A slightly hectic day for all concerned resulted in a slightly late departure from Waterloo. However, we made good time and arrived before closing time. A lot of people had already arrived. More than normal as Essex WRG were joining us.

The morning was certainly interesting as it was my first time leading a dig. Trying to organise everyone simultaneously proved difficult and so it took a little time to get everyone settled on a job. The work was varied but tended to involve walls.

The main job was to clean off an old canal-side wall to allow contractors to quote for its complete reconstruction. As an optional extra, removal of the rather large tree stump could be attempted. Bob was quickly on the case and with the help of the locals' ageing JCB it was removed.

The second wall job was to complete the brickwork. This proved quite tricky as the ends were slanted. However, with the aid of the brick saw and a little ingenuity, it was completed before the weekend was out.

The third wall job involved concrete infilling of a wall that had already been built. This proceeded at a healthy pace once the mixer had been freed from the bricklayers and was also completed.

Possibly the most challenging job was the use of a hand-held Kango to deepen a ladder recess in a lock. The job involved standing on a scaffolding platform with dust and debris going everywhere. It was hard work and we chiselled out a reasonable amount. Still a lot more work to be done however.

All in all a respectable amount of work was completed and we should be returning to Lichfield later this year.