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!
Showing posts with label ecology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ecology. Show all posts
Thursday, 8 March 2012
Tuesday, 20 September 2011
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
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
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, 6 July 2010
Next junior ecology session this Sunday July 11th at 2pm
Lesley Humphries will be running the next of her junior ecology sessions along the Mountsorrel Railway trackbed this coming Sunday at 2pm. The theme of the session is how insects, birds and animals use camouflage to protect themselves from predators.
The sessions are open to children of all ages and their parents. The project makes no charge for attending these sessions.
If you would like to bring your children along, please contact Lesley for details. We need to know numbers attending so that we have enough materials for everyone.
Sadly Lesley is leaving us shortly to study for a teacher training degree. We would like to thank Lesley for all her hard work over the last ten months. Unless we can find a new volunteer to take over the ecology sessions we will be unable to continue running them and this session will be the last. If you are interested in volunteering to take over Lesley's role then please get in touch with Steve Cramp. The sessions can only continue with your help!
The sessions are open to children of all ages and their parents. The project makes no charge for attending these sessions.
If you would like to bring your children along, please contact Lesley for details. We need to know numbers attending so that we have enough materials for everyone.
Sadly Lesley is leaving us shortly to study for a teacher training degree. We would like to thank Lesley for all her hard work over the last ten months. Unless we can find a new volunteer to take over the ecology sessions we will be unable to continue running them and this session will be the last. If you are interested in volunteering to take over Lesley's role then please get in touch with Steve Cramp. The sessions can only continue with your help!
Thursday, 4 February 2010
Latest junior ecology session planned for Saturday February 13th
We're pleased to announce that Lesley Humphries' popular junior ecology sessions will be returning on Saturday February 13th. This time Lesley will be helping the children to construct bird feeders, which will be placed along the trackbed to help our feathered friends through the rigours of winter!
The session will run from 2:00pm until around 3:45pm and is aimed at children of all ages, although children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. The project makes no charge for attending these sessions.
The meeting point is on the grassy area on the corner of the Halstead Road/Swithland Lane/Wood Lane Road junction (at the tree symbol on the map below). If you would like further information please contact Lesley.
View Route of Mountsorrel Railway in a larger map
Note: this session was originally planned for Saturday 6th February but has been moved to 13th February.
The session will run from 2:00pm until around 3:45pm and is aimed at children of all ages, although children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. The project makes no charge for attending these sessions.
The meeting point is on the grassy area on the corner of the Halstead Road/Swithland Lane/Wood Lane Road junction (at the tree symbol on the map below). If you would like further information please contact Lesley.
View Route of Mountsorrel Railway in a larger map
Note: this session was originally planned for Saturday 6th February but has been moved to 13th February.
Tuesday, 23 June 2009
Brian Simpson MEP visits Mountsorrel Railway
Last Saturday we received a visit from European Member of Parliament Brian Simpson.
He had heard about the the project and wanted to see for himself the work we are doing with local children, and the community spirit that the project is creating. Project leader Steve Cramp showed him around, together with Great Central Railway (GCR) Director Nigel Harris and Chair David Morgan.
Mr Simpson spent quite sometime on the trackbed talking to members of the Junior Ecology Group and other volunteers. He was very impressed with the progress being made and that it was great to see the community working together.
We are very grateful to Mr Simpson for endorsing the project in this way and we will be sure to keep him fully informed of our continued progress.
Ballast laying gets underway!
We are please to announce that ballast laying has finally started! Ballast is the small stones that support the sleepers and track. This is the final stage in the process before track laying commences. We hope that the head of ballast will reach the GCR junction at Swithland Sidings in a few weeks time. We are extremely grateful to Lafarge Aggregates for donating the ballast to allow this to take place.
Lafarge have commented that they are pleased to be able to support what has turned out to be an inspirational project that has reached out to all age groups of the community.
Junction signal ready to be installed
The GCR's Signal and Telegraph volunteers have been working to restored a signal for use on the Mountsorrel Railway. Once installed the signal will control the flow of trains off the branch line and onto the GCR mainline.
