Royal Wootton Bassett Canal Wander, Chaddington Lock
The old Lock Cottage which used to be here has been demolished because it had no running water or electricity; nor did it have road access. When lock-keepers lived there, everything had to be delivered by boat or towpath. The first job for the Wilts & Berks Canal Trust lock restoration team was to create an all-weather access track from Bincknoll Lane for heavy vehicles to reach it without getting bogged down.
The ‘Dig Deep’ team undertook the lock reconstruction over a long weekend in October 2000, the old lock had been excavated and the lower 4ft 6in was found to be intact. The walls were found to be 3ft thick, with buttresses on the outer sides every few feet. The banks were profiled to prevent landslips. By winter, the rains came and filled the workings with water, so it was a good precaution.
Materials were brought on-site for the start of building, but the Foot-and-Mouth outbreak early in 2001 put a stop to any further work. Work re-started in the autumn when the Waterways Recovery Group, (‘Bit-in-the-Middle’) (WRG BITM) group repaired the bottom cill.
A mild dry winter allowed 3 WRG weekend work parties to make progress with lock brickwork. Rather than use shuttering for concrete back-filling above a certain level, hollow concrete blocks were used instead, filled with concrete and creating a good result. The rains came in February 2002, preventing the building-up of the track to improve access for ready-mixed concrete lorries until summer-time. From then on, ‘Summit Lock’ was renamed ‘Chaddington Lock’.
Another wet winter made it worthwhile paying for concrete-mixer lorries equipped with 11-metre conveyors.
The brick arch for a tail-bridge was completed in mid-2003, followed by the lower wing-walls and tail-bridge parapets. The tail-bridge’s concrete deck was capable of carrying heavy vehicles. The temporary track below the lock could then be removed.
In 2004 the upper wing walls and by-wash were created, and lock-ladders were put in place. Finally, the lock scaffolding could be removed.
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Congratulations Swindon Leys on FTF.