GWSR Lineside

  Seven of us today on a lovely sunny winter's day - what a difference from last week! We are back at Didbrook on the Cotswold side, working back from the bridge towards Toddington, clearing the flat area near the bridge and then alongside the ditch to keep it accessible for maintenance.  We last cleared this stretch two years ago and in places it had become really thick with Blackthorn and Bramble. Today we have collected up and burnt all that was cut on our previous visit before Christmas, and have made good progress alongside the ditch at the bottom of the embankment, producing plenty to burn on our next visit.   A very productive day - thank you all. Nick Wright

We started the day with a team of 10.  I had not been with the team for over a month so had not seen the full extent of the clearance that had been done.  The changes that have been created are tremendous and the embankment has now been totally cleared back as far as the first cross drain. Today the team cleared  about 40 metres and this may not sound much but it was a tremendous achievement as the tree growth was dense . The team developed the technique of cutting the trees high up on the bank and rolling them down onto the fire .This proved to be very successful. There is quite a large amount of cut debris to be disposed of on another occasion but the wind direction was not conducive as it was blowing straight into the buildings We will have to take extra care of how we dispose of the trees from now on as we are very close to the buildings and a propane gas cylinder that supplies the farm. With regard to the logs there is  a large amount of cut material ready for c...

Six of us today, finishing off clearing the northern fence line of Winchcombe P.Way Yard.  This was fortunate as the Pick-up was away for the day so we used the alternative version i.e. wheelbarrows. As well as finishing the clearance, we chipped all that we cut today and the big stuff from last week. Job now completed so back to Didbrook next week hopefully. Nick Wright

Mass turnout today with   Alex, Andy, Chris, Dick, Ian, Lawrence, Robert, Trina, Paul, Sally and Simon.  Welcome to Simon on his first session at lineside clearance. Freezing cold start to the day (I had to pour a coffee over the container padlock to get in) and no Isuzu which was off for repair so it was a bit of a struggle with one of the new vehicles.  Still the team was all on site by 0930 and we made good progress through the day.  Sarah Clayton (Infrastructure Manager) also visited with another potential recruit. Ian and I were on chainsaws with Ian taking out the last of the tall trees at the top of the bank.   The main team ended up running two bonfires and getting rid of most of the cut wood.  There are now several piles of cut hawthorn logs ready for anyone who wants them by the side of the fence.  The bank itself is quite slippery as the ground thaws out so care needs to be taken. Work drew to a close at about 2:30pm in brilliant s...

  Five of us today on a lovely winters day, with blue sky and no snow. Our task was to clear a strip all along the fence line of the Ottersfield Estate, to the north of the sidings at Winchcombe, which we managed sucessfully, hopefully satisfying the requests of the residents that adjoin our land.  It was mostly brambles, but with the odd chunk of trees and shrubs to make it more fun. Some of us will recall that we cleared some of the fence line closer to the Station a while ago so that C & M Dept. could repair some of the fences.  Now that we have made such good progess we shall next week "join the dots" and clear the remaining section of fenceline along the Finches estate so we can say job completely done. Hopefully this will only take until morning break time when we can get back to Didbrook and carry on there. Nick Wright

 More progress today on the bank with Steve and Lawrence on chainsaws and Alex, Andy, Sally , Paul and Robert clearing and burning the cuttings.  The huge fire cleared most but we left one tree as w starter for next weeks fire. One or two of the trees may need to be left until the trains stop running as they would naturally fall toward the rails but the majority will clear ok. A couple of action shots attached which also show the incline which may be more of an issue when the rain comes.