Our first visit to Inglesham in 2019, the push to complete the project begins
6/7 April 2019
The main task for this weekend was to install metal stop plank groove liners and cast the reinforced concrete stop plank cill above the lock. This involved removing the original wooden cill, which was no mean feat given it was a solid beam of timber – probably elm, embedded into the walls by a good foot on each side. Once removed, the cill area was excavated and reinforcing bent to shape, the grooves installed and grouted in and the concrete pour was completed by the Sunday afternoon.
Another task for the weekend was to reset the metal hinge liner on the north wall, as now that the cill had been cast it was found that it had been set too high during the September dig. The south side hinge liner was also set up. Since the hinge quoin stones on this side were too badly eroded to reuse, the hinge liner was braced in position so the new stones could eventually be cast with the hinge liner forming an integral part of the shuttering, with the retaining bolts to be embedded in the cast concrete.