Frustrations

Thursday 12^th February

The team of ten managed some progress the drainage improvements at Stow Road Bridge, Toddington, despite a couple of set backs. The weather was our first frustration. The day started off dry, but soon turned damp, then wet. The local weather forecast was for showers, with brighter periods in the afternoon. The showers materialised as one long and heavy one, whilst the brighter spells never arrived. So another day where ground conditions on the cutting side were not ideal. The second frustration was down to human error. Despite our multiple and careful measurements of pipe diameters, an ordering glitch lead to us receiving an adaptor that was too small to connect the exiting clay field drain to the new long length of flexible pipe running to the down side cess chamber.

However, Jonathan started digging the new crest chamber with the mini-digger after having tracked it from the station car park entrance with John acting as traffic control.

Jonathan starting the excavations for the new crest chamber on the line of the field drain. Weather conditions making the Cotswolds appear to be wild windy moors.

At the trackside, Stuart, Dee, Phil and Andrew installed the new flexible pipe, after marking and cutting a section out of the GRP chamber ring. Nigel mixed up some mortar for Polly to cement this ring into place, with a few more bricks underneath it to ensure stability. Roger used the brick saw to cut a length of concrete ducting to cover the short section of S&T cables that were left exposed. Martin and John delivered an extra section of heras fence to the top of the cutting.

After coffee break, Jonathan continued digging the new chamber. He successfully found the existing land drain horizontally where we expected it to be, 4 feet below the surface. The rest of the team were occupied on the main task, placing spent ballast in the down side cess from the end of the platform, under the bridge back to the raised chamber. This involved a long manual barrow from the car park, across the barrow crossing and along the length of platform 2. As usual, access to this work site is not that easy!

Roger and Stuart placing a barrow load of old ballast in the downs side cess under the bridge. Completed raised chamber with flexible pipe from the field drain in the foreground - under the plastic bags to keep the rain off the curing mortar.

Dee arrives with another barrow load of ballast. Under the bridge was one of the few dry spots.

Nigel makes final adjustments to the concrete ducts covering the S&T cables. Note installation of the blue clips holding the blue mesh chamber cover in place.

The new flexible pipe running from the field drain outlet to the cess chamber - but missing the vital adaptor! Note the old ballast now extending almost to the S&T box.

For the second week in a row, we used the MPD mess room for lunch. Hot running water, soap and very efficient hand dryers were much in demand! With the heavier rain after lunch, activities were restricted to some site tidying up, recovering the digger and making the top of the cutting side secure with the heras fence and marking the excavation site. Then an early retreat back to Winchcombe. Final frustration was that the rain stopped just as we began to make our way home.

Stuart secures the heras fencing at the top of the cutting.

Wildlife report: Once again the weather conditions prevented significant wildlife observations. Besides the flock of crows in the field adjacent to Stow Road bridge (who obliviously like the sheep nuts the farmer puts out), the main observations were from the road vehicles on our way to and from Toddington. Two raptors, kestrel and buzzard, a few starlings and gulls. We could here at blackbird at Toddington but he (or she) kept hidden. We had no additional sightings of spring flowers.

Another mucky day

Thursday 5^th February

Another Mucky Day for the team, mainly working on the down side under Stowe Road Bridge at Toddington. Although the temperature was marginally up on last week, and the wind was not quite so keen and not funnelling under the bridge; this was a typical February day. Grey, cool and damp – verging on wet! Ideal for getting boots and gloves covered in mud.

Three of the team, Dave, Peter and Ian formed our regular winter road clearance team. The roads which pass under some of of underbridges are prone to flooding in very wet weather. In most cases the flood water recedes after a few hours; but occasionally a grill blocked by leaves or other debris or a pipe blocked with silt retains the deep water. Over the previous weekend we had heard that the water under Didbrook No2 bridge (16) was deep enough to prevent cars from driving through. One of our local members investigated; he determined that the grills were clear so the blockage must be in the drains which lead away. These are the responsibility of GCC Highways – so an incident was logged with them. Our Thursday three started at Little Buckland Bridge (5). Here there were puddles under the bridge because of the uneven road surface, and a pothole or two, but the drains were not blocked and were doing their job.

