WYTHALL WORKS
The last issue of ’Omnibus’ featured an unflattering picture of Pete Murphy apparently about to duff-up Bob Deloyde for taking a picture of the new stores building before it was finished. Progress since then has been such that the local council have been able to declare it finished and issue a certificate allowing us to occupy it. As well as our own work in completing the structure, contractors have installed lighting (its probably the best illuminated building on site) and the fire resistance on the boundary wall required by Bromsgrove’s Building Inspectorate. Floor painting has recently been done and a start made on installing racking. We have been storing a few engines in the building for some time but work will commence to transfer other spares in the near future. To this end we have dared to look in the prefab and a, very limited, start has been made in sorting out the contents so that only useful items get moved to the new store.
Other activity on site since the last report seems much more mundane! Special event days always require quite a lot of organisation that, apart from advance preparation, starts with buses being extracted from the display halls. Once this has been completed floors need sweeping or degreasing (can’t we have vehicles which don’t drop oil all over the place?) and staff organising for the event itself. Then, after all the public have gone home happy, all the buses have to be put to bed. The events days might bring in the larger number of visitors but the museum is open every weekend from Easter to the end of October. Current policy is to have an honesty box on Saturdays but to man the admission hut on Sunday’s and thanks are due to the people who volunteer for this duty.
Normally the museum only has visitors at weekends but recently we opened our doors to a school party in early July and then to the Friends of Coventry Transport Museum in mid July. The school visit was somewhat of an experiment and, whilst there were many lessons to be learned, proved successful. It also created a record for the rate of spending in the shop! The evening visit of the Friends of Coventry Transport Museum was a more sedate affair but nevertheless seemed to be enjoyed by all. Although not planned, their request for a cup of tea resulted in the café being opened and a brisk trade ensued. The far end of the café and shop building is now used as an exhibition area. A recent addition, initially for the school party, is a life-sized mannequin dressed as a conductress.
Work that the visitor may notice is that the phone box is being stripped of existing paint and generally refurbished by Maurice Collignon. Otherwise much recent activity has been behind the scenes. Mick Doolan has continued to give the plant life on the site a hard time where it is encroaching on to display areas. Repairs have been made to the tyres of the pencil sharpener (i.e. the gadget which shreds vegetation) and the wheelbarrow that fell to pieces. On a larger scale, Alex Potts has sorted out the dumper’s gearbox. On a less savoury note, problems with a drain crossing our land have been resolved. This year’s wet summer is the source of another problem, as the engineering pit tends to fill with water in such conditions. Unfortunately bailing it out is an all too common activity. Conversely, water was required for the Family Day event at the end of July when one of the attractions was the Droitwich Model Boat Club and a temporary pool was made utilising several museum ladders and a sheet of polythene.
Again out of public view, several of the buses alongside the Scania and Shire Halls have been moved in recent weeks. The need to extract the RT stored outside, which has been sold for restoration, resulted in some reorganisation.
Vehicle activity has largely been associated with long-term projects and keeping the class VI fleet up to standard. The enthusiast press has recorded that Stagecoach borrowed the Cheltenham FSF and in the process returned it to Class VI standard. Otherwise we are using the same fleet of six Class VI vehicles as last year and, as I write this, only the D9 remained to be re-tested. As a Class VI operator we also have to worry about tachographs and visits have been made to Allely to get these calibrated.
The paintshop area in the Scania Hall is being well utilised and Kevin Hill had been applying lots of paint, mainly red, but occasionally blue and cream. Geoff Hodkinson also applied different shades of red and cream to his Coventry Fleetline. Further buses being prepared for painting this year are the LS18, which Bob Williamson has been rubbing down when the rain stops and the short Ford, which Paul Gray has been dealing with.
Phil Ireland
Chapel Lane, Wythall, Worcs B47 6JX
Tel : 01564 826471 e-mail us
A registered educational charity no 507191
