Work resumes
from mid-July 2010...
Can YOU help?
Working parties on site from 9am
every day except weekends, so if you have
time and energy to help during the week, please come along. We
provide tea and coffee but you will need to bring a packed lunch,
and be prepared to get muddy! Tough working footwear is a must,
preferably boots whilst and waders/wellies could be useful.
The restoration of this lock will follow the successful restoration of the locks at Flatford, Dedham and
Great Cornard; and open a further three miles of navigation along the River
Stour. The work required fits into two main phases and requires the use of
machinery such as big pumps, mini diggers and power barrows so, as well as
the environmentally sensitive nature of the site, we can only work there
during a few summer months each year.
If you cannot help physically then perhaps you
help to raise funds for the project? We would be delighted to
receive any sum of money whether from your own Stratford St. Mary
Lock fundraising event or a personal donation. And remember that if
you’re eligible for gift aid that we can recover up to a further 28
pence for every £1 given as a personal donation at no additional
cost to the donor.
Download gift aid form.
For their continued help and assistance with this
project, would like to thank Essex & Suffolk Water, Electromobile Limited
(for the loan of a floating pontoon) and the Environment Agency.
- PHASE 1 - COMPLETED
- This involved returning
the channel below the lock to a usable state.
- The Suffolk bank of the channel
needed a stable edge to be built. Re-profiling of the channel was
carried out to allow
for craft, such as Stour Trusty II, to reach the lock.
PHASE 2 - ONGOING
- This involves restoration of the lock chamber.
- Volunteers installed stop logs to stop water entering the lock chamber
whilst work was carried out and cleared the accumulated silt in the
bottom of the chamber. Volunteers worked extremely hard to fill gabions
along the 180 metre lock channel to reach the point where it rejoins the
main river. We will need to remove the remains of the old lock gates
and transport the new gates upstream (along the newly restored
channel) for the contractors to install them. The clay plug at the top
entrance of the lock will also need to be removed and we will tidy up and landscape the lock island
with intentions to install landing stages.
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WE NEED SEVERAL THINGS TO PROGRESS THIS PROJECT
* Funding
(e.g. for tools, machinery, the new lock gates)
- * a design for the lock gates - and a builder of lock gates
* permission from the Environment Agency
* an assured group of volunteers to do the work
- * Those with specialised skills to help us e.g. another qualified digger driver would be most helpful
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- For further information please
contact RST Office on 01787 313199 or
email
us
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