A sunny interlude

Thursday 22^nd October

With named storms Austen and Boelo due to blow in over the weekend, and a couple of days of continuous and occasionally heavy rain at the beginning of the week, we were luck to have a rain free and sunny day. Observing how our ditches, drains, and culverts cope during or just after wet spells is very interesting and informative. And some time unexpected.

Today we carried on working on the Defford straight, with three structure inspections and clearance and several odd jobs. When trains are running working on this section, from Hayles Abbey Halt south to Chicken Curve requires some careful planning. The reason is that there are very few places to safely park a vehicle the required safe distance from the running line; particularity the Transit pick ups with rear wheel drive. The Rangers and Isuzu with their four wheel drive are better, we can get them off the vacant track bed in some places after checking the ground and cutting the grass and brambles. So today, after dropping the two teams at their work sites, Jonathan and Martin (S) took the vehicles on to Toddington before the first down (Cheltenham bound) train departed.

Nigel, Dave and Andrew were the southern most group. They cleared and inspected culvert 20A, and cross drains 19B and 19A. There was nothing flowing through 20A, but both the inlet and outlet ditches were damp. In contrast 19B, which is only just the other side of Old Farmers Accommodation Bridge (20) was bone dry. We expected 19A to be dry as well, but found the outlet ditch damp. The inlet side revealed that the recent flow was all from the down side cess; which indicates that is working well. Ian joined the group, after some workshop time repairing a hedge cutter.

Inlet of 20A, field drain outlet just visible at top. No flow today, but signs of recent water.

Peter and Roger’s initial task was on the inlet chamber of cross drain 18A, which is just on the high mileage of New Farmers Accommodation Bridge (19). This was silt removal and some minor repointing inside the chamber, something that had been on our ‘to do’ list for quite some time. So now crossed off. Unfortunately, whilst there they investigated the toe drain running south – it appears to have some obstructions. So one job off the list; another added!

The block toe drain leading into 18A. [Photo by Roger]

After returning from Toddington with the vehicles (and parking the Transit pick up at Hayles Abbey Halt); Jonathan and Martin (S) cut some steps to improve access at the larger culvert 17B.

Jonathan cutting steps at 17B. [Photo by Martin(S)]

The groups combined to undertake a rod through of 19A. Only a minor amount of silt and some straw came out. But the large diameter plunger end of the road also pushed out quite a bit of water, which indicates the pipe has a bit of dip in it. Whilst rodding was underway, Roger used up his bucket of mortar on another small repointing task.

Roger repointing, whilst Martin (S), Ian and Peter assemble the length of drain rods at 19A.

Last track-side job was to determine the amount of repointing required inside the arch of culvert 17B. Fortunately this is just inside the entrance and exit; but at the exit there is some pooling water which is more than ‘boot’ deep. So some silt removal will be required first.

The pond at the exit end of 17B which will need removing before we attend repointing.

We returned to the mess room in Churchward House for a late lunch. Whilst it was a dry and sunny day; the wind was picking up. After lunch some of the group stayed on to do a bit of tidying up in Winchcombe Yard.

Like with a lot of volunteers on the railway, Stanier Black 5 45110 has been a big hit. We love that hooter than can be heard miles away.

Wildlife report: A pair of dunnocks and a pair of robins were serenading us whilst at Old Farmers Accommodation Bridge. And the skylarks were soaring above the fields – and they were singing away too. Several pheasants were clacking away too; quite a few of their feathers were on the track-side. We also spotted buzzards, red kites and crows, and another flock of finch like birds. One day we will get a closer look to positively identify them. First thing on arrival, some of the team spotted a large roe deer bounding across the line near Hayles Abbey Halt.

Evidence of pheasants.

Little and large

Thursday 15^th October

A ten strong team today to continue with our annual programme of clearance and visual inspections of culverts and cross drains. The increased team size also enabled us to undertake vegetation clearance around cess chambers and a few other odd task. Didbrook No2 bridge (16) was the starting point for today’s work as we progress southwards.

