October update

We had another cracking day on Saturday with over 25 volunteers attending the work party, including three Loughborough University students. Work was done to clear the line of sight to the signal at the Great Central Railway junction, as locos will approach the junction around a curve. As well as the clearance work a survey team of volunteers was also plotting a new curve alignment.

Watercolour prints to go on sale

Below is a low resolution version of a superb watercolour painted for the project by local artist John Cramp.



Appropriately entitled The Way Forward, the painting indicates what we are working towards, and also signifies that the painting's creation might hopefully help us to raise the funds to get there!

The painting shows Peckett 0-4-0 saddle tank engine Elizabeth, bringing her rake of Mountsorrel granite wagons through the Wood Lane bridge on their way to the Great Central Railway.

Elizabeth is the only steam loco to have worked on the Mountsorrel Railway that still survives. Currently under restoration at the Rutland Railway Museum by its owner, a local resident, we hope that Elizabeth will visit the restored branch line to recreate this scene.

We don't currently have a firm price for the prints as we are investigating what costs we will incur in creating them.

However, to give you some idea, we hope to offer the prints in up to three sizes, and priced appropriately so they are affordable by everyone.

Each print will be signed by the artist, and will be numbered as part of a limited edition run of 100 or less.

Each print would come with a mount and in a cellophane sleeve. If buyers want their print sent by post we can do this at an added cost. In addition to this we may also look at providing frames for an additional cost if people want this.

To register your interest for a print please e-mail George Overton.

Media coverage

The project featured on the BBC Radio Leicester breakfast show this morning and our third anniversary was mentioned in several news bulletins.

The four minute interview between DJ Ben Jackson and project coordinator Steve Cramp can be heard by going to the following page of the BBC iPlayer; the interview is just after the 41 minute mark.

Additionally the Loughborough Echo kindly continues to give the project excellent coverage most weeks.

Short survey online until 1st November

We'd like to know your thoughts about a handful of things to do with the Mountsorrel Railway project. It shouldn't take more than a minute for you to fill in this online survey. The survey closes Monday 1st November midnight GMT.

Please remember that at any time we're grateful for your thoughts and opinions about the work. To get in touch please e-mail George Overton.

Your support is much appreciated. Thank you

70 volunteers attend the project's third anniversary work party!

The project's third anniversary was marked by a mammoth work party as we pushed forward with the many restoration tasks ahead of us. Our volunteer team was joined by 48 volunteers from Loughborough University making a record work party attendance of 70 volunteers!

This allowed us to undertake work in FIVE separate areas of the trackbed:



1. The restoration of the Bond Lane bridge was started.



2. A large group worked alongside our volunteers to tackle exploratory work on the trackbed drainage shafts near to Bond Lane.



3. Another group looked at ecology with a view to restarting the junior ecology sessions.





4. A fourth group were at work fencing our boundary near to Wood Lane.





5. The largest group, consisting of both students and our own volunteers, numbered 25 in total and tackled the annual line side clearance work near to the GCR junction.

It was fantastic to see the trackbed so alive with activity! The feedback from the students showed that they all thoroughly enjoyed the friendly atmosphere of the project and they were amazed by the progress made so far by our own volunteer team. Their help really showed just how much more can be achieved with a high number of volunteers. Our student volunteers allowed us to achieve five times as much as we would normally achieve in a single session and we would like to say a big thank you to both the students and Loughborough University for making the visit possible.

Loughborough University actively encourage their students to volunteer with local groups. Last year the university placed over 1,200 students with local community projects. The university sees voluntary work as an important personality and experience builder for their students. Volunteering says a lot about a person. Being willing to give your time freely to help others and the community around you is an important attribute when graduates are looking for work at the end of their degree. In the current limited job market employers are looking out for applicants that have that little extra. We are pleased to have been able to offer the students an interesting and enjoyable opportunity to volunteer.

Our hope now is that we can build a ongoing relationship with Loughborough University which will lead to regular help from their students.

If you would like to volunteer with the Mountsorrel Railway project please get in touch with Steve Cramp.