Marple Website Community Calendar
Archive => Archived Boards => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: Dudleian on January 31, 2019, 05:13:28 PM
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I'm sure that I'm not the only one following the progress of the rebuilding of Lock 11 adjacent to the Memorial Park and I was wondering if anyone is liaising with the contractors and could possibly post progress reports?
There is only one accessible public vantage point for the works but this gives only a limited view of what is going on and inevitably results in guesswork as to the state of progress - for instance I see now that there is a heap of what appear to be sections of the recent piling work carried out before Christmas.
Anyone else interested, or is it just me?
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I'm sure that I'm not the only one following the progress of the rebuilding of Lock 11 adjacent to the Memorial Park and I was wondering if anyone is liaising with the contractors and could possibly post progress reports?
There is only one accessible public vantage point for the works but this gives only a limited view of what is going on and inevitably results in guesswork as to the state of progress - for instance I see now that there is a heap of what appear to be sections of the recent piling work carried out before Christmas.
Anyone else interested, or is it just me?
Due to finish before April for the boating season .
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Here is the latest news from CRT, dated yesterday at 17:24:
Unfortunately, whilst the works at Marple Lock 11 have been progressing steadily throughout the winter so far, they are a few weeks behind our original intended schedule.
It is now planned to re-open the canal to boats by close of play on Friday 24th May 2019. Delays have been encountered in the piling phase of the works, with the augering of the ground and reinforced concrete pile installation behind the existing lock walls proving slower than expected, as well as having to address some design changes due to site constraints. However, the piling is now complete, ensuring the ground is stable so that the failed lock walls can be carefully dismantled.
Given the progression of the works to date, at this stage we now have more certainty regarding the expected duration of the next phase; take-down of both lock walls, followed by their re-building back to the correct alignment. This is complex and time consuming, as the walls are being re-constructed like-for-like, in order to comply with heritage requirements. Lock 11 is a Grade II Listed structure.
We apologise for this ongoing closure, and are pushing forward to complete the re-construction of the lock as soon as possible.
Note: the extra post made in error and others responding to it have been removed.
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Lock 11 Update:
It was interesting to pay a visit to CRT and Kier in the park today and see how they are getting on with the repairs to Lock 11 - shame it was so cold and wet!
As you can see from the photos, the stonework is now all removed from the lock and they will soon be ready to start rebuilding it back up.
Currently they feel they are on schedule to re-open for boats on Friday 24 May, as the latest statement posted in February below.
One of the key concerns locally is the impact of the works on Marple Carnival on 15th June and several members of the Carnival Committee plus Ted Morley (Fun Fair owner) attended today's meeting to discuss options to accommodate the Fun Fair on Carnival Day. Everyone seemed happy with the provisional plans made and there will be another meeting in early May to firm up details and consider where the work is up to at the time.
Thank you to CRT and Kier for their hospitality and to Stockport Council's Greenspace team for organising the meeting.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D1dYRTmXgAEm8vy.jpg)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D1dYTRvWsAAvUZy.jpg)
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Thanks for the update Mark. Some good photos there that show the extent and depth of the workings that others may not realise.
Are there any plans to open up the workings to the public as happened with the rebuild further up the flight?
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I'm very hopeful that the ground will be ready for the fun fair come the Friday before Carnival day.
This gives me hope and no doubt the Carnival Committee will be happy(with crossed fingers, of course).
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Are there any plans to open up the workings to the public as happened with the rebuild further up the flight?
This was only touched on briefly but I don't believe so. They are under a lot of pressure to get the Cheshire Ring reopened and the scaffold would need to be reconfigured to do this, hence causing delay. So I'm pretty sure it won't happen. Will ask again when we next meet though.
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This was only touched on briefly but I don't believe so. They are under a lot of pressure to get the Cheshire Ring reopened and the scaffold would need to be reconfigured to do this, hence causing delay. So I'm pretty sure it won't happen. Will ask again when we next meet though.
Why dont u use the area were the Apple trees are planted Arkwright road .theres plenty of room for parking as well .
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As I was walking through the park yesterday, around lock 11, I noticed the house at the top of Garth Road, the small spur off Station Road which is being used to access the park for lock repairs. The house looks empty and the upstairs windows appear to have been broken. Does anyone know what's happening to it? Often if small incidents of vandalism aren't addressed, bigger ones happen.
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Lock 11 Update:
Visited Lock 11 again today with representatives of the Carnival Team, the Council's Greenspace Team and Cllr. @Malcolm Allan
Everything is on-track for opening the lock for navigation on Friday 24 May, as previously advised.
