Volunteers Across The Pond - Heritage Railways In Britain

(An "Op-Ed" Piece by Bob Moore)

There are over 100 heritage railways in Britain that operate regular schedules 300 out of 365 days of the year.  Okay, maybe not 300 out of 365 days but certainly more than just running weekends.  There are a number of factors that contribute to this.

Firstly, the heritage railways have developed a large cadre of volunteers.  And they make good use of their volunteers to the extent that the volunteers have skills in all aspects of running the railways, whether it's keeping the locomotives in running order, rebuilding the carriages, maintaining the trackwork, doing the signalling, running the trains, promoting the railway, and, most importantly, giving their visitors an experience they will remember. 

Sheringham Station With Network Rail In The Background

In May and June of 2010 I volunteered for 6 weeks in the carriage-and-wagon shop on the North Norfolk Railway.  This 5-mile line with stations top-and-bottom at Holt and Sheringham, and in the middle at Weybourne, has a cadre of 450 volunteers and 35 part-time employees.  With an advertised regular schedule, the employees are required just in case a volunteer doesn't show up for their shift.  I could tell what day of the week it was by who showed up in the shop.  They get 150,000 visitors a year which results in an annual net profit of £180,000 ($330,000).  The Bluebell Railway (at the end of the line from Victoria Station in London) attracts over 300,000 visitors a year and operates with a cadre of 950 volunteers.   I've visited the West Somerset Railway and the Swanage Railway and they too operate under the same premise - the railways are run by the volunteers.   
 

The NNR Shops & Yard At Weybourne.  Carriage and wagon shops on the far right, locomotive shops on the left, mainline on the bottom left.

They make you feel welcome - whether you're a visitor or a volunteer.  I arrived on a Wednesday afternoon at the North Norfolk.  By teatime at 3:30 one of the guys brought in a tray full of Styrofoam cups of tea.  I quickly did a head count of the guys gathered around - 13 guys.  "Hey Bob, don't you drink tea?" Andy said as I stared at the tray of 14 Styrofoam cups filled with steaming hot tea.  "Do you take sugar in your tea?"  Without me asking, that 14th cup was for me!    Forever after, an extra cup of tea with milk and the sugar bowl was on the tray.  By the end of the 3rd day, everybody knew that Bob from Canada was on the scene.  The word had been passed around. 

Tea time in the NNR Carriage & Wagon Shop

I was there in the locomotive shop when a newbie showed up to volunteer.  "What do you do?"  "I run trains out of London.  I'd like to run trains here but I understand I'd have to wait 6 months for driver training and testing" says Newbie.  "Oh, that's no problem at all", says Allistair.  "I'm the guy who does the training and testing.  When are you free?".  Two weeks later I saw Newbie in the engineman's seat with Allistair sitting behind him.  Be careful what you wish for, eh!?  On British heritage railways, you'll get your wish.  "Hey Bob", says Allistair from the Cab of his Class 37 diesel undergoing rebuild in the locomotive shop.  "Want a tour of our diesel?"  How Allistair and 8 of his buddies got a Class 37 diesel .... well ....... that's another story!

Allistair & his buddies' Class 37 undergoing rebuild in the locomotive shops.  Since I took this photo, D6732 went back into operation in the fall of 2013. 

They have a business plan and their corporate setup is very interesting.  The North Norfolk Railway LLC is a for-profit corporation that operates under a railway licence from the government.  The majority shareholder, the Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway Society, is a non-profit corporation which is registered as a British charity for tax purposes.  An individual can invest in the operating railway but the non-profit is always the majority shareholder.  And if you're like me, you simply buy a membership in the M&GN for a lot less money. 

Inside The Carriage & Wagon Shop.  Scaffolding has been moved to bring in another Mark 1 passenger car for rebuild.

 They are subject to the same kinds of rules and inspections as the commercial railways operating on the British network.  And those rules include safety rules, whether it's on the line or in the shops.  Most of the heritage railways operate under a "token" system for train movement which is probably one of the safest methods for controlling the movement of trains.  No token and the signalman can't move the points on the switch to release the train onto the next section of track. 

