Concrete ordered for the floor.

Monday at Broadway.

We're getting ready for the topping up concrete pour to complete the floor slab. The main room now has blinding, DPM and its insulation.

 

 

On Monday it was the turn of the future store room to have type 1 spread out and compacted.

Neal then added the sand blinding, while Yours Truly...

 

... grabbed the Kango and continued hammering away at the old blocks of foundation that we had pulled out and stored under the steps.

Neal levelling the type 1 to the correct depth.

For a break in the monotony of raking ballast, Neal grabbed the Kango and also had a go at the old concrete stone lumps. Doing this is not just a handy way of disposing of these chunky leftovers, but it also generates useful ballast, which we tipped around the foundation block walls.

Later in the day the blinding sand was in, and Neal had put in a DPM. On top you can see the first of the slabs of insulation.

The slabs of insulation came wrapped in polythene, with plastic battens all the way round. Underneath were two battens of polystyrene to lift the package off the ground for a forklift. All this plastic packaging had to be binned...

Surely the building supply industry could do more to make its packaging more tolerable for the environment?

In the afternoon were were joined by Ron, who attacked the ballast pile from the old foundations with considerable gusto. His help really speeded up the breaking up of these lumps, and at the end of the day we had tipped 15 wheelbarrows full up against the block walls, instead of 10 when working solo. Thanks, Ron !

Only 2 1/2 blocks now remain for treatment, we are nearly there.

We had a nice warm, dry day until 4 o'clock, when the rain started. But it was productive. All the insulation is in, and we are ready for concrete to make the floor slab. Once that is in we can lift in the last two ring beams with a genie lift.

Arrangements have been made to deliver the concrete next Monday morning. During the day we managed to find some additional volunteers for this, to do the raking, levelling with a board and build/take down the temporary bridge for the concrete pump.

We were very disappointed then to hear at the end of the afternoon that the necessary possession for the temporary concrete pump bridge next Monday had been withdrawn, in favour of contractors weedkilling the line. Our concreting, a two hour job at one end of the line, is cancelled.

The earliest we can now do the concrete pour is in 3 weeks time, during which period the insulation will be exposed to the weather. Hope that goes OK. If it rains a lot, we could end up with a swimming pool with slabs of insulation floating on top.

 

 

Wednesday with the Usketeers. (at Toddington)

Just three of us, but excellent progress.

Before starting, there are a couple of other bits of news

In the car park we found what looks like early visitors to our upcoming gala - two traction engines, of which one with three vans in tow.

Near our fence work area members of the C&M dept. were completing the new path laid to a store room being converted. (just visible behind the fence)

Here they are back filling around the slabs laid last week.

Also nearby was Neal. As work at Broadway has now ground to a halt (for the second time!) work on the riveted canopy can resume. in the picture Neal is working on the second of the 4 long fascia boards. Two lengths of angle are spot welded on, and then he drills all the rivet holes, bolts up a few key ones and then grinds out the welds again. The work, Neal admits, is rather dreary. There must be 100s, if not 1000s of holes that need drilling (and later riveting!).

But he's now well into the second of the 4 boards.

Yours Truly was also in the greenhouse, creosoting the woodwork for the fence.

A slight complication was that despite the tarp thrown over the supplies, the wood underneath is wet through, and needs drying out before creosoting. So we dug out the boards likely to be used next and put them in the sun (plentiful, thank goodness).

At the end of the day the path was finished - a pretty professional looking job. Now it's for us to instal the gate at the end.

 

 During this time John (in the distance) was doggedly digging post holes. That went a little easier today, the tarmac surface 9 inches down has disappeared here.

Paul put up the first rails on the posts planted last week, which have now set.

 

John is now 86, and was digging holes like a terrier. How does he do it? 

We can only admire.

This hole is for a corner post, where the fence will turn inland.

 

Elevenses were held in the sun by the platform, but after a while that got a bit hot for us.

So lunch was held in the shade, outside the GWSR Trust hut. There was a bench just made for us. The only problem was that we sat underneath a board that said 'Information'. This prompted several people to ask us questions. They were not about building work, but 'Where can I buy ice cream?' and 'does the train run on Saturday?', questions that were a bit basic for us. 

