Tuesday 18th August

This was possibly the penultimate Tuesday evening working party, with the nights now drawing in, and a team of 6 gathered at M&FM for the planned activities. These were, as the previous week, quite varied.

Alton was the first destination for the gang and Wickham Trolley No.1, dropping off the window glass, paraffin lamps, and other items at Chawton Heights hut enroute, to enable the finishing touches to be applied hopefully at the weekend. Arriving at Alton, two 'missing' fishplate bolts were replaced, before heading back down the line to Butts bridge, where a few remaining life expired timber sleepers at the lineside were loaded onto the trailer and added to the collection (for disposal) to the west side of the former Butts Junction site.

The Shrave cutting was the next destination, where rail keys and damaged Panlocs were replaced with Panlocs, before heading through M&FM and down the line to Ropley. Bags of aggregate, a piece of steel mesh reinforcement, and concrete blocks were dropped off at The Grosvenor hut site, in preparation for the construction of the chimney foundations and walls below ground, before loading up timber offcuts and depositing them at the bonfire site near Wanders Crossing. The final task of the evening was to deliver two cans of oil to the pointwork oiling equipment sites at Ropley Station.

A good evening's work as usual. Apologies for the lack of photographs, your Editor was too engrossed in the work!