Hanging on

With the vernal equinox occurring next Monday, metrologists and astronomers will both agree that summer is over and we are in autumn. This week we had a couple of signs that summer was just about hanging on; we spotted some swallows that had not yet migrated south and the temperature made wearing a jacket too warm for work. However, with little sunshine and a couple of light drizzle showers it certainly felt more autumnal that summery.

Thursday 18^th September

Nine of the team in attendance, so an even split with three in each of three vehicles to start with.

Nigel, Dave and Peter travelled to Stanton to undertake the clearance of culvert 11C which is just north of Stanway viaduct. This was the task which we postponed from last week. Both the inlet and outlet ditches were completely dry enabling a thorough removal of bankside vegetation.

Bone dry - inlet ditch of 11C.

Roger, Jonathan and Andrew also headed to Stanton. Their first task was to complete the removal of silt from crest ditches on the down side between bridges 10 and 11. Also they inspected several cess chambers in an attempt to devise a plan to repair the damaged chamber by bridge 10. We might have to purchase some more of the heavy concrete chamber rings – alternatively we may be able to move some from other chambers and replace those with GRP rings. That does require the use of concrete to GRP adapters, which we have not used before.

Silt removed from a crest chamber at Stanton.

After coffee break these six then teamed up to complete the clearance and inspection of 11C; and the down side slip markers there. In years gone by the embankment here suffered some slips; and was the home to a family of badgers. Probably these two items are related. Fortunately now, no sign of badger activity or further slipping.

Andrew inspecting the inlet bore of 11C - last year such an operation would have resulted in very wet feet. [Photo by Jonathan]

The remaining three, Martin, John, Stuart, proceeded to Toddington. They started with the clearance of cross drain 14A; which runs under the yard and the narrow gauge line before exiting somewhere in the adjoining field. So only an inlet to clear, but this where we have encountered contaminated water in the past. Hence, extra PPE is required when working here. They then moved down to culvert 14B clearing the down side before the rest of the team arrived.

14A inlet hides in the toe ditch on the down side at Toddington.

Roger and Andrew took a diversion to investigate the cess drains at the south end of the platforms at Toddington. The platform extensions here are going to have some impact on these chambers.

Inside the cess chamber near Toddington Signal Box. Just a trickle flowing in and then out to the right towards the ditch that eventually runs to 14A. 

A brief, but fortunately light, rain shower meant our lunch was taken inside the vehicles. After lunch, the combined groups continued heading south clearing cross drains, culverts and around cess chambers. The structures completed were culverts 14B, 15A, 16C; cross drains 16A, 16B and the road gulleys under bridge 16 (Didbrook No2) bridge. Plus a start was made on clearing at bridge 17A – one of the large structures reclassified from a culvert a few years ago. Four of these (15A, 16A, 16B and 16C) had no water flowing through – something none of the team had seen before. Being able to stand in the ditches not only enables better clearing of the banks, it also enables inspection photographs to be taken looking into the bores.

Unsurprisingly water was flowing through 14B, however it was shallow enough to enable a close up of the inside of the bore. 

All the edge slabs on the 15A inlet were still upright - just a shallow pool of water in the bore.

Cleared roadside gully under Didbrook No2 bridge. [Photo by Jonathan]

Dave clears by the hedge line to locate where we repaired the overflow pipe from 16A down side. No sign of leaks. Lot of rose hips here.

16C completely dry.

Wildlife report: Beside the aforementioned swallows (at Stanton); the team spotted quite a variety of bird species. Three raptors (red kite, buzzard, kestrel), woodpecker, great tit, wren, a small flock of finches and a large flock of crows at Didbrook. On the ground we noted two unidentified species of caterpillars and several species of slugs. Amongst the vegetation that we were clearing were wild hops and mint; whilst along the vacant trackbed at Didbrook we noted quite a number of deadly nightshade plants.

Hops at Didbrook.

Season of Plenty

Thursday 11^th September

Certainly autumn now, the season of plenty. Another day when the weather turned out better than forecast; the showers held off until lunchtime and then were not that heavy or thundery. A strong breeze kept the temperature down, but still warm enough for physical work outside. A team of eight in attendance, initially splitting into a group of two and a group of six.

