misty midford

Coming over the top at Pensford I suspected I was going to have to entitle this post 'miserable midford' but that was already starting to sound too downbeat for me when the rain stopped and it cheered up a bit - so 'misty midford' it is!

The Seales have done a great job keeping the station area and the trackbed to Long Arch Bridge clear. It's hard to believe that the station hasn't seen a passenger train for 46 years! It certainly won't be 46 before it sees one again ...

today at midford

(Copyright Stuart Seale 22.7.2012)

From Stuart Seale -

Midford 22 July 2012. What a cracking day we had. The weather was glorious. In the morning Tom Seale and I treated the platform, station area and Will Cummings' drilled tree stumps with a good dose of weedkiller. After lunchtime refreshment in the Hope and Anchor we proceeded to burn up the large pile of cut wood that had accumulated over the preceeding months. We also took the opportunity to remove a number of trees that looked a bit menacing to the public and disposed of the arisings to those too.

midford last sunday

Looking as good as new - amazing to think that a couple of years ago this was totally overgrown!

(All pics copyright Tom Seale)

Latest report from Tom Seale - I'm hoping to get along myself on the next work party day. It's amazing how much the site has changed over the last couple of years!

Myself and Dad were down at Midford again yesterday doing a bit of routine maintenance activities.

Dad brought his strimmer down and cut the growth either side of the cycleway and on the bank above the station.

It's nice to see increasing wild flower growth on the cleared areas, chief among them were some bluebells growing on the bank.

Whilst dad was avoiding cutting down bluebells I cleared the gutter on the northen end of the platform, it's nice to see this area now looking properly tidy.

 We also re-cleared the base of the oil store, it was a cracking day weather wise, I even managed a sun burn.

next midford work party

The next Midford work party will be this Sunday (15.4.2012) from 10 am onwards. Please just show up on the day.

history uncovered

Some shots taken on Wednesday showing the base of the station building at Midford. This is an incredible transformation from when we started - this whole area was buried under rubble and undergrowth, testimony to the amount of work the Midford Team have put in over the last 16 months!

midford 28 december 2011

(Copyright Tom Seale)

Latest report from Midford -

We had a good session at Midford today. Tom and I were joined by Will Cummings, who came up from Wells. A lot of time was spent clearing the bank above the platform but there was great difficulty in keeping a good footing on the loose steep soil deposits. After some undergrowth had been cleared we saw that it was the bunnies that were responsible for the dirt on the platform as there were burrows to be seen higher up. The trees have done quite a lot of damage to the rockface in splitting it up and we pulled down a good number of loose rocks. There was a nasty hailstorm later in the morning that didn't help matters at all. After lunch I set to with the task of burning up all the cut branches whilst the other two cleared more of the bank. After clearing an area above the delaminated bricks in the retaining wall and the dip in the platform, Tom found a 4 inch earthenware pipe that seemed to be discharging water from the property above - this needs to be investigated as it could possibly be responsible for the damage being sustained on our property.
The fire ran to near 5pm and we managed to burn all of the cut wood, which makes the place look a lot tidier.
Favourable and encouraging comments were made by passers-by.

next midford work party

Work off all that Christmas excess by joining the next work party at the S&D's most iconic location at Midford?

This just in from Stuart Seale -

Tom and I will be down at Midford this Wednesday, 28 December from about 10am ish carrying on with the clearance of the bank above the platform. We'll probably finish off the burning after lunch.
Any assistance welcomed.

midford today

Today's report (and photos) courtesy Stuart Seale.

We had our work party at Midford today. Tom and I were joined in the morning by Tony England and his Grandson Josh who made a grand job of clearing the fallen leaves from the platform and clearing the gutter at the base of the retaining wall. Hopefully with further clearance this winter we may be able to get rid of the leaf problem once and for all.

Tom and I concentrated in clearing the brickwork slabs that had been dumped behind the station buildings. We would have completed it but darkness set in. We removed all the brickwork but there is still a residue to dig out, which will make for a quick win at the start of our next session. Tom managed to exercise Thor's hammer again to great effect.

On our next visit we plan to finish the digging and then commence clearing the bank above the platform starting from the steps and working in a Northerly direction.

today at Midford

 (All pics copyright Stuart Seale. 2.11.2011)

Tom and I spent this afternoon at Midford digging out more behind the station to expose the gutter. Breaking up the brickwork certainly doesn't get easier!

The pile of debris opposite the end of the platform has now got substantially bigger.

We aim to go down there again on Sunday 20th Nov.

today at midford

(All pics Stuart Seale, 26.10.2011)

Today's report from Midford.

Tom and I went down to Midford again this afternoon to clear more behind the station so we can access the building foundations and the drainage channel.

Last Sunday we had a terrible time breaking up a large chunk of brickwork that had been dumped there but today we unearthed the remainder of the slabs, which totals some 21ft in length. It's going to be a real chore of a job breaking that one up and carting it away! I guess this must all form part of the base of the signal box?

As normal, we had quite a lot of interest in the project.

midford today

(All copyright Tom Seale, 23.10.2011)

Today we spent another day at Midford, continuing to clear the recess behind the station.

Didn't get as far as I'd hoped though as we quickly discovered an enormous slab of masonry buried under the earth.

With some assistance from 'Thor's Hammer' we managed to break it up, saving bricks where possible.

We also discovered an aeration brick and length of cast-iron guttering (presumably from the station) under the slab.

Hoping to get down this Wednesday afternoon and do some more digging.

midford in the rain

Probably the last blog post I'll be able to squeeze out of last Wednesday's visit to Midford.

Even a sharp shower didn't put paid to the hard work being done last week. Tom and Stuart turn up whatever the weather (witness last December's photos and work in the snow!) and it'd take more than a shower (or even a hurricane) to stop Mick Knox in his tracks!

I'm hoping to get up to Midford in the next couple of weeks on a Saturday or Sunday, partly to cycle along the cyclepath, and also to salvage some of the firewood that will need to be cut up on site - for which of course I'll make a nice donation!

more midford

Some more shots of Midford taken last Wednesday, giving some idea of the progress made here in just over a year.

If I get a free hour or two this week I'll try to get some before and after shots put together for the blog, which will serve as a tribute to the work put in by the volunteers (particularly Tom and Stuart Seale) on site.

midford today

Tom Seale's report from site today.

Dad and myself have had another day up at Midford today. We did a bit of general tidying up but spent most of the time continuing to dig out the drain behind the station buildings. This was thickly matted with roots from the trees behind and interspersed by the odd collection of bricks etc. so progress was somewhat slow going. Another couple of assaults on it should have it finished so I can start the measuring up. I have taken away our collection of glass bottles and plastics, next time I'll remove the metalwork including the child's trampoline kindly donated by an anonymous benefactor. Hopefully keeping the site clean will discourage any further tipping.