Sunday 8 May 2011

All Set for Action!

 A lot of  sweat and toil went into the tidying up (mowing, weeding etc) of the Station Approach and surrounding areas. Cutting back the encroaching vegetation gives a better perspective on how wide the Drive is and its potential as  route to the new Station. Certainly room for two lanes of normal traffic and a pedestrian footpath. For those with an eye for detail, you will notice the telephone poles in the driveway.These services will be routed underground in the preparation for a clear access path.

The platform is now ready for the coping slabs to be put in place.  This will happen on Wednesday next - wish us luck! For those who have been able to read between the lines, the construction team have been doing some re-work on the platform top surface to eradicate a few bumps and humps. We are all a bit wiser now, but nevertheless a great job has been done, particularly considering the variation in size and condition of the reclaimed bricks used. You could now play a game of billiards on it!

The Sales Kiosk is now ready and open for business - we made our first over-the-counter sales and the donation pot now rattles!  The only chore is emptying out the  kiosk at the end of  day so that nothing is left for those of nefarious intent.  A thank you goes to Neil (spot him in the adjacent photo!) from the Friends of Winchombe  who donated a good GWR book to our cause.

Lastly, I am conscious that in the work we are doing we are making mistakes that others on the Railway have got the proverbial T Shirts for!
So we will be coming along over the coming months and seeking out advice wherever we can!
Thanks to Peter H for the photos. I must really remember  not to leave my SD card in the computer.

2 comments:

Jim Boyles said...

A really great job on the open weekend, I'm only sorry I couldn't get along due to prior commitments; I'm sure it went well.

As an aside, being a Broadway resident (Broadwayian? Broadwayonian?), I took my usual Sunday afternon constitutional to the station site, to view progress and I have two questions:

1) The old horse bay wall are pretty much intact. Is it in the plan to resurrect this siding? It would be great to have a couple (or three) GWR horseboxes here, kitted out as a heritage/information centre, (until such time as the goods shed could be possibly converted?

2) On the right of the drive, leading up from the main road, are the remains of an old brick built building - not shown on any maps that I've seen - any idea what purpose it served?

Jim

Bill said...

Morning Jim,
Unfortunately some of the land was sold off to the Station House B&B and there is insuffient room to get a siding back in there. However your comments about having exhibits on site has been in our minds for some time, together with the setting up of the Goods Shed as a Heritage Centre.

The bricks you refer to by the drive have been dumped there and will be removed. There was never a building there, although we are hoping to get planning permission to put a toilet block there or there abouts.
Thanks for your interest.
Bill