Heritage Herald: April 2026

Saturday, in the C&W yard.

Cold and dry, a good day for hard work. There were 11 of us, quite a good turnout too.

The job was to resleeper a turnout in the C&W yard. Most of the gang set off to do this, while two of us took throughbolt chairs to the 2807 site at Toddington in the Transit, with the intention of using the return trip to recover some useable sleepers and chairs for the yard job.

David and Yours Truly unloaded the throughbolt chairs, and can be seen here loading the now empty Transit with a pack of 12 sleepers, and a handful of AS1 chairs around them, always mindful of the maximum weight this vehicle can take.

Nearby, in the greenhouse, we were delighted to see that the three posts for the Broadway P2 canopy have returned from the galvanisers.

They now need a coat of paint, before they can be erected at Broadway.

Also nearby, in the car park, we found this set of wheels, recently fitted with its SKF axle boxes.

This looks like the set for the tender of 76077, a happy development, next to the expensive repair of the boiler.

We made a donation !

We took the 12 sleepers and 8 chairs back to the work site at Winchcombe.

Here the rest of the gang had made an excellent start on resleepering that C&W turnout.

The sleepers we found there were ancient, as were the chairs used back in the 1980s. Many were Midland 4 bolters, which we will pass on to 2807.

We were delighted ot see the Bubble Car out, very busy, now in normal service, and quite full with passengers too.

The southern end had a wreath on it, in honour of PWay stalwart from the very first day, John Lees. More about John further down.

We joined the gang, moving new (recycled) sleepers in. There was too much movement in the gauge, as the Midland 4 bolters only had two bolts in them, and the underlying sleepers were failing.

Here's that replacement sleeper going in, with better AS1 chairs.

Once the replacement sleeper was in, we drilled it and bolted it down.

We did 6 sleepers like that during the day. More are needed, as we near the widest end of the turnout.

One of the replacement chairs had casting markings on them that we hadn't seen before - BR (E-G).

What do readers think these stand for?

When the Bubble Car came back, we were waved at by Margaret, our friendly track walker (with her husband Alan). It's nice to acknowledge each other, in this big railway family.

We did a quick visit to the box at Winchcombe, to gain further detail on the tray for their stove. We are commissioning a copy of this one, for Broadway box, which will have the Romesse stove from Notgrove box.

The actual stove at Winchcombe is not good in service (the glass keeps breaking, and it's not a railway one) and we were pleased to hear that another Romesse stove has been sourced to replace it.

At the end of our day we had our usual 3.55pm tea in the Coffeepot. Just before it closes ! There we saw the wreath for John Lees, very touching. Driving the DMU was one of his favourite volunteering activities.

Three pots of tea had been reserved for us. It wasn't enough. We seem to consume a lot of the stuff.

At the end of our day we watched 3850 bring in its last train, with the Bubble Car alongside. It's lovely how busy the station gets, when the trains cross here.

Monday at Broadway

Very windy, but bright. Neal and John worked on the building, while Yours Truly started sorting out the corrugated iron sheets destined for the platelayer's hut.

These sheets have been left lying outdoors for about 8 years now. Water has crept in between them, and stayed there, so they have rusted in the middle.

They were bought by our builder for the P1 roof, but only half the thickness specified, and also not powder coated, as asked to do.

This is the result (not only rust, but a lot of money wasted).

But at least we can use some of them on a small project, where the thickness is not critical.

We sorted out 6 of them, and stacked these, and the remainder, with bearers in between, and on a slope, to make sure no water gathered in the middle.

The second job on Monday was to start refurbishing the better ones. We have done one sheet - a slow job.

Neal and John worked on the store room end of the building. It's looking pretty good by now, don't you think?

John was able to complete the delicate brickwork around this window. He's using the additional specials, which have proved to be a success. After pointing it's hard to see any difference.

After running out of etch primer we joined the team on the building, and did some painting.

These are the fill in arches, which marry the square window frames with the semi circular brick arches above them.

Neal made these, and we gave them a coat of primer on Monday.

Having built up around the first window on the end, John was able to complete the corner on Monday, at least as far as the first level of corbelling.

Wednesday with the Usketeers.

Three of us today, Dave being on a mission.

Before adding the last 4 sleepers on each side Paul needed to lengthen the supporting 2x4 by patching in an extension. We're using second hand wood here, that Dave's neighbour put in a skip. We don't have a budget at all for this job! So purchase costs need to stay low.

