On arriving at the pub-in-the-middle-of-the-roundabout (only Lichfield could have a pub there!) it was obvious that the weekend was going to be “compact”. Originally meant to be a purely London WRG weekend working on Tamworth Road locks, Essex WRG had decided to join forces with us as they were short of people for that weekend. As it turned out, Essex WRG appears to consist of just Frank Wallder these days; certainly he was the only Essex person who turned up! Nigel had volunteered to be the emergency stand in dig leader as Andy “Kate” Roberts had escaped to Scotland (something about Munro bagging, snow and new toys to play with) and it was only seven people who joined in the toast and beer session back in the hall.

Frank had volunteered to act as cook for the weekend, so early the next morning a very fine breakfast was being enjoyed by all. Onto site and meeting Phil Sharpe the local organiser the work gets parcelled out. The first job was to pour a concrete base to the Tow path wall landing stage at the tail of lock 24, Marcus and I took on this role – well what else can you use a chemist for on site but making concrete? About half way through this pour the correct set of keys to start Blue arrived, only 2 tries needed. Sal, Nigel & Rick continued with the concrete, whilst after half an hour of bucket changing and preventative maintenance saw Martin, Marcus and I starting to excavate the towpath wall between locks 25 and 26, Blue did not seem as pleased by the prospect of work – arthritis and what sounded like the after affects of a 40-a-day habit were the least of the problems!

After an excellent lunch courtesy of Frank (you can come along again!) we pressed on with the work, brick laying started at lock 24, more soil was shifted - a job at which I had to retire from mid-afternoon as my ancient dumper could only tip over edges and I was running out. The other major task of the day was to start painting the new Burco box, cunningly designed and built by Marcus. Sal & Nigel disappeared off shopping for paint and then Sal proceeded to spend the rest of the day undercoating and top coating the box and any other tools that didn’t escape fast enough. The last volunteers for the weekend joined us just after lunch, Bob and Sleepy Dave rolled up.

Back at the accommodation and painting continued over beer while Frank cooked up a wonderful chicken casserole – the food was so good that we only just made it down the pub and Martin was seen almost falling asleep in his beer.

Back to site again the next day and work seemed to pick up, more bricklaying, more towpath wall clearance, another concrete pour on the wing walls and the final coat of paint on the Burco box kept everyone out of mischief until it was time to head home.

Many thanks to Nigel for stepping in to lead the weekend at the last minute and to Phil and the rest of the Lichfield trust for having us – despite the slow start we seemed to get a lot done over the weekend, everyone seemed tired enough on Sunday evening!

Ed Walker