Groundworks finished? Fettling next. South bridle path north of sewage works flooded. 29th October 2023

With the clocks going back an hour, I was able to get to Manor farm restoration at 6:30am this morning. Reasonably bright. Not a great sunrise.

The bridle path crossing over the Colebrook prior to it going under the Longwater road not yet built.

 A section of bridlepath just north of sewage works was almost entirely under water; and this after a few hours where levels could fall a little. During really heavy rainy periods, the flooding can increase by a further 5-10cm (2-4 inches) of water and remain for weeks. At which point this section of bridlepath will be completely under water.

Minor flooding of bridlepath occurred from sewage works to bailey bridge.

Wow, Inert appear to have completed groundworks north of the Bailey bridge where gravel excavations took place. The area is unrecognisable; deep channels, almost chasm like, weaving in bold curves and sweeps like a Henry Moore bronze sculpture.

Shame water levels in them wont be very deep.

The whole area does look impressive, though.

I didn't walk over the recent landscaping, even in my wellingtons. I know only too well that areas will have the consistency of quicksand, and I'll sink up to my knees in the stuff.

I did try venturing out a little, towards what will be the east sluice gate, but gave up within 10 metres as I struck squidgy bits, with my wellington boot disappearing into mud without much pressure being applied.

As predicted, I could not walk onto the east side of Manor lake (basically the old Manor Lake east of the Bailey bridge) due to channels and moats being built around it. I did try to cross a bit nearest the south footpath, where a channel was no wider than a narrow stream, but quickly abandoned that idea as my wellington started to sink rather deeply into the stream bed. Also, I figured the newly bulldozed ground on what was Manor lake would be very squidgy. Not going to risk sinking up to my knees in the stuff again.

There was an awful lot of bird life on the restoration. Loads of Green Sandpipers, and other birds I only caught glimpses of. Our resident Kestrel was about in the low light of early morning. While a couple of Red Kites flew lazily around - a lot of effort with no thermals.  Otherwise, the usual birds were around, in large number.

Photos to follow as and when. Painting staircase almost finished - the thing, as built, by builders is appalling. Loads of basic schoolboy errors. Much fettling on my part, armed with wood filler.
Photos to follow.