Entry: 15th January 2016
Consider for a moment the general feeling of excitement when, in 1793, the announcement had been made that the Grantham Canal was to be built. Possibly the first thoughts of designer, William Jessop were, “well that’s another one under my belt!”; for during that year nineteen other canals had been given the go-ahead and this was to be Jessop’s seventh. In modern day terms the achievement of these early pioneers was phenomenal. The Grantham Canal, which is 33 miles long with 18 locks and over 60 bridges, was built in four years at a cost of £129,000 – £13,500,000 in today’s money.
These were very turbulent times with the Anglo French wars in full progress and the battles of Trafalgar and Waterloo hadn’t yet been fought! Despite this, labour appeared relatively easy to find, albeit with 80 to 90% being of Irish descent. Thousands of Navigators, or Navvies as they became known, were employed to build the canals. They were usually camped near the section of canal they had been allocated. Most likely one of their first tasks was to set up a wood yard to process timber for planking, scaffolding and cart building. Kilns were built to fire the bricks which were often sold to local homesteads for building houses. The canal not only contributed to the prosperity of the area by encouraging trade but also brought a considerable amount of skill to the area. Once the canal was completed the builders either settled nearby or moved to the next project.
And so to our present day where numerous hours of work have already been spent on restoring one of Jessop’s locks back to its former glory. The lock concerned is Woolsthorpe Middle Lock, so named as it’s the middle lock in the Woolsthorpe Flight of seven. This will be the sixth lock to be restored on the canal and is being funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), Canal & River Trust (CRT) and the Grantham Canal Society (GCS). Contributions have also been received from the Waste Recycling Environmental Ltd (WREN) and several generous sponsors without whom costs would have been substantially greater. Apart from missing both the top and bottom gates the lock walls were leaning inward and it was obvious that a significant amount of restoration work was necessary. Many hours had been spent planning the project by members of the CRT & GCS in order to determine the best method for this work to be carried out. The eventual and most cost effective approach was for the work to be carried out by volunteers. In this way costs would be kept to a minimum and all volunteers would be given the opportunity to learn a skill that would enable work to be continued on to the three further locks in the flight which are also in need of restoration.
Since July 2015, when the compound was erected and site hut installed, a team of volunteers have been on site 5 days a week under the supervision of a qualified CRT site engineer. The compound area, including a small copse of trees, had previously been cleared and prepared by a team of Waterway Recovery Group (WRG) personnel together with a large group of GCS volunteers. Further preparation work was then undertaken by GCS volunteers which, included the installation of drainage pipework and the construction of a haul roads to enable plant to work on both sides of the lock. WRG then returned to site with heavy plant to excavate the area around the lock walls so that preparation could be made for re-lining them.
However, it was then found that the buttresses supporting the walls had failed, so the decision was made for them to be demolished. Whilst demolition work progressed the by-wash was constructed. This by-wash, which may not be used after the lock becomes operational, was necessary in order to circumvent the lock so that work within the lock chamber could be carried out. The lock walls have now been reduced down to approx. 1 metre high and the face of the haul roads coated with a thick layer of clay to form a dam so that the remaining walling can be removed and the lock fully drained.
GCS volunteers have been trained on site for operating mini-diggers, dumper trucks, abrasive wheels and numerous other associated equipment. Brick cleaning, a soul destroying task at the best of times, has been carried out in a thorough and professional manner. The several thousands of cleaned bricks will continue the heritage of the original builders, if not on lock 15, then certainly somewhere on the canal as work progresses.
The new bywash completed
