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Saturday 29 July

I've finished.

I've walked all the accessible route of the Cotswold Canals since the spring this year.  Twice.  Out and back to the car in most cases.

Today I walked the section from Brimscombe Port to Ocean Basin which is the first section planned for restoration.  Advanced works are visible in some places and much more will be visible when work starts in earnest later this year.

I've also captured activities along the canals.  The opening of the Visitor Information Centre at Lechlade and the trip boat Inglesham.  At Saul Junction we have captured the festival and the trip boat Perseverance.

We were to have filmed the two work parties last weekend but they were cancelled after the tragic accident at Newtown Lock.  We'll look out for when they are reinstated later in the year.

As soon as we have returned from filming over the next two weeks along the Forth & Clyde and Union Canals it will be time to start editing the Cotswold Canals DVD.

Sunday 23 July

An email arrived last with the latest Cotswold Canals Trust newsletter. You can subscribe to the email newsletter on their website.

The good news is that there are two volunteer working parties next weekend.  The even better news is that they are both on the section of route I was planning to walk next weekend anyway.  I'm sure they will welcome more volunteers if you can spare the time to help them.

The first working party runs from Sunday 30th July to Wednesday 2nd August.  It is on the Stroudwater Canal between Oil Mills Bridge at Ebley and Ryeford Double Lock.  You can find full details on their website or by contacting Ken Burgin by email (ken.burgin@pikelock.com) or phone (01453 827 414).

The second runs on Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th July.  It will be an archaeological dig at Dubridge Wharf.  Anyone interested is asked to contact Keith Lloyd by email (keith-lloyd@supanet.com) or phone (07758 004 250).

We will be visiting both sites briefly during the weekend so you might even see yourself working hard in the Cotswold Canals DVD (providing, or course, you volunteer and work hard).

Note - Monday 24 July:  I have just been advised that the second work party will now be Saturday only.

FURTHER NOTE:  Thursday 27 July:  I have just received Cotswold Canals Trust Newsletter number 7 which says:

"Due to a tragic accident at Newtown Lock on Wednesday, it is with regret that the Ryeford and Archaeological Trust working parties scheduled for this weekend and next week will have to be cancelled".

We are very sorry to hear about the accident.  There were brief reports on the BBC and Gloucestershire Constabulary (link no longer works) websites.

Saturday 22 July

Filming once again for the Cotswold Canals DVD.  Walking the towpath and the future route of the canal from near Stonehouse to Saul Junction.

Part of this section is restored, including Newtown and Blunder locks.  Navigation was recently restored at Pike Bridge when the new bridge was constructed which will allow the reconstruction of Pike Lock and an increase in the navigable length of this section.

A little further to the west the line of the canal is blocked by the M5 and A38.  It would be exceptionally difficult (and expensive) to reconstruct the canal along its original route with new bridges required under both of these.

Fortunately there may be an alternative solution by following the course of the adjacent River Frome which already passes under bridges under these roads.

The bridges do, however, look very low so I'll have to check out the plans for this section before editing the DVD.

Saturday 15 July

Filming again for the Cotswold Canals DVD.  This time walking the towpath westwards from the Daneway portal of Sapperton Tunnel.  I made it to Brimscombe Port, in several stages of walking from the car then back to the car and moving it a little further along.

The sign makes interesting reading for a towpath used by horses to tow barges;  "Footpath Only. No riding or leading of horses - No cycling."

It's just as well there were no horses as this tree had blocked the towpath just round the corner.  I could scramble round with the camera and tripod but a horse wouldn't have made it.

Saturday 8 July

Another day filming for the Forth & Clyde and Union Canals DVD. First the River Clyde and the Waverley paddle steamer, then along the Union Canal including the Linlithgow Canal Centre.

Friday 7 July

Today I headed off to the west of Glasgow to continue the advance preparation for the Forth & Clyde and Union Canals DVD we will be filming during the summer.