One question was more interesting. We believe that to achieve a grey coloured mortar, the GWR added ground up loco ash into the mix. How do you do this, and is it OK to use the ash in the smokebox (which is finer)? We have easy access to that, but not to a grinder.

 

In this picture you can see that Paul has planted three more posts, including the corner one. This was prompted by an unexpected offer of a barrow of spare mix from the C&M guys, which we accepted with alacrity.

So here they are going in.

At the end of the afternoon we had the three posts in and concreted. With the 2 + 3 planted earlier we are now at 8 posts of a total of 11 to do. The last three will be up the side, parallel to the blue car in the picture. There should be rapid progress next week, when the team will be back to full strength, with the return of Dave from holiday.

We also heard the good news that the order has been given to pay for the materials for the (more heritage looking) post and rail fence further up the drive, with two gates. That one will be three times as long. The timing is perfect. By the time we complete this one, the materials for the next fence will be just about arriving. With Broadway now delayed by 3 weeks we can do (most of) the two fences before the brickwork starts on P2.

 

 

A look over the fence - Exmoor Associates update.

One of the regular update meetings took place on Saturday. There were no new trackbed purchases to report, but it was good to get the gen from the ground level, and hear what the plans and indeed opportunities are. EA are always in discussions with trackbed owners and keep their ear to the ground.

 

 

 

One of the trackbed owners to whom they are talking at the moment is the scout camp (item 9 on the adjacent map, which you will need to blow up). This scout camp occupies land on a bend in the river Yeo, and there is a former bridge over the river at each end of the plot. If the railway were to cross the scout camp in some way, then an almost continuous trackbed of 3 miles would be achieved. (The green coloured boxes)

It's almost though, very close. There are two other plots that need to be resolved. Those are item 14, Chelfham viaduct, and a very short plot just uphill from Chelfham station, item 15.

If all 3 are resolved you get a long stretch of former narrow gauge railway line, but not yet a trackbed on which you can build (should you want to). The two river bridges around the scout camp have gone completely, and need reinstating, and the skew road bridge at Northleigh needs to be addressed. Here the railway ran under the road, which made a zig-zag over it on a bridge. That has been removed and the road straightened. But neither are impossible. Small steps lead to bigger things.

During the EA meeting we were also introduced to the new owner of the abandoned school under Chelfham viaduct. This has a large car park, and it has been agreed with the new owner that the railway could use the car park. He plans to turn the site into a wellness centre, and reinstate the water mill that was there. Use of the car park means that far more people could visit Chelfham station.

After the meeting Bratton Fleming and Collard bridge sites (adjacent to the scout camp) were open to visitors.

 

This is Collard bridge, one of the first purchases made, but one we hadn't walked before, so here is a report on the site.

We're in the bottom of the Yeo valley here, on a flat flood plain. The bridge takes a minor road over the railway, and is still there 90 years after the railway closed.

The signpost, on the main road up the valley, points to Barnstaple at 3 miles, and Bratton Fleming at 4 miles.

 

The bridge is in good condition, and is made of the same white bricks as the viaduct. in fact a couple of houses along the road into Barnstaple feature the same white bricks.

From here the trackbed starts to rise at a steady rate, you can just about see that. The next pause for breath for the enginemen was Chelfham, after crossing the viaduct.

Behind the camera the trackbed curves over marshy ground to the edge of the river Yeo.

 

 

This is where the bridge was - there is no trace of it now. The scout camp approach road on the right then takes over the trackbed from here, on the far side.

 

This is looking back (north) at Collard bridge. The river Yeo is on the left, and behind the camera is the site of the first of the two river bridges, on each end of the scout camp site.

 

 

Now let's walk through the bridge...

... and you notice that the trackbed begins to rise here. That rise doesn't stop until you get to Blackmoor Gate!

The trackbed follows the road, but 20ft or so below it. On he left is the gurgling river Yeo below. In 2012 it rose so high that it swept away the road bridge in front of the scout camp entrance. It was rebuilt in 2014.

Just on the left on the above curve we found a Southern Railway period telegraph pole. It's made of concrete.

At the top is still a cross bar with two insulators.