Roger, Jonathan and Phil started by tackling the chambers on the cess drains that start south of culvert 16C. These run south, through Hayles Abbey Halt where there is a very short section in the old 6 foot, to discharge in the stream that flows under bridge 17A. The lids of one chamber were dislodged, so they had to be recovered from inside and replaced. A couple of chambers had some minor silting, so the group used a long handled grab to clear them.

Lids recovered and silt removed from an up side cess chamber. [Photo by Roger]

Peter, Nigel, Martin (S), Martin (J) and Stuart commenced with the clearance of cross drains 16A and 16B – two of our smaller structures. Meanwhile, Dee and Andrew climbed down to the road beneath Didbrook No2 bridge (16) to clear a cess drain outlet and the roadside gullies. As the leaf fall increases, keeping these gullies clear mitigates against floods across the road.

Neat, tidy and dry. The down side inlet of 16B, which just carries the out flow from the cess/toe drain. The up side outlet of 16B is piped under the garden of the adjoining property.

Dee clears a roadside gully at Didbrook No2 bridge.

After a coffee break, the clearing and inspecting team moved on south of Hayles Abbey. Here is structure 17A, which is large enough to be considered a bridge rather than a culvert. Hence the inspection is the responsibility of the bridges team, but we keep the vegetation down and the inlet and outlet channels clear.

Nigel, Martin (J) and Peter busy on the up side of bridge 17A.

Whilst on the down side of 17A, Martin (S) and Stuart take a breather whilst waiting for a down train to pass.

 

Thirteen chains further is culvert 17B. The bore size is six inches smaller than 17A, so this is a culvert and is on our list to inspect. There was no flow in the stream, and just a very shallow puddle of water at the exit. This enabled a closer inspection of the ends of the bore allowing us to take a look at some of the cracks that the last detailed survey of the structure highlighted. If the dry weather continues in the next couple of weeks, we plan to fill the smaller cracks with mortar. Then next year we will be able to see if those cracks are still growing.

Three of the team start clearing the access paths to 17B. Winchcombe down fixed distant signal is in the background.

Jonathan by the inlet of 17B, which shows how high the arch of the bore is. No doubt some wag will make a comment about billy goats and trolls!

2807 passes over 17B with a down train. 

Whilst Dee, Stuart, Martin (S), Martin (J) and Jonathan were occupied with 17B, Peter, Nigel and Andrew worked on cross drain 18A just south of New Farmers Accommodation Bridge (which is bridge 19). 18A is another small structure and is easily accessible by the bridge wing walls. It does however have some of the old thick and very heavy concrete lids on both the inlet and outlet chambers. Apart from the stream at 17A and the cess outlet by Didbrook No2 bridge, all the water courses we examined and cleared today were bone dry. This is certainly the direst summer and autumn the team have known.

Wildlife report: Today the highlights included a weasel at Didbrook and a hare in the Defford straight cutting south of Hayles Abbey Halt. In the air we spotted several red kites, lots of crows, and a trio of skylarks. Whilst on the ground there were certainly signs of autumn. Lots of horse chestnuts (conkers) and walnut shells at Didbrook, and even a whole walnut under a cess chamber cover. Most likely a local squirrel has been busy. As expected for this time of year, most chambers contain spider webs; and quite a few are home to beetles and other insects.

Conkers.

Five go to Didbrook

Thursday 8^th October

Five of the team headed to Didbrook today. However, this was not an epic adventure as we were not that surprised at what we found. Nor did we have lashings of ginger beer!

First port of call was Toddington. The drainage system here is very complex. As well as the cess drain, which is in the six foot between the platforms, there are inlets from the car park, the loco shed area and the land on the down (Cotswold) side. As carriage washing takes place in the platforms, the cess drain never dries out even in a dry and hot summer. All these inputs meet up in chambers by the signal box. So this is where Martin (S), Dave and Andrew started inspecting. On previous inspections we had noted traces of foul air in some chambers; so this time we used our gas monitor for confirmation. Good news – the measurements of hydrogen sulphide, carbon monoxide and explosive gases were all zero. Not quite so good news is that one length of the down side cess appears to have an obstruction so will require rodding out. Martin (J) and Peter cleared the vegetation from the chambers at the rear of the signal box and then opened them up for inspection.

