The first Sunday work party of 2023 was able to go ahead this weekend as the rain finally held off. A team of Steve, Mike, Ronnie and Alan T wrapped up against the cool morning air and set about the main task of the day, cleaning and repainting used sections of steel railing.

As preparations have been made for a new slipway in Coed Gwilym Park, including constructing a diversion of the existing towpath, sections of park railing have been taken out and stored. Some are rusty, some just have flaking paint, but all need sprucing up.

Steve used a battery drill with a wire brush to remove the heaviest rust deposits and Mike was able to strip most of the damaged paint using sandpaper. Several sections of fence still had their concrete foundation attached and Steve took a sledgehammer to break these off. He won several battles, but not the war! Despite his mighty efforts the concrete on two panels was just too hard and will need a jack hammer to remove it!

Alan and Mike got on with painting the cleaned up railings, a painstaking task given they are made mostly of 12mm round bar, but the finished effect was very good; they look almost like new! There’s more sections to prep and paint next time we meet up. The railings will be reused later in the year when the slipway is complete; they will be installed across the redundant section of towpath to divert users onto the new loop.

Ronnie wasn’t idle throughout all this, she continued to repaint the plaques on the obelisk, which she started doing at the end of last year. Both now have their fresh red background and are ready to have their white borders and lettering reinstated.

We had only a short break for coffee, then it was back to it. If we can make as much progress the next time we meet, we’ll be very pleased.