Nottingham Canal, Cossall north

Nottingham Canal

Cossall north

March 2010

There is half a mile or so of watered canal to the north of the Robinettes Arm, as the canal winds round to the north into a large wood.

The water is full width, but not full depth. When the canal was cleared out in the 1980's and then refilled, it was plagued with many leaks along it's margins due to the clay lining drying out. To make it watertight it would have needed re puddling, which was beyond the budget allocated to the project.

The expedient approach was therefore to lower the water level by 2 ft, retaining a foot or two of water in the bed, but not asking the weary side walls to retain water. The end result  leaves the water level well down, but quite attractive none the less. What is more, what's above the waterline can't silt up again, preserving the channel for future genarations.

There are more quaint little wooden access bridges in this area, and the advancing woodland provides a dramatic backdrop and a break from a cold northerly wind.

Western end of the watered section

The watered section, which has been a constant companion for over a mile, finally runs out at an earth dam, countering a breach further along. But more of that in my next post.