Mountsorrel Boys Brigade visit

On the evening on May 21st we hosted a visit from Mountsorrel Boys Brigade who came to study the industrial archaeology of the railway. They brought metal detectors in the hope of finding items of historic track work. They studied the overgrown area that was once Earl Lanesborough's private coal siding. Old sleepers and other track remains are still found here from time to time.

The group also used their metal detectors along the sides of the restored branch line.  

A number of historical items were found and all very much enjoyed the opportunity to study the history of the railway.

If you have a similar group who may like to visit the Mountsorrel Railway during the summer evenings, please get in touch with Steve Cramp: steve@mountsorrelrailway.org.uk

News from the Mountsorrel Railway Wildlife Warriors

Over 60 children and parents attended the latest Mountsorrel Railway Wildlife Warriors event. This was a significant increase in numbers and builds on the success of the previous event, and this was despite the weather being cold and cloudy.

The theme of the session was insects. The children had a fun packed 90 minutes at the railway, building insect hotels. Each child had their own wooden box, which had been hand made by one of our teenage volunteers during their Easter school holidays. The children collected up rotting twigs and hollow stems to put inside the boxes before they were placed at suitable locations alongside the trackbed.




Each bug hotel was named by the children and at a future Warriors event they will be able to return to see what different types of insects have taken up residence.




The children then enjoyed biscuits and drinks before going on a bug hunt to see which family could find the largest variety of different insect species. The winning family managed to find no less than 18 different types and won a prize!




Wildlife Warriors sessions are run by the Mountsorrel Railway ecology group volunteers. The aim of the sessions is to encourage children aged 3-11 and their parents/carers to learn about wildlife through fun ecology based activities and games. The events are FREE for families to attend and the next is planned for August. Please check the website for further details nearer the time or contact Wildlife Warriors leader Caroline Bowler at wildlifewarriors@hotmail.co.ukfor further details and to register your interest.

Will you be a Wildlife Warrior next week?

Our next Wildlife Warriors session will take place on Saturday May 19th from 2pm until 3:30pm. Please note the later start time than the last session. The meeting place will be the same as last time, i.e. the granite railway bridge at the top of Wood Lane/Halstead Road.

Wildlife Warriors are for children aged 3 to 11 and their parents, with the aim of helping to boost the wildlife along the Mountsorrel Railway through fun based ecology activities and games.

The focus of the May session will be insects. The children will be able to build an insect habitat and there'll be a bug hut with a prize for the family who find the most insects. The session will round off with a drink and biscuits.

Wildlife Warriors sessions are FREE of charge, so we very much hope you'll be able to come along to take part.

For further details please email Caroline Bowler: wildlifewarriors@hotmail.co.uk

From The Mountsorrel Railway

Edith Murphy Foundation gives boost to Mountsorrel Railway phase 3 appeal

Plans to restore a historic Leicestershire railway line as a linear working museum have taken a major leap forward with the completion of track laying along the second phase of the project, and a significant donation from grantmaker the Edith Murphy Foundation.


Community volunteers from the village of Mountsorrel and the surrounding area have been working hard over the past four and a half years to carefully restore part of the railway system that used to run to the village. When complete the restored railway will connect Mountsorrel to the Loughborough based Great Central Railway, allowing steam trains to run back to the village once again.


"Four and a half years ago we set out with the vision of preserving and restoring an important part of our local heritage. We wanted to be able to tell the story of our industrial past in a way that would engage the community and encourage a better understanding of what village life was like in times gone by" said volunteer project leader Steve Cramp.


Already the project has brought educational benefits to over 500 local children, through school visits to learn about the history of the route and through ecological work along the railway corridor. "We haven't just set out to restore the railway itself, but also to care for the ecology and wildlife alongside the route. We've tried to encourage flora and fauna that would have been native to the sides of the railway during it's original operating life as well as creating wildlife habitats" continued Steve.


Over the winter, sections of the hedgerows alongside the line have been professionally laid by volunteers, giving children and young people an opportunity to learn the art of hedge laying for themselves. Over 1,100 native trees and bushes have also been planted. The project has recently launched "Wildlife Warriors" which are free sessions for children aged 3-11 and their parents, aimed at allowing them to learn about the wildlife along the route and enriching it through fun ecological activities. 