Sunday Crowd  in the Afternoon at Holt

In the shops, along the line, and in the yards, they are very safety conscious.  Sign in and sign out.  And, as the words at the top of the sign-in-sign-out page indicate, you agree to work under the terms and conditions of British safety rules and regulations. 

They maintain contact with their volunteers and members through monthly or quarterly publications.  My North Norfolk Railway quarterly "Joint Line" has kept me up to date with what's been happening for the last four years.  The publication is very well done - high quality paper, lots of colour photos, well written articles, excellent editing, lots of news about what's going on, and what the plans are for the future. 

My decision to visit the North Norfolk started with a membership in the summer of 2009 and the genesis of one of  their major projects.  In September as I was preparing for my trip, their gameplan was to connect with the national Network Rail which ended just across the street from NNR's Sheringham Station.  They needed £100,000 ($182,000) to do the job. 

Out went the appeal.  Plans were submitted to the local governments for approval.  The workplan and sequencing of activities was laid out in detail as timing was most critical.  Volunteers were lined up.  Contractors for technical parts like re-locating telephone cables and underground electrical wires were arranged.  And the money came pouring in from all corners of the country!  (And a small bit even came from Canada.)  By January 1st, the project was all set go! 

Each Monday after the completion of the weekend's work, a video was posted on the NNR's YouTube channel.  Each Monday I could hardly wait to see the progress that was being made.  On March 11, 2010, "Oliver Cromwell" steamed up from London's Kings Cross station and, with 8,000 visitors looking on, took the crossing - the first time since 1967 that a mainline locomotive had done so.  As I stepped off the train at Sheringham on May 12th and walked across the street to the NNR station, it was quite a thrill to walk across the level crossing that I'd been following the preceding 4 months on YouTube.  

"Oliver Cromwell" On The New Level Crossing At Sheringham

 Since then, I've been following progress on the NNR, waiting in anticipation for the next issue of "Joint Line".  For 2014, there are a large number of major projects on the go.  Success only breeds success, eh!?  There's nothing like a few wins under your belt to keep the momentum going! 

The top project will see the movement of Chatham Steam, a boiler and locomotive rebuild shop, moving from Chatham to the NNR's Weybourne shops.  This will require moving the existing NNR machine shop and the construction of a new machine shop, extra pits, and more trackage.  Plans and approvals are in hand as is the money.  New contracts from other heritage railways will keep the rebuild shop going for the next two years with new inquiries coming in each week. 

They have a very large education program with over 600 students taking part every year.  Plans are underway to build a new education facility at the end of the line at Holt Station to replace the old passenger carriages that have been used for these purposes.  And the restoration, rebuild, and maintenance of the existing stock of locomotives and Mark 1 carriages continues.  Trackwork and signalling is upgraded and maintained.  New "heritage" wagons come in, are rebuilt, and end up on the tracks after inspection by Her Majesty's Railway Inspector (I kid you not!) for their gala weekends.   

Wisbech & Upswell #7 out on the line after Inspection by HMRI.  This was the last coach I worked on before returning home.

And, after building up a cadre of volunteers and a following of loyal visitors, they have been able to maintain this momentum.  It took them a long time to get there but they've kept focused on their objectives.  I was very impressed with what I saw.

I could go on-and-on about how private locomotives are kept on the line, how they are able to raise money for locomotive rebuilds, how they plan on steam train movements on Network Rail from Sheringham to Cromer on Sundays, their relationships with Network Rail, with Anglia Trains, but that would take up too much space.

All in all, it's something they have but we don't.  But I'd sure like to get a bit of it over here!  Perhaps the Hull Chelsea Wakefield would be in operation by now.....  Or the Shay would be ready for rebuild......  Or #40 would be on display in the locomotive hall.......  Or #1201 would be ready for steam........ 

