Western North Embankment is no more. 7th September 2022

Storm Danielle, or remnants thereof, have hit England and unleashed a lot of torrential rain. This is on top of some earlier downpours. Hopefully the drought is over, though drought orders are still in force in many areas. It has been a remarkably quiet hurricane season - there hasn't been one this year. Even named tropical storms have been rare - Danielle would suggest she is only the fourth.

The result of all this rain has been increased water levels across Manor farm, despite the Colebrook being plumbed in. Manor lake has been collecting water, as well as the main reed bed to the north, with their shapes more defined. However, they are not plumbed into the Colebrook, therefore have nowhere to drain. Perhaps this will be rectified with the work Inert were doing when I paid an early site visit. The water logged and standing water did confirm my prediction about Inert needing to get a move on to finish restoring this site before rains arrive to make the ground soft and muddy. The only good aspect is that there appear to be no need for tipper and/or grab loader lorries to transport stuff. They, with their thing tyres, found the going difficult on soft ground - often carving out huge deep ruts.

I did time it very well, just missing torrential rain. I looked at netweather's rainfall radar, spotted a gap in the showers, and legged it to Manor farm.

When I got to my usual parking spot, next to the Longwater road entrance, I could not see any activity on Manor farm. I could hear, and see, a bulldozer working away on Chandlers farm. Oh-uh, I thought, is this Inert flitting about again?

Nope. There were three, yes three, diggers operating on Manor farm, one bulldozer and two heavy earth movers.  Almost a record, with the bulldozer on Chandlers farm, I'd say.

One digger was working on the Higher reed bed, on the west side of the banking separating it from the main reed beds.  No idea what it was up to as it was both too far away and hidden partially.

Another digger was demolishing what remains of my mighty mound, filling up heavy earth movers, who shipped the soil to Chandlers farm. I did say Inert would have to dig out the area around my mighty mound to create the new, elongated Manor lake. I puzzled greatly as to why the mound was built in the first place.

The third digger was pottering around the south vehicle track around the yellow vehicle bridge. I could not determine what the operator was doing. I thought, initially, he was extending the Colebrook channel, but then it looked as if he were demolishing a land bridge, another time he was flattening the bank along the south footpath. All very strange.

Our intrepid bulldozer driver was flattening a higher piece of banking along the south (aka Blackwater) footpath. This piece of banking was particularly annoying as it obscured so much of the site near the copse. Glad it has gone.

It looks as if between them, the bulldozer driver and digger operator my smooth out the mighty crater that is my mud fill nemesis. That would make walking along the south vehicle track a lot safer and easier.

And finally, the western North Embankment. It has finally gone, completely flattened. Another milestone in the restoration.