On April 14th and 15th, WCT volunteers built steps on Hertford County Council’s (HCC) Footpath 49 from Wilstone Reservoir, which finally ascends a steep and slippery embankment to meet the Wendover canal towpath near Bridge 4A.
Chilterns National Landscape helped to obtain funding for this and 3 similar projects.
It has been a very good way to help the local community and keep WCT volunteers going.
We learned that the embankment up to the towpath is owned by HCC, administered by Dacorum BC, whose Countryside Access Officer agreed to our doing the work.
We couldn’t use the towpath, so how could we bring materials across the fields ?
Gordon Nicholls of Upper Farm in Drayton Beauchamp very kindly said it could be done.
We planned a February work party, but then it rained – a lot !
Mr Nicholls had to tell us, ‘sorry our machines will still not get up the hill’.
We asked another farmer Simon Mead, from Wilstone, whose field had a more gentle slope. He said he would give it a go.
Then there was more heavy rain !
Farmer Simon Mead could not deliver until the ground froze or dried out.
He kindly agreed to store the 4 tonnes of type 1 and 12 oak sleepers on a farm trailer.
Finally Simon said ‘The field is dry and we’ve delivered the materials’ , so we rearranged a 3-day work-party for mid-April.
WCT Volunteers wheel-borrowed tools, signs and postcrete from our main site.
We set up the revetments, positioned the steps and screwed them together.
Next was the hard job of auguring 24 holes by hand for the retaining posts: carrying buckets of type 1 up the slope was exhausting too !
Then we tamped fines over the treads and by the towpath.
There was no waste and we completed the job in only two days.
Thanks to all who helped with the work and funding.
PS : Do walk round the Wilstone reservoir before CRT closes the paths for major strengthening works.
The route comes up the new steps to the canal and back down at Bridge 4.
