Blue Flower

Our riverside wall collapsed on 2/1/23 and the trench wall is cracked and bowed. We believe the damage is due to the tar floor between the walls preventing water soaking down into the ground, forcing the top of the walls out, causing the trench wall to bow and the river wall to collapse. The tar floor has a layer of soil above that absorbs water, but the tar floor prevents it draining into the ground below. On 18/3/23 we manually removed some of the debris to prevent it affecting the river flow and to show we had started to deal with it.

We had to cross the blacksmith’s shop with digger, tractor and trailer to clear all the debris so we covered the blacksmith's area with soil to give access to the fallen wall. We decided to permanently cover the area, as severe deterioration had already taken place. We had to temporarily remove the boiling house foundation bracket and cover for this work, it will be put back when the works are completed.

We had to wait for dry conditions to get machines on site, as the track to the mill becomes slippery in winter. On 10/6/23 the digger was taken to the mill and debris from the fallen wall was removed from the river, most was taken away to be crushed for ballast, some was left at the mill to use for wall repairs. The area between the walls was fenced off with Keep Out signs as the fallen and cracked walls were unsafe and the ground between them was badly churned up by machinery, making it difficult to walk on.

On 24/10/23 we had a meeting about the damaged walls. Rebuilding the river wall with bricks and mortar would be very expensive due to the materials and time involved, I looked into grant funding but no suitable grants were available. There were also concerns a brick wall might fall down again without major modifications and strengthening. Options considered were: A cement bag wall, but this was also expensive, not environment friendly and they don't look very good; a sloping river bank to match all the surrounding banks with smaller brick corner which was the lowest cost option; and Gabion Baskets filled with rock.

We originally decided to replace the fallen wall with Gabion Baskets filled with similar colour rock to the original wall. However after two years we have still not managed to start the works due to Fred's very high workload and the track being too slippery in winter to take machines to site. We are now considering a Sloping River Bank which would be much less work and far less brickwork, as the curved wall would just be made good instead of fully rebuilt to meet gabion baskets. This would also save a lot of money as no materials would be needed because bricks and cement for the curved wall are already on site. This option would allow natural water drainage.

The trench wall has been bowed since early 2019 and has got worse, its now cracked. This wall was was perfectly straight when rebuilt in 2017 so when the riverside wall fell, we knew we had to address the bowed wall in case it also collapsed. The options are: Wall plates & anchors to hold it in place and repair the crack by repointing, this wouldn't improve the bow, as we were advised not to try straightening it as that could cause it to collapse, but it would stabilise it; the other option is to remove and rebuild the bowed section using bricks already on site, the wall each side of the bow would be supported by scaffold or timber while the bowed section is rebuilt. 

The tar floor between the damaged walls, which we believe caused the wall problems, will be broken up and removed to prevent water damage to the trench wall, then grassed over again when work is finished. We don't like removing original features but we have no choice when it could cause major damage, the tar is not visible anyway as its under soil and grass. We have other tar floors running up to the boiling house, also grassed over, the boiling house foundation bracket cover shows a small part of the floor, the bracket and cover will be put back after the works are complete.

When work starts this page will be kept up to date. Volunteers will help with repairs and preliminary work, including checking to see if the Carrstone wall is within the fallen wall area. We have already started to make preparations for repairs:-

On 2/9/23 we refurbished the boiling house corner bracket surround and cover, as it was removed so we could access the fallen wall to clear up debris. We filed off splinters, sanded it down and painted it ready to put back after works are finished.

In November 2023 we modified a Kingfisher nest tunnel so it can be built into the new river wall. I held this one back hoping to build it into the new wall as its the ideal location, as Kingfishers like vertical banks or walls by slow flowing water with enough height above and below their nest tunnel. If a sloping river bank is created instead of rebuilding the wall we will find another location for the nest tunnel.

The Grey Wagtail box was removed when the middle of the wall collapsed, in case the end also fell down, which it did when clearing debris. It will be put back up when works are complete. There is still a Grey Wagtail box at the other end of the site which we believe was used. All nest boxes are from our Green Community Grant project.

Graham Bartlett  

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