At Last

 Week Commencing 17th November 2025

Monday

  3 regular volunteers today and a newcomer Mark joined our merry bunch .

Time to put the station to sleep until the mince pie specials after the C word.

Wrapping up the running in boards worked last year , this one on platform 2 has a coat of old posters wrapped around it to provide protection from the wind and rain.

Benches live under the canopy !

The bins , some of them are going to need attention over the coming weeks were put in the warmth of the ladies toilets.

Over on the bench , Ian , Kevin and Mark put together a type of cold frame .

On the other bench , I put the glass into other cold frame.

The Station at rest .

Ian found some Black paint and gave the shed ramp a new coat .

Wednesday

Another cold and wet day but 5 volunteers today .

Over on 2 nothing has happened since last week , I think all the activity has moved down to Toddington until the special bricks come.

The notice board by the booking office door needs a freshening up , warming itself up in the disabled toilet.

Kevin and Ian were making an area behind the mess hut for gardening paraphernalia . 

Chris and young Dave made a start on insulating another wall of the shed.

Kevin has a new area with the cold frames .

Dave

Still not quite !

 Week Commencing 10th November 2025

Monday and Wednesday

All intentions of putting the Station furniture under cover was thwarted yet again by the running of 2 Charity Santa trains from Broadway to Toddington. 

Maybe next Monday ?

Just Kevin and me on a showery Monday , too wet to do most things.

In between showers Kevin tried out his new extendable hedge trimmer 

Mike and Sue came in to decorate the Café for the excepted Sunday visitors !

Myself kept out of the rain rattling up the new cold frame.

Wednesday it tipped it down , not expecting anyone to turn out , but on one of the worst days for a long time , 4 turned out .

The neighbours tree had had a serious pruning, some debris was left on the grass which Kevin attensed to .

Chris and young Dave were in the shed preparing for the installation of more insulation on the door side.

Myself finished off the cold frame top with a bit of varnish.

By lunchtime the rain had beaten us again , so we all drifted off home.

Dave

Not Quite

 Week Commencing 3rd November 2025

Monday

This time of year its usually time to put the station furniture under the canopy , mainly to save it from the ravishes of the winter weather. But they have decided to run a Saturday Fireworks train from Broadway to Cheltenham , so everything got put on hold.

Rainy Monday for the ones who turned out , not much we could do.

Except remove our 2 leaning trees !

The 2 trees were chopped down , then cut up into smaller pieces , the bigger pieces seam to vanish maybe to be used as a winter fuel supply ? The bonfire area is at its maximum height so a new pile at the end of the platform was created.

Wednesday

My first job was a gas bottle change on train 2 , which was eventually found hiding in platform 2 at Winchcombe.

Back at Broadway.

Kevin was moving around a few shrubs , with Ian's guidance . Chris was measuring up , in readiness for installing more insulation into our Broadway goods shed.

We also had a visit from Mark a potential future volunteer !

Using old scrap timber I turned my hand into making a cold frame for Kevin's seed trays.

Over on Platform 2 the notrh wall has been raised to corbelling height and work is now on the south wall .

More sad news, was the passing away of Roger Johnson ,

A volunteer at Broadway for many years, here seen beating up the mixer and then after he moved on to Construction and Maintenance , our condolences to his family.

Dave

Last Week of the season !

 Week Commencing 27th October 2025

Monday

A few around on a Autumnal day.

Quite a few books went over the weekend at a £1 a book .Maybe we could try again over the coming week  ? So instead of taking back to the office for storage they made their way to the mess hut.

Ron took " Billy " for a walk on the drive. 2 of the most useful things at Broadway Station.

Down came the signs . Last of the galas.

After many weeks since we aquired it , Ian finally got the adaptor to fit and stay on the hose.

Kevin took to the start of removing the 2 overhanging trees . 1st branch of many .taken down to the workshop area , chopped up for the bonfire or peoples wood burners.

The 2 offending trees leaning out of the hedge ,photo doesn't show how much they are leaning , time they came down.

Over on platform 2 , brick work up to the first corbelling .