From the signal box, the drain is piped close to the boundary fence at the toe of the embankment. Approximately 120 yards further on, the pipe ends and the drain is then in an open ditch which flows to the inlet of cross drain 14A. On previous occasions we have encountered foul water here; so we take extra precautions when clearing around this exit. This includes wearing a FFP2 face mask and eye goggles as well as the forestry visor and helmet; disposable gloves and a plastic apron which are binned afterwards, and finally use of a disinfectant spray afterwards; particularity on our boots. This does make brush cutting hard! It was Andrew’s turn this year; with Martin (S) assisting with the disinfectant spray. They found a pool of water at the exit of the pipe, and a slight rotting vegetation smell.

Pooling water at the exit of the pipe from behind Toddington signal box.

 Meanwhile, about 100 yards further on, Martin (J), Dave and Peter were clearing the inlet of 14A. Here, there was a trickle of water running in from the low mileage ditch, and no foul smell. The outlet of 14A is outside of railway land on the far (Malvern) side beyond the narrow gauge railway.

14A inlet - a tall stack of concrete rings in the toe ditch.

Next the team tackled culvert 14B – one of the more challenging structures. One challenge is the steep slope down on both sides. Another challenge is that there is a deep pond on the outlet side, thus weed clearance is restricted to use of rakes from the bank. After the hot and dry summer; the water level was low. This enabled us to clearly see the deteriorating wing wall on the outlet; and to get a good view into the bore from the down (Cotswold) side inlet. Sorting this structure out is certainly going to be most challenging!

Dave, Martin (J) and Martin (S) examining the outlet of 14B.

Looking into the bore of 14B from the inlet side - usually water is too deep to take this shot.

As we packed up after lunch, the Broadway bound class 122 single unit DMU pass by.

3850 heads a down train past the14B marker posts.

 

After lunch, the team again split into two groups. Martin (J), Dave and Peter took on the clearance of culvert 15A – another one with steep climbs down the embankment sides. An additional constraint here is that there is insufficient width on the vacant up side trackbed to safely park a vehicle the required 3m away from the nearest running rail. Hence we take the equipment to this site in one vehicle, which then goes forward to a safe spot; and use a second vehicle to collect the gear.

Andrew and Martin (S) went forward in one of the vehicles to Didbrook No2 bridge to clear a safe parking space by mile post 10¼. Whilst there they also cleared and inspected culvert 16C. This is one of the smallest culverts on the line, and the one with the inlet closest to the running line. Today this stream that runs through it was bone dry. It was flowing slowly last autumn, so this shows that the drought this summer has had a greater effect.

16C inlet.

Wildlife report: The strangest sight today was a plague of flies which settled on the bonnet and cab of the white Transit van at Didbrook. They also seemed to be attracted to other white surfaces – like some parts of our brush cutters. Didbrook No1 bridge seems to be a good spot for bird watching. Over lunch we spotted buzzards, crows, robins, long tail tits, blue tits and a couple of unidentified little brown jobs. On the vegetational front; we found more wild hops on the up side by culvert 14B, whilst there is an extensive patch of wild mint around milepost 10. Growing in the centre of the vacant tracked at a number of places were some plants with small white start shaped flowers. Without our horticultural expert, our best attempt at identification is a variety of of Solanum (or nightshade). But is it black (nigrum) or red (villosum) or divine (nigrescens)?

Black, red, or divine nightshade - or something else?

Tidying up

Thursday 1^st October

Whilst we often undertake tasks that are not specifically drainage, a whole day when all of the team attending worked on a non-drainage task is a little unusual. However, today was one of those.

