Charity No: 119265 Annual Report
January 1[st] 2025 to December 31[st] 2025
Another successful year, thanks to everyone involved. Work continues to progress well, with future plans set to keep the team busy. Our main challenge remains the shortage of new volunteers, and fresh support is urgently needed for both practical and administrative tasks.
Ongoing activity by the Cotswold Canals Trust, along with our 2025 meeting with their Chairperson, suggests a promising direction for the future of the Basin and is worth further exploration.
In November we received the first instalment of the second tranche of money LCF from Crapper & Sons.
Due to volunteer unavailability no events were attended, although two talks were delivered to WBCT branches. We continue to promote our work on YouTube. Facebook activity remains occasional and should ideally be increased. The Latton Bugle is published whenever possible, but sourcing content is challenging and feedback remains minimal.
Work at the site has continued under the terms of “permission to work” provided by Bidwells, which runs until 13[th] May 2026, when it is due to be renewed.
Workdays have continued each Wednesday, subject to weather and underlying ground conditions and have been attended by about four to five regular volunteers, with a slightly larger group, including trustees, once a month.
2025 was a mixed year weatherwise, with a “normal” wet winter and early Spring, followed by a prolonged period of very dry and hot weather over the Summer and early Autumn. The final two months of the year included some very heavy periods of rain. Only six workdays were lost due to weather.
In the first two months of 2025, safety fencing was erected on the approach to the bridge over the river Churn and alongside the top of the aqueduct wall, which is under reinstatement. From the early Spring, the hedgerows and brambles were cut back to the tree line and a rotting tree and fallen branches were removed.
Summer and early Autumn consisted of a prolonged hot and dry spell of weather which saw very low water levels in the flood relief aqueduct, and were ideal conditions for the completion of the brickwork - blue bull nosed and red engineering bricks - on top of the
wingwall in the inner lock area. The installation of large capping stones on one side of the inner lock wall was completed.
Advantage was taken of the low water levels in the aqueduct to reinstate the partially collapsed culvert with a tree stump growing through it. This work was completed in the first week of November, shortly before a further spell of very heavy rain which filled the pond of the aqueduct.
During November and December, the bridge over the inner lock was reinstalled to its original position to enable completion of the remaining brickwork and installation of matching capping stones. Use was made of some of the 20 tons of spoil/soil from Cotswold Canals Weymoor Bridge site to level off the areas surrounding the top of the inner lock and wingwalls.
The owner of the lock keeper’s cottage Robin (Bob) Mitchell died during the Spring after a short illness. He had been a very staunch supporter of our work for its inception and will be sadly missed. His widow, Jan, has continued to support our work, and we continued the cutting of grass and trimming of hedges around the cottage, cabins, and basin areas.
Work continued on cataloguing photos taken around the site since 2005 and compiling these into short five minute videos on each different element of the structures within the site which have been loaded onto YouTube. These have attracted a very good response from interested viewers.
During the early part of 2026, we will focus on completing the remaining brickwork and capping stones in the inner lock. We will also erect and install a shed/toilet, funding for which was achieved through a successful bid to Waylands Estates in 2025. The work will involve the partial removal of a large tree behind the existing large green cabin, the construction of a concrete base finished with paving slabs. This facility opens the way for having corporate volunteers return to the LBR site.
In the Spring and Summer, the bed of the canal bed will be strimmed and improved fencing and gates will be installed across site for improved safety and security of volunteers and the public. Focus will then be turned to the approved second Entrust Project focussed on the reinstatement of the basin and surrounding areas, including purchase and installation of capping stones for the flood relief aqueduct. This project runs until 31 July 2027.
Doug Small 31/01/26
Charity No 1192965 Charitable Incorporated Organisation
Income and Expenditure for the period 1st January 2025 to 31[st] December 2025
| Income General Lease Restricted £ £ Opening balance 1,300.62 6920.00 Donations 696. 00 Wayland Estates 750.00 HRMC (gift Aid) 389.57 LCF (Crapper & Sons) Totals 1,835.57 Expenditure General Lease Restricted £ £ Tools, fuel & materials Admin Web services 323.81 Events equipment PPE Insurance 2025 695.30 Membership(IWA & CCT) 118.00 Fees etc Totals 1,137.11 0.00 Balance at Lloyds Bank 31st December 2025 Estimated assets |
Entrust Restricted Totals £ £ 2,667.73 10,888.35 696.00 750.00 389.57 11,000.00 11,000.00 11,000.00 23,723.92 Entrust Restricted Total £ £ 3,139.03 318.00 106.08 684.25 1,520.57 5,767.93 6905.04 £16,818.88 £4,000.00 |
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