Plans were agreed for the state that the site would be left in for Marple Carnival on the 15th June and a meeting was scheduled for 10 June for a final visit.
Full reinstatement of the site will take place after Marple Carnival. Some planting activities may have to be left until the late autumn, which is the best time for tree/shrub planting.
Unfortunately there was no opportunity to take photos during the visit.
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Just noticed a boat passing through the locks for the first time for nearly a year, can I assume Lock 11 works have been successfully completely and normal service has resumed?
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I assume the footpath that has been damaged with their lorries crossing it will be rebuilt.
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Just noticed a boat passing through the locks for the first time for nearly a year, can I assume Lock 11 works have been successfully completely and normal service has resumed?
Hi @Randonneur - I've merged your enquiry with the thread about Lock 11 repairs, as it has lots of history about your question. But yes, the locks are open for navigation from today.
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I assume the footpath that has been damaged with their lorries crossing it will be rebuilt.
Of coarse it will be rebuilt they have not yet reinstated where there compound was .
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It was great to see Lock 11 open again yesterday and boats at last passing through the canal.
CRT and their contractors have done a very good job and we look forward to the park being fully reinstated after Marple Carnival.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D7eXw-hXoAUQB77.jpg)
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Took a walk around the canal yesterday and have to agree with Admin that the job has been completed to a very high standard indeed, I assume it's because it was a heritage project but you really can't tell that it's not original.......however I spotted this notice on the compound fence, have there been some Doctors (medical) working on the project ?
[attachment deleted by admin]
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Took a walk around the canal yesterday and have to agree with Admin that the job has been completed to a very high standard indeed, I assume it's because it was a heritage project but you really can't tell that it's not original.......however I spotted this notice on the compound fence, have there been some Doctors (medical) working on the project ?
"Patients" - perhaps they boiled them down for glue to repair the lock gates.
I spent 35 years teaching History and English. Training in the late 1960s-early 1970s it was dinned into us that insisting on good grammar and accurate spelling and punctuation interfered with the pupils' creativity. During my last year at college (1971), while on my final Teaching Practice, I was giving a spelling test, on the instructions of the class teacher, when my College Tutor turned up. After sitting in the classroom during the spelling test she played hell with me and threatened to fail me, not only on that year's Practice but the whole course!! Fortunately, the class teacher and the Headmaster told her off in no uncertain terms and complained to the College Principal and she backed down.
It doesn't surprise me that otherwise intelligent men and women can't spell!
I'm afraid I was frequently on the carpet, as a qualified teacher, because I insisted on correct spelling and grammar in both English and History written work. It's not surprising then, that towards the end of my working life I worked in a school with a young (30-ish) Headmaster who couldn't spell - He frequently asked me to "mark" his spelling in his correspondence!!
Hope I haven't made any spelling mistakes in this post ;)
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"Patients" - perhaps they boiled them down for glue to repair the lock gates.
I spent 35 years teaching History and English. Training in the late 1960s-early 1970s it was dinned into us that insisting on good grammar and accurate spelling and punctuation interfered with the pupils' creativity. During my last year at college (1971), while on my final Teaching Practice, I was giving a spelling test, on the instructions of the class teacher, when my College Tutor turned up. After sitting in the classroom during the spelling test she played hell with me and threatened to fail me, not only on that year's Practice but the whole course!! Fortunately, the class teacher and the Headmaster told her off in no uncertain terms and complained to the College Principal and she backed down.
It doesn't surprise me that otherwise intelligent men and women can't spell!
I'm afraid I was frequently on the carpet, as a qualified teacher, because I insisted on correct spelling and grammar in both English and History written work. It's not surprising then, that towards the end of my working life I worked in a school with a young (30-ish) Headmaster who couldn't spell - He frequently asked me to "mark" his spelling in his correspondence!!
Hope I haven't made any spelling mistakes in this post ;)
I was going to challenge you on "Dinned" (first line) but it is a real word which I'd never heard before. One for my Scrabble vocabluary.
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I walked through the park after being away pretty much all summer. I can see that the area where the equipment for the works was stored has had the topsoil replaced but it still looks pretty awful. What are the plans to return it to its original state?
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I walked through the park after being away pretty much all summer. I can see that the area where the equipment for the works was stored has had the topsoil replaced but it still looks pretty awful. What are the plans to return it to its original state?
Until a couple of weeks ago Friends of the Park were in nagging mode, mithering the council to get onto CRT to get things finished.