The task was to start what is likely to be a multi-department project to improve the visual appearance of the main entrance to Toddington Station. Specifically the initial task was to tidy up the old garden centre site, as the public access route passes through it. The objective is to increase custom from passing traffic, particularity to the Cotswold Halt on non-operating days.

Stu, Nigel, Phil, Dee, Dave, Martin (S), John and Peter spent the day on an initial tidy up of the area under and around the old greenhouse. Stu, Dave and Nigel tackled the growth of weeds and saplings with brush cutters, not only banishing the overgrown look but also enabling access for other teams to remove their items. Dee and Phil began sorting out the unwanted items. Scrap metal went to the metal skip by the steam shed; off cuts of wood went to the steam loco fire lighting stack; general rubbish was placed in a skip; and the vegetation cuttings bagged up for removal or burning on a non-opening day. A few items made their way back to Winchcombe – some (such as heras fencing) to join similar items stored there and some for our stock of useful bits.  

Nigel weeding between the stacks of concrete sleepers.

Dave attacks the samplings between the rails.

Phil, Dee and John sorting out debris.

Dee and Phil loading scrap metal for the short trip to the metal recycling skip

 

Stu and Phil unloading the scrap metal.

Peter initially spent some time helping Roger in his first responder capacity moving some of the items from the first aid hut to temporary storage where the roof does not leak

Wheelchairs are an unusual load for us!

Even after just one day, the improvement was noticeable. 

For clarification, we were not demolishing the old greenhouse. The rumour that we were was a conspiracy theory, or at best fake news!

Wildlife report: As expected the local resident robins were the first to take interest in our activities. We noted plenty of pheasants on the way to Toddington and back, two suicidal males were bickering in the middle of the main road. Not surprising most of the saplings that had sprouted in the garden centre site were ash. By the steam loco shed access gate is a splendid patch of Hardy Cyclamen (Cyclamen hederifolium). Hopefully by next year, the station approach will have some similar floral displays.

Cyclamen by the steam shed.

A day at Stanton

Thursday 24^th September

For a change, all seven of the team attending today headed to the same location, Stanton Yard. However on arrival we did split into two groups.

Dave, Nigel and Jonathan headed south to clear culvert 11A, cross drain 11B and culvert 11C, plus the access paths to them. First of all they cleared the vehicle parking and turning point on the low mileage side of bridge 11; this enables two vehicles to be safely parked and turned.

The down (Cotswold) side entry to culvert 11A running under bridge 11 with a feed from the low mileage toe ditch which also takes the cess drain outlet.

The inlet chamber of 11B - cleared of animal bedding.

 

After attending to some overhanging brambles on the yard approach, the other four (Phil, Dee, John and Andrew) headed north to syphon culvert 7A which is just on the low mileage side of the B4632 main road bridge. Again the first task was to clear a vehicle parking space away from the running line and avoiding the cess drain chambers. Then it was clearing and inspecting the syphon entrance and exit. After another period of no rain, there was only a dribble flowing through, but a ‘tide mark’ on the exit chamber revealed some more recent stronger flows.

Just a dribble entering the 7A inlet from the bore which runs under the B4632.

On the way back to Stanton yard, the group stopped by the site of a lineside fire on the down (Cotswold) side near the aqueduct. This was to inspect the damage to the fence – four of the original GWR wooden posts will need replacing; but the more recent replacements although scorched were still sound.

John investigates the fire damage to the fence near Stanton aqueduct.

The two groups met up for lunch at bridge 11 – the vehicle parking spot makes a great picnic spot on a warm sunny day. After lunch, all of the team finished off the clearance of 11A, 11B and 11C and undertook the visual inspections. That completes all the culvert and cross drain inspections on the Broadway to Toddington section. However we will need to return to finish off clearing around the cess chambers and a couple of odd chambers on the down side crest.

Dave and Dee take a breather after clearing and inspecting the inlet of 11C. The access path here is probably the steepest we have.

