Colebrook channel plumbed into culvert. Higher Reed bed being formed. Part 1. 20th August 2022

I must admit I swore a little when I visited Manor farm on Thursday morning and thought Inert had not achieved very much. They appeared to have begun back sliding to their old habits of a flush of activity followed my months of slow, glacial progress.

Some more of the southern West Embankment had been removed, along with overgrown vegetation. This gave a view over the site not seen for decades.  Inert (two bulldozers, one digger and one heavy earth mover) were not doing anything. All was quiet.  Round about 10:00, two plant operators clambered into the cab of the heavy earth mover (fully loaded with spoil), and the driver drove them to Chandlers farm.

I was not expecting much when I visited the site early Saturday morning. Was I in for a surprise.

This part details the Colebrook channel, western north embankment and what was Cormorant lake (north).

But firstly. We had some rain! Actual rain. It fell on Monday and Tuesday. Unfortunately we didn't get very much in Finchampstead. However, indications are that Manor farm and surrounds south of The Finchampstead Ridges, received a fair amount of the wet stuff.  Standing water here and there, ground getting soft, with tracks being chewed up by heavy plant make deep ruts. My nemesis, mud, is back, particularly on one section of the south vehicle track.

Inert have been demolishing land bridges. I should have noticed earlier, and I did wonder what they were going to do with them. Well, their flattening them, and appear to be taking the spoil beck over to Chandlers farm.
 
The channel, which Inert have been crafting to contain the reinstated Colebrook, has been plumbed into the culvert that runs under the Longwater road. This culvert used to contain a conveyor belt, which took gravel from Fleet Hill farm (after crushing it), across Manor farm, over the river Blackwater to Chandlers farm for processing and dispatch. Water could flow from Manor farm to Fleet Hill farm, if Finch pond had any decent depth of water and was itself connected to the Colebrook, way over in the east.

What does confuse me about the plumbing is there is quiet a complicated bend in the channel where it reaches the culvert.

More of the western north embankment has been removed, but not as much as had expected. This simply reflects Inert's standard method of flitting all over the site. 

Again, of great perplexity to me, is the capping of what was Cormorant lake (north) with topsoil. My perplexity - Inert have not used topsoil from the eastern north embankment or ridge.  They've trundled the stuff in from the west embankments! The reason for this eludes me, as it is time consuming and burns up lots of derv.