Monday the scaffolders came.
A grey start, but at least it was dry in the morning. The scaffolders took until lunch time to take down their stuff, and the lovely six sided lantern in the middle lived a charmed existence as long scaffold poles and planks whizzed past inches away. We sweated as we watched, but it went OK.
So at last we can show you what we built. It took 5 years and a lot of hassle, but we got there. A few minor items remain outstanding, but the final part of the canopy is now available for all to see. Make sure you come and visit, and wander around its airy loftiness.
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| From the forecourt. |
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Broadway 2022.
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Broadway 1904
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Here's the 1904 picture, with a crowd of people waiting for an excursion to Stratford. Did we get the canopy end and footbridge right? The chimneys and pairs of windows are not properly recreated, but we were unfortunately unable to sway the builder our way. Most of it is right though.
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The view under the canopy - lofty and airy. How the GWR welcomed their passengers.
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The view from the platform. Sorry about the tables, they'll go when we re-open.
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Looking down the stairs, and along the roof.
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This is the view from the footbridge, showing how the final part of the canopy matches the existing roof.
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The view sideways from platform 2. Heras fencing since put into store.
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The view from a little further down P2.
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This is the same view from Hall Green, our sister station.
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This is the other 1904 view, along the full length of the station, platform side.
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| And the original from 1904, a little more compressed. All the signage is different though. |
This is our favourite shot, taken from the trackbed. It shows so well how airy the entrance canopy is, and how well the replica hexagonal lamp fits in. We have a second for the other side, as soon as we get permission to build it. We are ready!
For those interested in detail: Because today the footbridge and station building are closer together, Neal has designed the canopy end to ride over the top of the footbridge steps, to a point where the dagger boards meet the roof of the steps. In this way he has won back 6m of the former 7.5m canopy length.
The central post was once in line with the platform facade of the building, while at the same time in the position of the LH newel post of the bottom of the steps. The other post was in the place of the RH newel post. So it's slightly different today, but thanks to a clever re-design we have succeeded in giving the same effect of space and light.
Our 5 year vision is now revealed - do you like it?
Just fantastic! A worthy future prize winner no doubt.
ReplyDeleteCertainly do - look forward to seeing it for real.
ReplyDeleteGents well done, your hard working efforts have certainly paid off!
ReplyDeleteI read this blog avidly because it evokes a sense of time-travel back to when this country was still the Britain of post-war eccentricity. A place where optimism was flowering, of tea and cricket and all that stuff. It was very far from a perfect land but at least we didn't have pandemics and Putin and right here and now I reckon I'd do a swap. To see this railway rise like the phoenix eases my woes. Huge thanks to you all for a trip in your tardis!
ReplyDeleteThat's a lovely comment. Hear, hear.
DeleteBeautiful!!!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant. Well done to all.
ReplyDeleteI used to walk along the trackbed here back in the 1990s occasionally and I would often try to envisage what a rebuilt Broadway station would look like. I presumed it would be just a platform with a small shelter as that would be all that we could afford. Despite the setbacks of COVID and the struggle to "get things right" you have done wonders indeed. I know there's still the platform 2 building to build but that will be done. Congratulations to you all on a superb building.
ReplyDeleteThat is an absolute masterpiece.
ReplyDeleteHow could anyone not look up, here? It just draws the eye. Even the least observant couldn't fail to see this, and wonder. It's superb, Jo, and thanks to you all for the spiritual lift in these otherwise grim times.
ReplyDeleteWell worth the wait. A stunning recreation topped of with the "gas" lamp. You should all be incredibly proud of this achievement. The GWSR's recreation of Broadway through a skilled and resourceful group of volunteers is amazing. I've followed these blogs from the early days of paltform wall construction with awe.
ReplyDeleteMy three yearly inspection is booked for September as part of a trip to the UK, I can't wait to arrive by train to take it all in. Oh and you've undertaken the Usk hut too! (not forgetting Hayles Abbey Halt). Platform 2 cannot be far away...
Rodger
That 'gas lamp' and the three small ones over the platform, were sponsored by a blog reader 5 years ago. He gave us the means to do it.
DeleteThe main works were paid out of a grant from the GWR Trust, but it has to be said that without the people reading this blog we could never have been able to get to this level of detail.
So thank you all, guys!
I was looking forward to seeing this, it is superb, a credit to the many skill the volunteers have, here and the other facets of the railway.
ReplyDeleteFantastic achievement everybody, all problems solved !!
ReplyDeleteWow, a fine testament to all your hard work ! It has been really interesting reading the blog and watching it all come together, well done all !
