Not all our colleagues were available this cool autumn morning, but at the Clydach Lock half a dozen vols continued with the ongoing construction theme. Gordon mixed several batches of concrete and James and Alan began laying a breeze block facing on the off side of the central wall. John G did the labouring today, keeping up a steady supply of blocks, muck and more! This new phase is another step on the long road to full restoration.

David and Pete collected rubble and hardcore from across the site and the church car park to backfill a deep cavity behind the boat basin wall ready for capping with stone and a sleeper edge at a later date.

At the Canal Centre there was much gardening work afoot! Gary made a tidy job of cutting and strimming the grass around the stone barge, and Moira and Christina weeded and cleaned the borders alongside the sunken walkway. Jean and Diane also got their fingers dirty!

Sharon and Jan emptied and moved a compost bin from next to the picnic benches (probably not the best location in the first place!) and took its contents to the garden beyond the boat basin. Several new shrubs were planted in the cleared area.

Despite threatening skies, the morning stayed dry and for coffee break Jan W provided a lovely selection of baked goods which we tucked into on the patio. Martin called by for a cuppa, chauffeured by Liz, and we were delighted to see how well he’s recovering from a recent hip op. Slow and steady Martin, we’ll see you back on duty very soon!

Jan modelled the very latest Canal Society haute couture: it was either a very big shirt or a very small dress – who knows, but suits you Jan!

After break we finished up our various tasks at both sites to round off another productive morning. As always there’s no shortage of jobs to start or continue in coming weeks, whilst the weather holds.

And finally, long before the hard work started, Sue stopped by to show off her rather natty sling. A heavy fall snapped the ball off her right humerus! Ouch – take it easy and get well soon.