Cleaning up some old, Ratcliffe Scumble glaze tins.

Scumble, is a thin stain varnish in a variety of wood colours, it was very popular in Victorian days right up until the 1950s.

The idea was to create a wood grain pattern finish on wood and metal work .

The scumble was pained over a light buff base  and wood grain patterning was created by pulling various sized combs an rollers through the scumble, once it became tacky to create a woodgrain finish.

This was to create a pleasant effect over woodwork to hide defects.

These old tins were rusty and filthy .so masked up and into the blast cabinet they went to clean off the lids and rims, then put under the wire wheel and coated with a a yellow tint to go somewhere near the traditional, gold mirror finish still present on the underneath of the tins.

Next we have these letters that were found underneath the flooring of the former Abergavenny wagon works building we moved to Toddington many years ago.

Although in a poor state they were written to a lady who must have worked in the office, written by an individual who was repeatedly asking for money to pay off debts, clearly feigning affection.

Dated around 1954, references are made to watching Harry Seacombe in Newport and the mysterious "P" whom money was owed.

Finally a photo showing the first cut of the Moquette  material, in readiness for the first 

stage in, reupholstering GWR Collett coach 4777,based at HoneybourneAirfield.

  A Landmark Day

The AA box was moved to the entrance to Toddington Station, today, in time for the start of the, brilliant Cotswolds Festival of Steam, this weekend.

Mark Young picked it up in the field on the telehandler, and skilfully drove down the main road backwards, he couldn't see the road as the box was in his line of sight.

The box should draw attention from passing traffic, arousing curiosity, hopefully leading to more new visitors.

Thanks to Keith Taylor, who steered this project, so well.

The mess at the back of the cab

A repair to the connection between the roof of the Morris Commercial and the back panel had been well bodged, by me years ago.

Time for all that to go.

The repair and some of the back panel, was removed

an infill patch with a 90 decree flange was welded in, to provide  a firm anchorage for the roof.

It is now ready for the next stage.

 Wednesday 21st May 2025 a nice start with rain and possibly thunderstorms forecast but it was dry and sunny.

The first job was to get some clinker from the pit where they empty the steam engine fires and then fill the AA box stand to level but within minute the mission hit problems.

                                                        no air due to an explosion in the sun

                                                

So a walk down to the bunker and use an engine shed barrow for the 100 metre push, this means the frame is ready for the box to arrive which is hopefully Friday morning on the tele handler.

The blue ( to weigh 5CWT )scales have been sat outside the groups shop so now moved to the loading dock and the lever mechanism was removed for cleaning with a weak acid and wire wool before a wash off, dry and coat with lanolin just leaving the wood and paint to do.

                                                    

                                     Before                                                                                   after

                       

                                                                    reassembled 

                                                

The inner door handle on the first line coach was only just engaging the square so the inner handle was sunk further into the door.

                                                

The Morris 2T 5CWT lorry has had new screens fitted but the passenger side was not sitting nicely so bead out reposition glass the clean and refit beading so now a job done.

                                                        

A missing door stop off the museum coach was located a few weeks ago but today it got fitted

                                        

The museum coach also got a replacement sign as the RATS COACH was ambiguous and did not show any purpose so now it has a new one.

It was then time for line wagon number 2 to have more paint scraped off the ceiling then a powered rotary wire brush in the grooves followed by the first coat of white paint.

                         Whilst we were working 3 engines arrived for this weekends steam gala

                                                                                

                                                                            

                                      To join others already in the engine sheds awaiting the gala

With the sun out is was good to see the railway was busy with travellers and spotters who were hiding as this engine steamed in..

 The Midland railway Lamp hut

This building, I recovered many years ago from Brookthorpe and Whaddon Church near Gloucester, it was  used as a garden store, and was likely to have come from the nearby Great Western and Midland mainline.

We intend to re site it next to the Honeybourne North Signal box in Toddington Station Car park.

We have many railway lamps, to display in it as a typical Lamp room would have been.

Members of the Tewkesbury YMCA Railway society have taken the move and restoration as a project to undertake this summer.

This old oak picture frame will be used for a period photograph, of the interior of a Great Western goods warehouse.

Bought for 50p from the brilliant Eckington Villager community garage sale it needed a good clean , the photo shows how well it cleans up.

 

The close up pics show a partial mitre cut, filled and stained to hide it.

Clearly, the moulding although damaged was regarded, as valuable enough, to effect a repair.

I think it is about 100 tears old.

 Things are moving apace 

The fine weather has meant we can get on with a number of jobs.

Pleased to say the two windscreens are back in the Morris  commercial,

the left hand window is sitting awkwardly in the bottom right corner.

It was a hard job seating the glass into the rubber seals this time

but I may take the wind screen out to see if the aperture needs making a little larger.

I am making some copper rings to go around my wife, Celia's, plants.

Slugs and snails always wreak havoc on green veg shoots and  they are supposed to dislike copper, so i have been cutting large copper rings to go around vunerable shoots using the antique pipe cutter donated to us by fellow blogger, Keith Taylor.

Good to see it being put to good use after many tears.

Some ongoing repairs, cutting out rust, making and shaping steel patches and welding them in to the Morris cab.

Just to say Keith and I highly rate the Lidl Parkside, Inverter welder that we use.

It out performs anything we have used before, simple, good easy welds, and was less than £100.

Finally Chris Sturgeon, GWSR machine handler loaded the remaining Great Western Railway

Water pipe fittings on to the newly restored Scammell flat bed  trailer recreating a typical, period, load in readiness for the fantastic, Cotswold Festival of Steam gala taking place this Bank Holiday weekend.