Or ..................  whatever else you'd like to dream.............!

Washouts On The Hull, Chelsea & Wakefield

A couple of weeks ago, I took a tour of the washouts and mud slides on the Hull, Chelsea & Wakefield.  It seems that the line has been plagued by such events over the decades and the one this Spring put "finis" to the popular tourist train with its future up in the air at the moment.  Hopefully, the powers-that-be will make the right decisions and repair the line. 

The washouts and mud slides that I saw are between Mile 3.8 and Mile 4.8.  I'm not aware of any others, although there may be some.  If you have any information, please let me know.  (All mileages are approximate.) 

Disclaimers
First the usual disclaimer.  The comments in this blog are mine and mine alone.  If you have any information that will correct anything I have said, please let me know and I will try to reflect your information in this post.  I am not a civil or soils engineer.  My observations are based on what I saw, mixed in with a bit of experience in road construction, excavation work, and a general knowledge of construction techniques.  Nothing in this post should be taken as blaming anyone for what happened.  It was an act of nature and these things happen. If you use any of this information in making any engineering decisions (not that you will), you assume complete responsibility for the use of this information, including any consequences that may result. 

The Soil Conditions
You first have to understand that the terrain between Mile 3.8 and 4.8 is composed of clay mixed in with pockets of sand and gravel.  There's a steep 2% climb in elevation as the track tries to escape the Ottawa River plain through a series of S-curves.  The area is pocketed with deep ravines covered in trees and bush with the track going across these ravines on high clay fills.  Add some water to the clay soils and you have the potential for washouts and mudslides.  The area has a long history of mud slides and washouts.  Last Spring was no exception.  

To focus our bearings, here's satellite map of the area that we visited.  Like I said, all mileages are approximate but this will give you an idea of where the problem areas are located.  

Mile 3.8 - Two Washouts - The Embankments Kicked Out At The Bottom
Coming up from the south, the track at Mile 3.8 goes across a deep ravine on a long clay fill.  Once the track gets across the North side of a clay fill, it enters a clay cut that goes North and uphill on a 2% grade for a distance of about half a mile.  Drainage through this clay cut isn't the best as the ditches and culverts are undersized to carry off even the Spring runoff.  This time, with the heavy rains this Spring, the water rushed down the ditches on the East side of the tracks.

A culverted ditch on the East side got plugged up with debris and the water rose over the tracks and across to the ditch on the west side.  The ballast is loaded with clay, top soil and other materials that inhibits drainage away from the tracks.  So the rails provided a nice water chute down towards the ravine.  On reaching the ravine, the water shot out of the end of the ditch and down into the bottom of the gully.  This action kicked out the bottom of the fill, taking a good part of the roadbed with it.  Clay has a bad habit of doing that. 

The water between the rails continued almost to the other side of the fill before it washed out another part of the roadbed carrying the supporting embankment with it.

Mile 3.8 is one of the two worst spots of the washouts simply due to the depth of the ravines and the amount of work that would have to be done to rebuild the embankments to support the track.  This would require a lot of rock cages, assuming the clay soils can support the weight, and a lot of fill.  There's no easy way to bring in truckloads of fill so this would be a job that could be very labour intensive. 

Let's take a closer look at the 1st washout.  Here's a photo that was taken last Spring shortly after the washout occurred.

Here's a shot of what it looks like underneath the track.  At first glance it looks to be a relatively easy job to simply dump fill between the tracks to build up the embankment underneath the tracks. 

It's when you look down into the ravine that you see the extent of the work required to rebuild the embankment.

If you started dumping fill over the side of the tracks, it would simply slide down into the bottom of the ravine.

The second washout, while not as bad as the first one, is running a close second as it too has the embankment washed out at the bottom of the fill.  Filling the open space underneath the tracks would be an easy job.   

