12th August 2006 - Special Work Session for DEFRA
A report by Martin Day
Defra the government department that deals with aspects of the environment such as rural services and schooling etc. work at two locations, namely London and York. The two groups talk to each other via phone and keyboard but rarely meet. When they have their team building sessions it normally consists of a meeting at an hotel for a group talk. Well this time they wanted to do something constructive so they got in touch with the Waterway Recovery Group (WRG) who suggested a place half way, The Grantham Canal. They wanted to do some clearance work and we had the paperwork ready for just the site at Oddhouse Farm. As they had to travel large distances they said they would arrive at 10.00 and leave at 14.00.
The York contingent arrived around 10.00 but the London crew had lots of problems so didn’t arrive until early afternoon.
The canal bed at this point varies between wet and dry so is the perfect place for Willows to thrive thus the bed was full of them. I could see the look in their eyes as they slid down the bank into the reeds and began cutting. This of course was after the full safety talk given by the leader Mike Palmer of the WRG.
There were several GC RS members who had made special arrangements to be there to assist. As the visitors slid down the bank they thought ‘What the heck have we let ourselves in to’ but as they started to cut and saw they got into the swing and clearance began.
As can be seen from the photos a lot was achieved in a very short time. They said that they would love to come again and try something else to which we replied “You are very welcome”. Some had managed to have some lunch that WRG provided and later had a drink before rushing off to visit, if they had time, a farm that had diversified – to what I don’t know but it sounded good.
Unfortunately we were not together long enough to get to know one another but next we hope we can spend more time with them because we certainly want them on our side.
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