Steam Trains on the Mountsorrel Railway

April 27^th and 28^th saw demonstration steam trains run along the Mountsorrel Railway as part of a GCR gala for the first time.

Port of Par tank engines Alfred and Judy, on loan to the GCR from the Bodmin and Wenford Railway, spent the two days running trains along the line with the three restored Mountsorrel Granite Company wagons.

 As restoration of the line is not quite complete, trains only operated over the first ¼ of a mile to the farm track accommodation crossing. The steep 1:61 gradients on the branch line certainly put the little engines to the test as you can see on the Youtube film below!
 

Steam Trains to Run on the Mountsorrel Railway this Weekend!

On Saturday/ Sunday 27^th & 28^th April the Great Central Railway are running their Swithland Sidings gala. The event will show the full potential of the new signalling scheme at Swithland Sidings for the first time. They’ll be a special viewing area to allow GCR visitors to see all the action close up. See the GCR website for full details.

The event will also see steam trains running on the Mountsorrel Railway with the three Mountsorrel Granite Company wagons that were restored by local children three years ago. Demonstration freight trains will run from Swithland Sidings onto the branch line and continue as far as the farm track accommodation crossing, some 450m along the line. Several runs along the branch line will be made on both days of the event.     

Please note that on this occasion the branch line trains will be demonstration only and no passengers will be carried.

The Mountsorrel Railway Project display stand will be setup in the Swithland Sidings viewing area, so please come along to see us. Our volunteers will be on hand to answer questions about the project and we are also running our “Sponsor a check chair for £15” fund raising drive to raise the money required to buy the last 100 check chairs we need for the tight curves either side of Swithland Lane.

FREE Badger Watch Event This Weekend!

The Badger Watch evening is being run in conjunction with Charnwood Borough Council. Their Environment Officer will be leading the event as part of both CBC’s and the Mountsorrel Railway’s aim to increase public awareness and understanding of the wildlife around us.

The event is looking to be our most popular yet with 50 people having booked their places already! Space is limited and we need to have a good idea of numbers for H&S reasons, so if you would like to book your place please email Caroline wildlifewarriors@hotmail.co.uk

Recognition for Mountsorrel Railway "Young Volunteer of the Year"

A 14 year-old volunteer who helps with the Mountsorrel Railway project has been recognised as the Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire’s ‘Young Volunteer of the Year’. He received his award from Lady Gretton at a ‘Young Person of the Year 2013’ ceremony at County Hall on the 11^th April.

Daniel Bowler from Mountsorrel has volunteered with the project almost every week continuously over the last three years and is always there at the start of the session and stays till the very end and this is after getting up at 6.30 to do his paper round! He gets stuck in with whatever tasks are thrown at him and often goes home with his clothes, face and hands looking more like he has been down a coal mine than at a railway, a clear sign of a hard day’s graft!

Daniel now helps to develop sub-projects behind the scenes, as well as helping on the recognised volunteer sessions. Alongside the heavy, physical work involved with reinstating the railway, Daniel plays an important part in the Project’s “Wildlife Warriors” ecology initiative. Daniel designed the group’s logo and helps his mother Caroline run the Warrior sessions. Children can attend with an adult, with a different focus at each session, and Daniel helps to devise the tasks for each event. He spent his 2012 Easter holidays building over 30 wooden ‘insect-hotels’ to be used by the children at a Warriors’ event. His resourcefulness allowed him to obtain the material needed for these as a donation from a local timber yard's scrap bucket, thus saving the project money. He thrives on helping and bringing enjoyment to other people and his devotion to the group has so far allowed over 150 children to experience and learn about the wildlife around Mountsorrel.

In addition, Daniel has helped as a young leader at 1st Mountsorrel Cubs every Wednesday night and goes on camp with them, helping to cook and serve the meals and helping with activities. Not content with that, he also designed their web site and now looks after it, keeping it up to date. Furthermore, he is now a member of Thurmaston Scout Band and gets involved with events and activities at Humphrey Perkins School. Last year he was involved with the school garden, giving up his lunchtimes to work on growing vegetables which are used in the school kitchens. He loves all things technical and loves to be involved in school productions, designing the sound and lighting for shows.

It is difficult to calculate precisely how much time he has given to the Mountsorrel Railway Project but it is estimated that he has given not less than 250 hours of his own time in the last 12 months. Also, it is probably true to say that a similar figure could be attached to his volunteering for the project in each of the previous two years. And all of this is before his other volunteering commitments.

Further Ballast Laying

On April 8th to 10th the GCR kindly ballasted most of the newly laid track along the branch line.

GCR ballast train drops ballast at Nunckley Hill

This was possible thanks to a further donation of 400 tonnes of ballast courtesy of Lafarge Tarmac's Mountsorrel quarry.

The project would like to say a big thanks to both Lafarge and the GCR for their help and support. Only 200m of laid track remains to be ballasted and the line is fast approaching completion!



Class 37 loco hauls the ballast train around the Wood Lane curve.

A film of the ballast laying is available on our Youtube channel.






