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.