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.

Moving Down To Oxted - Only 24 hours Left

My initial plans were to leave Sheringham tomorrow (Tuesday June 22nd) and make my way to Norwich, on to London Liverpool St station, take the Underground to Paddington station, and catch the Heathrow Connect out to Heathrow Airport.  However, the trip from Sheringham to Norwich was an hour, Norwich to London Liverpool St another 2 hours.  If I missed a connection, I would be arriving too close to my flight time of 15:30.  So I decided a couple of weeks ago that I would make my way down to Oxted today so that I would have lots of trains (every 20 minutes) that would take me into London Victoria station and a quick trip on the Circle Line to Paddington station.  This way, I wouldn't be hassled in trying to make it to the airport.

I was up and out of Camberley House which has been my base of operations by 9:00 to drag my suitcase, carry bag and baby laptop up and down the streets of Sheringham and over to the train station.  As I had arrived early, I went into the news stand across the street to pick up my supply of Sudoku puzzles to do while waiting for trains.

Just as I came out of the news stand, I ran into Bob from the Weybourne shops who had just returned from the doctors for a checkup to his hand/ arm.  Last Wednesday (while I was in York), Bob had been using an angle grinder with a wire wheel on it when it slipped out of his hands.  The trigger on the grinder was one of those that kept the grinder spinning instead of turning off the motor when your grip was released.  Needless to say, with the wire wheel still spinning, and not wearing any gloves, especially leather welder's gloves with the large cuffs, a good part of the back of his hand was instantly converted into hamburger.  He immediately had an angina attack which required a trip to the hospital in Norwich.

It took 18 stitches with the possibility of skin grafts to put the back of his hand back together.  I had left my own welder's gloves behind just for Bob with my pair of Home Hardware work gloves for Roger.  After a short chat in which we wished each other the best of luck and the possibility that we might see each other in a couple of years, I made my way to the station platform and boarded the train to Norwich. 

The train to London Liverpool St station was just pulling in as we arrived in Norwich so it was a quick scoot from Platform 4 to Platform 2.  It was an uneventful trip into London, except that I was now wheeling a 30kg fully loaded suitcase, a 15 kg carry bag and a 5 kg laptop with bag which made it a bit awkward going up and down the steps of the London Underground.  I made my way down the steps to the Underground at Liverpool St station (love that Oyster card!) to catch the eastbound Underground tube train to London Victoria train station.  I had gotten into the habit of buying my train tickets in advance of my trip so that I didn't have to line up to buy tickets, worrying that I might miss the next train. And I also saved money when buying an advance ticket.  In this case, I had bought my London Victoria to Oxted return tickets on the train from Sheringham.  This cost me £10 return compared to £9 one-way during morning rush hour if I had bought the ticket in Oxted the next morning. 

I caught the 14:23 train to Oxted, arriving 35 minutes later.  It was a quick taxi trip up Grenville road to The Mead B&B where I immediately left my luggage and returned to the centre of the village and down to the graveyard where my great-grandparents are buried.

The ferns had really grown since my last visit of 3 weeks ago and had completely hidden the grave stones.  I had brought along some "weed juice" and a watering can spout to look after these ferns. Two watering cans were sitting by the tap filled with water.  A few ounces of juice in each can and we started to "water" the ferns.  Unfortunately the tap in the graveyard wasn't working so this required a trip to the council graveyard next door.  Given the state of the graveyard and the lack of response I've gotten from the church, I think I'll have to do a news article for the local newspaper to see if I can garner some support and action to clean up the graveyard.

I'm off to Woldingham in about an hour for dinner with John Odlin who is the current owner of 1 Welcome Cottage, the place where my grandparents and my mother lived for so long.  It will be interesting to see the inside of the house and to see if I can remember what the rooms looked like.  The last time I was in the house was in the summer of 1952 when I was all of 6 years old.  I do remember coming down with the mumps and having to chew gum so that my jaws wouldn't freeze up.  Boy, did that ever hurt. 

My grandfather, Albert Bicknell, kept bees and chickens  to supplement their income.  I can remember all kinds of honey combs and honey equipment in the rooms where my brother, Ed, and I would sleep.  There's nothing sweeter than sucking the honey out of a honey comb, complete with the bees' wax, and then spitting the ball of wax that you are making in your mouth while you're sucking the honey out of the comb.  The fox used to get into the hen house from time to time which would create real havoc.  My grandfather also used to keep rabbits and I can remember holding them.  Which is probably why, two years later, I ended up having rabbits (along with a cat) as pets.

