A Tale of Two Slipways...
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Work in Progress on the
‘Old’ Slipway in Winter 1964 |
In the mid 60s a group of club members decided to upgrade the club
facilities and construct a slipway. A site was selected close to the Scout
hut, pumps were hired and installed at the bridge, stop planks inserted and
the arm pumped out but a problem was encountered in that the site of the
proposed slipway was below the level that could be pumped from the bridge.
So another pump was installed that discharged down the main road! It snowed
but with true determination the job was seen through. This slipway served
until 1995 when it was realised that because the size and weight of boats
had increased a new slipway was necessary. There was also the matter of two
near accidents with people getting steel boats out on the old slipway.
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Close
up of the Dam's construction |
Plans were laid; the arm was to be pumped out again,
learning from previous experience the low point in the arm would also be
pumped but not discharged onto the road this time! Plan A was to have the
arm dry in one day, construct a dam to seal off the site of excavations, rip
out the old slipway from the bottom using a knackered JCB that we had
acquired. Then allow the water back in, to be held back by the dam and work
dry behind the dam; estimated time to finish 2 weeks. That was the plan – it
didn’t work out like that. We couldn’t get a good seal on the stop planks so
when the diesel pumps were switched off over night in deference to our
neighbours the arm refilled - and it snowed! The dam construction took
almost two weeks of full time work and when the remnant of the arm was
re-flooded it also leaked. By then we were on to plan C or was it E. Instead
of starting at the bottom we would start at the top and work
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The Dam and Slipway
summer 1995 |
down to the lowest point, pumping successively lower.
Eventually the dam was made sufficiently watertight and an electric pump
acquired to dewater the section of the arm behind it overnight, leaving the
final few feet to the three diesel pumps in a BW workboat to finish the job
and keep down the leakage. This scheme worked well and construction could
proceed.
A regular system was developed, we poured about a metre
cube of concrete on Saturday morning. Then we excavated ready for the next
weekend’s pour of concrete. The heavy work was done by the JCB whose engine
had to be constantly coaxed to do another few hours. Different gangs worked
on Sunday, usually doing the shuttering which in the early stages often
collapsed. By trial and error we got it working smoothly and all through the
summer, autumn and into winter the work continued. Removing the old slipway
was a major job which was done piecemeal, how we would have coped without
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Arm Dry with ‘New’
Slipway in Background |
the loan of a lot of WRG equipment and heavy steel pipes from one of
the gang’s employers we will never know. Then there was the day the end of
the dam almost collapsed. This was averted by tipping loads of spoil which
was a major headache to remove when the job was finally finished. But
finished it was and then all we had to do was remove the dam. Well by now we
almost needed the services of 617 squadron and some of the scaffold tubes
are there to this day. In the final stages it rained and rained then it
snowed again but it was finished, taking almost 12 months. Clearing up
took several weeks, construction of the railway and trolley to slip the
boats on took another month or so.
There was no topping out ceremony or official
opening; we were all glad that it was finally finished.
Oh but hasn’t it been an asset!
By Those Involved.
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Pumping the Arm Dry |
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