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Well, here we are again, back at the Wharf. A tremendous amount has been done since my last visit: there was the week-long Summer workparty (details of which can be found on our own Website) at which a group of members camped, allowing them to work all day long. Apparently. No, really, they did a tremendous amount of work, and we are very much in the final straight now.
The Wharf was originally edged with nice worked Coping stones, a lot of which have been either lost, or so badly damaged by time and nature that they are not re-usable. So, we are having to cast our own replacements. This is how it's done: a ladder-like form has been made, set down on a piece of hardboard and filled with concrete. These are the ones which were filled at the last workparty, and which have set good and hard. Steve and Vic are doing the hard work: firstly we have to get a lever underneath the (very heavy!) ladder:  Next they start to lever it up, while Jim stands by on the right to prevent it falling right over:  The ladder is safely upright, and the backing board can be eased off. This is put aside, ready for the next instalment.  While Jim supports the ladder, Steve and Vic arrange some blocks at each end, to get it off the ground - the cunning part is in getting blocks that are roughly the same height as each other!  Now we gently lay the (very heavy) ladder down on the blocks, taking great care of fingers and toes:  And finally, we tap out the completed coping stones. On a good day, this takes a couple of taps with a piece of wood. Sometimes, it takes a great deal of pounding to get them out. And on a really bad day, someone has to get on top and jump up and down to loosen them. Can you guess what sort of day we were having? 
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After moving the freshly-released coping stones down to the working area, I paused to have a look at the work so far. You can see how the Wharf is not a gentle curve, but is angled or faceted. No-one knows for sure why this should be - maybe they had very short barges at that time? This could also answer the question "where did they turn around?" ! At regular intervals there were rubbing stones: larger stones that projected vertically from the wharf, and which would keep the boats safely away from the sharper stones of the main wharf. Here you can see the extent of the rebuilding work already done, and the layered progress of the remaining stretch. The foundations have all been done, and the bottom two layers of breeze blocks are already in place. These will, of course, be well hidden by the water, in due course. Bob is bringing "Blue" along the towpath, ready to lift the last remaining original rubbing stone into place: 
Bob leans out of the cab to shout instructions to James concerning the safe lifting of the rubbing stone, which is, as you will see below, a considerable lump of stone.  James, having decided to give up his secret identity as CatMan, is no longer wearing the skin-tight catsuit, much to our relief, and is now wearing a rather more regulation baggy boilersuit, like the rest of us. This does not seem, however, to have made him any better at tying knots, he he.....
And there it is done: the rubbing stone is on the correct side of the wharf wall, and is oriented correctly. Here, it is lying back against Bob's legs while James does some minor adjustments to the seating. You will note that, ever safety-conscious, he's wearing a hard hat, gloves, and glasses.
But oh dear, what's this?! Vic, becoming impatient with slow progress, just has to have a go at it! Please disregard his lack of safety hat and goggles.... he's promised it won't happen again! 
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Well, here we are at lunchtime, finally - at about 2.30 - but Jim and Steve are having so much fun that they don't want to stop, despite the example being set by the others behind them. What exactly are they doing?
 Ah, now we can see - they have painstakingly filled the ladder forms, for the next and hopefully final batch of coping stones, and they are just smoothing off the top edges. This is essential, to get the correct shape.
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And finally, an abrupt end to the day - rain! Here is Vic, once more improvising a rain-cover to prevent excessive wettening, while the rest of us cover up the ladders, and put away the tools and materials.
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| Well, there's another day gone, and we are really starting to make progress now. Hopefully the whole wall will be done within a month or so, which will also mean that we can restore the towpath and generally landscape the area. Having lived with it for so long looking a bit like a building site, it will be very nice to watch it all "green up" again. And as a footnote, I would like to say that when I first moved to Wantage I walked along this part of the canal, and it was so overgrown that I had no idea that the wharf even existed: the path was probably less than 18" wide, and gave strong feelings of hacking through the jungle. Now it's light and airy, and very much more user-friendly. |