As you can see, we are making very speedy progress with the reconstruction of the Mountsorrel Railway. To show your support, please consider making a donation to the project.
He had heard about the the project and wanted to see for himself the work we are doing with local children, and the community spirit that the project is creating. Project leader Steve Cramp showed him around, together with Great Central Railway (GCR) Director Nigel Harris and Chair David Morgan.
Mr Simpson spent quite sometime on the trackbed talking to members of the Junior Ecology Group and other volunteers. He was very impressed with the progress being made and that it was great to see the community working together.
We are very grateful to Mr Simpson for endorsing the project in this way and we will be sure to keep him fully informed of our continued progress.
Ballast laying gets underway!
We are please to announce that ballast laying has finally started! Ballast is the small stones that support the sleepers and track. This is the final stage in the process before track laying commences. We hope that the head of ballast will reach the GCR junction at Swithland Sidings in a few weeks time. We are extremely grateful to Lafarge Aggregates for donating the ballast to allow this to take place.
Lafarge have commented that they are pleased to be able to support what has turned out to be an inspirational project that has reached out to all age groups of the community.
Junction signal ready to be installed
The GCR's Signal and Telegraph volunteers have been working to restored a signal for use on the Mountsorrel Railway. Once installed the signal will control the flow of trains off the branch line and onto the GCR mainline.
As you can see, we are making very speedy progress with the reconstruction of the Mountsorrel Railway. To show your support, please consider making a donation to the project.
Friday, 19 June 2009
Phase two Wood Lane bridge wall repairs completed
The restoration of the bridge wall at Wood Lane by our project volunteers has now been completed. The final cornerstone, weighing in at around 250kg, was too heavy to lift into place by hand. We are pleased to say that Stonehurst Family Farm came to our assistance and offered to lift the final stone as a donation to the project. We are very proud of the completed restoration. All of the marked up stones fitted perfectly into their original positions ensuring that the wall retains it's original appearance.
Whilst we had lifting machinery on site the opportunity was taken to remove one of the large hand carved capping stones which had become slightly dislodged from its original position by ivy growing underneath it. The ivy was removed and the stone replaced all within a couple of minutes.
The restoration of the bridge would not have been possible without the donation of tools, materials and a new foundation concrete pour by Lafarge Aggregates. We are very grateful to Lafarge and Stonehurst Family Farm for their assistance in restoring the bridge.
Attention is now turning to phase three of the bridge restoration work which involves the removal of a small elder tree which was growing out of the top of the stonework. Again the stones have been numbered to ensure that they all go back in their original positions. We hope to complete the restoration of this part of the bridge over the next three weeks.
School and group visits continue!
We are now over half way through our program of school and group visits. Last Saturday we hosted a visit from pupils of Christ Church and St Peter's Primary school in Mountsorrel. Children, parents and teachers came along to take part in our ecology project to plant native wild flowers along the sides of the railway. The purpose of this is to encourage the wildlife of the trackbed to diversify and expand forming an haven for insects, small animals and birds.
The children also had a go at our history and ecology hunt that encourages them to look around them to discover the historical and ecological areas of interest along the railway.
The visit went very well indeed, so well in fact that a second visit has hastily been organised for later this month to allow more children from Christ Church and St. Peter's to expeience and learn from the Mountsorrel Railway!
We have so far received visits from St. Bartholomew's Primary School in Quorn, both the Monday and Tuesday Quorn Scout groups, Mountsorrel Boys Brigade, and Quorn Guides. Over the coming weeks, as well as a second visit from Mountsorrel primary school, we will also be hosting visits from Mountsorrel Guides, Mountsorrel Scouts and Woodhouse Eaves Scouts.
Humphrey Perkins High School at Barrow Upon Soar are also planning a series of visits in conjunction with Leicester University Archaeology department to allow pupils to undertake a detailed industrial archaeological study of key areas of historical interest along the trackbed.
The Mountsorrel Railway project is making no charge to the schools, groups or universities taking part.
