WOOLSTHORPE DEPOT
Originally built as the Carpenter’s Shop in the early 19thC it became redundant in the 1930s.
The Depot, or Carpenter’s Shop its original use, was built to service and repair lock gates, boats, fences and other wooden structures for a large part of the canal.
Trainline Ltd, an organisation set up to train people in alternative skills, were appointed by John Nuttall of British Waterways to refurbish the Depot in the late 1990s. John Blatherwick organised the work and the group was supervised by Brian Hobson. There was no actual planning permission given for the rebuild other than to follow the original design where possible. The decision was made for it to be demolished and rebuilt owing to there being a considerable amount of rot and decay in many of the roof timbers. All the old bricks had to be reused and if one side was damaged they were to be turned round. The old roof timbers had to be sandblasted and treated before being reinstalled or replaced with new where necessary. None of the existing roof tiles could be reused and were all replaced with those from a redundant railway building near Stoke Tunnel at Great Ponton. One requirement was that the gutters had to be made of wood. It was fairly common in the early days for rural buildings to have wooden gutters particularly over the front of doors and windows. They were often fitted to buildings with shingle roofing. The Depot’s gutters were fabricated by a company in Leeds. There is no evidence of them now as they have all been replaced with aluminium. However there is still evidence of the old stables, (marked ‘K’ on the plan), in the concrete floor of the main building. The work was completed in or around 1998.
A - Storeroom B - Blacksmith’s Shop C - Large equipment store D - Mess room/Office
E - Sawpit F - Ramp up to sawpit G - Timber Store H - Launch archway
K - Stable M - Hole for derrick N - Incline
KEY TO DEPOT PLAN
Numerous events take place at the Depot including Discovery Day, held in October, as well as entertainment, lectures and training. The building is constantly being improved and recent additions include partition walling and disabled toilet facilities.
2020