On the Brushes again !

 Week Commencing 27th March 2023

A lovely start to the day again ,the sun was beating down and we had 5 volunteers turning out.  

Our neighboring Ravens sat on top of one of the pine trees. making a hell of a racket  Its that time of year for them !!!

On such a good day what's to be done , maybe a bit more painting.

Brian and Ian started by scrapping off the old flaky paint , whilst Dave started to paint.

Peter headed down the drive to tend to the never ending debris from the trees.

Dave had started by doing the middle 3rd of the container , but by lunch time and with everybody's help it was done and looking very smart. good for another 5 years !

Another job that requires doing is the sorting out of the bottom garden , Ian and Chris were deciding what to do ! 

The flower bed is too close to the fence making it hard to mow the grass in front so we have decided to move it back up the embankment.

But first the concrete from the old posts had to be dug out, which Ian and Dave eventually did. whilst Brian was in the same area keepin the weeds down.

Wednesday

What a miserable day ! Another why bother day raining when we arrived and still raining when we departed !

But for the 4 who turned out it was a case of staying indoors and stay dry.

There was a brief respite of the rain so Peter could cut some more sides for the Truggs which seam to be selling well in our shop !

The reason Peter had the ear defenders on was not because of Ian, but because Dave had just finished drilling the new bolt holes in the rails. The pillar drill in the container makes a bit of a racket when it was drilling through 1/2 inch of steel !!

When its raining our breaks tend to be a bit longer , one our discussions usually revolves around ailments , the latest one was Pat`s swollen knee which has slowed him down considerably , I did take a picture but putting it on the Blog would probably contravene some rule about decency! 

Anyway you cant keep a good man down ! he was out in the rain removing more moss from the platform.

Pat and Peter disappeared around lunch time , Dave and Ian put everything away and went down to Winchcombe on the scrounge for useful stuff .

Dave

The Sun Shone for Awhile.

 Week Commencing 20th March 2023

We turned up on Monday  , No wind , no frost and no rain ! What's going on , is it still Winter ? The Morning then saw a flurry of brushes !

But first Dave fixed the handles that Peter Q had previously made onto this seasons Truggs, ready to be sold in our shop.

Vic gave platform 1 a sweep down. Whilst below Ian was fighting with the hose to get it back on its holder.

The weather was warm enough for Mike to apply Dark Stone to the Paneling outside the Kitchen Door.

Outside the Mess hut Chris was giving the Barrier a coat of Fence Life.

Pat was doing some thing Different ! taking ash from the fire area to somewhere , he did say but after a few days I have now forgotten !

One of his success stories was the area on platform 1 ramp , which was covered in moss . 

Pat sprayed the area with cheap vinegar from, he said Tesco's and look at the result , just needs brushing down when it eventually dries up.

The weather was so kind that Brian and Dave with brushes and paint headed to the office.

I wasn't sat down having a rest . Brian did the middle 3rd and I did the Bottom 3rd,we then both did the top 3rd. by the end of the morning we had turned the corner , which was timing as it then started to rain again. Ian looked on having rubbed down container 3 , it too will get the same treatment on a dry day. 

Rain stopped play again ,but mission accomplished , looking much better now.

Wednesday

Weather was dry and bright, most of the day , 5 turned out ,  but after last Mondays effort with the paint brushes there wasn't much enthusiasm to do Portakabin 3 !

Never mind,  Peter carried on with the Trugg construction. Whilst Dave and Ian spent most of the morning cutting an old Rail we had found into 1 m lengths, they will be used to hold the new board at the bottom of the drive.

Ian then removed the rust , and then treated the cut lengths of rail in red oxide.

 

Chris was out in the car park , whilst his son Dave swept around the benches, on platform 1.

Dave

Weather Beats us Again

 Week Commencing 13th March 2023

Monday

The few who turned out faced one of the strongest winds that I could remember at Broadway , Most could see the trees swaying and decided not to go anywhere near them !

