Canal restored above Chaddington Lock, 2010

Once Chaddington Lock and the spill-weir had been finished, in 2008 the culvert channel east of Bincknoll Lane was cleared in readiness for the canal to be restored between the lock and the lane. This would provide some water for the canal, but not enough.

Restoration was delayed when a water pipe encased in concrete was found across the canal line. After investigation, it was found to be disused and could be removed. The public footpath had been diverted south of the canal via a temporary footbridge while the spill-weir had been built, and so this had to be removed and the footpath re-opened over the spill-weir (some of the footbridge was salvaged to be stored before use elsewhere).

A large excavator was hired to work alongside the WRG excavator ‘Blue’ which was showing signs of age, needing welding and repair. The towpath and the northern embankment had subsided during the years of disuse, and so these needed to be raised using clay dredged from the canal line. Work was hampered by the wet soft clay – a sign of things to come when Studley Grange was being restored by a contractor – and it took some months before more than 100 tons of scalpings could be laid on the towpath.