Thursday 18 August 2011

Wednesday 17th August 2011 - The Power of the Bacon Buttie!

Another great turn-out today with 12 Volunteers on hand. Efforts were concentrated on continuing with the block work on the Platform 1A wall. Part of the volunteering process that I like to promote is training volunteers in a new skill and encourage those who have a particular trade to share it with others. Although this may seem to slow things down, it does bring new talent to the fore, adds to the satisfaction of a days volunteering and delivers more resources for later in the project. Here Ron Briz. is giving Terry some tips on mortar laying techniques "on the the bench".
Photo from Peter H
By the end of the day everyone was pleased with the result of the block laying. Here is the emerging wall looking from the southern end northwards.

  The Lamp Huts got a step nearer to their full refurbishment with the arrival of a large quantity of galvanised corrugated iron. This was obtained by Steve B good offices and thank must go to Evenproducts for their generous contribution. We would not have been able to retrieve it without the help of new volunteer Bob  Jones who help fetching and loading in his super smart van! Here are the "goods" before being taken off site for safe keeping.
The last major activity was the finishing off of the white line on the main platform wall. Graham D brought his kit along and did a superb job of completing the last section and yer tis-
Photo from Peter H
Finally we had a welcome visit from Darren Fairley and his colleagues from Network Rail who spent 2 hours viewing progress and talking about the future. It was an opportunity to thank NR for their help in retrieving the bricks and slabs from Honeybourne. The new Platform 2 at Honeyboourne is due to open on Monday. Would that we could put our platforms up that quickly!

I left site today full of hope for our Project. We are still broke, have little chance of getting money from the operational Railway, but a great, unwavering determination to succeed  against all odds prevails. We will continue the task,  supported by the growing generosity of individuals  and before you know it  we will see steam billowing over Broadway Station.

2 comments:

Jim Boyles said...

I am still amazed and excited by all your group efforts. I paid a visit to the station site today, meeting Peter (now a Gloucestershire Man but originally from Pembrokeshire) and we both enjoyed a "conducted tour", courtesy of Bob and Graham.
Keep it up chaps! And as soon as I have attended the pre-requisite, H & S course, I will be joining you on Wednesdays and......heaven help you all.....!!

surfsuprich said...

Certainly might fine work going on and I wish you well!

One thing that may be of interest to you - not sure if its the right type of GWR Footbridge, but it would appear that Slough station is set to get a major upgrade, with a new footbridge key to the project - Could either bring a second-hand bridge or perhaps the red bricks could be of use for any station building work?

Either way, keep up the good work and I have to say, almost each and everyday I do check the blog to check out any news and progress – and what good progress it is too!

Rich

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-14299435

http://www.slough.gov.uk/news/articles/23497.aspx