Pat and Dave headed down to Toddington, where the rakes of coaches that we being used for the race trains were in need of a few gas bottles changing. Below shows the gap we have to work in .

Four bottles on rake one were changed before we headed back to Broadway.

Where Vic had tidied up the bottom garden.

It was too windy for painting , ( that's a first ) so we had to find other work to do.

Ian had been around the metal skip and found 4 off large castor wheels, Dave then created a trolly for moving the bins etc. around.

Wednesday.

A bitterly cold start to the day, so after the Monday winds there was a lot of debris around the Station.

Friday will see a train leaving from Broadway to Cheltenham for the racegoers, So  Dave, Ian and Brian got out the brooms ( too wet for the Billy Goat ! )

By midday the rain had started again but we had given the area a good going over..

At the front of the station building a few paving slabs had been broken , usually by the coaches not staying on the road when they were dropping off and picking up the passengers !

Our friends from Construction and Maintainace soon sorted them out with replacement  slabs. Later they went over to platform 2 and fixed the spear fence which needed attention .

After the Dinner break the rain had set in and we couldn't find anything useful to do outside so we called it a day. A very weather driven 2 days hopefully things will get better as the year goes on.

Dave

Next Project

 Week Commencing 6th March 2023

Another cold  day in March ! 

Dave, Brian ( our new head honcho ),Ian , Vic , Chris and Pat all turned up.

Time for a tidy up around the station auxiliary buildings . First lets see what paint we have !

Just a small tub of dark brown wood preserver was found , just enough for Brian and Ian to do the edges of the Sales hut.

Then it was on to bigger things , all the containers on platform 2 are looking a bit grim.. we found some old grey paint and a tin of brownish paint, But first they needed rubbing down,

Ian and Brian looking at the task in hand ,

Pat took this rare photo of Me using mechanical assistance rubbing down the office , better than a scrapper I thought !

Elsewhere Chris was on the barrier having found a can of  brown fence life. Viv and Pat were doing stuff with the vegetation.

End of the day saw the Office fully rubbed down with the bare patches now covered in red oxide paint , but we could do nothing about the holes , they will have to stay !

Wednesday

Another miserable day , only myself and Ian turned out.

Too wet to do most things , but we put the resharpened blades on the Chop and Table saws, sorted out some more unused kit out of container 1 and donated it to the Construction and Maintainace guys doing the tarmacking on platform 1 .

And then as it started to rain yet again we decided to go home.

Dave

That time of Year Again !

 Week Commencing 27th February 2023

A cold damp day in February saw the usual turn out on the last week before the new season starts.

As the numbers who turn out on every volunteering day varies , it was decided that , as more usually turns out on the Monday that it would be better to put the station furniture out that day

Not that it really matters nowadays , Dave had made a handy castor trolley that makes moving the benches now a 2 man job !

One of our volunteers Peter was working for the other side today ( RCS ) in getting the Kitchen and Café ready for the weekend. Inside were a large team from the RCs giving the whole area a good deep clean.

Vic was putting the waste bins out in there usual places. After the benches were positioned it was now the heavy and awkward stuff..

The 5 seats were placed in their area next to the shop , moving of the lamp hut has given the area a bit more room .

Vic had tidied up the small garden by the Kiosk and removed the frost killed Yucca plant. 

The refurbished bench on the grassy area was reinstated and fixed down.

Pat was continuing pressure washing of the drive pavement.

 Whilst following him down the drive were Brian and Ian  mopping up the heaps of debris.

Wednesday

Another cold and wet Morning .Just Dave ,Ian and Pat left.to do odd jobs.

One odd job that needed sorting was the gate down to the Signal box locker room , it wouldn't open  ! it had dropped a few cms a washer or 2 on the hinge put it right.

Pat was trying to get rid of the moss , spraying it with soapy water if anybody asks !!

On Platform 1 a gang from Construction and Maintainace were sorting out the lip between the tarmac and platform edge , over time a slight tripping hazard had appeared which needed attention before the new season .

All starts again on Saturday,

Dave