Mountsorrel Charities Fayre
Despite the rain on the Saturday morning of June 6, we still had many visitors to our stand at the Mountsorrel Charities Fayre. Thank you for coming to see us and for your overwhelming support for the project! We gained several new volunteers throughout the morning and thanks to those of you that help us with information for the wagon restoration.
Mountsorrel wagon restoration continues
The restoration of the first of three historical wagons into the livery of the Mountsorrel Granite Company is progressing well. Work on the frames is now complete and volunteers are restoring the timber work of the wagon. We hope to have her ready for the signwriter to apply the final livery within a matter of weeks!
As ever, raising funds is an essential part of the project. Without money we simply won't be able to buy track or other related materials:
PS the first ballast has just been laid on the trackbed! And a local MEP is visiting today to see the work which he has heard so many positive things about! More about these two key developments in a future update.
Whilst we had lifting machinery on site the opportunity was taken to remove one of the large hand carved capping stones which had become slightly dislodged from its original position by ivy growing underneath it. The ivy was removed and the stone replaced all within a couple of minutes.
The restoration of the bridge would not have been possible without the donation of tools, materials and a new foundation concrete pour by Lafarge Aggregates. We are very grateful to Lafarge and Stonehurst Family Farm for their assistance in restoring the bridge.
Attention is now turning to phase three of the bridge restoration work which involves the removal of a small elder tree which was growing out of the top of the stonework. Again the stones have been numbered to ensure that they all go back in their original positions. We hope to complete the restoration of this part of the bridge over the next three weeks.
School and group visits continue!
We are now over half way through our program of school and group visits. Last Saturday we hosted a visit from pupils of Christ Church and St Peter's Primary school in Mountsorrel. Children, parents and teachers came along to take part in our ecology project to plant native wild flowers along the sides of the railway. The purpose of this is to encourage the wildlife of the trackbed to diversify and expand forming an haven for insects, small animals and birds.
The children also had a go at our history and ecology hunt that encourages them to look around them to discover the historical and ecological areas of interest along the railway.
The visit went very well indeed, so well in fact that a second visit has hastily been organised for later this month to allow more children from Christ Church and St. Peter's to expeience and learn from the Mountsorrel Railway!
We have so far received visits from St. Bartholomew's Primary School in Quorn, both the Monday and Tuesday Quorn Scout groups, Mountsorrel Boys Brigade, and Quorn Guides. Over the coming weeks, as well as a second visit from Mountsorrel primary school, we will also be hosting visits from Mountsorrel Guides, Mountsorrel Scouts and Woodhouse Eaves Scouts.
Humphrey Perkins High School at Barrow Upon Soar are also planning a series of visits in conjunction with Leicester University Archaeology department to allow pupils to undertake a detailed industrial archaeological study of key areas of historical interest along the trackbed.
The Mountsorrel Railway project is making no charge to the schools, groups or universities taking part.
Mountsorrel Charities Fayre
Despite the rain on the Saturday morning of June 6, we still had many visitors to our stand at the Mountsorrel Charities Fayre. Thank you for coming to see us and for your overwhelming support for the project! We gained several new volunteers throughout the morning and thanks to those of you that help us with information for the wagon restoration.
Mountsorrel wagon restoration continues
The restoration of the first of three historical wagons into the livery of the Mountsorrel Granite Company is progressing well. Work on the frames is now complete and volunteers are restoring the timber work of the wagon. We hope to have her ready for the signwriter to apply the final livery within a matter of weeks!
As ever, raising funds is an essential part of the project. Without money we simply won't be able to buy track or other related materials:
- to make a donation please click here to download a standing order form; or send a cheque, made out to "RVP Ltd" with "Mountsorrel Railway" written on the back, to 112 Balmoral Road, Mountsorrel, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE12 7EW, or e-mail George Overton
- to volunteer please e-mail Steve Cramp, project coordinator
PS the first ballast has just been laid on the trackbed! And a local MEP is visiting today to see the work which he has heard so many positive things about! More about these two key developments in a future update.