The pair were Jonathan and Polly, their first task was the removal of old fencing wire from the very end of the low mileage down side toe ditch which leads into the River Isbourne. To avoid a long walk along the ditch, and the climb down from the railway; they accessed the ditch using the old gate from the B4632 roadside. They took the recovered debris back to the metal skip in Winchcombe Yard; then collected bricklaying tools plus some sand, cement and water to head to Stanton.

The gate by the roadside with the pipe under the road just visible bottom left. [Photo by Jonathan]

Cleared ditch flowing slowly down to the Isbourne.[Photo by Jonathan]

Meanwhile the group of six travelled to Stanton Yard; and then splitting further. Roger and Martin accessed the line at Stanton Field bridge (7); then proceeded to clear vegetation from around the cess chambers on both sides of the line north to Laverton foot crossing. They also cleared around the mileposts, including 7¼, which is just north of the foot crossing. This one is set well back from the vacant trackbed where the up line was; so encroaching vegetation can soon obstruct it.

Milepost 7¼ no longer hiding in the undergrowth. [Photo by Roger]

Looking north from culvert 7A towards Stanton Fields bridge (7); cleared cess chamber on left. Note how the vegetation has grown on the up side bank on the left. The whole length between bridges 8 and 7 was flailed back in April. 

Nigel, Martin, Andrew and Ian tackled the vegetation clearance at syphon culvert 7A. There was only a dribble of water flowing through this, and the outlet of this was dry. This enabled the removal of the silt covering the base; and some of that in the outlet ditch back to the boundary fence. Usually there is standing water over 2 feet deep here. Once Polly and Jonathan arrived with the bricklaying tools and materials; they set to work filling the cracks around the outlet bore and in the wing and headwalls of the outlet.

Crack around the outlet bore of 7A, previous repair stopped at the normal waterline. With no water in the outlet ditch; Polly was able to re-point right round the bore.

Whilst Andrew completed the visual inspection of 7A; Nigel, Dave, Martin, Roger and Ian continued with vegetation clearance. They completed all the cess chambers between bridge 7 and bridge 10; the access paths to both sides of Stanton Aqueduct, the down side slip marker posts under the aqueduct, around the mileposts and the small chambers on the down side cutting crest high mileage of bridge 10.

A cess chamber in need of attention; probably hit by a vehicle loading or unloading ballast at Stanton. We will have to raise the height of this to make it more visible.

The first rain shower arrived conveniently at lunch time; so no use of deckchairs today. Fortunately with three vehicles, there was a reasonable amount of space for all eight of us to eat in the dry. After lunch, the combined team headed down the line towards Stanway, clearing the cess chambers and then culvert 11A and cross drain 11B. This enabled visual inspections of these two structures; the small stream which flows through 11A was just a trickle; the cess drains were dry, so too was 11B.

Roger cutting an access down to the main entry of culvert 11A.

Another rain shower temporarily halted work; so we decided to leave clearing and inspecting culvert 11C until next week. Of course, as soon as we packed up and headed back to Winchcombe, the sun came out!

Smiles from some of the team (Ian on right) as it is the end of todays work so head back to the trucks and off to Winchcombe for a cup of tea in the cafe.

Wildlife report: An early sighting at Stanton were some red admiral butterflies, with a few cabbage whites seen later. As befits autumn, the season of plenty, the abundance of fruit was very obvious. All the pear trees at Stanton were heavy with fruit; some still rock hard as they are perry pears, but others are eaters and were just ripening. Juicy but very dry was the taste verdict of one team member. Still plenty of blackberries on the brambles, but now past their best. The remaining berries are smaller and not so sweet. Also well past their peak are the damsons, most had fallen off the trees and were lying on the ground. In contrast, although now ripe the majority of sloes were still on the trees. In the brush we noted several wild roses with plenty of hips, plus a few asparagus plants which had fully grown into tall ferns. Just a few flowers remain; including cornflowers and a few daisies.

Red admiral.

A laden Stanton pear tree.

Flowing again

Thursday 4^th September

Almost all of the team attended on what initially looked like it would be the wettest day we have worked for a long time.

Ian, Martin and Jonathan took on the completion of the clearance of the down side low mileage toe ditch at the River Isbourne bridge (21A). This is the ditch that runs alongside the Winchcombe Industrial estate, with Winchcombe Reclamation being the immediate adjoining premises. They finished the vegetation clearance right up to the B4632 main road. This revealed an old gate from the roadside, however it is immediately above the ditch, so of no use for access with mechanical plant. The group cleared the two sections of ditch that was obstructed with soil; and also removed an obstruction at the end of the (non railway) culvert that runs under the B4632 road. The result of this was that water began to flow down the ditch, although slowly. Apart from the River Isbourne, this was the only flowing water the team encountered today.

