Getting warm again !!

 Week Commencing 6th July 2026

Monday 

Hot

Wednesday 

Even Hotter !

Four of us around on Monday , some managed it into the afternoon , it was warm .

A badger had been around on the platform 1 bank looking for a snack in the old tree stump !

Chris wont find the badger in that pipe! there is no water for 50 yards but the old mess hut had a sink which has long since been taken out but water is still nearby  so he had a go ta fitting a tap .

The 3 of us headed down to the embankment to give it a tidy up .

Weeds and wild flowers are a growing faster than we can cope with .

Wednesday

Up to 5 at least till lunch time when the heat got too much for some.

Takes awhile to water the flowers , some like the creeping Jenny done seam to need any watering !

Some flowers in the pots haven't survived the heat , and Kevin had a some spares which he swapped .

Chris finished off the 2 A boards , just ready to be sign written maybe ?

Neal was on his own moving bricks off the platform 2 , it was back to the old days of brick moving for some ! move this pile of bricks 2 foot to that pallet , just like we used to do.

Over on platform 2 , drainage for the stairs has been put in and the 3 Stanchions for the canopy have been erected.

 

Locomotives on duty today were the Black 5 and 3850 .

It was with great sadness to hear of the passing away of Margaret , a Wednesday stalwart in our shed for may years , our condolences to her partner and family .

Dave

Too Few

 Week Commencing 29th June 2026

Monday 

Just the 2 of us , the keyboard warriors are having an effect on volunteer numbers .

Ian and I after watering the flowers decided to give the Memorial garden a cut and tidy up .

But first a wheel barrow was rebuilt , what The steam department think is scrap we fix and after a few hours of work its virtually good as new .

Wednesday

Kevin and Chris joined us .

Chris worked on the 2 new A boards varnishing the legs and blackening out the centres.

The remaining 3 of us moved on past the garden to try and clear the embankment . 1 at the top 1 in the middle and 1 at the bottom.

Locomotives on duty today were the Black 5 and 3850 .

An interesting train at the end of the day , saw the 2 Class 37 pulling 3850 on its return journey to Toddington

Dave

Far Too Hot

 Week Commencing 22nd June 2026

Monday and only Monday

A Bit of a hot one this week caused the railway to shut up shop till the weekend .

Just myself and Ian on Monday the rest ???

Plenty of straw from the adjacent field had blow over the fence and landed on the platform . weird !

A gas bottle change on rake 2 at Toddington and we were back , the sun beat down and Neil said to Ian that he needed sun cream on top of his head  . A bit too much I think. 

The rest of the Morning before it got too hot was spent on the Drive way grass , by early afternoon the sun got too much and we headed home.

Dave

Daisy your time is up !

Week Commencing 15th June 2026

Monday

4 around today , usual 3 plus Chris 

We have had over the past couple of weeks quite a few donations of plants and terracotta pots , all to brighten up the station. Kevin and Ian and Chris were seen potting up.

Myself was playing with the brush cutter behind platform 2.

Then mowing behind 1 

Bit further down Ian and Kevin started on the platform 1 embankment .

Its a case of platform 1 on Mondays and Platform 2 on Wednesday when the station is open.

Wednesday

 A wet start to the day , just the 4 again .

a couple of hanging baskets now hang next to the bridge stair case.

Mark and Ian had a go rubbing down the Fuel shed roof .

This was our mission today , time for the daisies to go .

Daises we going over , hidden within are the brambles , Ash trees and other weeds all getting a foot hold . Both Ian and myself with the brush cutters tackled the job.

More clay pots were filled with flowers and distributed around the station.

In his small greenhouse area decisions were being made , what and where .

Locos around today on a red timetable were " Manston " and 3850 .

Dave

Time for the big boys toys !

 Week Commencing 1st June 2026

Monday  

Back to proper summer weather Sunshine and showers !! 4 on Monday plus a crowd for a Friends of Broadway Meeting.

The platform to carriage ramp had a bit of an hinge problem , nothing that a few blows with an hammer couldn't solve.

Ron was at it with the mower over on platform 2 

It was just an idea to hollow out an old tree stump and put some flowers in it . It started of well then the wood got progressively harder.

Kevin's on flower duty slowly putting pots around the station to brighten the station up.

Wednesday

Mostly showers so no cutting of grass .4 in the morning and 3 volunteers despite the weather in the afternoon.

Rain seamed to have stopped work on platform 2 for the moment .

Its nearly time to get the petrol brush cutters out to tackle the embankments , we have 4 brush cutters each with a different attachment , so it was time to make sure they all worked !

As it was wet no taking them too far , below was the testing of the wire brush cutter on grass and a few brambles .

An idea was to sink the sign into fence post to try and make it less noticeable !

Kevin took some plants down to the bottom of the drive to brighten the raised bed up.

All 4 brush cutters performed well , only problem is that we only have one person who can use them !

Purple time table on Wednesday which meant 2 Steam Locomotives which were 2807 and  " Manston "

Dave

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