Ford Ranger. The towing hook electrics are now reinstated in a way that should reduce damage when traversing rough ground or changes of slope. He also started repairing the Timberwolf chipper, this had failed after ingestion of some hard materials. Unfortunately he was unable to complete this repair as it required access deep into the engine area. A useful odd job accomplished was relocating our stack of concrete chamber lids – use of the telehandler made this much easier and safer. This is part of the tidy up of Winchcombe yard; associated with the demolition of the old C&M wooden workshop. This is very much a multi-department project; also involving PW, C&W, C&M and S&T.

The other six of the team headed for Two Hedges Road at Bishops Cleeve. Martin and John first fitted a removable cover over the up side washout lid of the (pseudo) syphon cross drain 40A. Constructed from two blue mesh chamber lids and four lengths of wood; this will adequately mark the location for now. We have abandoned the attempts to undo the seized nuts and bolts of the washout lid for the present.

The removable cover over the washout lid of cross drain 40A in the up cess.

Nigel and Dave commenced cutting back vegetation on the vehicle track on the down (Cotswold) side at the top of the cutting. We are going to need to bring in bulk materials along this track in the next few weeks.

Peter and Andrew started on the main task for the day – the inlet of the stream that comes down alongside the former Bonsai World site. First was a dye test, this time adding dye to the circular chamber with the 90 degree bend at the top of the cutting. Even after half an hour; the water tricking into the down side cess chamber in the cutting was still clear. So this indicates the source of that water is further upstream; we suspect it is leaking around the inlet bore. However, to check that we need to first arrange access to the adjoining property.

Green tracer dye added to the 90 degree bend chamber.

 

Coloured water quickly appears at the pipe exit.

But no green water appearing in the cess chamber.

Then the commencement of the laborious task for the day – excavating under the one remaining length of 600mm diameter twinwall pipe in the crest ditch to get this to sit with a 1 in 80 fall. Removing large stone, clay and hessian liner from under a large pipe in a ditch is not at all easy. With the other jobs completed; the team size grew first to four; then to six.

Team effort resetting the section of 600mm pipe - wellingtons required for those at the exit end.

Our first working day of the year with normal passenger trains running. Martin looks on from the top of the cutting whilst class 121 bubble car 55024 passes. The maroon BR carriage livery does suit this single unit.

Finally we removed sufficient material to get the section of pipe to sit correctly. Then after lunch, we excavated a bit more around the exit of the pipe. Then we laid hessian sand bags filled with a sand and cement mix around the base of the pipe. Hopefully this will prevent any backflow of water there.

End of day state at the pipe exit - more sandbags around the exit to be added; then backfill to bury the pipe. Plastic twinwall pipe will eventually degrade if left in sunlight.

Last job of the day was to examine the rest of the crest ditch – a task made easier by the dry conditions in March leading to a much reduced flow. Before the end of the cutting; all the water seeps into the cess through fissures in the cutting side. Our current plan to deal with this is to install a pipe in the affected section of ditch. We will need to widen, but not deepen, the ditch in places to enable use of 450mm diameter twinwall pipe, That is the diameter of the inlet pipe to the 90 degree chamber – so we are not introducing any further constraints.

Another benefit of passenger trains running is that the Coffee Pot cafe at Winchcombe is open. Thus our end of day cuppa tea is al fresco. (Left to right, Nigel, Martin, John, Dave, Jonathan).

Wildlife report: There is certainly a large diversity of bird life at Bishops Cleeve, probably because of the combination of habitats – woods, fields, gardens. We positively identified the flock of lunchtime gulls as Lesser Black-backed gulls. Earlier in the day a single Red Kite swooped very low over us. Other birds noted were wood pigeons, blackbirds, robins, magpies, crows, blue tits, nosiy sparrows, and great tits. On the vehicle track / footpath at the top of the cutting we spotted a muntjac deer. Insects noted included bees, tortoiseshell, brimstone and an unidentified blue/black species of butterfly. On the vegetation front the most apparent sights were the abundance of flowering dandelions and celandines; plus the blackthorn blossom which was probably at its peak. On the way back to Winchcombe, we spotted the first signs of pear trees blossoming. Less welcome we noted quite a few brambles and ash sampling sprouting along the section of the down side cutting which our clearance contractor had cut back in the autumn. The wet winter and warm (so far) spring is ideal growing conditions for a lot of our lineside vegetation.

Blackthorn blossom