The weather forecast for today was dreadful so we decided to abandon our plan to line more of the by-wash on the Hidden Lock and instead work in Coed Gwilym park where the forecast proved to be entirely accurate – torrential rain!

Chris managed to mow the grass between the towpath and the garden, that is currently in full bloom and looking fantastic.

Gary, Sharon and Phil weeded and brushed the forecourt, including sweeping away huge puddles.

We had another go at getting the derelict boat out of the water but once again failed miserably! Even Alan’s shiny new battery powered reciprocating saw failed to make much impression on it.

We did manage to replace a sleeper that had been damaged by a previous attempt to haul the boat out of the water. Gordon cut a piece of stop plank, Sue treated it with preservative, James and John lowered it into place, Bob secured it and finally we backfilled with concrete.

Gordon, John, Kev and Andy went on a wild goose chase to retrieve a length of wide bore tubing from the Mond Lock. We failed to locate it but did manage to haul a coil of hose from the cut.

Mercifully, the rain eased by break time, when we enjoyed savoury and sweet treats baked by Andy and Jan W.

Swansea Ramblers joined us for a session on the water. They had great fun without getting too wet!

Despite the heavy rain first thing, we managed to get through a few useful tasks although the wrecked boat got the better of us once again.