The wrong day

Wednesday 4 December 

The drain gang don't work on Wednesday, but we did this week; it was a swap for Thursday just to confuse everyone. It was a big shift for Alastair as he had to be out on site at Bridge 37, Gotherington to meet the consulting engineer at first light. That's around 07:15 at this time of year, and it was a frosty start to make it more enjoyable. The meeting was called to get an initial assessment of the slip on the up side embankment. The cavalry in the form of the rest of the gang arrived at 09:30 after dodging Wednesday traffic in Winchcombe Yard. Next visit was from an ecologist, called in to look for signs of protected species on the embankment slope. 

While all this was going on, Andrew and Dieh got to grips with clearing under the bridge and taking out the final bit of vegetation on the slope near the bridge. 

Andrew starting clearing under Bridge 37
(Photo: Alastair) 

Bridge 37, Dieh cutting out the ash saplings
(Photo: Alastair) 

Last corner of the up side embankment to clear 

Underneath Bridge 37 cleared 

Andrew cutting his way up the slope 

Bridge 37 up side embankment cleared  

next job was cutting back along the side of the service road, there's probably going to be a lot of traffic along here in coming weeks.  

Up side formation looking towards Manor Lane access point 

Up side service road edge cleared 

By this time. it wasn't worth moving south to Bishops Cleeve to start more culvert clearance so the wing walls of Bridge 37 got a trim. 

Bridge 37 down side low mileage wing wall 

Bridge 37 up side wing walls 

The edge of the slip acquired a coat of paint, this will make it easier to spot any further encroachment without the need for measuring.  

Slip edge marking 

Last job was to clear the ditch along from the down side cess outlet to Culvert 36B. 

Andrew heading for home after clearing the ditch to Culvert 36B down side 

Lunch was disturbed by what is becoming a rare sight these days, 2 C130J Hercules from RAF Brize Norton on low transit passed just the north. 

C130J in transit over the Transit 😎

Back at Winchcombe the River Isbourne works are progressing rapidly, with the contractors eager to get back on track before it rains again. The gabions are in on the up side east bank of the river, earth was being used to backfill the excavation and rebuild the embankment. 

Feeding earth across water 

Backfilling in progress 

It looks like we are back at Bridge 37 on Saturday to do more clearing on the down side. 

The best-laid plans

Saturday 30 November

Another month has slipped by, the cold is starting to bite old bones now. The gang were pleading for a strenuous job to keep the circulation going this morning and sure enough one was found. This involved quite a bit of going up and down the embankment at Didbrook, dodging the sunshine to avoid getting overheated 😊 The plan for the afternoon was culvert clearance down between Gotherington and Bishops Cleeve, but as with most plans it went for a ball of chalk when we discovered an opportunity for some more embankment clearing.

First up at Didbrook we measured up and pegged out the missing stretch of fenceline on the up side of Culvert 14B. This involved a bit of veg clearing and a lot of walking backwards and forwards.

Culvert 14B up side headwall 😰

Alastair and Roger looking for the original fence post 

Stuart clearing along the toe
(Photo: Alastair) 

Dave cutting a path down the wing wall
(Photo: Alastair) 

Michael avoiding obstacles along the toe
(Photo: Alastair) 

What could be a spring in the embankment 

End of the fence at the north side of the site 

South end, original GWR bridge rail straining post 

Alastair hammering pegs in to a mark the line 

Michael still fighting the brambles 

Roger explaining something to Dave 😊

Phew! that was hard work 

Culvert 14B up side, outfall from the embankment 

On the way past, we called in at Toddington to look a the south end of the down side cess drain to check the flow past the signal box

Roger opens the lids 

Chamber 2, Anybody in! 

From Toddington we headed out to Manor Lane at Gotherington to finish the culverts along the straight to Bishops Cleeve. This is where the plan went pear shaped, going along the service road to Bridge 37, we spotted a crack in the surface. This looks like we may need some more earthworks to be commissioned. After some discussions with the powers that be, it was decided that temporary speed restriction (TSR) should be applied past the area until a full investigation can be carried out.

The next stage was to clear the embankment so that the profile could be exposed for the investigating engineers. That meant 3 brushcutters were in operation all afternoon working down the slope. Stuart nipped back to Winchcombe for some mesh fencing and barriers to shut off the service road. The Permanent Way team came down to check the track and installed the TSR signs.

Opportunity for more earthworks 

Three men went to mow 

Clearing the embankment to see the size of the problem 

Roger, Dave and Michael reach the toe 

Testing the depth of the void 

How many people does it take to fasten some fencing?
(Photo: Alastair)  

Warning fencing erected along the edge 

Temporary Speed Limit in place 

Service road closed to traffic 

Monday 2 December 

Back to Bridge 37 this morning to do more clearance so that a further assessment can be made. Consulting engineers will visit the site later in the week to start planning the next actions. The disturbance is on the up side well away from the track.  

Frosty start, Nigel down by the hedge 

Some thick vegetation to make a path through 

Roger cuts back along the crest towards Bridge 37 

Dave clears the crest to the north
(Photo: Alastair) 

Nigel working up the embankment
(Photo: Alastair) 

Crest cleared 

Stuart cutting the path along the toe
(Photo: Alastair) 

Roger working down the embankment
(Photo: Alastair) 

Alastair takes the saplings out 

Oops! wheel fallen off the flail, that may slow things down 

The cold weather brings clear air with uninterrupted views across to Malvern. 

Over to Malvern 

Up side embankment large area cleared 

Over the years debris has been discarded down the slope, it includes bricks and broken copings, one unusual exhibit was recovered this morning.   

Decorative brick recovered from the embankment 

Before lunch, Alastair and Stuart headed off with Peter to look at the area cleared by the Lineside Clearance team at Gretton. There's a couple of rather large ash roots in the embankment along that stretch.  

The Gretton mega-root 

Alastair and Peter examining the root 

Gretton up side embankment, great work by the Lineside Clearance team 

Back at Winchcombe the contractors are installing the gabion baskets in the River Isbourne. It is hoped that the work on the up side will be completed before Christmas. It just needs the rain to hold off so that the site can dry out a bit more. 

Culvert 21A River Isbourne, up side 

River running round the coffer dam
(Photo: Alastair) 

Gabion baskets being installed
(Photo: Alastair)