At the moment we're putting in little personal bits of money, eg 5L of bitumen paint purchased on the way home today.

Today, being half term, we had the purple timetable, with two steamers. Here is 2807, with driver Mark cheering us on.

Paul cut an extension piece to length, and he then got Julian to trim the end with a chisel to make a joint.

Then it was back to fitting sleepers (D, C, B and A, and on the other side, 4,3,2 and 1.)

Jules drilled the bolt holes through the top.

The other steamer was 3850. This is a great spot for videos, because the locos are hacking away at the grade to get into the tunnel, and the summit by the Royal Oak. Unfortunately the extra Blogger camera seems to be slow in taking a picture once given the command, so these two both have their front ends cut off. Grrrrr....

Sadly the trains were not well filled today, and the Broadway cafe also reported a slow day. Hope this is not indicative of the coming season.

The passing shot, which can afford to have a late shutter release.

Here both sides are now complete. To keep them apart, we need to insert a roof joist.

Now it turns out that the concrete floor is not level, but we can sort that OK.

This picture is to show you the sides, as completed today.

We've got 5 more sleepers to put up at this end, leaving a gap of 3 for the door.

Occasionally we'd have a cup of coffee, and by now the hut is starting to feel like home. As there is no draught inside, it also feels warmer there.

This was the look at the end of the day. The roof joist is now level, and we've added a corner bracket to make sure the hut stays stable. (another is going to be fitted on the other side)

Have you noticed the page view counter, which is still going up? A month ago we had 15.000 views in a month, and now it's 81.000, and rising. Bizarre!

A look over the fence - Dean Forest Railway.

Neal, Greg and Yours Truly, three heritage minded individuals, decided on a day out at The Dean Forest railway a week ago. The GWSR and the DFR have something in common - a Hawksworth inspection saloon. What was theirs like, how did they use it?

Theirs is 80943, and ours is 80975. Seven were built in 1948, and all seven currently survive.

The DFR saloon is in regular service, and you can travel in it by buying a first class ticket, or paying a £6 supplement at the door. It seats up to 23.

Those seats are basically occasional chairs and sofas, beautifully re-upholstered. That had to be done in situ, as the items are too large to pass through any doors.

There is an open saloon at each end, and the seats by the big windows on the ends are quickly taken.

Unfortunately you are not allowed to play with the brake....

In the centre section there is a guards compartment, with retractable steps, flanked by a toilet and a small kitchen.

The kitchen was largely original, and had a very chunky gas hob. A large rail at the front made sure that dishes didn't fly off when the train went over rough track. In the roof was a large brass extractor fan, and despite post war austerity a beautiful electric ceiling light was fitted.

The toilet on the other hand was non-functional. It was bare, and in use as a broom cupboard.

The saloon was manned by its own guard, who gave us a brief low-down as to where we were going, and what we could/couldn't do. (like lower the steps, as that put the vehicle out of gauge)

We trundled down to Lydney with the pannier tank.

With the loco at the front, the ride back uphill became rather bouncier. We thought it was the suspension, but no - on the way back downhill, with the saloon trailing behind, it was perfectly smooth.

At Lydney, we found the remains of St Mary's footbridge, which had been demolished by a digger being pulled along by a works train. All the pieces were neatly laid out. It was surprising how many pieces were cast iron, including all the risers of the steps, most being now broken. The latticework parapets were twisted, and the cast iron supports broken in two.

Departure of the first train of the day at Norchard was from the lower, terminal platform, but once up and running, the trains ran along the high level.

That gave some good photo opportunities, such as this departure from Norchard, with the inspection saloon in full view.

Notice the orange coloured enamel sign; we will come back to that.

Our train took us to Parkend - also the signalman, which was a surprise. One engine in steam probably. Beyond the crossing gates is the end of the run round loop, and a shortish stretch to the next crossing, Traveller's Rest. We heard that some clearance was being done on that section.

On the way back into Norchard High Level, the train can be seen arriving with the ordinary TSOs at the other end.

Now, looking closely at the posters just visible on the 1904 opening picture at Broadway we can see that one mentions insurance. That was a thing in 1900. We are looking for posters for the P2 building that reflect the era, and one about insurance would be just right. Unfortunately it is not the sort of poster for sale on the usual websites where we have found others.

And here, on the Midland style fence in the middle of the picture, is an enamel sign about insurance.

We took a photograph, and with the help of Alex in C&W and AI, were able to clean up the image.