Little Buckland Bridge - no flood, just puddles. [Photo by Dave]

Then on to the next bridge down, Laverton Meadow Lane (6). Again the road was not flooded and the drains coping with the amount of rain falling. Surprisingly, there was very little material in the silt traps on either side of the road. These were cleared. One of the team drove home that way later in the day, reporting a substantial flow from the adjacent field on the down side high mileage of the bridge. However, this was all getting away.

Peter and Ian clearing the silt traps under Laverton Meadow Lane Bridge. [Photo by Dave]

Didbrook No1 Bridge (15) was all fine, just a very muddy road surface underneath. So the group of three proceeded to Didbrook No2 bridge.

After the flood, lots of mud under Didbrook No2 Bridge. [Photo by Dave]

The flood from the weekend had receded, leaving a tide mark on the depth gauge. The group swept the road and cleaned the grills. Whilst there, GCC Highways turned up with a gully suction vehicle. They sucked out the exit pipes on the up (Malvern) side; one of which was well blocked with silt. The group then headed to Toddington to join the Stowe Road group for lunch.

GCC Highways sucking out the drain under Didbrook No2 Bridge. [Photo by Jonathan] 

To assist finding the grills when under water, we have renewed the blue marks on the bridge wing walls. [Photo by Dave]

The group progressing the improvements to the drainage of the down side cutting on the low mileage side of Stowe Road bridge were Polly, Nigel, Jonathan, John and Andrew. We had planned on starting the excavation of the new crest chamber and ditch. However, a repair to the mini-digger was not complete, so we have delayed this. (Also with the wetting rain it would have not been a very comfortable day for the digger driver – our little machine does not have a cab). Polly and Nigel mixed some concrete to back fill the small training wall we built last week. Then after John and Andrew had cleaned around the existing cess chamber; a barrow load of mortar was mixed and a row of solid bricks added. This has some gaps in it, to allow the S&T cables to pass through and to allow the new pipe from the cutting side land drain to pass into the chamber.

Polly (l) and John determining where the field drain extension pipe will run.

The brick course raising the chamber to be clear of the S&T cables.

Andrew and Jonathan marked up the location for the excavations for the new chamber and ditch at the top of the cutting side. They also measured up for the replacement fence. One part will be removable to allow our clearance contractor access with the robot flail. A phone call with the contractor confirmed the minimum width this needs to be.

The two groups met up for lunch in the Toddington MPD mess room. A comfortable seat at a table with plenty of space in the warm and dry – luxury! [And of course hot running water in the wash room.] After lunch, both groups, tidied up the Stow Road bridge site, including temporarily placing the GRP catch pit ring on the new course of bricks. Finally, with some effort, we extracted the redundant fence post on the up side of the line. This was slightly easier than that on the down side (which we removed on 1^st January). It was rotten just below ground level, so we did not need to use a saw. However, it took quite bit pushing and shoving and levering with a jemmy bar. These two fence posts date back to the very early ‘preservation’ days. A fence across the (then) trackbed on the Broadway side of Stowe Road bridge helped secure the Toddington Station site.

Peter (l) and John take a breather during the post removal.

End of day - GRP ring and blue mesh cover temporarily in place on the down side cess chamber. Next time we will level the whole area using some spent ballast.

Up side with the redundant fence post removed. Now are we destroying heritage of the 1970s or are we restoring back to the 1950s?

Wildlife report: Not surprisingly for a dull, wet winter’s day we did not spot a great deal. A Red Kite was circling over the yard at Winchcombe, no doubt like the cat last week on the lookout for rodents. Also in the yard, we found a hibernating queen wasp in one of the holes of a perforated brick in our brick pile. Encouragingly the signs of spring are increasing. Snowdrops are probably at there best now (even better if we had sunshine) – the road clearing gang spotted a fine drift at Didbrook. Plus we noted the first daffodil in bloom, admittedly in the shelter by the front door of Churchward House.

 

A raw day

Thursday 29^th January

The only plus point for today’s weather report was that it did not rain. However, for most of the day it was misty, grey and with a keen wind blowing. Even the canopy on platform 1 at Toddington provided no shelter. It is certainly still winter. The warmest spot was inside the toilet block!

Eight of the team endured the cold at Toddington. A ninth member, Jonathan, attended dumper and mini-digger re-certification at Winchcombe.

