Ditch Clearing at Cotmarsh - 12 Sep 2009

A working party organized and led by Mr Jeff Clewley wandered down to the corner by Folly Cottage to dig out the ditch and drain there.

The drain passes behind Folly Cottage and then crosses the road twice.  On the inside of the corner the ditch had largely collapsed; we simply dug it out.

We feared that the second road crossing had collapsed, but fortunately it hadn't.  Some of the brickwork was damaged which we removed.  The pipe under the road appeared undamaged.  With the aid of some chimney rods, and some significant swearing, the pipe was cleared all the way through.  On the far end of the pipe some kerbstones had moved over the years and fallen into the water path.  We moved them and used them to shore up the pipe exit into the field.

Finally two brave souls dug from the freshly cleared ditch to the large pool of stagnant rain water, pulled out a dead traffic cone, and we enjoyed the sight of water flow through the ditch, under the road, and into the field.  Hooray!  Cue lots of tea and biscuits.

Copyright 2008 by Dynamisys Ltd