The North Sea "Breeze" - A Change Of Plans

I was intending to make a last pilgrimage to Letheringsett today.  However, the wind had been howling all night and the sea was foaming froth as the waves broke up on the beach, roiling the stones on the beach with loud cracking sounds as if 10,000 billiard balls were bouncing into each other.  And it continued this morning as I was eating breakfast with threats of rain.  So I packed my suitcase for tomorrow's trip to Oxted and went back to bed for a couple of hours - the first time I had done so since my arrival in England.

My mode of transportation from Sheringham to the Weybourne, halfway point of Holt Station on the North Norfolk Railway, was operating on a reduced timetable with the last train leaving at 3:45.  If I missed that trip, it could mean a 5 1/2 mile walk back to Sheringham in addition to the 3 1/2 miles from Letheringsett back to Holt Station. 

Getting up around 11:30, I took a look at the weather.  It was starting to blow itself out and the threat of rain seemed less possible.  So decided to chance the trip to Letheringsett.  If I missed the return train from Holt Station, I could always catch the coasthopper bus.  I was out the door and up to the NNR station for 12 o'clock - only to hear the whistle of the steam engine as it was departing Sheringham station.  I looked to see when the next train was leaving - 13:30.  So much for my pilgrimage to Letheringsett.

I had some books that I wanted to drop off at the Weybourne Station bookstore so, to pass the time, I went to the news stand and picked up 3 newspapers - all with 3 Sudoku puzzles in them - returning back to the station and sitting at a picnic table to pass the time.  In the Norfolk News, there was a nice writeup with photographs of the arrival of the 1899 passenger coach at Holt Station and how it was going to be incorporated into their plans of revitalizing the NNR's education centre using a series of these old coaches.  

The education arm of the parent Midland & Great Northern Preservation Society had managed to get matching lottery grants of £47,000 for their £94,000 project.  Imagine raising that kind of money!  Having seen the number of school kids take the train from Sheringham up to Holt Station, this unique facility is certainly going to be put to good use!

Finally the train arrived - the same J15 0-6-0 that I had taken up to Weybourne shops the day before.  Attached to this train were two dining-car coaches that were full of families celebrating Father's Day.  Wwould this ever be a real treat for Father's Day, eh!?  Travelling back-and-forth up-and-down the line while munching away on brunch and sipping tea and coffee for several hours.  While the crowds poured out of the regular coaches, nobody was getting off these two coaches. They were going to enjoy their brunch!!

In due course, the steam locomotive made its run around the train and coupled onto the dining coaches.  As the train was approaching Weybourne, I noticed that one of the large roll-up doors leading into the Carriage & Wagon shed, the track leading to Wisbech & Upwell Carriage #7 (the one I had worked on yesterday) was open.

 So, disembarking at Weybourne Station, I made my way over to the sheds.  Sure enough, Nigel S had been busy at work drilling more holes into the buffer beams for the link couplers.

As I had some spare time on my hands, I offered to help him with the drilling but he was quite fatigued from his work of the day before.  The day before (Saturday), he and Andy P.  had been working hard at some point west of Weybourne jacking an old 1890s cattle wagon up off the ground and rolling it out so that a lorry could transport the wagon back to Weybourne sheds for restoration.  They had started at 10 am in the morning and didn't finish until after 7:30.

Now this cattle wagon was not any ordinary cattle wagon that shipped cattle off to the meat packers.  This one was used to transport prize bulls around to the different country fairs and to service the farms in between.  The wagon had been taken out of service in the 1920s and had been used as a shed in someone's back yard all this time.

The objective for obtaining all of these wagons was to be able to put together a representative goods (freight) train that would have travelled down the original Midland & Great Northern Railway line around the turn of the century in 1900.  With all of these coaches and wagons that had been purchased and converted into cottages, sheds, and garages, they were having quite a bit of luck in achieving their objective.

Having dropped off some books at the Weybourne book shop and arranging with John G to ship over a golf shirt when it had been embroidered, I caught the 3:30 train back to Sheringham.  I wandered around town a bit before returning to The Lobster for a couple of pints of Strongbow and a dinner of prawns.

Tomorrow we leave Sheringham in the morning making our way back to Oxted via London as we near the end of our journey.