Wildlife report: The area just to the north of Stanway viaduct and around culvert 11C once was a badger hotspot. But soil mesh seems to have encouraged them to move on – we found no sign of any active setts. However, at cross drain 11B, the dry inlet chamber on the down side was full of bedding. It looks like this cross drain has been dry all summer. A few brambles are still bearing blackberries, but very small and way past their best. The sloes on the blackthorn bushes (Prunus spinosa) are starting to ripen – but are not very palatable!

Stanton Sloes

Also not edible are the rock hard pears on the Stanton pear tress by bridge 11 – not surprisingly since these are perry pears. They will still be rock hard at the end of October.

One of the Stanton Perry Pear trees.

Probably the lack of soft and ripe fruit has lead to a significant reduction in the number of wasps we have spotted this autumn. But a couple did investigate one team member's lunch box today. Chiffchaffs and crows were the most visible birds today. The crows were in flocks on the adjoining fields, but fortunately they do not appear to be nesting underneath bridges 8 and 10 as in previous years.

No mists and very little mellow fruitfulness

Thursday 17^th September

Once again we were able to from two groups, one to progress this year’s programme of culvert and cross drain inspection and clearance, and one to undertake some of our other tasks.

Andrew, Roger, Peter, Nigel and Martin(J) formed the inspection and clearance group. Initially Nigel and Andrew tackled culvert 5C, adjacent to the first foot-crossing north of Laverton Meadow Lane bridge. Roger, Martin(J) and Peter cleared the vegetation around the five toe drain manholes on the up (Malvern) side that run from cross drain 5D north to culvert 5C. They opened each manhole to check for no obstructions.

The headwall on the inlet (down or Cotswold) side of 5C.

After coffee break, Nigel and Andrew moved south to cross drain 6A near milepost 7. This is one of our smaller structures, with both inlet and outlet chambers close to the trackbed and without a great height difference. They then moved south to the foot crossing near milepost 7¼; clearing a parking spot so the other three could bring the rest of the tools in one of the vehicles.

Up train with Black 5 45110 in charge approaching 6A.

The first afternoon job for the group was to deal with culvert 6B. This is one of our larger culverts, with a 3foot by 5foot brick arch. It carries a substantial stream that flows down from the hills above Stanton, and was running steadily. Surprisingly, the amount of vegetation requiring removal was a lot less than we expected. Finally, the group dealt with syphon cross drain 6C, just on the low mileage side of Stanton Fields Bridge 7. This one very rarely flows – the inlet and outlet pits are shallow and easy to clean out. The main item of regular maintenance is the clearing of the access paths down the embankment sides.

Nigel starts clearing the access to the outlet of 6B.

Result - headwall clearly visible.

Martin (left) and Nigel at syphon cross drain 6C.

Roger clearing the down side access at 6C. The syphon cross drain runs under both of the cess drains, the chamber on one visible at the bottom.

Green diesel in a green landscape. D6948 with an afternoon down train approaching Stanton Fields bridge (7). 

Dee and Jonathan were the other group. They first headed to Chipping Camden to pick up some bridge markers we have been given. Then on to Pecked Lane foot crossing at Bishops Cleeve to sort out some issues with the pedestrian gates. That took quite some effort as adjusting one of the gates required freeing some very rusty nuts and bolts. Finally they attended to a small fence repair near Two Hedges Road.

The replaced nuts on the crossing gate at Pecked Lane. [Photo by Jonathan]

Wildlife report: Red kites are now such a common sight along the line we may well stop reporting sightings. However, they are a magnificent sight, particularity when coming to roost on a tree less that 50 yards away at Laverton. Another sign of autumn we spotted was a flock of finches. Unlike other lineside apple trees, that by the crossing near culvert 5C bore quite a large crop of fruit. However, they were all very small. Most of the blackberry bushes look like they are now past their best. Hence, so far, this autumn is definitely not one of mellow fruitfulness; and no sign of any morning mists either. Maybe things will change with the autumn equinox occurring this coming week and thus astronomical summer coming to an end.