Richard’s Wey January 2018

Published on: 18 Jan, 2018
Updated on: 18 Jan, 2018

The latest report from Richard Cant, the Stoke lengthman on the River Wey Navigations

I’d like to begin by wishing you all a happy new year! Time seems to be absolutely flying by but at least the days are now getting noticeably longer which is a real motivation to get outside more.

The wet/dry/wet/dry weather in December meant that it has been one of the busiest months for weir operations that I have ever had.

This type of weather makes it very difficult to predict if the river level is rising or falling and requires lots of small weir adjustments and constant monitoring to maintain the correct level.

Meaning a lot of sleepless nights for my relief weir keeper and I, as well as the rest of the team of weir operators who are on 24-hour call out even over Christmas.

One of the main jobs has been the finishing as much of the winter cutback as possible, which involves completely clearing the front and back of the towpath of vegetation.

This enables us to not only inspect the river banks for damage but also helps to maintain the diversity of plant life when it grows back in the spring.

The section between Millmead Lock and Stoke Lock is now complete, but as the University of Surrey is carrying out small mammal surveying between Stoke and Bowers I will have to wait until later in the winter to finish.

As well as this, I have also strimmed one third of the perched embankment next to Stoke Lock, a task which I do on a three-year rotation to help maintain the wildlife habitat.

This vegetation clearance again enables us to check the condition of the bank which is very important on perched embankments as the canal is higher than the surrounding land so could potentially breach.

Of course, it’s not only me that has been out working on the Stoke Length but also my hardworking volunteers.

My volunteers taking pride in the new fence they erected at Stoke Lock.

You may have noticed while walking along the Stoke length the smart new fence across the lock area. My volunteers worked extremely hard to put this in place and the finished result is excellent.

They’ve also been busy helping me remove low hanging branches and encroaching vegetation from the non-towpath side of the navigation.

This offside cutback is again done in sections on rotation to help spread the workload and reduce the impact on wildlife.

A big thank you to all my volunteers for their hard work in 2017, and I look forward to another productive and enjoyable year working with them in 2018.

Richard Cant

Stoke Lengthsman

07786 703 832

richard.cant@nationaltrust.org.uk