After the Gala .

 Week Commencing 25th May 2026

Wednesday

Back to Wednesday working after the weekends Gala , still a hot day for the 6 who turned up .

Over on Platform 2 more arches have been completed on the front and work has now moved to the rear of the building .

Kevin brought in a new lighter mower to do the banks  , works okay but seams to hate slopes !!

No problem for Ron with the petrol mower on the driveway .

End for the Festival of Steam gala posters ,and they were taken down .

We have had a delivery of new signs regarding the evacuation point and fuel storage etc , All our relevant places have now been adorned with bright new signs.

Bottom of the drive also got a tidy up ( didn't we do that 2 weeks ago ? ) Ron following me with the trimmer .

Here he is again this time with Kevin behind platform 1 .

Just before going home time Ian gave the platform 1 garden a good soaking .

Behind platform 2 is a bit of a wild flower meadow this time of year and the hot weather has attracted a few of these Painted lady butterflies  

Locomotives on duty today were 78022 and 2807 .

Dave

What a Storm !

 Week Commencing 11th May 2026

Monday

4 around on Monday , Ron and Chris took to cleaning out of the guttering at the side and the back. 

Slabs needed a good clean up afterwards.

Brush cutter came out to deal with the various weeds on the car park garden.

Kevin was out down the bottom of the drive also trying to keep the weeds down .

An interesting find was this Owls pellet , Ron was talked into cutting it open to find what it had had for diner ! Nothing of interest.

Later we had a go at keeping on top of the grass and brambles down by the containers.

Wednesday

Just the 3 of us today .Myself , Chris and Young Dave

Over on platform 2 the end wall has had most of the corbelling done and windows on the front just need their arches started.

A very weather related day, from sunshine , showers and this below after thunder and lightening passed overhead.

A lot of debris was blown onto the station platform .

and also on the driveway cones as far as the eye could see.

A request from higher up , for 2 off A boards . these were started and worked on between showers !

Brown timetable again with Betton Grange just having missed the shower seen here pulling into Broadway with the Mid day train..

And the Bubble car having to hid under the canopy to stop the passengers from getting wet..

Dave.

 

Sunny Days

 Week Commencing 4th May 2026

Wednesday

Just the Wednesday this week due to the bank holiday m and 6 in attendance .

Over on platform 2, front windows have been bricked up to the arches on most , some joists have been put in place but not fitted and work on the store room roof continued.

Ron had a go at the cold water tap leak  , but to no success , handed it over to C and M they have more tools than we have. 

One of the signal box window frames was loose , needed to be re fixed .

Its that time of year when the platform bank gets its first cut , Daffs and Primula have had their day , my self and Young Dave took most of the day to make it look like a lawn !!!

Over on platform 2 one of the slabs had begun to creep forward , it was prised back and recemented .

Cafe open sign is falling to bits , a newish notice board had been made years ago and Ron and Ian did a trial fit.

It was Betton Grange with the Bubble car day , Brown timetable  still, until the landslip has been finished. 

Some of us on Monday popped in on Monday , myself to fix the cameras , Kevin to water the plants and Ian,  we afterwards went for a ride behind our guest Gala Locomotive.

Dave

Grass Cutting with a Vengeance

Week Commencing 27th April 2026

Monday

Bright sunny day for the ones who turned out ,.

Vic carried on treating the front of the fence , whilst

Myself and Ian did a gas bottle change on train 2 the buffet coach , nice and easy for a change !

Chris and Ron did the weeding of the fence line .

From the inside of container 1 we spotted Kevin lighting up a bonfire.

The memorial garden had a cut.

Wedneday

Reports on the Tuesday that something had knocked over the stone wall and Notice posts by the station car park. This was the scene that we found on Wednesday morning !

The lads got stuck in , posts stripped of their notices and re planted , wall rebuilt , posts repainted , signs straightened and refitted

And voila , 

All because of a oil lorry attempting to turn around.

Mark , myself and young Dave grabbed the mowers and cut most of the grassy areas.

The easy grass banks and the hard ones.

Trains around today were " Betton Grange " and the bubble car .

But on the way home my path was blocked temporary by a delivery lorry !

Dave

Ps I know the cameras are somehow off line , please don't bother the railway . I will sort ASAP hopefully Monday , be Patience . 

 

Drains and Ants

 Week Commencing 20th April 2026

Monday

As you can see I am running out of Blog titles but onwards

Ron's back from his travels so the numbers on Monday went up to 5 .

The drains and manholes all needed a good clean out , quite a few bucket loads came out of each of the station car park ones. A smelly job 

A distance shot of Vic working his way down to the bottom of the drive treating the fence.

Another drain and another bucket full .

The taps nearest the door in the Gents toilets were dripping again , another set of fresh tap washers were fitted.

He`s here he`s there he`s everywhere Ron on the mower this time .

Wednesday

Due to the landslip being worked on during the week a different timetable was being run , a Brown one .

But no brown timetable tag, One was cut and then ian painted it up.

There had been a trail of ants coming from the outside pavement by the kitchen door , to prevent them getting into the kitchen a liberal amount of ant powder was put down and on the pavement side ant spray was used.

A slightly dampish brown timetable tag was put on its hanger for all to see , in full sunshine it should be dry bt the end of the day.

The pear tree garden had a good weed and topping up with soil.

Chris was treating the bank side of the fence .

Betton Grange was on duty today , on its trip to Broadway it needed to top up its water tank .

Problem it has is not being able to spray the embers in the ash box some getting out and causing small fires on the track bed.

Just like below when Ian and Kevin were in the right spot to extinguish so small fires after the train had left.

Trains operating on the brown table were Betton grange and the Bubblecar

Over on platform 2 , work has finished on the far end , flat roof could be finished by next Monday ,frames are being primed or undercoated at the front of the building, where the brickwork rises to the arches height .

Dave