First by train to Dalmuir and a short walk to the canal to see the Dalmuir Drop Lock.  Engineers were faced with a challenge when reopening the canal as a former lift bridge over the canal had been rebuilt as a fixed bridge and was now much too busy to consider rebuilding as an opening bridge and stopping traffic every time a boat wanted to pass.

The solution was to build a drop lock.  There are outward pointing gates just over a boat's length each side of the bridge like a double ended lock.  Boats enter on one side of the bridge, the water is pumped out and the boat can pass under the bridge.  Water is let back in and the gates opened to allow exit at the far side.  This is the only drop lock in Britain.

Then a walk along the towpath to Bowling where the final lock allows passage onto the River Clyde.  The basin was full of boats looking more sea-going than usually found on a canal.  The basin had remained open even when the rest of the canal was closed, and provided a safe haven for craft from the river.

The return journey to Glasgow included filming McMonagles, the world's first sail-thru fish and chip take away.  There is another entrance at the back (or is it the front) for those without a boat.  Perhaps we can try it on our trip along the canal this summer.

Thursday 6 July

I'm in Scotland today.  No I didn't get on the wrong train but I'm here researching and undertaking advance background filming for the Forth & Clyde and Union Canals DVD planned for production this summer.

During the day I caught the train to Falkirk High Station then walked along the Union Canal to the Falkirk Wheel.  While I had seen pictures before this was the first time I had seen the wheel in real life.

Lots of film captured as the wheel rotated and the best spots identified for more filming later in the summer.

Then I walked along the Forth & Clyde Canal to the lock at the end of the canal where it joins the River Carron which then flows into the River Forth.

Finally I walked back to Falkirk Grahamston for a train back to Glasgow.

The biggest surprise of the day happened in the evening.  I walked from the hotel to view the end of the Glasgow Branch at Spiers wharf - but the end of the canal was missing.

I could see the branch coming into Glasgow and where the end of the canal should be but British Waterways have built an extension.

Not content with a drop-lock at Dalmuir when boats are lowered under a bridge and raised at the far side in a single lock, this new extension has a pair of conventional locks to allow boats to pass under two road bridges around 100 metres apart.

Boats will be lowered in the first lock, then pass along a new channel before being raised in the second lock to the same level - or at least a similar level since they are too far apart to be sure if the levels are exactly the same.

I assume the water will require pumping out of the locks rather than opening paddles or the short new channel will soon become flooded and the basin at the end would soon become dry.

This will provide a navigable link to join the branch to the Port Dundas Basin which was disconnected from the canal system many years ago and provide additional mooring opportunities in Port Dundas Basin.

The link is not open yet but it looks like it will be very soon.  I telephoned British Waterways to ask about the opening date but the lady I spoke to would only say that no date was decided yet.  She wouldn't even say if it would be in weeks or months time, although it looks more like weeks to me. There is still a narrow spit of land between the entrance to the basin and the second lock but a few scoops with a digger should sort that out.

I do hope it's open by the time we are filming with the boat there in a months time.

Saturday 1 July

Off to the 10th Saul Festival Today.  Not only is it our local canal festival but a splendid opportunity to capture footage for the forthcoming Cotswolds Canals DVD planned for launch well before Christmas.

Run by the hard working volunteers of the Cotswold Canals Trust the festival has become an annual event attended by thousands of visitors.

The sun was shining brightly today and we arrived for the 10:00 opening before it got too hot. There were already plenty of people around and it got busier and hotter during the day.  Plenty of time to film some of the trade stands before there were too many people in the way to see them.  Then film the visitors having fun later in the day.

The festival was formally declared open by television celebrities and narrow boaters Timothy West and Prunella Scales.

Back home the video has been downloaded onto the computer ready to be backed up and edited.  There's too much to use in the Cotswolds Canals DVD so some will be saved for the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal DVD, planned for a much later date.

Just time to make sure Saul Festival 2007 is in our diary for next year.

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