Engineering a plenty! – July Edition – Daresbury Gazette
Posted on 31. Jul, 2020 by in Daresbury Gazette, Daresbury Gazette 2020
Welcome to a rather busy July Edition of the Daresbury Gazette – After a period of around 4 months things started to get back to some sort of normal after the Covid 19 lockdown. A club members day was arranged up at the track on July 12 which under normal circumstances would have been the Steam Fair. There was a really good turnout i think 13 engines present. As the Covid rules were to be had heard to a hot plate was provided for members to cook their own meats etc the club provided the buns and condiments so everyone had a jolly good day.
The committee held our first meeting in the clubhouse since lock down. A number of issues were dealt with i.e membership renewals and the lack of the annual AGM. It was sad to hear our secretary has decided to step down with immediate notice. Brian has done a great job in his term . If it wasn’t for him we would have lost a steam fair he did a brilliant stroke of genius when he persuaded the Utilities to connect a cattle trough into the watermain which managed to reconnect our supply. He was also the main driver for the toilet block and How far round on a pound competition and also involving the schools through the STEM project. So we owe Brian a great thanks for his efforts.I also have resigned but I will still attend the meetings as the go between the club and our landlord a job I enjoy doing.
THE TUNNEL !! It’s finally finished “round of applause” 4 years in construction and extension 15 tons of top soil was delivered plus another 10 from our landlord the tunnel with the aid of Paul Caldwells machinery and staff the landscaping and seeding was finally done. All that was left to do was reseed the grass and stand back and let nature take over. Three weeks down the line and the grass looks amazing.
You can check out all the photos in the latest Gallery update
Another major civil engineering project was completed the week after. Craig had designed a French drainage system for our car parking area this involved digging a series of trenches for which Phil Parker brought along from Whitchurch his mini digger. Whilst Phil was filling wheel barrows an army of slaves were transporting the soil into the adjacent field where other slaves were raking it out. The trenches were then backfilled with stone to create the drain. A massive job all done in one day a fantastic team effort.
Other jobs on going was the replacing of rotten weather boards on the club house, Roy Allen jet washed the decking and repainted with anti slip paint and also the station platform. The ’tilt-o-meter’ gang have never stopped finding humps and bumps in the track to deal with, and Duncan decided to reinstate the signalling around the track only to find one was missing !! urgent messages were sent out to try and track the lost signal ! to no avail. THEN ! via the wizardry of the Marconi a call from the other side of the world!! It’s in Rob’s shed in Australia. No doubt it will be whizzing it’s way back from the colonies and after 14 days self isolation it will regain it’s right full place.
I have been in talks with Mary Madelaine’s church about our monthly meetings. They can go ahead but with only 16 people in the hall. Also we would have to declare we have no symptoms or been in contact with anyone who has. There is also a ban on refreshments so on the strength of it we have decided to cancel until further notice.
We shall get back to normal but when we do not know.
Patrick
Other related Daresbury Gazette articles:
- A Varied Steam Fair Experience for 2021 – June Edition – Daresbury Gazette
- Happy New Year – Access Update – March 2021 Edition – Daresbury Gazette
- Seasons Greetings – COVID-19 and The Deviation Update – December Edition – Daresbury Gazette
- Track Temporary Closure and The Deviation Update – November Edition – Daresbury Gazette
- Tier Risk System Update – October Edition – Daresbury Gazette
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