Bridge Clearance Test Trains

On Friday April 5th the GCR ran two test trains along the restored Mountsorrel Railway to test the clearances at the Wood Lane bridge.

Both trains were propelled along the line by class 37 diesel loco 37198, which is currently based at the GCR. The first train consisted of two wagons and the second a full length British Rail mark 1 carriage.

The bridge portal is rather narrow, but we are pleased to say that as expected, the clearances are more than adequate to allow standard passenger carriages to run along the line.

Please see the following Youtube video.

 

First Trackbed Tour of 2013

Wildlife Warriors Make Archaeological Discovery

Last weekend's Wildlife Warriors session was another great success with over 50 people turning out despite the cold weather and snow flurries.

This time the children were able to take part in an archaeological dig at the ruins of the old Dob Hall next to the railway.

Dob Hall was never a grand building and was only a small holding, but took its name through a resident who lived there in the 1880's called Mr Bowler. Story as it that he would ride through the village in all his finery as if he was lord of the Manor. Local people started to refer to his house as Dob Hall in jest at his delusions of grandeur. The name stuck and the house eventually fell out of use and has been derelict for many decades. All that survives now are short stumps of the remaining walls of the building buried under years of undergrowth decay and soil.

The remains had recently been dated to circa 1780 due to the style of stone work. Although we couldn't promise anything as spectacular as King Richard III, we still hoped to discover the original internal floor of the building.

Within minutes of the children starting to dig signs of the floor became apparent and by the end of the session the children had discovered areas of stone slabbed floor, a fire hearth and an historic area covered in terracotta tiles made by a long lost company called "Smith" from Loughborough. We would be very keen to learn more about "Smith" of Loughborough if any readers know the history of the company.















The children were also hard at work decoratively painting almost 60 bird boxes which had been made by our volunteers and the children at Castle View Nursery. These will be put up around the Nunckley Trail and alongside the Mountsorrel Railway before the nesting season gets under way.

There was certainly a big buzz of excitement from everyone who was there. Here are some feedback comments from those attending:

Thank you for organising it all. We all had a really great time.  The girls were thoroughly inspired by their archaeological dig! See you soon. - Jackie

Thank you for a thoroughly enjoyable day - Eric Makin

Thank you we really enjoyed it, and hope to come again soon. - Tracey, John, Harry and Ruby














We would like to say a big thanks to Caroline Bowler for organising and leading another fantastic event and also to all our many Ecology Group volunteers who assisted and made the event possible. Thanks as well to the Mercury News Agents on Leicester Road, Mountsorrel for sponsoring refreshments for those attending.
 
Our Wildlife Warriors events are aimed at children aged 3-11 and their parents/carers. They are FREE to attend and the next event is planned for April. Keep checking the website for further details.

We've Done It! - Mountsorrel Railway Reaches the End Of the Line

On Saturday February 23rd 2013 the final panels of track were laid along the Mountsorrel branch line to reach the proposed location of the new Mountsorrel Halt at Bond Lane.



     

Over 75 project volunteers turned out to help lay the final panels and we were joined by representatives from Mountsorrel Parish Council and Lafarge. A film crew from Central News were also there filming a news item for Saturday evening's broadcast and there should also be coverage in this week's Loughborough Echo.

 

Last May when we launched our appeal to raise the funds necessary to secure the rail we needed to complete the project, we set ourselves the ambitious task of having track laid through to Mountsorrel Halt by February 2013. At the time many doubted that we would achieve this and if it hadn't have been for the support of those who donated and the hard work and dedication of everyone involved, we certainly wouldn't have done so.

It is amazing to see the way the project has captured the spirit of local people from all backgrounds, ages and genders, to the extent that so many of them feel compelled strongly enough to turn out in all weathers to help protect and preserve our heritage.  
 

   

There is still much to do before the railway can open for public trains to operate. The next stage is to fit check rails to the tight curves at Wood Lane and then to ballast the remaining part of the line. A machine called a tamper will then be hired in to pack and line the track. So there is still plenty of opportunity to get involved yourself over the coming months.

We are also working towards securing planning permission and funding for Mountsorrel Halt, which will allow passengers to get on/off the train at Mountsorrel to visit the village and Stonehurst Famliy Farm and Motor Museum via their existing tractor trailer rides.

Next Wildlife Warriors Event Saturday February 23rd

The next of our hugely popular Wildlife Warriors events will be held this coming Saturday at 2:00pm.

This event has an historical theme and the children will be able to take part in a mini archaeological dig at the old ruins of Dob Hall, the remains of which stand next to the Mountsorrel Railway.

The building has been dated to around 1780 by archaeologists and the aim of the session will be to see if the children can find the original floor of the building plus pieces of pottery and other items of interest.

There will also be a bird box painting activity. Our volunteers have made over 50 bird boxes of different bird types to go up around the new Nunckley Trail and alongside the railway.

The event is aimed at children aged 3-11 accompanied by their parents/carers and is FREE of charge thanks to Sponsorship by the Mercury Newsagents on Leicester Road, Mountsorrel.

For more information or to book your place, please contact Caroline Bowler at wildlifewarriors@hotmail.co.uk