| Here we are continuing the work on the stretch behind the Challow Graveyard: the towpath has been reprofiled and cleared, and today we are installing the post-and-rails fencing, along with a laurel hedge. This will ensure the peace and privacy of the occupants, and the visitors.
After carrying in huge piles of wood, buckets of nails, wheelbarrows full of nosebags etc, we established our left-hand end post position, and then stopped for a tea break. Tea break? At ten o'clock?? Unheard of! Roy, our Work Party Leader (in case you hadn't guessed by now) didn't want to leave us alone to put in the fence posts while he re-parked the van. Huh! Anyone would think we weren't capable of working without him watching us with a big stick in his hand! Still, tea break is tea break, so we sat down for a rest and a chat, as ordered: 
"Five, Six, pick up sticks, Seven, Eight, lay them straight." Just waiting for Roy to come back and authorise us to bang the posts in..... 
One hour later, up goes the fence: a smart team effort with one set measuring and placing the post, (that's me and Roy) and another set banging them in (Malcy, Phil, Jim, and Vic in instalments: it's heavy work, using a fence post bonker) in the right place. "Not too far in!" cries Roy. Once the rails go on, it starts to look like a proper fence. 
At the right-hand end, a minor debate about how far to continue the fence, owing to a large tree being right in the way. James is checking the GPS for correct positioning of the final post. 
And here is Jim telling Roy that the bubble is supposed to be in the centre of the straight-stick. Roy looks suitable horrified, as he has been doing it by eye for years.... 
Synchronised Sawing: a new Olympic sport? 
Bob and Harry putting in the final nails to the rails. And at this point, may I say a big "thank you" for the grant which enabled us to use new materials for this fence: usually we are scraping together a handful of second-hand nails with one person sorting and two people straightening them: it is so much faster with new nails!! (Feeling sorry for us? Care to make a donation to allow us to buy more nails? All donations are welcome, really, no matter how small! Please e-mail me for information about how to help us - please! please!) 
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Here is Jim, wandering about in the Cut looking for signs of water voles - none so far:
And here is Vic digging for something to eat! Only joking, he's digging holes for the 40-odd laurels that we are planting to form a hedge across the graveyard. 
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After lunch, we move down onto the towpath. We have to clear the next stretch of overhanging trees in order to make access for the digger. As always, we have to get a rope around the top of the tree in order to persuade it not to drop right slap bang in the middle. Roy is supervising with his earflaps up, while the rest of us fling ropes around.
Well, that was easy: Bob, Richard and Phil have pulled the tree over, while Jim stands ready with his machete..... 
...and Roy moves in to chop up the corpse. 
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Unfortunately, quite a lot of the top of the tree did indeed fall in the water, so we sent Phil and Vic out into the very smelly water, with bowsaws, to do their best.
Vic is laughing because he has just realised that by working his way along the trunk chopping off the branches, he has left himself nothing to hold on to on the way back! Having established earlier that the water level was just slightly deeper than welly height, he wasn't too keen on wading back! 
So with the help of the rope, Roy, Phil and Bob got the last bits of wood out of the Cut. With the help of the pulling team on the rope, of course. (except for me, taking photos!) 
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