September 2011 project update

Volunteers have been busy in recent weeks working at several locations along the railway.

At Bond Lane our volunteer bridge team have completed the rebuilding of the end bridge wall. This wall had collapsed and had to be entirely rebuilt using the original stones. Unfortunately some of the stones were stolen meaning that the original capping stones for the top row were lost. Replacements were kindly provided by Mountsorrel quarry.


Work has since moved on to completing the repointing of the south parapet wall. This is almost complete and should be finished this coming Saturday. The restored bridge looks fantastic and our volunteer stonemasons have done a brilliant job.



Focus will then turn to the north side wall, which has a challenging area to repair near to its western end, before the rest of the wall is repointed. On October 8th a team of volunteer students will be visiting from Loughborough University to help with this work.



Community volunteers have also started the long job of laying some of the hedgerows alongside the railway. This is a very skilled task and we are fortunate to have a professional tree surgeon volunteering his time to help lead the work. 50 years of neglect have left the hedgerows weak and in poor condition in places. Laying the hedges will help them to recover and fill out again.






Our Tuesday group have been in action lifting and packing the newly laid track. This is in order to bring it up to operational standard so that it is available for the GCR to run historical recreations at upcoming galas.


At Wood Lane a soft area in the trackbed has been dug out and new material added to firm up the foundation. New drainage is also being added at this location. We hope to be able to ballast through the Wood Lane bridge before winter sets in.



We have volunteer sessions each Tuesday from 10am until 2pm and on Saturdays from 9am until 2pm. If you would like to volunteer, even if only every now and again, you can be sure of a warm welcome. We have families as well as individuals who give their time to help out. If you would like to learn some new skills, make some new friends and do something good to help our community, please get in touch with project leader Steve Cramp: steve@mountsorrelrailway.org.uk