Thank Goodness for Billy

 Week Commencing 25th September 2023

Previous Saturday saw Pat on his Todd having a go on the drive , 5 wheel barrow loads were dispatched to the Bonfire area.

 

Monday

After Saturdays and Sundays wind and rain it was surprising that the fire would actually burn, but as the picture below shows it lit first time and weeks of debris were soon aflame.

3 and a half Volunteers today , Myself ( Dave ), Brian  ( The boss ) , and Ron with Pat joining us half way through the day .

Not being able to access the car park on Saturday meant that we needed to have a go today , the state of the car park and platform 1 is seen in the pictures below 

Dave was on the brushes pulling the needles away from the edges whilst Ron followed behind with Billy vacuuming up the piles.

Just the 3 bag fulls , which kept the fire going !

Pat was on the hedge again , whilst on the opposite side , Brian was gathering up the parts ready for painting, these belong to a new station board going at the bottom of the drive.

Afternoon saw Ron and Dave back on the drive, mopping up what Pat missed .

Billy Goat certainly earned his keep today , hopefully storm Angus which is due on Wednesday wont create too much mess or next week will be another groundhog day !

Wednesday

Just the 2 of us , Pat and myself

Pat seamed to be everywhere  , first with the strimmer behind the benches.

Then on the hedge again .

Then on the drive or was he ?

Locomotives on duty today were " Foremarke Hall and Dinmore Manor "

Dave

Rainy Days !

 Week Commencing 18th September 2023

Monday started off dry but it soon turned showery ! Just the 4 of us today !

First thing we noticed was that the heritage boys had been and fitted 6 off Lamp tops on the posts on Platform 2 .

Jo had found a maker of lamps  " up north " they were a much better quality build to the platform 1 lamps  and looked the part.

Meanwhile back at the ranch as they say,.

Pat had sourced a new rotor for the hover and was trying it out. But the grass was too wet to give it good try out.

So he went back to hedge cutting , with Dave and Ian tidying up behind him.

One thing that keeps appearing are bits of the old station in the grassy areas , another full size brick was dug out the back , sourcing of more hover rotors were becoming hard to find , so we now have to inspect before cutting 

And another half brick.

Showers put an end to anymore work and everybody drifted away.

Wednesday

Forget it , pouring down when we arrived , did a bit of sorting and then went for a ride on the train , to test out the Bacon rolls cooked on the new grills of course .

Dave

Three's a crowd ?

 Week Commencing 11th September 2023

Ron , Ian and myself were the only three volunteers who turned out on Monday the others were away on holiday , enjoying the good weather supposedly.

People continued to be rough with our soap dispensers and now with the toilet flush handles this one was pointing downwards when we found it. Sone sorted !

Ron was doing a bit of touching up of the board wings , whilst Dave was creating designer brackets for the main board.

Trial fit of main board and wings on our shed !

Afternoon saw the three of us down the drive with " Billy "

Then on platform 1 clearing up after the recent rain and wind had brought down more Needles and cones !

Wednesday.

A different Three today Ron Gone , Pat Back !

Grass was too wet to cut so whilst waiting for the day to warm up , Ian and myself decided to trial attach the posts to the rails previously cut and painted.

These will eventually support a new station approach board that's being made by Brian.

Pat arrived and he took over the grass cutting duties on the sunny drive , whilst Dave and Ian removed the slabs from the bank , most had come away and were starting to look untidy . not really used anymore they were removed back into storage .

Locomotives on duty today were " P and O  " and below  " Dinmore Manor " leaving the station with the first train of the day to Cheltenham racecourse.

Dave

It ain't half hot

 Week Commencing 4th September 2023

Weather was totally different from the previous week , first thing warm , last thing Hot , but the 4 of us who turned up did our best .

New posters were put up at the bottom of the drive , an extension of the " Journey Through Steam exhibition " poster and " The Santa Express " poster.

Ron had returned from far off lands which he said was far hotter than we were having , the sun seamed to pick out the spiders webs around the entrance and he attacked them with a brush !

Ian delivered more made up Trugs to our shed .

Pat was in the shade using the new hedge cutter.

Dave , Ron and Ian headed onto the track bed and back in the shade to tackle the many pine cones that had accumulated since our last clean up. we managed to fill 3 wheelbarrows just in the morning.

Plus the 2 bag fulls from the hedge , it will soon be bonfire time again.

Ron and Ian finished off the day by giving the wings of the new board a coating of black..

Wednesday

Where have all the volunteers gone ? 

Just the 2 of us  , even John was on his own in the shop !

Dave was also only on a half day and first thing he turned a few handles for the Trugs.

Alex from the Carriage and wagon dept had kindly sign written the new board , so nothing much happening at Broadway , we hopped on the next train to Winchcombe to collect.

First train of the day south and our lift to Winchcombe.

Collection of Sign written board. just got to gather pictures to populate it now.

Dave