The work at Toddington was to progress the improvements to the drainage of the down side cutting on the low mileage side of Stowe Road bridge. Polly constructed a low training wall by the adjacent cess chamber, Ian and Nigel acted as hod carriers and mortar mixers keeping him supplied with bricks and mortar. The first task for the others in the team (Dave, Roger, John, Andrew, Peter) was to remove some cut vegetation from the cutting side. This was medium size branches, which required a chain gang to carry them up the steep slope to the growing pile on the top. With that cleared, Dave and Roger brush cut the cutting side, as far as the course of the existing field drain. Meanwhile, the other three began removing the vegetation around the fencing at the top of the cutting. The fence here is in very poor condition, so we will replace it as the last item on this job. The small section of roadside fence was removed (mainly the very rusty remains of a gate) and replaced with temporary heras fence panels.

Nigel and Polly building the training wall.

Cleared fence line by the roadside with temporary heras panels in place.

Roger and Dave finish off brush cutting the cutting side.

After lunch the main tasks included the removal of a tree stump a third of the way up the cutting side, and excavation around the end of the existing land drain. Unfortunately a rummage through our stock of pipes and connectors at Winchcombe first thing in the morning did not reveal any of the correct size. So working on the ‘measure twice, cut once’ principle we took some more measurements on site. Particularity for the extension of the field drain, as this involves an imperial SGP to metric plastic twinwall convertor. Last task of the afternoon was to point up the new brickwork and to cover with some plastic sheeting to keep the rain off whilst the mortar dries.

Stumped! Peter and Ian wrestle with the tree stump, whilst Nigel is ready to prevent any collisions with the new new wall. Polly in the background carries on with pointing up.

Ian digs around the exit of the existing land drain. The temporary pipe we inserted last week is not quite the correct diameter to avoid all leakage.

End of day with the new training wall covered. Height and position of the blue mesh chamber cover is only temporary.

Whilst at Toddington, Ian knocked off one outstanding small task by removing the stump of a telegraph pole stay in the hedge just on the high mileage side of the Platform 2 entrance gate. We know of only one other remaining pole stay stump on the line, but that has small tree growing around it.

Wildlife report: Another species of bird to add to our list of observations was a wren. The hedges of the station and nearby cottages at Toddington providing a suitable habitat. In the adjoining fields north of the station we observed a large flock of crows, a few gulls and a red kite. On the way back to Winchcombe we noted a kestrel, so getting the raptor count to two. The mammal count was zero, unless we count a black and white domestic cat who passed by the entrance to Churchward House to the gaps between the containers in the yard. No doubt performing a useful service to the railway by keeping the rodent population in check.

Signs of Spring

After our very wet, but short day, last week we did not have high expectations for this week. However, the weather was slightly better than forecast, just damp rather than wet, not too cold and even a few patches of blue sky and some brief sunny periods. Plus, we noted the first signs of spring.

Thursday 22^nd January

Eleven of the team reported for work today. The large number enabled a split into two teams heading for two completely separate work sites.

Jonathan, Dave, Roger, John and Martin headed south to Bishops Cleeve. The first task quickly undertaken was to check for any build-up of silt at the down side entry of culvert 39A. This is the one close to Pecked Lane foot crossing. It was flowing well, so no work was necessary here. When the flow eases off, we sometimes get a build up of silt in the entrance.

Next task for the team was to use the heavy duty brushcutters to shred the remaining cut vegetation on the up (Malvern) side cutting. There were three spots, one just before Two Hedges Road and two after. We are looking forward to seeing grass, rather than bramble or scrub, growing on this cutting.

Up side cutting south of Two Hedges Road looking towards Cheltenham. Much neater with the removal of cut vegetation. [Photo by Dave]

Further along, where the cutting transitions into an embankment, the group removed some damaged and redundant post and wire fencing. This is where the houses on Paget Road back onto the line, they now have their own fences. The wire became scrap; but some of the posts were recovered back to Winchcombe Yard as we can reuse them elsewhere.

The big task for the team was to full clear the silt from the down (Cotswold) side inlet of syphon cross drain 40A. This was an interesting task. After moving aside one of the concrete sleepers which covers the inlet channel, they removed some rather smelly silt. This revealed quite a good flow coming from under the adjacent farm track and footpath. In the base of the chamber is a circular hole full of silt and debris. The water flows over this, then into a pipe which heads down cutting side. As we have never found the outlet of the syphon, the exact arrangement here is a bit of a mystery. Now with the silt cleared from the inlet, we will return to undertake a further flow test with dye. That will have to wait for a few week though, as the vacant up side track bed is not accessible until the completion of the laying of a replacement S&T cable from Gotherington to Cheltenham.

