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BCS in action

Gallery – Cosgrove

Our Cosgrove site is at the start of the Stony Stratford arm and runs from lock 21 on the Grand Union Canal to just outside Stony Stratford where the modern A5 cuts through the route of the canal. Over the years it has seem much work to first clear the course of the canal and then gradually re-water sections.

There is a separate gallery showing our work re-building bridge No. 1 at the start of this section.

Looking along a grass path through trees — 1998 – Canal and towpath are very overgrown

Looking along grassed over dry canal bed with brickwork and sluice handle in the foreground — 2004 – At the A5 end of the section the canal bed and tow-path is reasonably clear

Workers clearing felled trees from tow-path — 2005 – Clearing trees from the tow-path

Workers in dry canal bed clearing trees and other vegetation — 2007 – Clearance of trees and other vegetation from canal bed

A group of workers clearing vegetation from earth mound that covers remains of a bridge — 2007 – Clearing vegetation from bridge 1 remains

Two people wearing high-viz inspect a newly installed wooden gate in tow-path — 2013 – Gates installed between sections to keep cattle from wandering

Grass tow-path alongside dried up canal with remains of felled and dead trees — 2014 – Progress being made on clearing overgrown and dead trees

A person standing on the tow-path taking notes with a theodolite near-by — 2014 – Taking measurements to check potential water levels

Water flowing from syphon pipes into the mostly dry canal bed — 2014 – Start of re-watering by syphoning from the watered section before bridge 1

Partially watered canal — 2014 – Re-Watering progressing

Centimetre ruler emerges from water to show depth — 2014 – Keeping an eye on the water level

Brick wall at side of canal with tunnel/drain at bottom centre. Brickwork is falling down at one end and in very poor state at other points — 2015 – Drainage culvert towards the end of the section in poor state of repair

Group of people in high-viz working in dry canal bed clearing vegetation — 2015 – Vegetation clearance continues

Group of people in dried up canal bed inspecting the remains of filed in bridge void after removing vegetation — 2015 – Uncovering the remains of Bridge 2: our next big project

Two young people stand on canal tow-path holding a "Building Futures" poster — 2018 – Celebrating our “Building Futures” partners who have helped with the canal restoration

Small excavator and dumper truck digging material from the partially watered canal bed — 2016 – Digging more soil and plant grown out of the partially re-watered canal

A mid-sized excavator works to clear soil and vegetation from the dry canal bed — 2017 – Excavators used to dry-dredge sections of the canal not yet re-watered

A man tramples soil into the tow-path — 2018 – Work on improving the tow-path

A large excavator scraped vegetation and soil from the canal bed — 2020 – Further up the sections more dry-dredging

Dragonfly perching on a reed — 2020 – Dragonflies are frequent visitors to the re-watered canal

Two workers laying bricks on the wall of a drainage culvert — 2021 – Restoring the broken drainage culvert

Two workers in high-viz stand atop the restored brickwork of a drainage culvert. — 2021 – Completed restoration of the drainage culvert

A small herd of cows look down into the void of empty canal and remains of a bridge — 2021 – Inspecting the progress at bridge 2

Two swans swim in the canal on a sunny autumn afternoon — 2021 – A beautiful autumn afternoon on the re-watered section with rebuilt bridge 1 in the background.

In the foreground a group of people rake stone into tow-path whilst in the background can be seen a person bringing another wheelbarrow full of stone — 2022 – There’s no end to the tow-path improvements

Orange safety netting surrounds an area of bank on the re-watered canal with a brick wall emerging from the water — 2022 – Conserving the Heritage landing stage we discovered

Partially watered and tree lined canal curves away to the right — 2022 – Water further along the sections

Muddy canal bed surrounded by fencing — 2023 – Preparation for building a “narrows” midway along section

An excavator working in muddy canal bed lifting steel pilings into place — 2023 – Starting to install steel piling for the edges of the “narrows”

Looking down into canal bed where stop-planks are being placed across the width to hold water back — 2023 – First stop-planks in the “narrows”

Steel pilings line the side of a narrowed section of the canal with wooden stop-planks across the canal holding back the water — 2023 – Stop-planks installed at the nearly completed “narrows”

2023 – Progress on the “narrows” with some piling and stop-planks in place

A blue ribbon across the canal is cut by Sir David Suchet — 2023 – Sir David Suchet formerly re-opens the first section of restored canal

A dredger boat carries people along the canal — 2023 – First boat to enter the newly re-opened section

Workers cutting and clearing vegetation from the dry canal bed — 2023 – Vegetation clearance still ongoing at the far end of the Cosgrove section

A work-boat travels along the canal — 2024 – First work-boat to enter the re-watered section

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