SLOWLY but very surely the restoration of the Wey & Arun Canal is still progressing, with a major step towards completion of a new waterway crossing.
Following on from contractors finishing the Compasses Bridge structure, volunteer bricklayers are carrying out the next stage of a project that will see the reopening of another section of the waterway.
Cladding
They are laying the brick cladding on the new bridge, which spans the Wey & Arun Canal at the Alfold entrance to Dunsfold Park Aerodrome and business complex, with work now started when the brickies joined the rest of the volunteer workforce.
As well as cladding the sides and training walls in bricks, they are laying paving on the bridge surface, with Wey & Arun Trust's Site Manger praising:
"My grateful thanks went out to the team after a fantastic weekend when lots of good work was completed. We didn't expect to get so much done two days in a row and the paving in particular looks great.
"There is still a lot to do on the bridge and the canal but we have had an impressive response to our requests for help from volunteers. We have people with all kinds of valuable skills giving their spare time to work at the site."
Newbury Working Party Group
The Trust's northern area working party was bolstered by members of the Newbury Working Party Group, another band of canal restoration volunteers who helped the Trust enormously over the weekend.
Contractors, CJ Thorne, are due to return next month (February) to prepare for the realignment of the access road into Dunsfold Park, which is planned to take place around Easter.
Once this is done, volunteers will partially demolish the 1930s concrete causeway currently blocking the waterway, part of which will be made into a public viewing area.
Site manager Dave Evans, centre wearing orange trousers, with the bricklaying party as they start work on cladding the new Compasses Bridge.