40A inlet with one covering sleeper removed. [Photo by Dave]

40A pipe coming from under the farm track & footpath. [Photo by Dave]

40A exit to the syphon. [Photo by Dave]

The other group, Dee, Andrew, Ian, Nigel, Peter and Stuart, headed north to Toddington. Their task was to commence the construction work to alleviate the field and road run off which has afflicted the down side low mileage of Stowe Road Bridge (13) for many years. The first task was to complete the excavation between the bridge and the existing cess chamber. Then Nigel and Peter mixed three barrow loads of concrete; for careful insertion. Stuart and Andrew inserted steel reinforcing bars, and then carefully levelled out the concrete. This will form the base for a small retaining wall to keep silt away from the cess; and for the extra course of bricks to raise the chamber.

Stuart tamping and levelling the concrete for the wall base.

Close up showing some shuttering to avoid cementing in the S&T point cable which runs below the cable trough.

Peter and Stuart start clearing up after finishing the concrete laying. Having no rakes of stabled carriages in the platforms at Toddington makes working here a lot easier.

Meanwhile, Dee and Ian surveyed the cutting side. We suspected there was an existing land drain – this was easy to find today as it was running well. Unfortunately it emerges some way up the cutting side; water then running down the cutting side into the cess almost underneath the S&T cabinet. Not an ideal situation. This field drain probably extends beyond the railway boundary. The probable line of this drain was marked with blue marker paint. We then decided to modify our plan for the improvements here. We marked out the line of a new crest drain from the boundary corner by the road to site of a new chamber above the existing field drain. This will save the effort of constructing a new French drain or pipe run down the side of the cutting. We measured up and test fitted a length of flexible pipe to extend the field drain to the cess chamber. The diameter of the flexible pipe was perfect – but it was not long enough. So something for the shopping list this week.

Ian removes a tree stump just below where the field drain exits.

The crest of the cutting - just visible marking for the suspected run of the field drain and the location of the new chamber (to left of help of vegetation).

Test fitting of flexible pipe to extend the field drain to the cess chamber.

After lunch, Stuart and Ian undertook some flow tests with the marker dye. This showed that both the up and down side cess drains flow north from Stowe Road towards Stanway viaduct. The connection under the tracks to the cess drain in the six foot between the platforms at Toddington was not flowing. The other four used the laser level to take readings of the levels of the land on the crest of the cutting. The important item to determine from that data is the depth of the new junction chamber; and consequently the number of chamber rings we will need.

Ian and Stuart returning from the dye testing. Note the sunshine!

End of day - ply covering the curing concrete and blue mesh lids to cover the holes.

Wildlife report: We spotted some welcome signs of spring approaching. By the fence line alongside Stowe Road bridge was a patch of snowdrops. At Bishops Cleeve, the group there noted increased activity by long tailed tits – the down side cutting by Two Hedges Road has some ideal nest sites. Whilst at Toddington, two robins serenaded us whilst taking lunch on the platform. They certainly were having a singing competition; maybe two males at the edges of their territories, or a maybe a courting couple. Not quite wildlife, but the team members driving home towards Broadway reported a spectacular rainbow, a full 180 degrees arc across the sky.

Sign of spring 1 - snowdrops at Toddington. [Photo by Dee]

Sign of spring 2 - bulbs at Bishops Cleeve. [Photo by Dave]

 

A very wet (half) day

Thursday 15^th January

We were not so lucky with the weather today. The Met Office forecast predicted rain from 10am, becoming heavy around lunchtime. Almost spot on. Rain at Bishops Cleeve started at 10.30, and by noon was heavy enough to penetrate ‘waterproof’ PPE and make working on embankment and cutting slopes unsafe. So we called it a short day, retreating to the Churchward House mess at Winchcombe for lunch. A very brief period of less heavy rain allowed us to unload the vehicles with out getting drenched.

However, we did manage to achieve some of the planned tasks during the morning. John and Jonathan took a trip to Tewkesbury to collect the Isuzu truck from the main dealer, complete now with two sets of fully working keys. Unfortunately on the way back the Engine Management warning light came on; so Jonathan spent the afternoon diagnosing that problem.

