Full house again

Full house on two scores. Firstly all eleven members of the team were in attendance on our last working day in January; and one of the tasks completed was reinstating the last missing milepost. However, there are still 22 other mileposts on the running line that require replacement with a correct GWR style head featuring numerals in the correct font.

After an absence of many years - milepost 9¼ is finally back! Toddington North cutting near the down bracket signal.

Thursday 30^th January

With the telehandler in use to move materials at Gretton, the team allocation to vehicles on departure from Winchcombe Yard was 4-4-2-1. (I’m beginning to feel like a football team manger trying out different team formations!)

Three vehicles headed for culvert 24A at the top of the haul road opposite the Royal Oak at Gretton. Jonathan drove the telehandler, whilst Roger, Nigel, Dave, Martin, Polly and Peter plus most of the materials and tools followed in the tail-lift Transit and the Isuzu. First task was to pump the outlet pit dry. Once dry enough; the tasks were to lay some more rows of concrete blocks for the new chamber, and to install the 450mm diameter twinwall extension pipe and elbow. The later turned out to be rather challenging; but the use of some recovered BR era hollow concrete blocks as supports helped. Polly concentrated on the block laying, Roger on the pipe installation and Nigel was chief mixer. Dave and Martin undertaking most of fetch and carrying. Peter and Jonathan took the tail-lift Transit to Bishops Cleeve to collect one tonne of pea gravel from Elliots Building Supplies. They also collected some ply wood pallets which we will deconstruct to form shuttering. On return the pea gravel was taken up the haul road by the telehanlder; as neither of our Transits can manage such a heavy load up the steep slope.

Chamber construction - concrete blocks up to above the top of the pies. Then it will be GRP rings above.

 

Meanwhile the other group, Andrew, Ian, John, Stuart, headed north to Little Buckland. The route was a little devious and scenic, as the B4632 was closed between Toddington roundabout and Grange Farm for gas main repair. (This closure is scheduled for a few weeks). At Little Buckland we met the owner of Archer Farm and his drainage contractor to view the work undertaken there; this has included a significant clean out of the embankment toe ditch alongside the farm. During this work they have discovered a sealed cross drain pipe running under the track. This is between cross drains 5A and 5B, about 20 yards south of 5A. There is an inlet pipe from the farm at the same point in the down (Cotswold) side toe ditch. On the up side the pipe is sealed; as there is no longer a working toe ditch at the foot of the embankment. We have quite a few unanswered questions about this. When was it installed? It is not shown on the original GWR plans of the line; nor on the land registry maps. When was it sealed? We know that 5A and the down side of 5B were rebuilt in 2016 as part of the Broadway extension work. What structure number shall we give this? We think best not to renumber 5B, 5C and 5D. And finally, what shall we do about it? One option is to leave it sealed, with all the northbound flow in the down side ditch going to 5A. The other option is to unseal it and re-excavate a toe ditch on the up (Malvern) side back to 5A. Both of these options depend on the outlet of 5A; which outside of railway land alongside the Little Buckland Road is a very shallow ditch which quickly disappears. There is some evidence of overflowing from this ditch onto the road and then back to the gullies under the bridge. Like Laverton Meadow Lane and Didbrook No2 bridges, the road here is susceptible to flooding during heavy rains. The road gullies empty into some long lengths of small bore pipe with a shallow gradient. So what ever we do, we can not add to flow in those pipes. We will make some more investigations; then discuss with our engineers, the land owners and the highway authority.

The deepened and straightened toe ditch on the down side along side Archer Farm. Looking south from the location of cross drain 5A.

 

The rediscovered cross drain and inlet pipes. Temporary board to try to get any flow to run south to 5B rather than to 5A.

Ian, Stuart and John investigate the sealed end of the rediscovered cross drain on the up (Malvern) side. No evidence of a ditch across the field.

Cross drain 5A outlet - beyond the fence it is a ditch that quickly disappears. Little Buckland Road at a lower level on the right - bridge 5 is just to the right of the picture.

