A quintessentially rural canal, the 33 mile long Grantham traverses three shire counties

Chairman's Walk 2006

Report on the walk by the Grantham Canal Partnership, British Waterways, The Grantham Canal Society and interested parties by Martin Day

Tuesday the 18th of April was a beautiful day and the three days we chose to do the complete canal walk the other year were perfect so it was pushing it a bit to expect a nice day for the Wednesday 19th walk from Grantham to Redmile.

The route was chosen because a bid had been placed for funding for full restoration from the west side embankment of the A1, where the canal emerges from a culvert, to the town bridge at Redmile. Everyone hoped we would be all wearing silly hats and blowing whistles in celebrations but as we received s*d all we still wore the silly hats but this time to keep out the rain and we were busy ‘blowing our nail’ as it says in the poem because it was really cold. Marriott Hotels who have one on the east side of the A1, in fact the canal runs alongside their grounds, suggested we meet there and leave our cars and gave us a lovely breakfast of pastries and warm drinks. They are really keen to see the canal open and in fact are having a ‘working in the community’ day in May (check this web site for full details if you wish to join them) to clear ‘their’ section. The canal at that point is not BW owned so it will be interesting to see how they get on.

Quite a few turned up in spite of the indifferent weather!

As soon as we set off it started to rain fast but we were ready for it. We, the GCRS, showed BW management the fruits of our work the other month in Harlaxton cutting where several of the ‘habitats’ we had to build because we couldn’t have fires were neatly back in the water put there by the hard working element that lives not too far from the site. The well-consolidated towpath that was the subject of a lot of expensive work, by contractors, over most of the length of the canal in the recent past was well covered in messages left by our K9 friends. Our leader Tony Wilkinson had come prepared this time with a supply of plastic sacks and a grabber to pick up the items. We looked all day to see if we could find a discarded ‘Wilko’ bag but never did (for those who don’t know he is the man behind Wilkinson stores - one of my favourites).

No caption required!

The group wanted to see, together, what exists and what is required for the section. Colin is organising with the Waterway Recovery Group (WRG) to hold their Bonfire Bash this Autumn in the cutting so various plans were discussed to keep, what could be over 100 people, busy for two days. We reached Denton wharf and the mini bus that was with us, to stop at set positions, transported groups around to Denton Reservoir, which if you haven’t been is well worth it. The sun had come out whilst we stood along the waters edge – not too close as we didn’t have our regulation water wings with us and proceeded to dazzle everyone. We walked back to Denton Wharf in a cloudburst and dripped our way along to Woolsthorpe. We stopped to admire our ex member, unfortunately, Gary’s splendid Casthorpe Bridle bridge. Chris Tizzard our acting Chairman said it was once stated that it was called an ‘eccentric bridge ‘ in an article. I said, “I think they meant built by eccentrics”, because that’s what we are. The GCRS were proud to show everyone ‘our’ lock 18 and I was especially proud of my contribution the tail end of the by wash and wharf that I built.

The feeder from Denton Reservoir

We stopped to point out to BW management the failed cill on lock 17 and I know that I, for one, would love the job of repairing it. By the way we didn’t restore it in the first place that was done by someone else.

We stopped for a lunch of soup and a roll and a baguette that was very welcome. The Duke of Rutland had very kindly come down from the castle to join us and as he is our President it was nice for us to see him again. He has kindly talked about oak for the lock gates when we get started and that it will need to be felled to allow it to season so it won’t crack when cut. This is the type of conversation that we want to hear.

After lunch we started on our way again and stopped to have a look at Muston Wharf where the old tramway, that used to carry goods up to the castle, came across the fields along what is now used as a road. We showed everyone what we think is one of the old fish-bellied cast iron rails and all the stone blocks which are still in situ. Please! Belvoir Estates let us restore it to its former glory it would be a great tourist attraction alongside your farms that produce your excellent elderflower cordial. Along this stretch there are only two bridges that will require either rebuilding and as they are isolated the higher run ups required will not be a problem or fit swing bridges. Along this stretch, also, the weed boat had done a fine job and even though it looked a bit ‘clinical’ with the dead reeds along the off side it will only be a few weeks before green will show through as the grass grows. Everyone was still striding out and we got to Redmile at around four, I think, I was enjoying the walk too much to notice. The group split up and those with their cars at Grantham departed and we had a sit down and a drink in the Windmill in Redmile and concluded what was an excellent day despite the weather.

My thanks and commiserations to the Partnership for missing out on the grant but perhaps with all the discussions that were carrying on all day I am sure we can get round the loss and work towards full restoration starting with the bonfire bash.