Dave, Roger, Martin and Peter managed to finish the clearance of the low mileage down side toe ditch that runs to cross drain 40B south of Two Hedges Road. So now we have the complete length of the this ditch cleared from the entry by ‘Bonsai World’ along the cutting crest and then by the embankment toe. This has revealed several spots where undercutting is occurring. Bringing in infill is not going to be an easy job.

Peter (l) and Roger under take some final pruning at the 40B inlet. [Photo by Dave]

Dee, Polly and Andrew’s first task was to check on the slip monitoring equipment on the up (Malvern) side at Far Stanley. Most likely the low temperatures, ice and snow has played up with the remote sending of data. Without the special star allen key to open up the transmitter, the group decided the best plan was to bring the unit back to Winchcombe for attention. However, a visual check of the slip and the marker posts did not show any recent movement.

All slip marker posts still upright at Far Stanley.

Next stop was just down the line at cross drain 31A. The new owner of the adjacent property on the down (Cotswold) side of the line is very pro-Railway. He has cleared along his boundary line at the toe of the embankment, including the removal of a tree over the inlet of 31A. He has offered us access to enable the rebuilt of the inlet chamber; which will stabilise the bank on his side of the boundary.

Cleared boundary, so the silhouette racehorse and cross drain 31A inlet are easy to spot from the line.

So today’s task was to measure up the existing chamber; and to formulate the rebuild plans. One decision we made today was to wait until some drier weather before starting work here. Primarily this is to avoid churning up the landowners grassed area.

Dee and Polly consider options for the 31A inlet chamber rebuild.

We also measured up the outlet on the up side. Whilst we are there we might as well tend to that. This will be a simpler job, the existing headwall is in reasonable condition. So the plan is to add some solid wing walls to prevent the pressure of the embankment causing the headwall to lean.

31A outlet - the small headwall needs to be shored up with some sturdy wingwalls.

On the way to exiting the lineside at Gotherington Yard, they stopped for a chat with the operator of our clearance contractor’s robot flail. He had cleared all the up side cutting between Dixton Road bridge and The Tirle Brook flume (culvert 32A). Like us, he was anxious to get some more work completed before the heavy rain.

After a quick coffee break, the whole team were able to progress the clearance of the up side cess and cutting side at Two Hedges Road. This included removal of the discarded downpipes (see last weeks report); the large tree branches after chain sawing into manageable lengths; and various items of garden debris. Plus, as usual for Bishops Cleeve, lots of balls – golf, football, rugby, tennis, table tennis. A pleasant surprise was the pile of debris on the low mileage side of Two Hedges Road did not contain any nasty big items; just branches tangled up with brambles. We removed the bigger branches – but, like with the sites on the other side of the bridge, decided to postpone the shredding of the smaller vegetation with our larger brush cutters until a drier day.

Roger prunes the brambles away with a hedge trimmer.

Then Dave follows up with a brush cutter fitted with a shredder blade.

So the team departed Winchcombe at the very early hour of 2pm – in torrential rain. It would not have been pleasant, productive or safe to have continued working in such conditions.

Wildlife report: Not surprisingly for a cool, dull, grey and wet day our list of sighting was short. A muntjac deer at Far Stanley, several pheasants at Gotherington were the highlights. On the way back one vehicle nearly had a strike with a low flying wood pigeon; and we noted a very bedraggled kestrel perched on a telegraph post. Like us, most wildlife had decided to stay our of the rain.

Another GWSR blog: At long last our colleagues in the Lineside Clearance teams are documenting the important work they undertake on a blog. The URL is https://linesidegang.blogspot.com/ 

Lull before Goretti

Thursday 8^th January

We were fortunate with a window of reasonable weather for today’s work. The overnight drizzle, mist and low cloud cleared as we assembled at Winchcombe, and the first pulse of rain that storm Goretti brought arrived as we were packing away. At one point we even saw a bright patch in the sky!

Ten of the team attending. A new excuse from one who didn’t; he was trapped by heavy snow in Aberdeenshire.

Dave, Nigel and John took one of the Transits and headed to Swindon Lane bridge, on the northern edge of Cheltenham Racecourse. They trimmed the vegetation around all the cess chambers and lineside signs between the RDA crossing and Kayte Lane crossing. Plus a little bit more serious clearance on the down (Cotswold) side cutting just south of the bridge – probably a section we missed last winter.

