Saturday 8th March

Another day of perfect weather conditions heralded the second day of the Spring Gala weekend, with 8 willing and eager gang members arriving at M&FM for the 8am departure. Ian J, Adrian, and Eddie headed off on the line inspection towards Alresford, while Keith B, Tom, and Ian R set off for Alton. This left John and Keith H to undertake the most important of missions, that of taking the van to Basingstoke to purchase felt to repair the hut roof at Northside Lane, and transporting it to site in readiness for the afternoon's work.

On arrival at Northside Lane, a few preparatory jobs were undertaken while waiting for the line walkers to join them later on in the morning, including the removal of the remains of the old storm damaged felt top sheet. With the others rendezvousing at around 12.30pm, supplemented by Neil, Martin R, and Paul C, a single damaged strip of under felt was replaced to make the hut watertight again, and a fire was lit to dispose of the old felt and other rubbish left over from the construction works. The timber retaining wall outside the door was also trimmed to a better top profile, and the ground re-landscaped against the wall and around the chimney stack.