Work returns to the Footbridge

 Week Commencing 26th April 2021

There was a noticeable cold wind that we had on Monday first thing , coats stayed on till mid day when as predicted the sun came out.

Most of the Gardeners headed out with Mowers, brushes and rakes to various parts of the station embankments

Tony gave the bank behind platform 1 its first cut.

Vic gave the small garden a good weeding. Elsewhere Pat was here and there .

The debris from all this made its way to the bonfire area , trouble is that the wind is in the wrong direction to fire it up , so the heap gets higher.

Peter Q , Dave and Brian had volunteered themselves to do some running repairs and try and renovate the windows on the Winchcombe Station building so they were missing in the morning

In the afternoon the picnic tables on platform 1 were in need of  some attention , Dave and Ian on the case.

What we had in the Morning was the welcome return of Neal , he set about trial fitting ( or trying to remember where everything went ) of the wood work on the Footbridge.

At the end of the day most of the wood work had been sorted out a nd in position. lets see what happens on Wednesday.

Wednesday 

I'm usually one of the first in at Broadway and even I was a bit late , this was due to the cold rain that had been forecast for the day. I thought that we would be low on numbers but there must have been nothing on the TV or no shopping to be done as we eventually had a healthy turn out.

 Peter Q was still keeping himself busy down on the bank 

The other Peter K was constructing yet another spear fencing panel in the dry of his container. Whilst Mike was elsewhere painting the previously erected panels.

The Spear Fence erecting crew were seen moving the panels for the slope into position .

Pat had a go removing the pine needles from the track bed first with the rake and then with the blower , he went back to the rake as the blower also blew the ballast about ! 

Many wheelbarrows past by on the way to the bonfire pile which due to the rain and wind will have to be lite another day.

Rod, Terry and Keith after measuring a gap for the gate managed to erect two panels on the slope , Peter K later measured up how many more panels he will need to make to finish this end of the platform.

Down at the workshop Dave and Ian added more paint to the Hayles Board.

Locomotive on duty today was 4472 above pulling the last train out of Broadway.

The Day of the Diesel

Sunday Diesel Day a full train arrived at Broadway Station.

Vic

Sunny Days

Week Commencing 19th April 2021

Monday saw a cold start to the day but eventually the Sun was beating down on the volunteers who attended. 

It had the feel of a Gardening day .quite a few had brought in their spare plants and flowers that had not been or required in the gardens at home .

 On platform 2 Tony gave the grass the first cut of the year.

 

Peter after planting his plants was seen strimming around the existing plants on the car park embankment.

Pat and Brian did the upper reaches leaving it all looking neat and tidy.

To stop Pat from mowing over the newly planted shurbs ,  flowers etc , Peter Q decided to put white sticks near the plants , hoping they would be seen better and not get damaged !

After a hard hour or so, its time to relax in the sun and maybe talk about life.

Else where Dave was in the Booking Hall swapping over the temporary notice board for a more authentic look one, made by Jo.

Afterwards Dave and Ian were back down the workshop working on the  " Hayles Board."

A second coat of primer on the board and top and Ian giving the letters another coat.

Wednesday 

Firstly , the problem with people still entering railway property by the Springfield  lane bridge !

They were still digging their way under the railings , so it was decided to sink old spear fencing into the ground as well , hopefully it might deter them.

Afterwards it was back up to platform 2 continue the spear fencing.

Two more panels of Spear Fence added.

 

Two more panels fitted today , next week its onto the other side of the signal box and maybe the slope ?

Back outside the work shop the Hayles board had its first coat of undercoat and its top fitted .

Locomotive of  today was " Foremarke Hall " seen here pulling the first train of the day into Broadway.

Dave and Vic , and some pictures from Rod.

GWSR Volunteers

 Saturday 17th April 2021

Railway staff at Broadway Station

The Station Master, Booking Clerk, Cafe staff and Station Assistant taking the photo.

One Minute Silence at 3pm for The Duke of Edinburgh.

The Day Before.

 Monday 12th April

This sounds like a Bond Film. No! tomorrow trains are back. 

They will be the same as last Autumn Covid restricted, passengers staying in their compartment whilst travelling. Going from Toddington to Cheltenham return to Broadway and back to Toddington. Changes have been made at Toddington with a new entrance road keeping cars and pedestrians separate and hopefully safer.

Cold Start

Waking up at home it is white outside.

The roads were clear and all Monday volunteers were at work.

At the workshop Ian sorting out hosepipes, Brian is talking to Dave who is repairing the Hayles Abbey Halt  board.

Tony and Brian have uncovered the memorial bench and cut the grass. Jo just arrived.

David also taking photos. Is it me?

Here is 2 shots of the Spear Fencing on Platform 2 showing the progress.

The edging slabs can be seen quite well on the down slope to the crossing. A similar finish will be done on the Platform 1 side to match.

The Strimmer brigade of Pat and Peter were attacking the grass behind the Driveway fence.

It looks as if Mrs Mop was at the Station today. The equipment is standing idle but where is she?

I was starting the clearance of the flower beds. Where does all these weeds come from?

Just showing the difference in weather we had had today , the first is about 7.00 am the 2nd about 7.00 pm.

So to Wednesday.

A much better day weather wise a bit of a chill but the sun shone all day , and due to restrictions being lifted on numbers the Monday gang could now attend on Wednesday. 

Terry, Rod and Keith set about another 3 spear fencing panels on platform 2 , and below Peter K was fixing a bespoke panel which was made to go between the signal box and the gate post.

Down the platform yet another panel in the pipeline was being painted by Mike

Over on the drive embankment Peter Q was planting more flowers , whilst Pat was trying not to cut them down with his Flymo

Over in the workshop the saga of the Hayles Abbey Halt running board continues .

As seen on other Blogs the Board after just over a year had paint peeling off. We brought it back to be attended to. Strange that in some places the paint just fell of back down to the bare wood but in others a bit of elbow grease a heat gun and a scraper were needed !

 

By the end of Wednesday every thing had been stripped back to bare wood again , a new top had been made , holes filled with filler .

 

Next Monday a different type of primer has been sourced , lets see if that does the Job .

Finally after many months the Trains are finally running again , only the one Loco running today .

Thursday

It's Me.