The old gate is just visible above where the toe ditch ends. [Photo by Jonathan]

With the exit from the culvert under the road cleared, water begins flowing down the ditch. [Photo by Jonathan]

Ian (l) and Martin showing how shallow the River Isbourne still is. [Photo by Jonathan]

An afternoon task was the cataloguing of our stock of tubes for the manufacture of safety rails and markers. Some of this is bespoke handrail tube, but most of recycled scaffold poles.

The other seven attendees undertook the culvert and cross drain visual inspections and clearance for the day. They travelled north to Little Buckland; where they split into to teams. Dave, Nigel and Peter headed south to deal with cross drains 5D and 6A at Laverton; also clearing the up side toe drain chambers north of bridge 6. 

Nigel on the brushcutter clears around the 6A exit chamber whilst Peter removes a sapling with the loppers. [Photo by Dave] 

The end result - chamber lids exposed and access cleared.

Roger, John, Polly and Andrew headed north to Peasebrook to attend to cross drain 3A. On the way they cleared around the now disused field access on the down side – this to ensure we can safely turn our vehicles here. This reduces the distance travelled in reverse between Little Buckland and Peasebrook. Next item for clearing was the length of the down side toe ditch between cross drain 5B and the northern most foot crossing. Even after the rain over the past few days; there was no water in this ditch.

Adhering to our confined spaces procedure, Roger enters the exit chamber of 3A whilst John holds the gas detection unit.

John tidying around the down side of the northern most foot crossing at Little Buckland. 

All seven then met up at Meadow Lane bridge for lunch – slightly extended to await the passing of a short but heavy shower of rain. After lunch the final structure for clearing and inspecting was the syphon cross drain 6C, which is just north of Stanton Fields bridge (7).

The inspection and clearing team (well 5 out of the 7) finish off and start packing up at 6C. Stanton Fields bridge 7 in background.

Wildlife report: No interesting mammal sightings today. At Little Buckland we noted a buzzard hunting over the adjacent field, so probably there are some small mammals there. The work at Stanton Fields disturbed a family of crows. The most numerous creatures we encountered were arachnids. Every chamber we inspected seemed to have a resident spider or two. 

Apologies to anyone suffering from Arachnophobia. 

Last of the Summer Days

Thursday 28^th August

An almost full attendance on the last Thursday of (metrological) summer. Ten of the team enjoyed the late summer sun in the morning, but with a few rain showers and a chilling breeze, there was certainly an autumnal feeling to the day.

Two groups were in action. The larger group of six headed for Little Buckland. Here Ian and Martin trimmed the access ramp from the road. Meanwhile, Polly, Peter, Nigel and Andrew took the tipper transit (well three did – one walked) a little further north to place some spent ballast and other infill on top of the section of twinwall pipe we laid in the down side toe ditch a little while ago. (Link) 

Twinwall pipe in toe ditch now buried. (This stops sunshine degrading the plastic).

All six of the group then combined to start our annual programme of clearance and visual inspections of the culverts and cross drains. The honour of the first candidate this year fell to cross drain 5A. This required very little in the way of clearance; as we had visited this four weeks ago to improve the outflow ditch. Our report from a year ago contained the observations “flowing well” and “water too deep to photograph through the bore”. What a change this year – no water at all, not even any damp spots in the inlet or outlet ditches.

Inlet of 5A showing a tide mark when in wet periods water pools as the bottom of the twinwall pipe is several inches above the base.

Polly (l) and Peter acknowledge the approaching up train at Little Buckland bridge. End of summer - so with advance preparation we have a loco fitted with snow ploughs! (26043, one time D5343, looking splendid after its major overhaul and repaint.)

So then a swift move on to cross drain 5B. This did need more vegetation clearance on the up (outlet) side. Another task here was the backfilling of the up side headwall with more of the spent ballast and spoil we had brought. We determined the safest and quickest method was to shovel the material from the bed of the truck into buckets; then to use a chain gang to pass the buckets over the running line and down the embankment for careful emptying in the voids. We completed this well within the 45 minute gap between the down train passing and the next up train departing Toddington. Filling the gaps behind headwalls and the tops of wing walls reduces the risk to us or other lineside workers of broken ankles or other injures from trapping feet in the gap.

