WYTHALL WORKS
The, so far, only cold weather of the winter, in early January, brought the usual reminder that a shortcoming of the site is that all our running water freezes up. The few hardy souls who came to the Museum at this time had to remember to bring water for the lunchtime cup of tea and at least these days there is heating in the mess room. The thaw revealed that although everything was alright in the toilet block, a burst pipe in the kitchen of the railway carriages was spraying the room with water. Fortunately little damage was done and once the stopcock had been located repairs were easily done.
With less to do in the grounds, Dennis Herbert of EMES has been seen yielding an angle grinder and helping other members of their group cut their railway track into sections. Whilst this might seem a strange thing to be doing, it is all part of Frank’s plans to install a sophisticated electric signalling system so individual sections of the track have to be isolated from each other. Hopefully this will be integrated with the barriers at the admission hut entrance to the site. Dennis has also found time to work on the Bundy Clock that is sited by the tram and from where our open day bus services depart. The clock now keeps good time so our drivers will have no excuse for early or late running. It is even hoped to get the pegging part of the clock working too. Malcolm Keeley has started painting the clock but further progress has been frustrated by poor weather.
Other changes in the grounds have been the removal of a tree that was causing one of our neighbour’s in the ‘mobile homes’ site some concern and the planting of some laurels in an area identified as the eventual site of the AA box. Mick Doolan has continued to wage war on the brambles that threaten to encroach on our display areas.
Much of the other work done on the site has been aimed at providing a better working environment and implementing some improvements suggested by an insurance inspection. This has included a thorough tidying of the woodwork area with all spare wood being stored elsewhere. Various cupboards and shelves have been relocated to give more space and in the process surplus items disposed of. Other materials and tools that had been lost for years have been discovered and returned to the rightful locations! The relocation of paint stores has allowed the garden equipment store to be extended and some equipment previously kept in public areas moved into more appropriate locations. The metal cutting guillotine has had a much-improved guard put on the back by Pete Murphy. Additional power points have been provided on the far side of the Shire Hall and some cables re-routed along walls.
One of the more annoying things for the Museum’s engineering team is that the pit floods every time it rains! Emptying it with a bucket just wastes time that could be put to better use. Consequently a pump was acquired and after some initial teething problems, looks as though this can be set up to do the job more efficiently.
Phil Ireland
Chapel Lane, Wythall, Worcs B47 6JX
Tel : 01564 826471 e-mail us
A registered educational charity no 507191
