Saturday 25 May 2013

Fish Pass & Hydro Work Takes Shape

Work to the fish pass and hydro projects at Quarry Bank are progressing. The first pour of concrete on site took place last week following the site being flooded due to river levels coming up following heavy rain.


Preparing for the arrival of the concrete wagon.
The River came up and swamped the site leading to pumping out and desludging the area ready for the arrival of the concrete












Steel reinforcing will be used to strengthen the concrete. When up and running, the hydro will produce around 55% of the mills power requirement. The fish pass will enable salmon and trout to access the further reaches of the Bollin and Dean rivers.

Thursday 23 May 2013

Trans Pennine Walk To Raise Funds for the Quarry Bank Appeal

My story

I'm walking 60 miles, non-stop for National Trust because Quarry Bank Mill is an important place.
Quarry Bank is an important place for my family. We live on site and my husband is the Lead Ranger. It is also an incredibly important and interesting place for the nation. I am doing the Trans Pennine Challenge in order to support this unique National Trust property and to raise awareness of their current fundraising appeal. I am also completing this challenge in order to help with some personal issues. I am the mother of a beautiful two year old but unfortunately I have been dealing with some health issues over the last year or so. This challenge is a spring board back to health! 
The Trans Pennine Challenge is a 60 mile run/walk from Manchester to Sheffield, across the Pennines. I will be starting at 0830 on Sat 22 June and will hopefully reach Sheffield within 24hrs! You will be able to follow my progress on twitter @nicnac4789.
Your support of me doing this is vital to its a success. Your donations will go directly to the Quarry Bank Appeal so that the property can be completed as it deserves. This will ensure that its story is told for many years to come and future generations will be able to enjoy and learn from it. Your support is also very important to me personally and will be a huge help in my recovery.
Please look at the Quarry Bank Appeal website to find out more www.nationaltrust.org.uk/get-involved/donate/current-appeals/quarry-bank-appeal
Thank you very much for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
So please dig deep and donate now.


http://www.justgiving.com/nicolahiley-quarrybankappeal

Wednesday 13 February 2013

Fundraising Appeal Goes Live

A £1.4 million fundraising appeal to help complete the restoration of a "unique" Industrial Revolution community in Cheshire has been launched by the National Trust.
Quarry Bank Mill was the heart of cotton production in the region from the 1780s through to the 1920s and is the most complete surviving example of such a community.

The site is cared for by the National Trust and the mill's working machinery, the Apprentice House occupied by pauper children who worked there, and the estate's gardens and walks are already enjoyed by more than 130,000 visitors a year.
But the £6 million National Trust project aims to restore and reveal currently unseen features of the estate and the archives of the Greg family, who built the mill on the banks of the River Bollin in 1784, their workers and pauper children.

The project will include the restoration of a worker's cottage and shop in the estate village to provide a glimpse of life at the time.
The trust also plans to repair Victorian glasshouses that were at the forefront of technology at the time and produced exotic and out-of-season fruit for the Greg family, and bring them back into production.

Original woodland "pleasure grounds" will be restored and the "northern woods" with bridges, pathways and vistas will be opened. And the Greg family's house will be opened to showcase the archive material, letters and documents of the family, estate workers and apprentice children spanning from the 1790s to the 20th century.

Quarry Bank's general manager Eleanor Underhill said: "Quarry Bank Mill is an extraordinary place that captures a precious time in this country's history. It's no wonder this industrial era featured so heavily in the Olympics opening ceremony last year. Through this appeal we want to be able to share its deep history and personal stories with millions.

"As part of the project we will be inviting volunteers and local communities to help restore key parts of Quarry Bank and develop their own restoration and conservation skills that can be passed on to future generations."

The project will cost a total of £6 million and take five years to complete. The National Trust has launched the public fundraising appeal and will also seek contributions from funding bodies and organisations.

Watch the video here  http://vimeo.com/59508580

Wednesday 30 January 2013

Friends of the CArrs

Attended a meeting tonight of the Friends of the Carrs.

Looking at improving the council run park which abuts NT land. We share the same aims and share the same issues such as dealing with non native invasive species. So we work beyond our boundaries and share knowledge, people and tools.

Tonight we looked at events amongst other things and in particular an event in September called "Canines Capers on the Carrs" a family fun dog show.

People can bring their dog, have a go at the agility course, try to win best in various category's whilst having fun and we can get a message across at the same time about responsible dog ownership.

Should be a good day.

Saturday 19 January 2013

Down the Drain!

Over the last two years flooding and ponding around the village has been getting progressively worse. Investigations with our drainage contractor over the 'summer' of 2012 revealed that the main drain taking surface water from nearly all parts of the village was in need of replacement.

The drain originally put in sometime in the 1820s was on its last legs. The photo below gives an idea of the issues we are dealing with.


section of drain nearly blocked completely with silt



 The drain is comprised of clay 1' long pipes butted up against each other. Soil particles can get between these and as you see in the photo, limit the water's progress through the pipe.

The answer was to install a new drain along the 600mtr length and bypass the old drain, letting it die slowly. It will continue to take water but not in the capacity we need to move it off the property to the river.

The new drain was started on January the 4th and progress to date has been good. We have picked up lots of land drains, these could be anywhere between 150 -200 years old, some still working. These have all been connected into the new drain.

                                                         This image shows a 'horseshoe' drain which were roughly spaced around every 12mtr through the field. Where they were working they were connected up to the main drain to carry on the good work.
The main drain itself is made of rigid plastic, twin wall construction and very strong. This will be taking water for the next 200 years. So everything needed to be accurate from the fall from one end to another between 1" to 1 1/2" to joining in old pipes.


Once connected up, end to end, we should see the effect almost straight away. We currently have standing water in fields that should melt away into the drain.

We are about half way through the project, so we'll keep you informed of progress and just hope it stays dry so we can complete it without wading through sludge!