It is not only vegetation that we clear from drain grills - here are several empty drink cans on the down side high mileage of Southam Lane bridge. [Photo by Dave]

Nigel tackles at least two years of bramble growth near Southam Lane. [Photo by Dave]

John on raking duty with Southam Lane bridge in the background. [Photo by Dave]

Ian, Peter and Stuart also undertook clearance, but this was a bit more serious. This was the ‘Bonsai World’ stream where is becomes a toe ditch on the down side running towards cross drain 40B. We are not sure when this section of ditch was last cleared – hence the initial attack was with loopers and a hedge trimmer. Only once overhanging branches were out of the way could they deploy brush cutters. They managed to clear almost the whole length, frustratingly leaving just a few yards for next time. Some interesting discoveries included an abandoned pipe from the down side cess to this ditch; and three field drains from the adjoining field.

Abandoned SGP pipe that once linked the down side cess to the toe ditch low mileage of 40B. There is a newer connection with a proper headwall a little further along, see below. 

Beyond the new cess connection, Peter uses the loopers to make access possible.

Ian almost totally hidden by vegetation - almost but not quite at the 40B inlet.

Dee and Andrew’s first tasks were to use the coloured dye tracer to establish some flows and leaks. First was the down side manhole on the low mileage of footbridge 39Z (alongside Two Hedges Road); this should flow into syphon cross drain 39B. The tracer dye established that the base of the manhole leaks ending up in the twinwall pipe running from the wingwall of bridge 40 to the down side cess. That will be a relatively easy one to fix – once we have some dry weather. Next was syphon 40A on the high mileage side of Two Hedges Road, where there is a small flow of water emerging from the up (Malvern) side cutting near the syphon washout cover. They put a bucket of dye into the 40A inlet on the top of the down side cutting; but even after an hour no coloured water emerged from the up side leak. This eliminates a broken syphon pipe as the source of this leak. Then the third dye test, as the now infamous Bonsai World stream. With the wetter weather over the past couple of months, we have noticed water flowing through the two twinwall pipes which lead directly to the cess chamber by the stream entry point. The dye test showed that this comes from the joint between the entry manhole and the length of 600mm diameter pipe in the crest ditch. This will be a bit more complex to fix, probably using mastic from the inside. So another job that has to wait for dry weather.

Green dyed water enters the down cess from the wingwall drain pipe of bridge 40. 

But only clear water flowed from the leak by the syphon washout cover of 40A.

The down side cess by the Bonsai World entry soon turned green when the dye was added to the man hole - the two plastic pipes here are those running direct from the crest.

Polly and Jonathan had a trip to Tewkesbury to take the Isuzu truck to a main dealer there. This is to fix a problem with the second set of keys which would open the vehicle but not start the engine. One the way back from Tewkesbury, they called in at Norths Bakery in Bishops Cleeve to obtain some hot Cornish pasties for all the team. They then joined Andrew and Dee clearing bulky items of debris from the up side cutting at the rear of the houses on Pagets Road. This has prevented the clearance contractor from fully clearing the cutting side with the robot flail. A lot of the debris was garden waste, including some large tree branches. Also some old drain pipes, concrete slabs, bricks and other rubble; plus numerous balls (football, rugby and golf).

Dee and Polly dealing with some of the larger branches on the cutting side.

The two lengths of soil downpipe which have probably been on the cutting side for many years.

After a short lunch break, with the help of the group who had completed the Southam Lane work, we brush cut two of these problem lengths of the cutting side. A third length and dealing with larger branches will be on the task list for next week. Then back to Winchcombe before the arrival of storm Goretti – one groups diverting via Working Lane to offload the wood debris there.

Neat and tidy - with just some larger branches and few lumps of concrete to collect next time.

Wildlife report: The most numerous birds we spotted today were sparrows – as the urban section at Bishops Cleeve is one of the few lengths of the railway providing their favoured habitat. Several magpies noted too, and, as usual for Cleeve, quite a few gulls. At lunch time we noted a heron perched on the ridge of a house; maybe eyeing up a garden fish pond. It was soon chased off by two of the gulls and then mobbed by a crow. Finally we noted two different robins whilst working on the 40B toe ditch – maybe partners or maybe the ditch extends into two territories. The only mammal spotted was a grey squirrel.