midford on thursday

 

Midford int he rain - looking good!

 

Looking towards Wellow - and car access on site at last!

 

H&S!

 

Mick getting ready ...

 

Posing with chainsaw

 

The rain at its heaviest!

 

MIDFORD FACEBOOK GROUP

 

Reward - butchers sausages cooked on the still smouldering embers from Tuesday!

 

 

A REALLY good day at Midford last Thursday, tree clearing again. Mick Knox was down from Milton Keynes with his chain saw, local boy Tom also brought his!

It was rainy and quite gloomy when we arrived but within a couple of hours enough trees had come down to let the light in.

Our neighbour Pat also turned up and we discussed the remedial work on the concrete facing of the embankment that abuts his house down below us.

Stuart, lacking a chainsaw of his own, cooked some sausages for the chainsaw boys!

To me this is always the best part of rail restoration, the hands on stuff out in the open. Meetings and office work leave me cold, even though that takes about 95% of my New S&D time.

There's a real buzz all along the route now, with Masbury very close, new local groups forming in Shepton Mallet, Evercreech and Whitchurch, Shillingstone going great guns and a real feeling that the whole route is stirring at last.

We are now planning to launch the Midford Appeal in 2014, with the aim of raising the funds to rebuild the station and oil store, which will transform the site.

S&D Day

 

I got the chance to visit TWO S&D sites yesterday, for the first time! First stop was Midsomer Norton where the signalbox/greenhouse section looks amazing. The greenhouse in particular looks like it's been there for a hundred years or more. It was nice to see the stone cold frame to the south of the signalbox as well. The whole site looks amazing.

Then, via Bristol (Wulfric wanted to see two of our cats for the first time), I popped in at Midford. This is the first chance I've had to visit two of the S&D sites in one go. It's a strange feeling, a nice one of course! You could now, in a day, travel south from Bath and visit FIVE active sites (hopefully soon six!) all being restored along the line. I don't think there's any other place in Britain (or even the world) where so many sites on the same line are being restored and rebuilt. The S&D is really coming back ... and in so many places!

The vegetarian choice at the Hope and Anchor wasn't impressive so, with the road south to Frome being closed at the viaduct, we headed back towards Bath and popped in the Cross Keys for a fantastic curry. And who should be there but Stuart and Tom Seale, the heroes of Midford! We're having a big session next Thursday (4.9.2013) so if interested please pop along, if only to see me in a flourescent jacket and Mick Knox yielding a chainsaw like someone out of a 1970s horror film!

midweek at midford

 

Cleared platform.

Looking towards Long Arch Bridge.

 

Classic fencing starts to reappear - and makes the narrow road safer.

 

Midford main mover Stuart Seale chats to New S&D Press and Publicity Officer Kevin Gover.

 

Had a nice (and rare) trip to Midford on Wednesday to meet with our new Press and Publicity Officer Kevin Gover and get a chance to catch up with progress on the site.

 

Stuart kindly showed Kevin around the site and I did some radio stuff for the Masbury Appeal.

 

Interestingly Kevin walked from Freshford to Midford and I may well try to reach Midford by train and foot in future, rather than use the slow and rather ridiculous car. It's about a two mile walk in each direction.

 

Television is also taking an interest in developments at Masbury so expect to have it rammed down your throats (in the nicest possible way!) over the summer months!  

 

Midford is looking great and the litter problems we suffered from anti-social visitors after the Two Tunnels route opened seem to have calmed down somewhat. New fencing has appeared along the top of Long Arch Bridge, together with some new safety bollards, much improving this part of the site.

 

Remember if you would like to help in restoring Midford to its former glory please contact me via leysiner@aol.com and I will put you in touch with Stuart.

It's going to take more than six inches of snow to keep the hardy New Somerset and Dorset rebuilders from their work!

Tom and Stuart Seale will be forming a work party at Midford Tomorrow from 10:15 ish. All welcome to join them but wrap up warm!

midford tomorrow

 

Tom and Stuart Seale will be down at Midford from 10:15ish tomorrow, Sunday 6 January. All welcome to join them.  They plan on thinning out some of the smaller trees on the embankment to prepare the way for Mick Knox's visit later in the month.

midford sunday

Stuart and Tom Seale will be at Midford tomorrow, Sunday 18 November, as from circa 10:15am. Should be there until it gets dark. Everyone welcome to join us. The plan is to cut down trees near the Long Arch Bridge.

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 ...

midford - today!

From Stuart Seale

‎Tom Seale and I will be down at Midford doing some tree clearance work from 16:45 tomorrow (Wednesday 12 Sept) if anyone fancies a bit of graft.

midford yesterday

(All pics 8.7.2012 copyright Stuart Seale)

Stuart Seale, Tom Seale and Will Cummings 

formed a work party at Midford yesterday to clear the bank above the station. It is amazing how quickly everything is growing this year. Tom strimmed the top of the bank and Will drilled into the tree st...umps so as to introduce some weedkiller (we need to kill the trees once and for all as they create too much recurring work). We had a great day and the weather was wonderful, if not a little on the hot side.

