As the "usual suspects" marched across the taxi rank at Waterloo to join us in the minibus, I blinked. We had expected 3, but there were 4 of them. Rick hadn't managed to get through on the phone to tell us he was coming. Oh well - the more the merrier!

MKP met us at the Railway in Droitwich and ran through all the reasons why "it's not a problem". Graham Hawkes of the Newbury Working Party Group was also there and expected the rest of his party to arrive the next day. A mega brick-lay was planned.

There was a slight surprise on our return to the hall. The Droitwich Sports Centre now has NO fridge. However the recent downturn in the weather meant that our bacon and sausages were going to be OK. Site was one where every bit of plant and materials have to be taken there in the van and lugged along the towpath so slightly slow to get started each day. The Brindley-built spill-weir on which we were working is longer than a standard lock, and so could handle quite a few bricklayers. All three available brick lines were deployed and work started. As the day went on, NWPG turned up and set to work laying coping stones, John Gerard arrived for the day and a totally unexpected Adrian appeared. He had emailed us but for some reason the message had not been absorbed. Maria and Clive had planned a further shopping trip anyway.

By the afternoon it was clear that an overspill site away from the overspill was going to be needed on Sunday, and NWPG elected to go there en masse, brick-cleaning and demolishing part of a side pond on the Junction Canal. On the spill weir, our apparent excess of people was being taken up in fetching bricks, fetching cement, fetching sand and even in fetching water from a nearby stream as the canal water is too salty to use for mortar. Almost everybody had a try at bricklaying, which wasn't an easy job when you can identify at least two different sizes of hand-made brick and try to define all the other odd bricks as belonging to one or the other.

Our number was increased yet again by a local chap, who was delivered by the morning trip boat and was so willing that we overworked him on the barrow run until we had to bus him back to Droitwich because the afternoon trip boat didn't run due to lack of customers.

So, to sum up, the long wall is almost ready for the topping off course to be laid, and most of the coping stones are in place. The catering worked surprisingly well considering that LWRG and NWPG have totally different systems, not only of paying, but also of meals eaten, as they turn up on Saturday, bringing sandwiches, eat a joint evening meal prepared at home and reheated, then Sunday breakfast and sandwiches. Somehow, a compromise was reached, everyone was fed and each paid the normal NWPG or LWRG amount for food without the world collapsing. Thanks to Maria and Clive for organising this and the whole thing on their second wedding anniversary.