The embankment at the bottom of the ravine kicked out and brought the bottom half of the embankment down into the ravine.  It's that dark hole on the other side of the old boiler tube sticking out of the ground that's the problem.  It's empty space.  Reinforcing and building up the embankments would be major work.  Not impossible to do but very major work

It's all very do-able - but only if you have the right equipment.  And a lot of labour.  The first thing would be to stabilize the embankment with something like rock cages (assuming the clay base could hold the weight of the rock cages) and then rebuilding the embankment back up to the roadbed, compacting the fill as you go.  In any event, the embankment needs to be stabilized. 

Mile 3.9 - Washout Under The Tracks
Just around the corner from the two washouts at Mile 3.9 is another washout.  This one would be very easy to fix.  There's a moderate embankment that goes across a shallow ravine with a fast-flowing small creek flowing through a concrete culvert. 

The above photo taken last Spring makes things look worse than what they actually are.  This was a situation where overloaded culverts, debris, trees, and logs wiped out the roadbed.

It's hard to believe the amount of brush and debris in the bottom of the ditch, notwithstanding that the tree across the tracks came down during the rains.

It appears that the debris in the bottom of the ravine backed up the water.  There's almost a full Fibreglas sailboat (or some other item) blocking the ditch. You can see the blueish colour of the Fibreglas in the bottom left corner of the photo below. It may also be a question of adding more or larger culverts to take care of high Spring runoffs. 

Washout At Mile 4.0
As shown in a photo taken last Spring, there's been some attempts at fixing the washout.  It looks as if a new culvert was set in place and some ballast and rip-rap dumped in the hole.  The work looks as if it's stabilized the roadbed and it would take a minimal amount of work to finish the job.  Easy enough for volunteers and a few pieces of equipment to do. 

The photo below shows the extent of the damage on the west side.

It looks as if a steel culvert was installed, rip-rap placed on the east upstream side of the embankment.  However, there's none on the west downstream side.  Given the size of the culvert, there's a possibility that it may wash out with an overly large Spring runoff.  However, that would be a long-term project for the future.   

In addition to having to take the water flow from the creek, this culvert also has to take the water flow from a culverted drain on the East side that was added within the last 10-15 years.  It would appear that this was a solution to a slippage some years ago where culvert was installed alongside the track.  While no part of the ditch alongside this 1,500' section washed out, the ditch would probably have to be re-profiled so as to ensure proper drainage alongside the roadbed.

In addition to having to deal with the water flow from the creek, the 1,500' of culverted drain on the East side discharges into the creek at a 90 degree angle, thus churning up the bank of the creek.  It may be case that the drain may have to be re-routed underneath the tracks so that it discharges into the West side of the creek rather than the East side.  Another alternative might be to add some culverts about every 500' to drain the water from the east side to the west side of the track, making use of the ditch on the west side. The ballast doesn't provide good drainage as it is loaded with topsoil and clay.  So an alternate solution to culverts would be to remove the old ballast and add some new clean ballast.  A very labour intensive job - just the right kind of thing for a gang of volunteers. 

Finishing up this job would be very easy to do.  Some fill, compaction, a bit more ballast, clean out the ditches and it would be ready for trains.  Some volunteers, a hy-rail dump truck with some ballast or B-gravel, and it could be fixed quite easily.  At the same time, clean out the ditches and creek with debris.  Access would be from Loretta St.  Correcting the discharge from the 1,500' drain would be in the long term.


Washout Mile 4.1
The washout at Mile 4.1 is due to fill for a level crossing filling up the ditch.  Except for some ATVers, the level crossing hasn't seen traffic in a few decades.  The track is still on an uphill grade with the water running down the east side of the ditch until it hits the level crossing.  Taking the path of least resistance, the water went around the filled-in ditch which just happened to be the roadbed of the track. 

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This one is a very easy fix.  Dig the fill out of the ditch, shove it in underneath the tracks, compact it with hand-tampers, top off with ballast - 6" underneath the ties and flush with the top of the ties.  Piece-a-cake!  Even some volunteers with shovels could get the job done with a bit of help from a hy-rail dump truck to bring in a culvert and some ballast. 