Wednesday

It was raining when the 3 of us arrived  , and it was the last working day we would see the trains until maybe next year.

Too wet to even put the books out . Maybe on Saturday

 

So lets have a train ride .

Locomotives on duty today were " Betton Grange " and on its last week "P And O " seen below at Toddington.

Dave

Gala Weekend

 Week Commencing 20th October 2025

Monday

3 of us on a wet Monday , with the gala weekend coming up it was time to have a sort out of all the books that were in the office . and then box them up ready for the £1 sale !

Not a book but Ian has a plastic truck for sale if you are interested ?

Another day another broken manhole cover and 3 slabs , right in front of the station building ! What was a skip lorry doing on the pavement ?

Wednesday

A bit brighter and more volunteers .

Time to put the sign up showing what's on this weekend. 

There was a trial run with the books over to the shed and due to the bad weather forecast for Thursday it was all put back ! ready and waiting for the weekend.

Afternoon saw the final undercoat for the dagger boards.

Elsewhere Kevin was attacking the overly large hedge behind platform 1 , helped by Chris and Dave.

Not much happening on platform 2 , mostly internal block work.

The 2 Locomotives on duty today , which of course can be seen at the Autumn Showcase Gala were " P and O " and " 3850 "

Finally its with sadness to report the passing away of Robin Elliott 

Robin used to travel many many miles to work with the Broadway group in the early days , I could say he loved cleaning bricks because he certainly cleaned more than his fair share . Saturdays with us and Sundays as a booking clerk at one of the stations .

Our condolences to his family.

Dave

Autumn Days

 Week Commencing 13th October 2025

Monday

Just Chris and myself today and only half a day at that .

A few odd jobs were done .

A buddleia on the car park garden was cut down and removed to the bonfire area , which needed a tidy up ready for the next light up . 

Talking of lights , Dark afternoons are on there way  so the station lights were tested to see if we had any duff bulbs , all worked well.

Wednesday

Back up to 5 volunteers .

Ron did a bit of mowing and strimming on the drive way.

A bit of trouble with our dead deer ! Wild life had pulled it down from where we left it and on to  platform 2 , the wind blew from the northerly direction and smell ! Nothing for it but to remove it somewhere down wind / we took what was left of it to the south end of platform 2 and Kevin seen below pushed it down the embankment .

Another session on the dagger boards /Undercoat number 2 on the one side.

Kevin with the help of Chris and Dave attacked the hedge .

The car park garden wall needed finishing and the places where it had collapsed rebuilt.

Pink Timetable today so 1 steam and 1 Diesel.

For those that might be coming to the Gala next week our shed at Broadway will be selling railway books and most books at only a pound each!! Hundres to choose from so Pop in grab a hand full .

Dave

Back on Line !

 Week Commencing 6th October 2025

Monday

First thing was a bottle change , and after that , a visit to the Loco shed see the sleeping giants !

Back at Broadway , numbers up to 5 . Storm whatsit had brought down more Cones and needles .

Ron took to the track bed to collect more debris.

Chris took Billy out on the drive and then did the platform

The neighbours large tree at the end of platform 1 leans more on our side than theirs ! Kevin was using his extendable cutters' to remove the branches which were heading to the trackside.

Chris after doing the platform came to help Kevin clean up his mess.

I was over on the bridge investigating why the camera had stopped working .

Wednesday

Over on platform 2 the back is up to the corbelling stage , now the end wall is growing higher .

Kevin is over on the hedge by the big tree .

Chris was in the small garden having a weeding day .

The cable feeding the camera between the office and the bridge was tested and had somehow had broken down, nothing obvious , so Ron and I installed a  new length  and the it was all put back together and it was all back to normal.

Look away now if your are squeamish . Walking around the area by the office a smell hung around , which found belonged to this poor deer which had failed to jump over the fence and got its leg trapped  ! must had been there for a couple of days ! We managed to get it down from view but had to leave it there . 

Locomotives on the Pink Timetable today were 2807 and class 37 37215 taken from the bridge whilst I was working on the camera

Dave