Today was all about water flow. Yesterday, John Grav walked the canal at Trebanos and found it to be almost dry so the volunteers assembled at the sluice and set about clearing the channel. But first, and equally importantly, Sharon walked up from Coed Gwilym Park bashing balsam along the way.

At the sluice, Gordon and Chris M strimmed back the overgrowth.

Alan, Kev, Sue and John pecked out stones, saving the good ones for future use, and stirred up the sediment as much as possible.

Aled, Lance and others pulled out weed from the bank.

Gordon and James pulled irises.

John cut out overhanging branches.

Chris G, Jean and Andy cut back brambles and general weed from the tow path.

Alan and James jumped into the canal downstream of the bridge to clear more stone and silt.

Tea was taken in the pub car park with fantastic cakes baked by Chris G.

Everything continued either side of tea, and we even managed to work through a couple of severe downpours. Sue survived falling in!

Our hard work and the first rain for many weeks meant that we turned an almost dry stretch of the canal into a brisk stream. It will take a while for the water to make its way all down the canal, but today represented a major step forward.