Rip-Rap Mile 4.2
Holy crap, Batman!  What happened here!!??  Just around the corner from the washout at Mile 4.1 we came upon work that had been done some years before.  Looks as if it was a combination mudslide and washout - mud slide on the east side and washout on the west side of the tracks.  All of the mudslide had been excavated way back from the tracks, the side of the hill filled with rip-rap, and the top planted in sumacs and evergreens.  I would add some fast-growing grasses to keep the soils in place until the trees matured enough to provide a strong root system.   

On the west side, the rip-rap goes all the way down the slope into the deep ravine.  

Nice work!

Mud Slide Mile 4.4
At Mile 4.4 you have an example of what happens when Mother Nature mixes clay with water - a mud slide, complete with trees.  The embankment simply let loose and slid across the tracks.  The solution to this one is also very easy.  Bring in a hy-rail rubber-tired power shovel and a hy-rail dump truck.  Start digging the dirt off the tracks until the loose clay is completely removed.  Here's what it looks like facing north (towards Wakefield)

and here's what it looks like facing south towards Gatineau. 

Washout Mile 4.5
The washout at Mile 4.5 is an example of what happens when a culvert fails.  The segmented concrete culvert was installed decades ago.  It appears to be typical Canadian Pacific concrete pipe.  Due to a combination of an undersized culvert and accumulated debris within the culvert, it seems as if the water decided to take a shortcut through one or more of the concrete segments.  You can see in the photo below where the water leaked through a joint and then took out the side of the fill. 

This is one of those cases where the slope will have to be rebuilt from the bottom of the ravine upwards with rock cages (assuming the clay base can hold the weight), filling in the slope as the rock cages make their way to the top of the roadbed.  This slope-rebuild is probably one of the easier of the three major slope rebuilds. 

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Washout Mile 4.6
And now we come to one of the fun parts in the reconstruction program - the washout at Mile 4.6.  The roadbed has completely disappeared.  The track is hanging in mid-air.  The slope on the west side has completely washed out.  What clay there was on the east side has completely gone. 

 It looks as if a bit more of the clay fill was washed out between Spring when the above photo was taken, and now when I took the photo below. Such are the things that Mother Nature does when she plays with water in the rain.  

This is going to require a major rebuild of the slope on the west side with rock cages, installation of properly sized culverts to drain water from the east side, and rip-rapping the fill on the east side, to say nothing of new ballast underneath and between the rails.  Once that's done, there's the challenge of raising the tracks to the proper level - ballast tamper, ballast regulator and lots of ballast and B-gravel to get it to the proper height. 

Either way, it's going to take a lot of work, although it's possible to work it from both ends - assuming that the problems between Mile 4.0 and here get resolved first.  

Mud Slide Mile 4.7
There's a "small" mud slide on the east side of the tracks at Mile 4.7.  Nothing serious, very easy to fix.  If you had a bunch of shovels, lorries, wheelbarrows, it wouldn't take much to clean this one up.  If I were arranging a gang of volunteers, this would be one of the first jobs I would tackle.  Very manageable.  Access is from the road at Mile 4.4.  Here's the view looking north.  

And here's the view looking south.  If you can drain the water and keep it drained, everything should stay in place. 

Washout Mile 4.8
Another washout on the west side of the embankment at Mile 4.8.  You can see how CP Rail fixed things up with a couple of old ties and some boiler tube.  The slope at the lower reaches would have to be stabilized with rock cages. 

So that's the end of our tour on the Hull Chelsea & Wakefield.  If you have any additional information, I'd be interested in hearing from you.


Postscript - What's a Rubber-Tired Hy-Rail Power Shovel?
In case you were wondering what a rubber-tired hy-rail power shovel (excavator) looks like, here's a YouTube video.  The operator isn't the most elegant but then it ain't easy putting one of these things on the tracks.  But you get the idea.  The equipment on the end of the boom is a brush-cutter.

