A Bit Of A Sort Out !

 Week Commencing 26th August 2024

A  short week for the 3 of us because of the Bank Holiday Monday .

The previous Saturday saw Ian who also works in our Broadway Shed accepted a very generous donation and it was a very generous one . 

Must have been close on a thousand books. below are 2 wheelbarrow full and to the right a large container in the mess hut the 2 benches were full of boxes.

That was the mornings work for us , just sorting them out . Into railway books , Canal and waterways books , travel books , local books etc etc . Some we could sell and some we will donate to other charities and second hand book shops . Thanks again for the donation.

The lads from Construction and Maintainace last week sorted out the broken slabs and that area is now back to normal. 

After lunch and the book sorting out we gave the area behind platform 1 a bit of a tidy up.

Pat had fixed the hover mower and gave it a try out , before heading out onto platform 2 .

Over on platform 2 more blues at the rear of the building had been added.

Jo sent me an " Action " photograph of John working on the new build.

We nearly had a visit from the newly completed " 3850 " it was on its way up from Toddington light engine on a test run , but alas it stopped just round the bend in the distance and then headed back to Toddington.

But the Locomotives on duty today were " Foremarke Hall " and 2807

Dave

Autumn Beckons

 Week commencing 19th August 2024

Two fine days this week with a touch of Autumn in the air 

Platform 2 had seen more bricklaying at the rear of the building .

Wind was blowing in the right direction to have a bonfire , the dry vegetation soon went up.

Ron having some white paint left over from another job ,decided to gave the white lines a freshen up , especially around his own car !

Pat was cutting the grass behind the fence on platform 2 .

Whilst the rest of use completed the small garden under the sign post at the bottom of the drive.

Wednesday 

A healthy turn out of 7 volunteers , plus 2 shady characters , seen watching Bob trying to dig out  another lump of the old station brick work.

And then we find another ! This time its a large bit of concrete fence post with reenforcing wire attached.

Ian with Young Dave's help were tidying up on platform 1 and then took to the drive.

Bob was persevering with another large find in the bank. Bits of slabs etc.

Pat was picking up the ankle twisters ( cones ) from the edge of platform 2.

The sign garden was filled with some more soil and ash  , just need some self looking after perennial shrubs in there to finish it off. 

On the way back from the bottom of the drive another small piece of concrete was seen pocking its head above the greenery , which on further investigation got larger and larger. It was decided to leave it until the next time !

Our Friends from C and M were at the front of the building repairing the cracked Paving slabs .

Locomotives around today were 2807 and  " Foremarke Hall "

Dave

No Days the Same

 Week Commencing 12th August 2024

Two totally different types of days  , Monday way too hot and Wednesday way too wet !

Just Ian and Myself on the Monday , Pat decided it was far too hot.

Over on platform 2 even they didn't turn out , who could blame them .

Before the sun got over to the platform 1 side and in the shelter of the hedge , we managed to tidy up the grass and weeds before we ran out of battery power !

The heat tends to make the pines start to drop their needles , a quick sweep up and a trip up and down with Billy soon removed most of them .

By lunch time the temperature had risen and we found it too hot to carry on , so off home we went .

Wednesday

The weather was totally different , Rain and Drizzle most of the day ., but cooler.

An outstanding job was the locks on the 3 toilet doors , one had broken many months ago and became an odd lock out. 3 new locks with the same keys were purchased and then changed. As have it 2 swapped over okay and the 3rd was a bit of a pain !

Yet another sign had been requested to be put up down the drive !!! we cant wait for the next one , Mixed Traction poster maybe ?

It might be a foul weather day but nothing stops Pat , testing the petrol stimmer out on platform 1 before heading out over the other side !

Other jobs today included mending our neighbors gate that a visiting coach driver had reversed into !! and over in our old office , Chris and myself were sorting out old paperwork from when the station was being built, all surplus to requirement now, 

Over the road next to the car park , our lads from C and M were erecting more signs this time to show visitors parking in the car park which way to the trains. 

Locomotives out today were  " Foremarke Hall  " and 2807

Dave

Odd Jobs around the Station

 Week Commencing 5th August 2024

Monday

There has been more work on platform 2 , the blues continue to rise slowly up to a height of 4 in places , blocks are making their way onto the concrete from the storage area.

A good deed was first on the cards , one of our neighbors had changed his shed and his old one was bought by the Cheltenham Area Group for storage down at the race course. Once loaded onto the flatbed transit Ian and Ron delivered it to Cheltenham.

Whilst they were away Pat and myself took a trip down to Toddington to change 4 gas bottles on the RBR which was on platform 2 in the awkward position !! ( We have all done the Manual Handling course , but the rules for doing this ? )

Back at the station , Pat was mowing the top of the bank.

Ian returned the fixed board. and Ron mowed the driveway.

Pat eventually ended up on platform 2 with the petrol flymo , 

Wednesday

I got in early to fix the Toilet flush handles , the plastic nut on the inside loosens it self every so often and the handle eventually goes south !

Ron continued on the drive way weeding the area by the fence .

Pats Petrol strimmer had an annoying fault , goes when it wants to !

After lunch Ron was still on the drive.

We were given yet another sign for the bottom of the drive !! This one tells the public that Pay and Display car park has nothing to do with the GWSR

We didn't want to do it but our hand was forced , 

Locomotives on duty today were 2807 and from a different view , Dinmore Manor crossing the bridge behind Sign land .

Dave

Work and a Jolly

 Week Commencing 29th July 2024

Monday

Back up to 4 today , Ron rejoins us from distant lands.

Over on Platform 2 more activity at the rear of the building , more blues have been laid.

Sun was up early and the heat was on.

Firstly a bit of DIY on one of the bin lids.

Then down to the bottom corner of the drive to clear it of weeds ETC ETC,

Then over to the other side.

One of  our yearly problems was getting the covers open on the 3 drains by the station building , even with lots of grease on them they always stick and take lots of muscle power to open them , just to remove the rubbish they collect.

Once we prized them open we ground down the edges and applied more grease all round , hopefully that should do the trick. Afterwards Ron and Ian gave them all a good clean out.

Elsewhere in the shade Pat gave the hedge another trim .

Wednesday

The forecast was for another hot day , so what better than to go on a Jolly with old friends and volunteers.

Myself , Ian , Brian and Ray ( both ex volunteers ) decided to pop down to The Dean Forest Railway.

Our Locomotive for the day was the Small Prairie No 5541 

Dave