Not bad, eh? There are two errors on it, but you'd never know. This will become one of the posters on the P2 waiting room. The period is just right.

We did some research on the insurance company, and found a similar enamel sign on the net. The one on the net had £500.000 more claims paid out than the DFR one, and had an additional department insuring against burglary, which was added in 1911. So the DFR example, which does not show burglary, must be older than 1911, but not much, as the sign is in the same style.

We are still looking for other suitable GWR posters of the 1904 period. Most posters for sale on the net are younger than that. They are from the 1930s, are much simpler, and typically feature a large image, and a slogan. Older posters are much more verbose and descriptive, which is their charm.

John Lees has left us.

On Friday we learned the sad news that PWayer from the very beginning (in 1981) John Lees has left us, at the age of 87.

The passage below is from a eulogy by his close friend Paul Fuller:

John joined the Railway in June 1981 as one of the first on the newly-formed 'Track Gang'. He recounted to me once that this was purely by chance as he was passing by Toddington and saw a coach in the yard. Interested, he pulled in to investigate and was hooked there-and-then. From 1981 he came along every Saturday almost without fail.

A career-long primary schoolteacher by profession (hence him always being referred to a Mr Lees!), John quickly became a stalwart on the P-way. He also joined the diesel department as a driver, especially loving to drive the Class 14 when that was on the Railway. In later years, when the Chicken Curve slip occurred, John could be found more frequently than not at the helm of the DMU shuttle service - in fact he offered to drive so often to help the Railway out that he was presented with a model of the DMU as a 'thank you' and this took pride of place in his living room at his home in Shurdington, Cheltenham. He did tell me the tally of turns he had done on the DMU but I can't remember, it was in the hundreds, I know that.

On a personal note, during the 1990s I went to Cleeve school and every morning and afternoon the bus went over Two Hedges Road Bridge. I remember looking out and seeing the overgrown trackbed with a single cleared path down the middle which the dog walkers used. Also, what is now the filled-in occupation bridge by the playing fields used to be a favourite hiding place during PE lessons (!) but I had no clue this was part of the GWSR - in fact I had not idea at this time that the GWSR even existed!

It was in the early summer of 1998 when I lived in Prestbury, I was 15 at the time and out on my bike with a friend when we passed by Cheltenham Racecourse. We saw some people in orange vests laying tracks through the platform at the disused Racecourse station. Ever inquisitive, we stopped and asked what was going on and it was John who we talked to. He explained they were laying tracks so that the little steam locomotive 1450 could be bought down to launch the "By Rail to the Races" share scheme and "did we want to have a go at clipping up?". Well, that was it, that's how I got started on the Railway.

John was one of these people who was eccentric in his own way but he was so kind and patient and he very soon became a good friend. Anyone who knew him I'm sure would say the very same thing. Every weekend we worked together on the tracks - from extended the railway from Gotherington to Cheltenham and then northwards from Toddington over the viaduct. I had to stop volunteering (once the railway was at Laverton) due to having a 'real job on the real railway', but I kept in touch with John as I knew his ambition was to see the railway re-open to Broadway and I know this was a very proud moment for him when this was achieved in 2018.

Once Covid came about, John stopped volunteering due to his age but still wanted to keep in touch about progress. When I rejoined in 2022, I made several efforts to get him to come along, but he kept refusing, instead insisting that he "wanted to remember the railway as it was"; a decision I respected but I still kept in touch with him all the same.

As time took its toll, John became more house bound until a fall in 2025 saw him spend time in hospital while his broken leg recovered. He was allowed home after six weeks but was shortly then diagnosed with heart failure which saw him spend the last few weeks in Gloucester Royal Hospital. I last visited John at his house at the end of January this year and spoke to him last Saturday before I learnt of his passing yesterday.

John was in on the railway virtually from the beginning (August 1981), when track started to be laid at Toddington. He was an avid photographer, and during Covid we were honoured to be allowed to scan his 1700 slides from nearly 40 years of work. These are now on Flickr, and can be seen here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/73536293@N02/albums/72157664738875108/

John also had a private pilot's licence, and some of his photographs show aerial photographs of our line in early GWSR days. He was a regular driver of the extension train's 03 diesel loco, with a particular fondness of the class 14. In later days he was often seen at the controls of the DMU. His last great wish was to see the Broadway extension finished - that way he would have helped to build the whole railway. He did too! Your blogger got to know him from 2016, during the extension build, and many of the pictures below are from that time.