Thwarted! Inert working on Saturday. Cor, and a lorry queue on Wednesday. 21st November 2020

As that idiot president's blatant attempts of a coup falter, and this stupid lockdown enters its third week (with the infection and death rates falling as a result of the tiered restrictions filter through), I was once again thwarted by Inert working on a Saturday.

Our lone bulldozer driver was working away at 7:35am, when I arrived on site. I did notice flashy lights on Chandlers farm - perhaps Inert have started work on restoring it. Who knows.

Wednesday morning provided a surprise. At least five or six lorries on Manor farm, with an actual queue! Albeit of two lorries. I must reiterate that there isn't any sense in hiring too many lorries whilst they still have to reverse 75m or so up onto the land mass. It just takes too long, some five minutes to reverse up, drop their load, and drive back. Queues of lorries will thus build up quickly, with drivers spending up to 25 minutes or more twiddling their thumbs.

In any case, it was heartening to see the pace of restoration picking up. My prediction of infill being completed by the end of this month was, perhaps, wildly optimistic but  I reckon was possible were it not for the unusually wet October and November we've been experiencing.

Back to Saturday. I spied the bulldozer from Longwater road entrance. To gain some semblance of what the chap was up to, I decided to make my way across the Finch pond infill to the north embankment. I knew no plant would come onto Finch pond side of the works, whilst I would be some 10 to 15m up on the north embankment and ridge.  Plus, it would give me a chance to photograph the works from there, as it has been some time since I walked along the north embankment and east ridge alongside Cormorant lake (north).

Well, from some 100m away from the bulldozer, it was difficult to assess the amount of progress this last week. There seemed to be a fair amount, with large swathes of fresh, dark spoil spotted around the land mass.  It still seems a random process to me, this restoration lark. Inert are flitting all over the place.