The 1.2 mile long railway is being restored in four phases. With phases 1 and 2 now complete, attention is turning to raising the £23,000 required to buy rail for phase 3. "We are very grateful to the Edith Murphy Foundation for helping to launch our phase 3 appeal with a wonderfully generous donation of £5,000! Together with donations already received from members of the public we have raised £11,000, so we are almost half way to our £23,000 target!" enthused Steve. "The railway is being restored using historically correct materials and all the track laying is being done by hand using the same methods as the original navvies who built the railway in the 19th century. Community spirit and hard work have brought us this far but sadly though work on track laying has had to come to a halt pending fundraising of the remaining £12,000 we need. Phase 3 will extend the railway by a further 500 metres and take us to Wood Lane on the outskirts of Mountsorrel."


To donate and help create what will be a much valued educational and recreational resource, please send your cheque, made payable to "DCRT" (David Clarke Railway Trust) with "Mountsorrel Railway" written on the back, to 112 Balmoral Road, Mountsorrel, Loughborough, LE12 7EW.


For further details please see the project website www.mountsorrelrailway.org.uk To volunteer and get involved yourself email project leader Steve Cramp steve@mountsorrelrailway.org.uk 

Loughborough Round Table give away to Mountsorrel Railway

We are pleased to announce that Loughborough Round Table (LRT) have chosen the Mountsorrel Railway to receive a £260 donation as part of their "260 Give Away" scheme!

 LRT have been making donations to local good causes each month over the past year, so we were delighted when LRT got in touch to say that we were their chosen charity for March 2012.

Project volunteers were joined at the Mountsorrel Railway by representatives from LRT to present them with the donation cheque.

 

 The donation monies are very much appreciated indeed and will be put towards our track appeal for the restoration of phase 3 of the project to Wood Lane.

If you would like to donate please send your cheque made payable to "DCRT" (David Clarke Railway Trust), with "Mountsorrel Railway" written on the back, to 112 Balmoral Road, Mountsorrel, Loughborough, LE12 7EW. Thank you

First Wildlife Warriors session is a great success

The launch of our first Wildlife Warriors event was a massive success with over 40 children and parents taking part. Families came from Rothley, Mountsorrel, Quorn and Woodhouse Eaves, and we even had an American family who have recently moved to the area.

 

Children were able to make "bird dials" to help them identify different types of birds. There was also a scavenger hunt with the prize of a bird feeder for the family with the most scavenged items. Children made bundles of nesting materials which were placed in the hedgerows alongside the railway to help birds find nesting materials for the upcoming nesting season.

 

It was also possible to observe at a distance, a pair of treecreepers which were nesting in one of the 21 bird boxes erected by volunteers along the route.

Wildlife Warriors leader Caroline Bowler said:

What a great morning. A big thank you goes to everyone who helped, our regular volunteers were amazing especially the older children who took a really active part in the session. Laura, Lucy, Olivia and Charlotte were great ambassadors for the project! Feedback was great from everyone who attended and there seemed to be a really good atmosphere throughout the morning. It was great to see the trackbed so alive with activity. The youngest child was just three and the oldest mid teens, as whole families turned out. Can't wait for the next one!

An attendee posted on our Facebook page:

My son and partner attended the wildlife warriors session, he was sooo excited when I arrived home, he loved it and will definitely be attending again!

Wildlife Warriors events are FREE to attend and the next session will be held on Saturday May 19th. Please mark it in you diary! More details will follow nearer the time.

Mountsorrel Railway excellent feature in Railway Magazine

The April issue of The Railway Magazine was published recently and contains a full feature article on the project, which explores the progress made over the last four and a half years. The magazine is available at all good newsagents. A shorter version of the article, minus superb photos and diagrams, is here, but we'd really recommend you buy the magazine!

Mountsorrel Railway launches Wildlife Warriors!

We are pleased to announce the launch of our latest initiative to to help nurture and care for the ecology alongside the railway corridor. Wildlife Warriors allows children aged 3 to 11, and their carers, to get involved by undertaking various ecology related tasks designed to promote a better understanding of the wildlife along the railway, and encouraging it to develop and diversify.

Years of neglect had disrupted the railway's original balance between trees, hedgerows and low lying flora and fauna. Since restoration of the railway started four and a half years ago, various ecology initiatives have taken place to encourage the original variety of wildlife to return. These have involved local schools and groups, with over 450 children taking part.

In recent weeks 600 bushes and trees have been planted along the route. The project has also signed up to the Jubilee Wood scheme, which aims to see a million trees planted across the country in the Queen's diamond jubilee year. This should see volunteers planting a further 420 trees and bushes this autumn.

Our aim is to run the Wildlife Warriors sessions every couple of months throughout the year. Rothley resident and project volunteer Caroline Bowler, who works at a local primary school, will be leading the Wildlife Warriors sessions.

The first session takes place on March 17th from 10:30am until 12:00pm and will include ecology based games and activities. Please see our event flyer for further details or email Caroline at: wildlifewarriors@hotmail.co.uk.