 

A different scenic detour took the group back to Toddington station for a walk up the line to install the head of milepost 9¼. Unlike two weeks ago, when a trolley was required to move the bridge rail length, we could easily manage carrying the new head; the bolts to secure it with, a drill to drill the holes, a spanner to tighten the nuts and, most importantly, a spirit level to ensure the head was level. So now all the quarter miles on the running line (4¾ to 19) have a marker of sorts – but they are not yet all the correct GWR pattern. One marker will never have a proper post; that is 12½, as it is inside Greet tunnel. It is a white paint mark on up side tunnel wall. It is almost in the middle of the tunnel, 15 chains in from south (Winchcombe) portal; 17 chains in from north (Gretton) portal. After Toddington North the group ventured to Gotherington to repeat the head installation exercise for milepost 15½; located between the platform ends and the signal box.

Proper heritage mile post 15½ sits well alongside the private collection of railway items at Gotherington.

 

 

 

Whilst at Gotherington they noted the work undertaken by our Lineside Clearance team and a vegetation contractor on the down side embankment. This has included the removal of a large multi-trunk tree that was growing far too close the inlet of cross drain 35B. This clearance work has also improved access to the chambers on the boundary hedge/fence for the pipe which connects the cess drain in the old 6 foot through the platforms to cross drain 35A. So a quick check that all was well there was undertaken. Then back to Gretton to join up with the rest of the team opposite the Royal Oak.

What a transformation - the down side embankment at Gotherington with the stump of the tree removed from the inlet of cross drain 35B.

Before a late lunch, all 11 of us spent a hectic hour finishing today’s chamber block laying and packing pea gravel around the twinwall extension pipe. When using rapid curing cement you have to be quick!

Orange army! Seven of the team (and the shadow of the photographer) at work on 24A.

 

Stuart ensures pea gravel is packed under the extension pipe.

 

After lunch Jonathan with the telehandler and Ian and Stuart returned to Winchcombe Yard. Here the task was to extract some old dumpy bags filled with pea gravel and other material which we can use as infill at 24A. These were at the back of an area which S&T require for outdoor storage. As some of the old dumpy bags were rotten, this task involved quite a lot of shovelling to transfer the contents to better condition bags. The rest of the team tidied up the site at Gretton. Another example of inter-department cooperation here; PWay have loaned us a lockable tool store to deploy on site. This means a lot less shifting of tools and items like bags of cement at the beginning and end of each days work.

Just enough warmth in the sun for an al-fresco lunch. Use of the ballast shoulder as a seat can only be undertaken when the line is closed under a possession. (Left to Right Nigel, Roger, Martin, Dave - the other team members preferred the tail lift of the Transit  and the back of the Ranger).

 

Sate of construction at the end of the day. Another 20 blocks needed for the chamber and around 3 more tonnes of pea gravel to cover the pipe. Then it will be bring in the infill.

The tools that won't fit the tool store are loaded on the tail lift Transit for the journey back to Winchcombe. Its our favourite view from the line here - at its best on a clear sunny winter's day with no leaves on the trees.

Last task was to turn off the pump on the inlet (down or Cotswold side), so water starts running through the new extension for the first time.

Next week we plan to complete the block courses of the new chamber; then we can start the task of infilling the hole. So our ‘shutdown’ project is on schedule, we are looking forward to seeing Cheltenham Gold Cup race trains heading past a graded landscaped area at the top of the haul road.

Wildlife report: Close encounters with large mammals today – a large dog fox at Little Buckland and a couple of muntjac deer at Gotherington. Bird wise nothing unusual to note – just the plentiful number of red kites, kestrels, buzzards, and robins. Very noticeable was an increase in back birds, both in numbers and the volume of their song. It must be that spring is on the way! Confirmation of this was the observation of the first flowering of snowdrops . On the sunny side of the cutting at Toddington North it is very apparent the other spring bulbs are rapidly growing. Not quite so on the shady side.