 

A bit further round the curve the trackbed stops abruptly, running into a pile of debris. This would be the arisings from the demolition of the road bridge, and the straightening of the road, just visible top right. Beyond is also in EA ownership, a steep rise through woods - now above the road - terminating at the viaduct and Chelfham station.

Here's a snapshot going back down, of the bend with the concrete SR telegraph pole.

 

 

 

Collard bridge explored, we accepted an invitation to Bratton Fleming station to see the changes happening there. If you look carefully, you can see orange streaks in the grass which mark the platform edges, and the spur leading to the former goods shed. Its recreation has received planning permission, and the build will start before the end of the year.

Besides acting as a garage and meeting point for volunteers, it will also house the small diesel loco acquired from Lynton station, and a recently purchased carriage (at a modest price, there are no plans for rides).

Bratton Fleming station site, from the road bridge.

This is a view of the station building today. Since closure 90 years ago various owners have added to it, and the most recent addition, built in the 1980s, is being demolished here. It was an ugly square building, and it suffered from damp that needed £4000 spent on it. Rather than spend that, and take the extension down later, it was decided to take the extension down straight away, and spend the money on improvements as a holiday let. The first tenant has now moved out, but remains a strong supporter of the railway.

The roof gives away the outline of the original station building, just a ticket office and a waiting room, the same as at Chelfham (which had similar additions removed and is now a little jewel)

This picture shows more of the orange markers, which follow the lines of the low, original platforms. Beyond the people standing at the back the trackbed was sold to the house located some distance above the old station, as well as almost half the the southern half of the station grounds. The owners of that property have recently put it on the market, but were not willing to consider a separate offer for the trackbed. The asking price for the whole property is £1.25m . The old trackbed is well below the house, which is on a steep hill, and must surely be meaningless as an asset for the owners. EA were unable to persuade a separate sale, and the total asking price was too much for such a small group. What is really needed is someone to buy the house, strip off the trackbed, and put it back on the market. Maybe you know someone who could do that?

If you are curious, here is the link to the sale:  

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/146124698#/?channel=RES_BUY

 

 

At the entrance to the station is now a well designed board which explains what there is to see.

 

 

 

 

We enjoyed a very pleasant cup of tea and biscuits at the station, and chatted to a lot of interesting people. All of them were very amiable and approachable. We do wish them success, and some luck.

After tea we went for a beautiful walk along the bridle path that runs underneath the line here, down to Bratton Mill.

An engineer at the station we spoke to mentioned that the builders of the railway had to construct considerable retaining walls here, up to 12m high, and he wasn't kidding. 

The picture shows the bridle path. The railway trackbed here is in the very top LH corner of the picture, and still in third party hands below the station.

 

At one point there is a footpath across the old trackbed, and we had a peep from there. But visitors are strongly discouraged from walking along the trackbed, as it really irks some of the owners and EA then get the blame.

Then, a question from Bratton Fleming. These cast iron lids (?) were found in the garden. Does anyone know more about them? The LH one show the bottom, with two recesses for handholds. The RH one shows the top. The white stripes are recesses filled with concrete.

Lastly, and this is from memory, the EA meeting (followed by one from the owner/charity Yeo Valley Trust) showed that they have a number of plans on a wish list, but not enough money.

- No.1 is a fund with which they would like to come to an arrangement with the scout group, if negotiations come to a mutually acceptable conclusion. When that happens, money needs to be paid immediately, so a good war chest is important.

- A general fund for other trackbed purchases, as a scout club deal could drain the war chest.

- Erection of a steel framed, wood clad goods shed at Bratton Fleming.

- Purchase of ex MOD track materials for a layout at Bratton Flemming, of a higher standard so as not to need relaying when the rest of the railway arrives.

- A 100m extension of the lower quality track at Snapper, for display purposes, but to make it seem to disappear out of sight.

To put our money where our mouth is we made a very friendly donation just prior to writing this article, and if you'd like to do the same, here is the link:

https://yvt.org.uk/donations/

Wanted

BTW, for P2 at Broadway we'd be open for offers for an upholstered GWR waiting room bench, say like this one:

 

 

We've got an all wooden one that was kindly donated a couple of years ago, but that goes under the canopy. For inside, we would love to show our passengers one of these.