Three men went to mow - left to right Ian on brushcutter, Nigel on hedge trimmer and Peter on rake. 5B up side outlet.

Clearance of the down side inlet of 5B was much less demanding. This was part of the major works undertaken last autumn and winter in conjunction with the adjoining land owner. Vegetation clearance here, and in the toe ditch between 5A and 5B was very straightforward. It was mainly grass with just a few lengths of bramble.

5A to 5B down side toe ditch -one year of growth but mainly grass.

The other group had a much more challenging clearance operation. This was to continue with the exposure of the down side toe ditch that runs back from the River Isbourne to the B4632 road bridge at Winchcombe. The fab four undertaking this were Roger, Dave, John and Jonathan. None of the team can remember when this ditch was last cleared – so not surprisingly the vegetation was dense. Even after this warm dry summer, in places this ditch was damp and in others the mud was quite deep. With out the exceptional dry summer this year, clearing this ditch would have been very difficult. In one spot there is a very deep puddle – possibly this is fed by a spring or from the adjoining industrial estate. We know that this ditch flows very strongly during wet periods and when the River Isbourne is in flood. Consequently we need to ensure that water is flowing out to the river without impediment to alleviate the effects of flooding on the industrial estate. Jonathan spent quite some time ensuring the length of twinwall pipe that takes the outlet of the ditch through the gabions beside the river was clear. During the afternoon, our fencing and clearance contractor visited, to assess how much of the down side embankment is accessible with his robot flail. What the robot can not handle will have to be dealt with by our colleagues in the Lineside Clearance team.

Looking towards the pipe under the river gabions. [Photo by Dave]

The 'coalface' - now about 30 yards away from the B4632 road. [Photo by Dave]

John rakes cut material from the floor of the ditch. [Photo by Dave]

A ring of sunlight highlights one of the team clearing the ditch. [Photo by Dave]

 

Wildlife report: The group at Little Buckland collectively spotted a trio of mammals – rabbit, hare and weasel. Or maybe the later was a stoat – it is difficult to tell these apart particularity when only glimpsed. Stoats are larger, they also have a longer tail with a black tip. Overhead a pair of buzzards were heard then seen – whilst robins and a wren were spotted in the boundary hedges. Loads of blackberries in the hedges, some now very large in size and delicious; plus a few sloes (not so delicious!) On the down side embankment near cross drain 5B is an apple tree, probably a Bramley. Some of the team took some of the fruit home with them. The Isbourne contingent spotted a sparrowhawk swooping over the embankment – no doubt taking advantage of the cleared section to spot prey.

Blackberries in the lineside hedge at Little Buckland.

Does this count as wildlife? A rat mounted on the lamp iron of the McRat 26043 - passing over the Isbourne bridge approaching Winchcombe.

Another day on the River

Thursday 21^st August

A late change of plan enabled all nine volunteers to spend another day working on the River Isbourne bridge (21A).

Polly, Nigel and Martin focused on improving the ‘homemade’ steps that lead down from the up side vacant trackbed to the bridge parapet. This involved some chain saw use to remove as much as possible of two tree stumps. They also added two new steps; dug out the bank and added some spent ballast to make the steps level.

Polly, Nigel and Martin working on the up side steps.

The results of the improvement.

Dave and Ian concentrated on the down side low mileage toe ditch. This runs from the B4632 road bridge past the back of the industrial estate. It was very overgrown; but still damp in places which shows that water does flow down to the river The twinwall pipe under the right bank gabions was checked for obstructions. In the river bed some of the silt build up was removed to ensure a channel for the discharge from this pipe to flow away. They cut an access to the ditch; and then began clearing the ditch. This was slow work – by the end of the we think only a quarter of the distance to the road was cleared.

Ian inspecting the twinwall pipe under the gabion. [Photo by Dave]

The toe ditch looking towards the B4632. [Photo by Dave]

Dave surveys the plants growing on the single bank in the river bed. Note the channel for the flow right by the gabions. 

