Day 5

Day 5 saw an early start for the group who were ready and setting up on site at 8.30am. 

Shuttering was finished ready for concrete pours in two separate locations.

The lovely George (Georgeous) continued block laying.

Colin did some more digging.

Michelle's lemon drizzle cake was particularly good today.

The group finished early to spend the afternoon recharging their batteries.

Most of the group spent the afternoon at Chatsworth House, navigating the maze, eating ice cream, seeing the house, and admiring the interesting sculpture...

We thought it was about time the WRGies had a bit of culture...

A huge thank you to Chatsworth House for providing free entry for the group to the house and gardens. 

The group then headed to the scenic inland seaside town of Matlock Bath for fish and chips.

Day 4

Work started earlier in the week continued, and lots of digging was carried out by assistant leader, Colin, in his air-conditioned digger.

Colin's big hole:

A group carried on building shuttering ready for a concrete pour in the hole, to create a base to extend the wall.

Blockwork continued...

Andy consumed multiple cans of energy drink and had a lovely time while Chris found a good use for a traffic cone.

The group packed up, showered and enjoyed a hearty chicken and leek pie for dinner followed by bread and butter pudding.

Day 3

Day 3 saw four new DofE-ers join the group who immediately got stuck into mixing mortar after a training session from Colin.

Block laying continued in three separate locations and good progress was made.

Demolition of one of the wing walls continued to make way for a spill weir until a technical gremlin slowed progress.

A group then worked on installing shuttering ready for a concrete pour before tidying the site and taking a leisurely stroll back to the accommodation along the canal.

After dinner (cottage pie followed by rhubarb crumble) the majority of the group went bowling, and Steve, the camp leader won.

Day 2

Day 2 saw lots of training for the new volunteers. Assistant leader, Colin, initially trained the group to mix mortar for the block-layers.

Colin also provided a training session on using the brick saw.

Some of the group also painted some of the wing walls with waterproofing bituminous paint.

Some demolition took place to create space for a spill weir.

The remote controlled wacker also made an appearance before the tired group headed back for a well deserved spaghetti and meatballs.

Day 1 - Arrival

Day 1, volunteers arrived, said their hellos, found a spot to sleep, and had the mandatory health and safety briefing, followed by an essential and entertaining toolbox talk about the potential pitfalls of the WRG toaster from George (Georgeous).

The group then put on their steelies and hi-viz jackets and headed down to the site where camp leader, Steve, explained the work that would be taking place over the following week.

The group will be finishing the steps on Constition Hill footbridge.

The lock walls at Staveley Town Lock will be back-filled and compacted down with a remote controlled roller.

Diggers will be working in the area below the lock to create footings for side walls.

After the site tour, the group got familiar with the variety of tools they would be using. 

After the visit the group tasted their first hearty meal of the camp - bangers and mash followed by Eton mess courtesy of the lovely Georgeous.

pre camp

 

 https://www.waterways.org.uk/wrg/

 

 http://www.chesterfield-canal-trust.org.uk/index.php

                                      
                        
http://www.dofe.org/

This summer a group from the waterway recovery group will be going to Staveley near Chesterfield, the aim of the camp is to carry on build a new lock , The group will be about 20 volunteers from all over the England and France and ages from 18 to 72 , male and female volunteers,
The work over the week will be very varied  from block laying to machine operating  and everyone will get a chance to try everything , 
In the group there will some doing their Duke of Edinburgh's Gold award Residential part http://www.dofe.org/en/content/cms/doing-your-dofe/activities-sections/residential/
we will be staying in Staveley welfare miners club 


below are some photos of the lock before we start work

                                                                            

This is looking down onto the lock from the road bridge

 

 

 

 

A new wall of blocks to be laid on the right

 Looking back towards the road bridge

 Inside the lock

 

One of the wing walls that have to be built up

This wing wall needs more blocks and the backfill with stone

 We have to dig out this area and lay a sub base ready for a concrete footing

 

This wing wall need to be painted black and back filled and rolled

 A photo of the block wing walls so far

 

 

 

 

Behind this wall it  has to back filled and a ramp made into the base of the canal