The weather report for today’s work party was bright and cool – perfect conditions for a bout of hard labour. The big task was to clear the land on the off-bank between the police station and the Mond lock in Clydach. This stretch of the canal is to be dredged in the next few months and the strip of bank will make an ideal place to dump the spoil.

Firstly, we hacked back through bramble and knot weed before Gordon sawed several large trees. We then chopped the trees in to manageable pieces and created a habitat pile.

David and Aled stayed at the top of the bank, clearing away more bramble and general debris.

Elsewhere, Mike and Martin moved the apple trees from the Hebron Road site to Coed Gwilym Park. This needed to be done as we are hoping to host a Waterway Recovery Group restoration week at the Centre later in the year. We hope the trees will all survive the move.

Tea was taken in the shelter of the canal centre. Ronnie provided fresh rolls and cakes.

Martin proudly displayed an old map of the area around the canal centre. We are indebted to Gwyn Evans for providing the original. Sue also showed us two jugs painted in the traditional canal ware style – one painted by her and the other purchased.

A brilliant day’s work. Quite a bit more of bankside clearance to do next week.