For the first task party in August the BCS crew initially split into 3 teams. A team of 4 painted the weir fences and tended the hedging whips at locks 4 and 5. Another team of 2 painted the cill markers on locks 1,2 & 3 whilst the third team set about edging lock 3. The teams then recombined to edge lock 1 and tidy the lockside garden.
A crew of 7 turned out on the bank holiday weekend to address a bone of contention. Having restored the water point area adjacent to Midland Chandlers during the summer of 2018 BCS has now given up hope of it being cut regularly by contractors. This year was the final straw as it has not been cut at all. BCS has been keeping the paths accessible over the past few months but has now decided to keep the whole area in good order as a welcoming facility for boaters visiting Braunston. By using 2 strimmers and a mower Saturdays task party made a start by removing the multiple layers of long grass that had compacted flat due to the lack of regular cutting. The path edges and sanitary station access covers were revealed. The bin compound was cleaned out and encroaching brambles removed from the adjacent hedges. More work needs to be done to get it back to the standard they achieved in 2018 but once restored it should be relatively easy to maintain. Ideas of how to further improve the site are already surfacing!