The rest of the group (Jonathan, John, Peter and Andrew) worked on the downstream, up side of the bridge. More use of restraining harnesses attached to the parapet safety rails enabled the headwall to be cleared of moss and other items of vegetation. By working on just below the gabions (the water level is still very low) they removed lots of Himalayan balsam and other vegetation by the wing walls. Peter and Andrew removed yet more Himalayan balsam and some willow trees from the down stream banks. Jonathan dug out some of the silt that had built up where the vegetation has taken hold. John was on stamping duty, treading on the flowers and seed heads of the cut balsam. Hopefully this will reduce the spread of this plant.

Up side (down stream) portal of the bridge. Jonathan hiding behind the grass whilst dredging the silt.

Close up of the up side high mileage wing wall. As this is the north side of the bridge the vegetation stays damper; so the mortar joints are not as good as those on the down side which gets more sunshine.

Wildlife report: Early on we spotted a kingfisher on the down (upstream) side of the Isbourne; obviously there is good fishing here. Lots of ripening blackberries and sloes on the embankment side. And of course plenty of Himalayan balsam. That does seem to attract lots of bees. On the oak tree (down side, low mileage of the river) we noted lots of galls, each containing a larva of the common spangle gall wasp.

Galls on oak tree. [Photo by Dave]

Seven Up - again

Thursday 14^th August

Another work day with seven of the team attending – but a slightly different seven than last week. (Jonathan, Andrew, Nigel, Martin, Polly, Stuart, Peter). The others were either on holiday, doing paid work or had family commitments.

The River Isbourne bridge, structure number BU21A, was the work site for the day.

On the up (Malvern) side; the task was to clear the access from the vacant track bed down to the headwall; then on the safe side of the safety rails down the two wing walls to the stream. The dry conditions making this a much less hazardous task.

On the down (Cotswold) side, the main task was to make the steps leading down to the headwall safe. These were constructed by a contractor during the Isbourne flood works a few years ago; but due to Covid-19 were never fully completed. We used a mix of spent ballast and some smaller spoil to level out all of the 29 steps. Jonathan used the telehandler to transport this material from the PW stockpile in the up side yard at Winchcombe. With careful direction he positioned the telehandler by the Winchcombe up advanced starting signal, then extended the boom to enable the spoil to be deposited on the down side of the running line. This was undertaken under a line block agreed with the Winchcombe signaller, between the empty down train to Cheltenham and the first up passenger train. Nigel, Andrew, Peter and Martin undertook the shovelling and barrowing of the spoil to the steps – assisted by gravity! Stuart attended to the ramming and filling of the steps and Polly constructed some shuttering to form an extra step at the bottom. Four telehandler loads of spoil was more than sufficient for the steps, we spread the extra between the buffer stops of the first down side siding and the top of the steps.

A dust cloud arises as a load of spoil is deposited as close to the down side steps as possible.

Stuart ensures the infill is packed in level.

Looking up - three of the shovelling team take a breather.

The bottom part of the steps completed.

Meanwhile, Jonathan donned a safety harness and suitably attached to the safety rails on the down side headwall removed the bramble and other vegetation that was growing there.

Clipped to the safety rail, Jonathan takes a break from vegetation removal. In the background Stuart finishes off the step infill.

After lunch, attention turned to the vegetation growing on the down side wing walls. Working both from above and below (but not simultaneously!); we removed creepers and moss from the mortar joints. The moss being bone dry came away easily with a long handled hoe. On the high mileage wing wall we removed several inches of soil – with a lot of bramble roots embedded within. The copings of both the low and high mileage wing walls are now exposed – and all the mortar joints are in good order.

Low mileage down side wing wall after clearing.

The now exposed copings of the high mileage down side wing wall.

 

 

From the river the down side looks a lot neater - but not finished. The remaining bushes above the bridge arch require removal. The low level of the river is obvious; Andrew is walking on the lowest tier of gabions, normally these are under water. [Photo by Jonathan]

From above the down side steps are now unmissable.

Wildlife report: One brown trout was observed in the River Isbourne; but with some of us wading in the stream, it made a hasty retreat. Like a lot of water courses in the Midlands, there is a significant growth of Himalayan balsam. Whilst this has pretty pink flower heads, it is a non-native invasive species. However, completely eradicating it is almost impossible. Cutting the stems spreads the seed, so encourages further growth. The only effective way of dealing with is to pull the plant out by the roots, then to stamp on the flowers and seed heads. This prevents the seed from germinating. All in all a very laborious and time consuming process -so we only remove plants that are obstructing the water flow.