2006 was a year spent mostly at Childrey Wharf and at Challow.

Childrey Wharf was a major project: we brought it up from a hidden, tumbledown, overgrown mess into a fully rebuilt, waterproof, solid and usable wharf. And, once it's greened up again, it will be a beautiful wharf! It has a lovely elegant curve, so much prettier than a boring straight line. Of course, this caused problems for the unloading boats, so they built it with a series of "rubbing stones" to hold the hulls of the boats - wooden, in those days - out from the stones of the wharf to reduce damage. We managed to find nearly every one of these stones, and we rebuilt them back in their original places.

Meanwhile at Challow we were beginning the work of clearing the towpath, work which would keep us busy right into 2007 and beyond.

We had two very important days, one in April, one in September, to do some fairly major work in co-operation with the Abingdon branch and a few guys from WRG (Waterways Recovery Group - a sort of canal work-party hit squad) to clear the area around the Abingdon Junction, where our canal will meet the Thames. The importance of this junction cannot be overstated, as it represents a very real commitment on the part of the waterways authorities to the renovation of the Wilts and Berks Canal. In April we cleared the fields: and in September we did the final work for the grand opening of the junction, now named the Jubilee Junction.

As before, use the list of titles in the grey box to the left to jump between the reports: they are listed in reverse date order, ie most recent at the top.

Any questions? Feel free to drop me an e-mail.