Not everything green is Great Western….. Phil Place took this shot of LNER B1 ‘Mayflower’, beautifully turned out, during our recent club trip to the West Somerset Railway.
COMMENT
With July nearly upon us, the club is entering the quieter months of the year and many members will be away, enjoying the weather and their holidays – there were only two in last Wednesday! There’s still a bit to report however and a further stock sale will be held before the new month [July] is out. There’s also news about a bargain book sale and a new Members’ Secretary appointment. I’ve included another request for show volunteers also, they are desperately needed and September is not that far away now……
THE CLUB’S RECENT ANNUAL DINNER
Our annual bash at Norton House was well attended [40-ish] and thoroughly enjoyed as usual. The Swansea Ukulele Orchestra provided entertainment once again and, perhaps unlike the recent curry night, the service was excellent, too!
Many thanks to Gwion Davies for opening the event, Noel Blows for rounding it off, Rob Pendry for his excellent slide show and acting as MC and last but by no means least, John Allnutt, for organising the event without fuss or bother once again.
THE CLUB’S ANNUAL DAPOL WAGON COMMISSION – SOME ‘BACK NUMBERS’
Previous editions are always in strong demand judging by the e-mail requests that we regularly receive but they rarely come back on to the market and, when they do, judging by eBay prices, the cost can be astronomical. We recently purchased a stock collection which contained a number of our old wagons [in N] however and wanted to offer them to members and newsletter recipients first. Some have gone, but remaining are ‘Tirdonkin’ [black], ‘Gwendraeth’, ‘Thomas T Pascoe’, ‘Copper Pit Collieries’ and ‘Swansea and District Railway Men’s Direct Coal Association’. These are available at £20 each. Contact either myself or Gwion Davies if you are interested.
Another Phil Place capture. This time, the beautifully restored, diminutive LMS Pug with a short freight seen at last year’s club outing to the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway.
COMMITTEE ROLES
An update from last month’s request for help in filling various roles…..
I’m pleased to announce that member Mike Lloyd has volunteered to take on the role of Membership Secretary. With the club being the size that it is, and with enquiries from prospective members coming through fairly frequently, this role is important and will begin to co-ordinate applications and other membership matters properly at last.
A formal ‘Welcome Pack’ for new members has also been prepared and approved by the Committee. This will soon be available and circulated through a future newsletter [probably July]. It will go a long way towards answering the many questions that prospective members have and it will also include the main club policy documents.
We are extremely grateful to Mike for volunteering to take this role forward.
IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN – VOLUNTEERS SOUGHT TO HELP WITH THE 2024 SHOW……
Show planning is very well advanced and all exhibitors and traders have been identified. Details of these have been uploaded on our website’s Show section. We still need to identify volunteers from within the membership to help with all of the practical issues that arise over the event. The show cannot be managed without your assistance and we really do need your help.
Please give some thought to helping with the show during the event and contact Paul Dally to indicate your preparedness to be involved. Don’t allocate yourself a role at this stage, just let Paul know if you can be available. Many, many thanks in advance.
The unmistakeable, eccentric outline of a Crampton. ‘Fire Queen’, of 1848, dominates this section of the newly-opened museum of the Vale of Rheidol Railway in Aberystwyth. At only a fiver to enter, it is absolutely worth a visit. Photo by Tony Richards
BARGAIN RAILWAY BOOKS
I shall be contacting members by e-mail shortly with a list of quality railway books which have been offered to the club at discount prices: £6 for hardbacks and £4 for paperbacks. If any are interested in purchasing some of them, please contact Martin Evans directly at the club and he will advise the book dealer. There are some genuine bargains in the lot and the two books on the Barry Docks and Railway [both relatively recent publications] were stand outs for me. Unfortunately, I already have them [!], but they are extremely cheap indeed.
It’s an interesting list, do give it a good look. The dealer will also be attending our show.
Bath Green Park, the magnificent station frontage. Captured again by Phil Place in the clubrooms of the Taunton Model Railway Group at Bishops Lydeard Station on the West Somerset Railway
AN UPDATE ON OUR STOCK SALES
Always popular, our stock sales are an important part of the club’s income stream and help to subsidise our outings, dinners and club improvements. Items are priced realistically as we want them to sell. Our current stock inventory is pretty large however, as we have bought in a number of quite large, good quality collections and these will take a while to move on. Consequently, we have taken a decision to pull back from further purchases for a while in order to reduce our stock and recover our purchase costs.
A small amount of recently purchased stock will be unlikely to attract much interest from within the club and it will be held back until a large West-of-England show in early 2025. A lot of what is in store will also be taken to our own show in September where, as the presenting club, we anticipate having a large number of sales tables. Members will not be disadvantaged by these plans however and club sales will not cease! The next sale will be held on Thursday the 11th. July and it is likely that some items will be discounted by up to 20%. In the meantime, boxes of odd, older items may also be put out for sale this coming Thursday.
AND FINALLY
Club member David Lane showed me this fascinating document recently, the Certificate of Apprenticeship for his grandfather, George Priest, who joined the Great Western Railway in 1907. He trained as a brass finisher and his apprenticeship ran for six-and-a-half years. David has allowed me to reproduce the certificate here for interest.
That’s your lot this month!
Best wishes