We very much hope to see you there!

February 2012 update

Representatives from NatWest visited Rothley station in January to present project volunteers Lucy and Steve Cramp with the Community Force competition winners cheque for £6,275.

This has helped the project to secure enough sleepers to complete almost all of the remaining distance to Mountsorrel. Track laying is now pushing on towards the end of phase 2 which will see track extend for half a mile in total. Rail is still required for phases 3 to Wood Lane and 4 to Mountsorrel. The funding shortfall for phase 3 currently stands at £22,500. Please donate if you can as we are entirely dependent on support from the public to raise this money. If you would like to donate please send you cheque made payable to "DCRT" (David Clarke Railway Trust), with "Mountsorrel Railway" written on the back to 112 Balmoral Road, Mountsorrel, Loughborough LE12 7EW.

On the ecology side there has been much activity as well. Ecologists have recommended the laying of some of the boundary hedgerows to help the hedge recover from decades of neglect and to enrich the local wildlife habitat. Hedge laying is a very skilled, time consuming and therefore expensive task to undertake, but thanks to our volunteer hedge laying team led by professional tree surgeon Martin Piggins, we have been able to complete the laying of the hedge along both sides of a 200 yard stretch of the railway just east of the farm track crossing. This work has transformed the branch line and made this section look much tidier. Already birds have been spotted going in and out of the hedge and it's very satisfying for the volunteers to see the ecological benefits of their hard work.

Since Christmas volunteers have also planted over 400 new hedgerow bushes to fill gaps in the boundary hedge and planted 40 mature native tree standards at Nunckley Hill. All of these plants were kindly donated to the project. We have also signed up for the Jubilee Wood scheme which aims to plant 1 million trees in the Queen's Diamond Jubilee year. All being well we should get a further 420 trees and bushes to plant along the sides of the formation this October.



Last but not least volunteers have been planting thousands of native wild flower seeds in strategic areas along the railway. The aim is to boost insect numbers and encourage native bumble bees which will also help the local crop fields neighbouring the railway.

The project has always been much more than restoring a railway with great care being taken with the ecology of the route as well. We have many varied and interesting tasks going on this year, both on the trackbed and supporting the restoration from home. We have work parties every Tuesday or Thursday with the main session each Saturday morning. If you would like to get involved please get in touch with: steve@mountsorrelrailway.org.uk

End of 2011 news

Project volunteers build an accommodation crossing!

Track now extends along the branch for over 500m (550 yards) from the junction with the GCR. This takes track past the point where a private farm track crosses the railway, meaning that volunteers have needed to construct an accommodation crossing, so that the farmer can access his fields beyond the railway. An accommodation crossing differs from a level crossing in that it is provided only for private use as opposed to a public highway to cross. Nevertheless, construction standards and rules for use remain pretty much the same.






Our volunteer team were aided by student volunteers from Loughborough University who came along to lend a hand. 





Work progressed rapidly and by mid December the crossing was complete. Safety signage will be erected in the New Year. Thanks to material donations by Murco Petroleum, Lafarge, local people and loan of tools from within our volunteer team, the crossing was constructed for less than £250. We think that the end result looks very good indeed! 








Local groups raise money for the project 


A local group who runs vintage tea parties with a 1940s theme, in aid of local charities, very kindly chose the Mountsorrel Railway as the good cause for their Christmas event. The party was held at Mountsorrel Memorial Hall and was very well attended indeed. There was live entertainment, vintage and craft stalls, scrumptious cakes and of course plenty of tea! The event raised a remarkable £250 for the project. 





Members of a railway heritage group, who meet once a month at Quorn for slide and film shows, have also kindly raised £300 for the project. 


Both donations are very gratefully received and will be used to help fund materials for phase 3 track laying, which when complete should bring track to within view of the bridge at Wood Lane.


Wood Lane to Bond Lane cutting progress


Work continues to progress in the cutting between Wood Lane and Bond Lane. A new track side drainpipe is being laid to replace the original which had collapsed. Pipe materials have been donated by Lafarge, the GCR and Cleanaway and the digger work itself is being sponsored by Lafarge. We are very grateful for this assistance which has saved the project over £10,000. The pipe run is now 60% complete and should be finished early next year with base ballast laying to follow. 


The Wood Lane end of the cutting is already complete and ready for ballast to be laid.





At Bond Lane the pipe run can be seen on the left side of the cutting. It is hoped to build the Mountsorrel halt platform on the right side of the cutting in the foreground of this view. 





Merry Christmas! 

Project volunteers would like to thank you for your support over this past year and to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy new year!