You never know what to expect when starting up a volunteer work party in a new area. I’d put up posters, shared the information by email and on social media, but really had no idea if anyone else would appear barring David from Burslem Port Trust. I was therefore more than a little relieved when 4 other volunteers showed up at Luke Street in Middleport. Things soon got even better when David arrived with another 5 young people he had “found” nearby who were litter picking as part of a community payback scheme.

After a site safety induction, we split into two groups with the payback team and their supervisor litter picking near to the wharf and the rest of the group planning to clear trees and vegetation at the junction with the Trent & Mersey.

Sunken Boat                            Rubbish from the Boat                                      Offside Bank before we started

A week before our work party a fibreglass boat moored at the end of the branch had been destroyed by fire after its two occupants had unwisely decided to refuel a petrol generator on board the craft, resulting in an explosion. They had survived but their dog was not so lucky. Many of the boat contents had been thrown onto the bank and so added to the already huge pile of litter that had accumulated in this area while they had been moored there. We had agreed with CRT that they would collect this rubbish at the same time as the destroyed boat was removed, so some of our group bagged the smaller items and left them near to the bank for easy collection.

The main task for the day was to start cutting back trees and other vegetation that had built up since the site was last tidied up as part of a Future Jobs Fund scheme in 2010. Our group used an assortment of hand tools and soon the site was looking very different. Two volunteers from a CRT volunteer group based at Etruria, who we had met at Middleport Pottery a couple of weeks earlier, joined us mid-morning and made good headway working along the waters edge.

Unfortunately stong gusts of winds meant that it was difficult to keep our fire going so most of the cuttings were stacked up for burning another day. The day briefly threatened to turn worse when hailstones started to fall but they only lasted a few minutes and the rest of the day remained dry and mild.

A couple of the volunteers had to leave in the morning and the payback group also had to move to another site but, by our scheduled finish time of 3pm, there were still 5 volunteers going strong and determined to finish the job. We eventually called it a day at 3:45. I crossed the canal via Newport Lane Bridge and it was clear to see what a difference had been made. The church tower in Burslem was visible from the towpath once more and, whilst there is still a lot to do, the site was already looking better.

Weather permitting a couple of us have agreed to return to burn the brash at some point in the next week and, by the time of the next scheduled work party in March, we hope that the rubbish and remains of the boat will also have been removed by CRT. We have already heard from three new people who plan to join our group for future work parties and hope that the numbers will continue to grow. Why not join us on the fourth Tuesday of each month?

You can follow Chris every step of the way as the show will be broadcast every weekday on Castledown Radio 104.7fm for the Tidworth area, from 11am-1pm throughout August. Worldwide listeners can click on the listen live button at www.castledownradio.info.

For more information see the Press Release at chris-steers-to-record-radio-show-from-a-narrowboat-this-summer.html .