BITM NEXT DIG November 2009
BITM Leader: Tony Hinsley.
Cropwell Bishop Memorial Hall, Nottingham Road, Cropwell Bishop
Post code:NG12 3BA
OS Grid ref: (OS Map 129) SK 678 355
A good hall, which we have used several times before. It has showers, and a large kitchen. There is a quiet room at the back of the stage.
The A46 has major road works for the dualling, and some roads have been closed. The situation changes from week to week and may even change during the weekend. Many roads will now have 40mph speed limits, and plant crossings. There will be night-time single lane working on the A52 from 16th Nov from 8pm to 6am. The following directions were written before the road works, so may be wrong.
From South the M1 21A just beyond Leicester Forest East services. This is the A46. Stay on the A46 for approx 24 miles, then turn Right to Cropwell Bishop, the crossroads has traffic lights and a BP garage.
From Nottingham follow the signs for A52 towards Grantham. At Saxondale Island (Shell garage?) turn Right onto the A46 towards Leicester. The turn to Cropwell Bishop is Left after 3 miles at the traffic lights.
From the A46 turn-off, after 3/4 mile the Hall is the first building on the left hand side of the road as soon as you reach the village. (30mph painted on road.).
Plenty of car parking.
The nearest station is at BINGHAM, a small market town a few miles away. Let us know in advance what time your train will be due, so we can arrange to pick you up. Alternative station is Nottingham.
We normally start arriving from about 9:30pm onwards. Colin has ordered a barrel of beer for the weekend, so we’ll meet in the hall and not the local pub.
You can get detailed OS maps, and aerial photos, covering the area at:
http://www.multimap.com or http://www.streetmap.co.uk or http://www.mappoint.msm.com
Use the Fast Search for NG12 3BA (post code accommodation) or SK 665 362 (grid reference site). There are buttons for generating a printable map, route planning, weather forecast, etc.
Manns Bridge.
OS Grid ref: (OS Map 129) SK 665 362
This may change dependent on the road-builders…
Right out of the hall, 0.8 mile to the traffic lights and BP garage. Over the A46 and into Stragglethorpe Road. Past the first field (200yds) to the culverted canal crossing which is Manns Bridge. There is only limited parking at the side of the road.
We will be continuing to clear all the stumps and overhanging trees from the canal westwards from Br 16 (Manns Bridge), as we were doing in February. Depth is dependent on rainfall, but centre of canal was approx welly-height in February. Most work can be done from further up the bank, so long as some people have wellies or waders. We’ll be stacking all the brash on the off-side bank, but logs will be available if you want them for firewood.
The society’s greatest priority is to persuade the A46 dualling contractors to raise the road about 5 ft (1.5 m) higher over the bridge. They are still lukewarm about this and we must demonstrate that this is part of the whole restoration to make the canal navigable. Doing further work will emphasise this. Also, we will eventually have to lower the canal at this point, having put in another lock to get sufficient navigable room under the bridge. Hence the need in practice to clear this part of the canal westwards to lock 8.
We do have permission to use chainsaws, but only if we can provide certification in advance. If you can provide this, please contact Tony Hinsley ASAP.
More likely, we’ll all be using bowsaws etc., so we’ll be needing to get some more spare blades.
Tony Hinsley
It is essential that we all wear Hard Hats, safety footwear, gloves and high-visibility waistcoats on site. We have a few spare hard hats in the van, plus about a dozen hi-vis waistcoats. If you have your own, please bring it.
Bookings:
email bookings@wrgBITM.org.uk
Phone Graham Hotham 01252-656087.