New S&D chairman's report

This will be appearing in the New S&D's magazine, 'RIGHT LINES', in a few weeks' time. Hopefully it boils down the last six months activity and I haven't missed anything!

Chairman's Report

June 2012

It's fantastic that Philip Marsh and Grant Henderson have formed an editorial team to produce a magazine twice a year. I was well aware that members living a distance from the line were not really getting value for money for their membership fee, but until people stepped forward we were rather stuck! Can I ask all of you to try to provide articles and letters, and send in photos for the next edition.

Another relatively new member, Dean Cockwell, has worked wonders down at Spetisbury, negotiating with Dorset County Council and getting a team together to restore the station.

Up at Midford Tom and Stuart Seale have done sterling work rescuing this most iconic station from the undergrowth - work on rebuilding the station is now not too far away. Other members (even myself!) have helped as well, but 95% of the work has been done by the Seales.

Both Spetisbury and Midford will be rebuilt to serve as information offices for the whole line and will also have shops to make each site self-financing.

We have also approached Network Rail Property to see if Templecombe box will become available for lease at some time in the future. Whilst the site is currently still within NR's Operational area, it may well switch to Commercial at some time in the future, at which point we could negotiate to take on this site with a similar role to that of Spetisbury and Midford but with the added attraction of a Network line running past the front door.

The branches meanwhile are still in deep sleep, despite the potential of Wells, Glastonbury, Burnham and the Glastonbury Festival sites all being on route. If any of you would like to get something started on the branches please let us know! We are here to help local initiatives get started.

We've had an influx of new officers join the committee, some with fixed roles and others as general members. Thank you all for agreeing to get involved at this level!

Elsewhere on the S&D all three established sites - Midsomer Norton, Shillingstone and Gartell - have recently laid extra track, and now Midsomer Norton has joined Gartell in running regular passenger trains. Midsomer Norton is an absolute gem and a credit to all of those who have helped make this happen.

On the Sunday before the Jubilee holiday, ALL five S&D sites had work being done on them, running trains, rebuilding etc. What a turn around from the dark 80s and 90s when hardly anything was happening! The S&D was a line destined to live forever, or as close as possible, and the closure was stupid. But back in the 60s people had other priorities and a very different view of the future, expecting to be getting around in flying cars or jet packs, eating space paste from tubes!

The last five to ten years have seen some amazing developments in the railway field, from huge passenger loadings on the Network, through the building of Tornado, the rebuilding of the Welsh Highland Railway and the incredible sight (in Porthmadog) of regular steam passenger trains running through the streets.

Many lines that missed the first and second waves of preservation now have groups determined to rebuild them. The Glyn Valley Tramway in Wales for example, the Helston branch and the missing link between Bodiam and Robertsbridge - did even the most optimistic of us really think these things would happen? And in 2014 a good proportion of the Waverley line will be reopened, a reinstatement that required the demolition of many homes built on the trackbed since closure.

This is the background in which we need to set the S&D revival. The world is changing, the oil is running out and we've all seen the effects of climate change over the past few years. Meanwhile the roads continue to deteriorate and many people are giving up their cars. And this is before the cost of fuel even begins to really impact on most of us.

In 20 years the railway map of Britain will be much expanded, the S&D will be well on the road to complete reopening, there will be new build routes opening up as well as many of the Beeching cuts reversed. We do blend heritage and 'real' running, but all lines will eventually if they are to survive. It won't be easy by any means, and there will be upsets and hold ups on the way, but remember that it will get easier as each day passes!

Steve Sainsbury MA

Chair

midford update

Latest from Tom Seale after yesterday's work day at Midford.

Will, Dad and myself spent another enjoyable day down at Midford this Sunday, the weather was glorious and we managed to get quite a few things done.

We started by tidying the bank above the northern end of the platform, there were a few "loose ends" unceremoniously protruding that have now been taken care of. Spring has now taken hold and the banks are covered in wildflower, mainly wild garlic; there is also an abundance of bluebell and primose among many others.

Whilst i was scrambling on the bank, Dad and Will removed the fly tipping from the wall adjacent to the pub car park. Hopefully this will discourage any further tipping.

We also cut through the very large vines present on the trees the other side of the wooden fence, this should let a bit more light through and make any tree 'surgery' a bit easier. The owner of Lynwood has previously enquired about us either topping or removing these trees as they do cast a very impressive shadow in the evening.

We finished of by burning all of the remaining cut wood on site, we re-sited the bonfire to a location much closer to the tunnel, mainly as this is quite a bit farther away from the neighbouring houses. After the inferno had died down we enjoyed a late lunch of sausages and burgers, accompanied by wild garlic leaves and an ash seasoning. 

midford tomorrow

Tom and Stuart Seale will be up at Midford tomorrow (18.3.2012) for a burning session. 10am to dusk. ALL members are welcome to assist!

 

next midford work party

From Stuart Seale -

Tom and I will be forming a work party at Midford this Sunday, 8 January (2012). We'll be looking to clear more of the top bank above the platform. Any assistance appreciated. Bow saws and loppers recommended

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.