We were waiting for CRT to re-till the soil and seed the main area with grass seed and the woodland area with wildflower seed. They have been back and tried to do this but because the ground was so wet their machinery sank and caused the large ruts that you can see in a couple of places. So until recently we were waiting for dryer weather so they could return. It had also been agreed that CRT will pay for new trees and shrubs for the woodland area but these will be planted by the council and Friends of the Park in late autumn, which is the best time to do that. This is still the case for that aspect of the reinstatement.
The change that has arisen is a local lady called Karen recently approached Friends of the Park and volunteered to lead a project to create a wildflower meadow somewhere in the park. She would like to get local primary school children involved in the sowing and maintenance and we (Friends of the Park) thought this was a brilliant idea that we would like to support.
A bit more than a week ago I met with Karen, the landscaper she would like to use to do the preparatory work, and Stockport Council's Greenspace Projects Officer responsible for Memorial Park. We all agreed that this would be a great community project and that the best and most obvious location would be the area recently vacated by CRT. So, the council has approached CRT about doing no further work themselves and giving the value of the outstanding work and the seed that they were going to provide to the council to be used by the new wildflower meadow project.
We are currently waiting to learn what value CRT are prepared to offer for this and in the meantime Karen is looking at grant options to also help fund the project. Also in the meantime, the weeds are growing with a vengence and complete disregard for our plans!
It is worth noting that some of the area in question is needed for the fun fair during Marple Carnival and that part of it (very approximately the top third) will be re-seeded with grass and the rest of the area including the woodland section will form the wildflower meadow/woodland project.
I hope that explains what is hoped to happen - we weren't quite ready to make an announcement yet but I didn't want to leave Howard's question unanswered.
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Thanks Mark for signposting me to this conversation.
As Mark said, we are currently looking at ways in which we can fund a wildflower meadow in this space. I have been chatting to a local landscape gardener who is an expert in creating wildflower meadows and we are very excited about the possibilities of this area.
Provided we can get the funding, this will be a great opportunity to involve lots of different members of the local community to learn more about the benefits of wildflowers for the environment.
I am meeting with the landscaper next week to get a better understanding of costs and timelines.
Once there is something concrete to update, I'll do so here!
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What a great idea. Thanks for the update from both of you.
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We were told that this area would be returned to its previous state, I.e. trees and shrubs. We have had disruption for 8 months and it has been left in an unkempt state for several months more. Why isn't the canal and river trust funding this? To my mind they should have made a significant contribution in the first place to use the park as a building site.
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We were told that this area would be returned to its previous state, I.e. trees and shrubs. We have had disruption for 8 months and it has been left in an unkempt state for several months more. Why isn't the canal and river trust funding this? To my mind they should have made a significant contribution in the first place to use the park as a building site.
As explained several times in this thread, new trees and shrubs are to be paid for by CRT. They will be planted in the autumn by the council and Friends of the Park because that is the best time to plant them if they are to survive. So it is funded by CRT. We and the council could have insisted that they come back and plant them but we chose not to.
As also explained in this thread, CRT were in the process of re-tilling and seeding the grassed area and the woodland area (with wild flowers) but they were delayed by the weather because their machine was sinking into the ground. If we and the council had not approached them about stopping and asked them to consider turning over the funding to the new project then we would still be expecting them to do that work. As it is we would prefer that they contribute the cost of labour and seed to the new project and we are waiting to hear their offer.
And to cover the final point, CRT did make a payment of approximately £5,000 to the council for using the park as a compound. This was negotiated between the council and CRT and goes into Greenspace's general Neighbourhood Income fund and is not park specific.
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As explained several times in this thread, new trees and shrubs are to be paid for by CRT. They will be planted in the autumn by the council and Friends of the Park because that is the best time to plant them if they are to survive. So it is funded by CRT. We and the council could have insisted that they come back and plant them but we chose not to.
As also explained in this thread, CRT were in the process of re-tilling and seeding the grassed area and the woodland area (with wild flowers) but they were delayed by the weather because their machine was sinking into the ground. If we and the council had not approached them about stopping and asked them to consider turning over the funding to the new project then we would still be expecting them to do that work. As it is we would prefer that they contribute the cost of labour and seed to the new project and we are waiting to hear their offer.
And to cover the final point, CRT did make a payment of approximately £5,000 to the council for using the park as a compound. This was negotiated between the council and CRT and goes into Greenspace's general Neighbourhood Income fund and is not park specific.
Thanks for the update