Saturday 24th October

A report from our western correspondent, Jes Mania..............Today, the MHR staged the second day of it's Autumn Gala, which resulted in a large number of gang members rolling into base first thing in the morning.  We were able to break into 3 groups, with Eddie, Ian R, John & Martin W going to Alton to carry out fencing repairs. They carried on with this task all day, a frustration being that once they had made a successful repair, another area needed attention to meet their high standards.

Meanwhile in the gloom of the morning light, Keith H and Pete walked to Alton, where they met up with Neil and Paul, and Ian J, Keith B, Martin B and Bill ( returning from New Zealand) walked to Alresford. Adrian C, Adrian N, Brian, and Corina went straight to The Grosvenor site to start work on the hut walls, and to begin the burning of the cut material from the clearance work over the recent few months. 

With the walks over, 13 people were working at the hut site, and when Iain H arrived, a record Saturday attendance was achieved with a total of 17 on the Railway (including the 4 in the fencing team)..   

A good day was had erecting 8 wall timbers, and through Adrian N's sterling efforts lighting a bonfire in wet and damp conditions, all the waste material was disposed of by the end of the day. Neil also laid the hearth bricks in the fireplace, ably assisted by Paul mixing the mortar. The last photo below taken at the hut, shows a happy gang at the end of their day, sadly without the Alton, fencing four!