If I didn't know better, that equipment looks as if it's Tim Lane's Sersa Total Track Maintenance from Mallorytown.  Done a fair bit of sidewalk-superintending with those guys.  Good crew!

Wisbech & Upswell #7 Out On The Line!

At last!  The Wisbech & Upswell coach #7 rolled down the line for the first time after its rebuild.  Hauled behind 4-6-0 #, the coach made a run from the Weybourne shops, up to Holt, back down to Sheringham, and back to the shops.

Here's Nigel leaning on the bar, looking pleased as punch!  And so he should be.  He did a lot of work stick-handling the restoration and organizing the lads and lassies to do the work on the car.

This Saturday, October 2nd, will be M&GN member's day.  The coach will be part of a special M&GN train which will include the newly restored M&GN brake van hauled behind steam locomotive Ring Haw.  Should be quite an event!

Congratulations to everyone.  (Wish I could be there, fer shur!)

Wisbech & Upswell #7 Rolls Out Of The C&W Shops!

Nigel has just informed everyone that the Wisbech & Upswell passenger coach #7 was rolled out of the NNR Carriage & Wagon shops. It was examined by Her Majesty's Railway Inspectorate (a requirement for all non-standard wagons that are run on British rails) and successfully passed the tests.

You can see the reflection of the varnish on the side of the coach.  It now can join the fleet of historic coaches that are on the roster of the M&GN Joint Railway Society.

Hard to believe that the project started only in 2002 with the coach lying on the ground at the Rutland Railway Museum (located north-west of Peterborough).  A new underframe and bogies were fabricated and the body received a thorough rebuild with a fair bit of the existing wood being replaced.  Lots of tlc to bring this coach up to snuff!

A job well done by a great team of lads and lassies.

Postscript to "Last Day At Weybourne Shops - Saturday June 19th"

I had previously mentioned in my blog of Saturday, June19th, about drilling holes with the mag drill for the buffers on the Wisbech & Upwell Carriage #7.  Subsequently, Nigel managed to muscle and bolt the buffers into place (I think he had some  help).

Here's the buffers at the west end of the coach

And here's the installed buffers at the east (Sheringham) end of the coach.

Ain't that the cutest passenger coach you've ever seen?  Love that steel grillwork.  It will soon be rolling down the tracks of the NNR!

Tuesday June 22nd - The End of A Fantastic 6-Week Trip!

As they say, all good things must come to an end and so it is with my 6 weeks in England.  It has been beyond all of my expectations.  I had two primary objectives - to chase my family roots and to see how steam preservation railways work in England.  I achieved all of these objectives and then some!  Quite a few bonuses along the way.  Meeting with Dawn again, travelling to the New Forest to meet up with Ann, seeing photos of my great-grandparents for the first time.  Meeting Michael Whelan and his wife Susan - in Letheringsett at the King's Head, no less!  Searching the Letheringsett Parish Records in Norwich and seeing the original birth, marriage and death records of Stephen Moore, Sarah Page, and their children.  Matthew Moore, Elizabeth Barber Gidney and their children.  Meeting up with David Mayes and Janet Jones.  Getting the photo of Robert Moore the Coachman and meeting Miss Cozens-Hardy in person.  The lads on the North Norfolk Railway - Nigel, Mike, Andy, Brian, Bob, Roger, Bernie, Steve, Peter, Mike, John, Sylvia, Malcolm, Harvey, Howard, Andre, Phil, Allistair, Peter, Nigel, Ed, Bill, Trevor and a whole lot more whose names I never got to know.  Their hospitality and friendship was fantastic.  And I learned a lot too.  Not just about the mechanical aspects of steam preservation and British railways.  But how a large organization can be run efficiently and effectively by a cadre of over 400 volunteers.

