Diya, Sol and Sheila joined a big group of Friends of Maidenhead Waterways volunteers to help install a French Drain. No, we didn't know what it was either, but we do now! A trench is dug where the soil on the bank meets the wooden edging on the waterway, is lined with permeable membrane and filled with stones. This allows any water runoff to drain away and not sit and rot the wooden edging. One party went out in the boat to retrieve a double matress, an old chair and other rubbish that had been dumped in the waterway. Diya and Sheila stayed on the bank and cleared weeds from around a trench that had already been dug. While trying not to fall in the waterway ( which thankfully was completed successfully). Sol helped with some trench-filling, and then Sheila joined her and we were tasked with lining some cleared trench with membrane. Sol took charge of the stapler - armed and dangerous- but quickly got the hang of it, and before long we had lined the final stretch of trench. Once filled with stones, it looked very neat and ready to do its job! A great upper body workout with a lovely bunch of people, we look forward to the next session!