Saturday 6 March 2010

Towpath Tidy - Hillmorton

Towpath Tidy at Hillmorton
March 2010

Jeff has some enforced time on his hands these days and is delighted when an opportunity to do something outide the house comes along.

Jeff sandbagging the bank

He was particularly pleased to be invited to support a Towpath Tidy initiative at Hillmorton on Monday and Tuesday which was being attended by Martin W, our stalwart boat recovery captain.

Painting the gates

Jeff was up and off with the larks and returned full of enthusiasm. It seems that a small team of volunteers worked alongside a BW team clearing scrub, picking litter and painting lock gates, and Jeff was so pleased to be treated as just another adult.

... and taking a break!

All evening he regailed me with stories of huge bonfires, mixing cement and shifting four tons of sand into sacks to repair the banks. I don't know how much physical progress they made, but I am certian that the experience has helped him grow and gain a greater appreciation of our waterways. This is a great initiative and I would like to thank BW, and Mr W for the time they invested in Jeff - it is much appreciated.

The inland waterways belong to the people and it's great to see groups from the local communities rolling their sleeves up and helping to maintain them. So, if you pass through Hillmorton in the next few months, and see evidence of the repairs, remember that the end result is a result of a combination of BW and volunteer labour (including Jeff).

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