Today was chilly but dry as a relatively reduced band of volunteers assembled at the Swansea Canal Centre. Jan, Lynn and Moira started by tidying the flower beds around the boat basin before moving on to clip and clear along the towpath.

Martin busied himself clipping grass and ivy at the aqueduct, pausing only to take an emergency phone call – a reptile in a friend’s garden needed rescuing!

The main task was to clear yet more of the pesky irises that had taken over the canal all the way up to the Mond bridge. Gordon launched “Nellie” at the aqueduct and then cruised up to the weed. He pulled them up and the chaps dragged them out. We reckon 50 yards were cleared today! There’s still a way to go to the bridge and then we will be faced with the mammoth task of removing the vast piles of weed from the towpath, but the end is (nearly) in sight.

Tea was taken in the shelter of the centre with Lynn making her debut as the baker. All three cakes were absolutely delicious.

We knocked off relatively early as Gordon had to attend a funeral, but we could look back on another very productive morning.