But, it was time to make my way from Oxted, up to London and out to Heathrow Airport.  I have this thing about getting to the airport early, so Helen drove me from their B&B down to the station with my heavy suitcase, carry bag, and laptop.  I caught the 9:33 train into London Victoria station.  From there, I wheeled through the station and onto the Circle Line.  Only this time, I caught the District Line by mistake (they both run through some of the same stations) but managed to correct my mistake by the next station stop.  It was an 8-minute wait for the next Circle underground train and then clicking through 20 station stops before getting to Paddington station.  If I had taken the westbound train instead of the eastbound train, it would only have been 8 station-stops.  Oh well, next time.

I struggled with my suitcase, carry-bag and laptop up the steps and into London Paddington station.  Right there in front of me down 12 steps was the Heathrow Express.  I had been planning to take the Heathrow Connect at half the price but I decided to treat myself to a bit of air-conditioned comfort.  I climbed aboard the train after buying my ticket with the train leaving the platform 4 minutes later.

We were soon out to Heathrow.  I loaded my bags onto a cart and started wheeling to Terminal 3.  Heathrow has signs all over the place so it was very easy to find the Air Canada check-in counter.  I taped my luggage tags to my bags, threw them on the conveyor belt while the agent checked my paperwork.  I quickly went through security clearance and then checked to see what gate my flight was.  Time was 11:15, my flight was 15:30.  The flight was listed but no gate.  So, I spent the next 4 hours sitting back, having a bite to eat, doing tons of Sudoku puzzles and cruising the shops.

The gate was announced at 14:45 and I leisurely made my way to the lounge and check-in.  We took off on time and landed in Montreal at 17:45.  Made it through customs by 18:45, left my luggage at the domestic check-in counter to wait for my flight to Ottawa at 21:30.  Of course, there are no earlier flights so I had to cool my heels for the next 4 1/2 hours.  I think this part of the trip was the longest.  The flight was 20 minutes late leaving Montreal but I arrived without further incident to see Sharon waiting for me in the arrivals lounge as I came down the escalators.

It's been a fantastic trip and we'll have to do it again.

Monday Evening, June 21st At 1 Welcome Cottage

It's a week later and I'm back home in Canada trying to recover from the jet lag and an ankle that I sprained on Wednesday evening.  My ankles are not the strongest which is why I wear boots most of the time.  And the one time, after 6 weeks in England, that I wear shoes, I go over on my ankle.

Anyhoo..........

I took a taxi from Oxted up to Woldingham arriving at 1 Welcome Cottage for 7pm.  John Odlin had supper cooking away nicely - some beautiful venison steaks, new potatoes, and veggies.  We sat outside at his large picnic table, a glass of red wine in hand while we introduced ourselves and got to know each other.

 John had been a helicopter pilot for 40 years travelling to all parts of the world before retiring about 10 years ago.  An avid hunter, he had many stories to tell about his trips and travels.  For me, it was nostalgia time as I was only 6 years old the last time I had been in this house.  The house had much changed, of course, and John had nicely landscaped the property with gardens, sculpture, and a garden shed at the back.

Just as we were sitting down to eat our supper, his friend, Rodney Fuller came in the side gate with a new friend, Peter.  John and Rodney are hunting buddies who have gone on many safaris to Africa together.  They were planning to do the same next October and were trying to convince Peter to come with them.  Having seen the trophies John had mounted on his wall, I added my two pence worth to convince Peter to go with them.

It turns out that Rodney's family has been farming down the hill from 1 Welcome Cottage, Woldingham since 1898!  So there is a good probability that either, Rodney, his father, or both of them delivered milk to my grandparents when they lived here.  Small world, eh!? (Rodney on the left, John on the right.)

I have photos of my father when he was stationed in Woldingham but can't determine the location of the properties.  I promised to send copies of the photos to Rodney and to enlist his aid in identifying the locations.

After some good food, good company, good cigars (I was tempted but didn't), and good conversation, it was time to head back to my B&B.  John drove me back to Oxted where we said our good-byes, promising to stay in touch for the future. 

It was indeed a most enjoyable evening and a superb way to finish up my 6-week stay in England!

Tomorrow we make our way to Heathrow Airport and back home to Canada.