ReplyDeleteMagnificent!
ReplyDeleteExcellent work. The covered area lifts the whole station. Very impressive, and proof that it's always worth doing things properly!
ReplyDeleteWords cannot adequately describe what you guys have achieved there, well done doesn't seem enough! No doubt the Platform 2 building will be to the same standard. Now all you need are 'proper' GWR style signal boxes at Gotherington and CRC! Any offers? 😉
ReplyDeleteWow what a great job done to perfection by the team. As for whats next well yes platform 2 but at the other end of the line at CRC how about a proper level crossing with gates and stop signs that would seem to be the next step for the line as a museum of the railway?
ReplyDeleteRegards
Paul & Marion
Congratulations - the extension looks fantastic, and I think Broadway is lucky to have such a great asset developing in the village.
ReplyDeleteA magnificent effort Jo, Neal and John , the Awards may have to wait a while but who's going to open this masterpiece ? Do we have our President available , if not, why not invite the Mayor of Broadway to come along ? john M.
ReplyDeleteFantastic stuff Jo, and the number of postings so far only go to echo what everyone is thinking. One question, will the wall adjacent to the lantern have any poster boards attached to it in the future?
ReplyDeleteAh, that wall. It should be blank, but the builder insisted on having a window there.
DeleteI've measured up the remaining space, and there is just enough room for two quad royal poster boards L and R. You can see them on the 1904 picture. Underneath I see a set of fire buckets, which I have, but I'm still missing two original GWR type brackets.
If you have one, get in touch!
Another thing I'd like to do is get the posters more authentic. Although people love the ones we have platform side (and take selfies in front of them)they are all from the 1930s, because that is what I could get.
What we need is some from the turn of the century. We don't want to have the poster as such, just take a good photograph of it and have it printed on a board like the others.
As far as I can make out, the older posters had more text, and talked about tickets or travel insurance etc.
Any ideas?
Thanks for the reply Jo, though sorry can't help with the 1904 posters. NRM perhaps, but a bit of a hike to get there.
DeleteI'm not sure it's fair to blame the builder for putting a window in the end wall. The builder would have been following the architect's plans - and the architect would have been following the client's instructions.
DeleteIn this case the client is the GWSR. So presumably someone at senior management level insisted on that window.
Maybe the thinking was that the toilets would be too dark without an extra window - after all, the 'toilet end' of the building is completely new. The original building was shorter, and didn't have the large toilets which the new building does. So I can understand that it might not be thought possible, or appropriate, to strictly follow the original design at this spot.
This may be a silly question, but why not put a poster board over the window, thus making it miraculously vanish?
The builder w a s the architect, and he was backed by the project director. (neither any longer on the railway)
DeleteAbsolutely brilliant Congratulations to all those involved in its deign, construction and build. Roll on the build on platform 2.
ReplyDeleteJust absolutely brilliant! Well done to all those who helped with the canopy and especially that master of wood and steel, Neal!
ReplyDeleteNow the footbridge truly looks linked into the station instead of being just a structure just past the end of the building. Wonderful work and yes, it does look so much different with the scaffolding removed. Well done the scaffdolders for managing to miss dinging the new lamp !! CRC could do with a station building like this. After platform 2 building of course.
ReplyDeleteRegards and my hearty congratulations for a job VERY well done, Paul.
What a fabulous achievement. Huge congratulations Guys, you all deserve medals.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant achievement..
ReplyDeleteSuperb job. A just reward for all the efforts of everyone concerned with a special mention for Neal. The "gas lamp" sets everything else off a treat.
ReplyDeleteincredible!, you have recreated a victorian station in all its glory from absolutely nothing, all the praise is richly deserved, congratulations.
ReplyDeleteEarly Edwardian ;-)
DeleteThank you for you kind words, all of you.
Wonderful this should be put in for an award!
ReplyDeleteIf you would like to find authentic GWR posters, you could, as fred4927 says, try the NRM. GWR posters from the nineteen-thirties often had a lot of text, advertising excursions or special trains. These sometimes appear on ebay. If you want to find Edwardian posters, you could look in the GWR Magazine. This was the staff magazine. I'm only familiar with the post-1918 Magazine, but the editors often printed miniature reproductions of posters, to keep the staff informed of what information was appearing on the poster boards. I can't guarantee that there are similar posters in the Edwardian issues of the magazine, but it might be worth investigating.
ReplyDeleteAgain as all the rest above say, a great looking piece of work.
ReplyDeleteHave you tried STEAM in Swindon re the posters. A bid nearer and soley GWR focused?
That's a good idea, thank you.
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