We have been giving some historical railway buildings on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway some remedial work at the R and A Trust's expense.

We value the significance, and importance, of the story each subject reveals.

The history of everything will become lost over time, it is good to retell the background of these two former Great Western structures.

This Corrugated hut was rescued from Honeybourne West loop in the 1980's, and has been  a store for the Friends of Winchcombe Station for some years.

Recently Malcolm Walker, head of S and T  gave it a repaint, we took a close look at the window, which was covered over with a sheet of plastic coated steel.

We discovered the mortices for 3 glazing bars, in the frame so we made up some new bars, removed the metal sheet, and  re glazed the window,

now much more like it would have been.

The lamp hut situated next to Toddington signal box came from Bishops Cleeve, it was moved by Mike Shorland, the first head of S and T, and general, great guy, he used his yellow Toyota Hi Ace pick up, to move it along the track bed, in the early days.

Used as a store for many year , it was time to give it a restoration.

The roof was too far gone to save, we re roofed it with spare corrugated panels left over from re roofing the Foss Cross waiting Shelter, and repairing the rot around the bottom and giving it a repaint outside and in,

The cast iron window frame had lost the central window glazing bar, I made a new one and re glazed it.

Now painted in GWR light and dark stone, it now ties in with the heritage backdrop.

Finally, I found this cardboard model building in a skip.

Dating back to the 1950s, i thought it had been made from a kit, turning it over it revealed that it had been scratch built from old cardboard packets.

Compare the mind set, of the young person who made it, to the generation of young,

digital gamers, spending their lives, saving us all, from threats that don't exist.

Away in Lincoln on the 3rd October

 Nothing to post so the old signal box at High Street Lincoln

Just for the record, here is the Great Western Railway,Stable block still standing after all the years since closure at Princetown Station, Dartmoor.

No doubt a useful source of traction, to deliver the goods around the isolated settlements on the Moor.

  You won't see Coach screws like these again.

 We have a few, cleaned up, rustproofed and presented nicely, what normally ends up being thrown away, makes for a nice, niche exhibit.

The former, Glasshouses, left standing, from the former, Toddington Garden Centre, could provide  useful cover and protection, for museum artifacts outdoors.

Relocating this valuable structure  is something that we will be investigating.

Finally, In Devon, all the recycling depots have a recycling shop.

Items that may still be re-used are put to one side, to be sold in the shop.

The shops are humming, with buyers, who want to buy for reuse, upcycling and resale

Purchases are made by bank card only, the items purchased are then weighed and added to the councils recycled, tonnage. at that site, just brilliant, and to be applauded, in my opinion

On this visit, to the site at Bideford, several 1950's items were bought, and are now in our museum displays at Toddington.

These shops are a source of the antiques of tomorrow, they are great fun to visit, and they should be in every local authority throughout the country.

Reuse, trumps, recycling, it
is the best way forward, to preserve our, fragile, environmental balance. 

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 Wed 27th September preparing for the edge of storm Agnes with increasing winds.

first job was to ensure the free standing AA box could not blow over again as it had in a previous storm..

Then it was off to Winchcombe station to glaze the old lamp hut but this required emptying the one end of a shed that has been used as a dump for years. Greg had fitted the glazing bars and cut some glass to suit but we needed to remove the tin sheet and boards from the inside.

                                                    the starting point

Some of the rubbish and bits ejected to gain access including a metal megaphone we have taken on as another project.

After removing a cupboard full of rubbish we only had a shelf left to remove, the sheet tin was secured with umpteen nails and 3 screwed on planks for security but it all came off.

Prior to lifting off

Sheet removed and daylight floods in

plenty of putty and some tacks later we have a glazed shed.

A lot of rubbish was put in the metal skip and some unopened paint tins were taken back to the workshop for future work, pulley wheels were kept in case another railway is interested  in having them.

It was then back to Toddington and more work on the old lamp shed which Greg had started painting, Dinmore Manor came steaming past..

We had to measure the roof overhang and trim it back to the original size, the draughtsman straight edge ruler from the Fosse Cross display was very useful for the marking out, then it was 1mm cutting discs in the battery angle grinder.

The recently repaired door hinge failed with the uneven ground so it got removed and the welded up hopefully it will last now.

Greg had been busy in the week and the Morris cab got a rear floor panel fitted.

 Wednesday the 20th September a day with heavy showers and no sun so lets work outside down the line.

First job a minor repair as the glue had failed on the so AA box sign lower frame and the glass had fallen out so now it is  bolted on. looks like we need to get some decent yellow paint on there as well.

Then it was on with the Bishops Cleeve lamp hut one of the few original structures on the railway.

Greg had removed the cast iron window frame ready for repair as the centre glazing bar was missing.

Time for the walk to the hut and finish bolting down the new corrugated roof

The broken door hinge was removed and welded up, refitting meant we then had a working door although the wind tried to break it.

The door needed some straightening and the bottom out corner needed trimming to clear the signal box step and walkway

Greg has been busy stripping the loose paint off the outside ready for a colour change to the old GWR colour scheme

The manufacturers plate has been removed to see what can be done with it as it is faded and painted over

cleaning up the cast frame and welding in a new mild steel glazing bar which was not the easiest task without stainless mig wire.

but we succeeded and got to put some paint on.

The window was the refitted to the hut by two wet volunteers 

Then Foremarke Hall came along on it's way to Cheltenham for a photo opportunity with a tidier looking hut.

The final task of the day was to carry the old rotten corrugated roof to the scrap metal skips again the strong wind made life interesting.

 Wednesday the 13 September our first Autumnal morning but a lovely clear warm day.

Greg has been busy one saved wooden box and a selection of track screws.

Took the Childs mangle into the museum then removed the distributor cap from the Scarab as it had no spark again, it was found to have no continuity between the king lead and the centre carbon brush so swapped the old unit back on shortening the lead ends to remove any damage..

It was then time for some exercise two fields away the old line side hut needed a new roof so it was orange high vis time and individually carrying the 3 corrugated sheets left over from the Foss Cross roof down on the head.

The shed is from Ash & son in Birmingham and was originally sited at Winchcombe 

An attack with the battery angle grinder with a cutting disc and some use of a heavy chisel bladed tool overcame the rusted bolts and rotten roof..

The complete roof then levered off on the side away from the track  ready to be cut up and disposed off.

Day light is now inside and a de rust and paint of the top faces will help preserve it.

The cast iron end window was unsealed by removing the tin panel

The new panels were lifted on aligned then drilled so we could get enough bolts through to make the structure safe.

The manufacturers name plate is fitted and another part is laid down and jammed above the door frame these need removing and. some restoration work.

The bottom hinge on the door is seized and broken so needs removing and welding.

It now looks better from the field so is another eyesore tidied up for visitors on the trains, the exterior needs stripping and painting and the side overhang needs a small trim.

it will look better from the station platform even though it is a distance away.