Concrete day!

Monday at Broadway

A miserable start on Monday, not helped by a weather forecast which said that rain would peter out by 9am, which in practice meant it rained all morning and into lunch time. We were so cold up on the bridge that we called an early lunch, just to warm up with a hot cup of tea, and a huddle near the heater.

What are we up to then? The three Malvern side roof panels and associated steel supports are now painted in light and dark stone, so that end is done. That leaves two bare panels in the middle, John being occupied with the Cotswolds end.

In order to move the scaffold tower under the bare bit in the middle, we spent a welcome 10 mins moving the big pile of T&G into the corner, bottom LH corner in the picture. That warmed us up already!

This allowed the tower scaffold to be pushed into the middle, ready for a start on the next bit.

Poking the paintbrush in between the corrugated iron sheets disturbed the cluster flies hibernating there. Instead of flying off, they had a habit of simply dropping off, and one landed down the neck of yours truly. Argh!!!

Neal resumed work on the treads, having reached the top of the stairs. The next tread is a tricky one, as it fits into the corner which is full of nuts and bolts.

Neal spent quite some time sawing the first one to fit, which meant measuring and removing lots of little cutouts for each of the many bolts.






The previous day, Sunday, was a day on the cushions for Mr. and Mrs. Blogger. A little light browsing of the gift fair at the race course, and then the food fair at Toddington, was on the cards.

The idea was to take the train south from Broadway.  Arriving at the top of the drive, we were amazed to see the size of the queue outside the ticket office.

Mrs. Blogger, in her civvies but a card carrying BOC, leaped into the gap, and opened up the second window.

This took the pressure off the other BOC, and the queue quickly disappeared, so that we were nonetheless able to catch the intended train. Broadway counted a high 208 passengers on Sunday, and that without any coaches. The cafe was busy all day too.





Wednesday with the Usketeers.

What a strange start to the day! Heavy mist, swirling round the Cotswolds edge, and before you knew it, it was down on the B4632, you saw nothing, and the condensation misted over your windscreen. The temperature varied between 2 degrees C (frost warning!) and plus 7 degrees, depending on whether it was misty or not, within the same mile of road.

We had an early start at 8am, and this is the mist that was rolling down from the Cotswolds edge.

Thanks to our gallant supporter Mike in Wales, we started the day with a healthy supply of Bara Brith, ready buttered and with a jar of home made damson jam on top if you wanted! We certainly did.

All this washed down with thick builder's tea, who says we don't drink that any more?

The inscription in the box says 'Well done! The Usketeers' and while it was a little premature at 8am, by lunch time it was richly deserved - all the concrete was in.

Just as promised the hire firm came at 08.30 with the vibrator. While the railway does have a small vibrator, the hose on it is too short, so we had to resort to renting one to cover the full 25m2 area.

Also just as promised (why can't plumbers do this?) the concrete lorry arrived precisely on time at 9am.

Here it is reversing slowly through the zig-zag road of the Pway yard.

We worried and fretted a bit over the last few days whether the lorry would fit under the oak tree, but we worried for nothing. It fitted just fine, and it was soon on station.

'Now you all have to work very hard'. 'Whaaaat? I only came to look! Got my hands in my pockets, haven't I?'

Soon the concrete started to pour into the hole, which was strangely satisfying to observe.

Of course the chute had a limited reach, which was the cause of another fret from us, as we needed to bucket it around with the Telehandler, but our guys were all on holiday.

The middle was about as far as it would go.

Enter the vibrator... it was amazing how it liquefied the concrete, so that it poured itself into all the corners. Of course it causes all the air bubbles to rise to the surface too. We had thought of bringing rakes and shovels, but in practice the vibrator did it all for us.

This corner remained tantalisingly out of reach, until we managed to borrow Mike from C&M to pilot the Telehandler for us, which he did, expertly.

The first lorry filled just over half of the pit, so we had more Bara Brith and more tea for an hour or so, until the second load arrived. This filled the pit right up to the brim, so now it was a case of vibrating it into every corner and depression.

There was a small surplus - you always err on the side of caution when ordering - and this was poured into the back of the stop block.

It came in very useful there, consolidating the back of the return.

On the way back, we noticed that a visitor had left his calling card on one of the cross hatched edging bricks.
What do you think it was, a fox perhaps?

Also on site was the PWay team today, and two of them here were measuring up some second hand rail to replace a split one in the unloading road at Toddington.

Using two scaffolding planks nailed together last week, the top of the concrete was tamped and levelled.

The tamper made of planks had been decorated by a wag, and it seems that the Usk weighbridge hut is now known as the 'Wendy House'.

There seems to have been a change of plan too, as it looks as if we are now having a second storey and 4 windows. Note the oak tree to one side, just like the real thing. Have the council planners been told?

Just before lunch all the concrete was in, and levelled off.

You can see the Usketeers here in a huddle under the tree, enjoying the scent of victory. This was a long time coming, with a lot of ups and downs, but we got there!

We let the concrete settle down a bit while we chewed our sarnies, and more Bara Brith.

After lunch Jules took a trowel and gave the edge a beautifully smooth finish all the way round.

The building itself will be located about 20cm back on two sides, and about 10cm back on the other two. However, this edge will probably be buried, so we may not see Jules' work.

At the end of the day the foundations were ready for blocks, so we fetched a supply of them and stacked them to dry under some spot boards.

We will need to wait 2 weeks before starting a first course of these blocks, on top of which will go the damp course. The stones we have recovered start from above that.

Next week we will be breaking out the shuttering.

At the end of the day the Pway group also came back from their job, this time at CRC.

When you are weary after a day's work, you get wearier still because you have all the heavy tools to put back.

See the crack? It's at the top.

The track walkers reported a broken FB fishplate at CRC.

Peter here led a team out there to replace the set, once they had worked out where exactly the break was.

As is traditional, both Usketeers and PWay gang met at the Coffeepot for a sit down, tea and a chat.

We were delighted to receive the visit of Rick and his Lagonda. Remember Lucky the Dalmatian while we were building Hayles Abbey halt? Rick is his owner, although Lucky unfortunately fell ill and subsequently died, so there is now a new Dalmatian in the family, Jester.

We had the tea together, then went outside to admire the Lagonda again.

A peep under the bonnet

The car has a 4 cyl engine, with twin overhead camshafts, very advanced for its period. An enormous brass car horn can also just be glimpsed.

The dashboard has a lovely set of switches and dials, all set into a wood veneer panel. Notice the gear lever - it's on the side, not in the middle.

The radiator cap is crowned by a lovely brass ringed thermometer, or 'Calormeter' as per inscription. The little segment of gears drives a needle according to the temperature of the water, ranging from FREEZING to COOL to NORMAL and then to BOILING.

The car was admired by Usketeer Jim, the Winchcombe stationmaster, and by Clive from the PWay.

We can talk vintage cars for hours...