Friday, 15 May 2009
Project moves into its busiest period yet
The already relentless pace of the Mountsorrel Railway project is moving up into an even higher gear over the next few weeks. Last Tuesday we hosted a visit from the entire year five of St. Bartholomew's Primary School in Quorn. 57 children came with their teachers and volunteer parent helpers to experience and learn from the Mountsorrel Railway.
The children undertook activities involving metal detecting, archaeological investigation, wild flower planting and recording the history of the railway through sketching and report writing. The visit was a massive success with several children commenting that it was the best school trip they had ever been on! This is testament to the hard work put in by the school and our volunteers to plan the visit to ensure that the children got as much out of it as possible.
In all the children discovered two wheelbarrows full of metal artefacts from the railway which they have taken back to school for further study.
This was the first of 11 visits we have planned with local schools and community groups over the summer term. In all just over 300 children will be able to experience and learn from the railway over the next few weeks. They will also be taking part in our ecology project to restore the sides of the formation to how they would have appeared during the original operating life of the railway. Each group or school has been allocated a section of trackbed to plant up wild flowers, which they have been growing in the classroom and at home. It's a great way to allow our younger generation to get involved with ecology and experience it in a natural surrounding.
Hot on the heals of this was a visit from the 2nd Quorn Scout Group on May 12th. The Scouts planted wild flowers in their adopted section of the trackbed and also had a go at an "ecology hunt" we have devised to encourage the children to look around them and discover the wildlife of the trackbed.
Last weekend we ran a very successful series of trackbed tours for visitors to the Great Central Railway'ss 40th anniversary gala. With most of our work away from publicly accessible locations, this was one of the first chances for people to see all the hard work that our volunteers are putting into the project. We hope to be able to repeat something similar in the future.
As well as the tours last weekend we also had multiple volunteer work parties beavering away on various aspects of the project. Work on restoring the bridge wall at Wood Lane is continuing steadily. This is quite a complex job to ensure that the predominate stones all fit back into their original places. Thanks to the volunteer help of a local builder with stonemasonry skills, the bridge is looking absolutely fantastic. Another few weeks should see it returned to its former glory! The bridge restoration would not be possible without the very kind donation of materials by Lafarge Aggregates and the donation of a concrete pour for the foundations by Lafarge Ready-mix.
Work was also progressing at Rothley carriage and wagon works to restore the first of three wagons into the livery of the Mountsorrel Granite Company. Restoration of the frames is continuing well and we will soon be working on the timbers. East Midlands Airport
has kindly agreed to fund the sign writing costs for all three wagons. This is fantastic news, allowing us to employ a professional sign writer to ensure the livery is to a very high standard. We are very grateful to the airport for this donation.
Our ecology group was also at work clearing nettles ahead of the wild flower planting.
The project really is a hive of activity at the moment! The pace will not be letting up over the coming weeks with work on the bridge continuing, wagon restoration and our ongoing visits from schools and groups.
There couldn't be a better time to get involved with this vibrant and very active project. If you would like to volunteer please get in touch with Steve Cramp. If you'd like to donate, please download our standing order form or contact George Overton.
The children undertook activities involving metal detecting, archaeological investigation, wild flower planting and recording the history of the railway through sketching and report writing. The visit was a massive success with several children commenting that it was the best school trip they had ever been on! This is testament to the hard work put in by the school and our volunteers to plan the visit to ensure that the children got as much out of it as possible.
In all the children discovered two wheelbarrows full of metal artefacts from the railway which they have taken back to school for further study.
This was the first of 11 visits we have planned with local schools and community groups over the summer term. In all just over 300 children will be able to experience and learn from the railway over the next few weeks. They will also be taking part in our ecology project to restore the sides of the formation to how they would have appeared during the original operating life of the railway. Each group or school has been allocated a section of trackbed to plant up wild flowers, which they have been growing in the classroom and at home. It's a great way to allow our younger generation to get involved with ecology and experience it in a natural surrounding.
Hot on the heals of this was a visit from the 2nd Quorn Scout Group on May 12th. The Scouts planted wild flowers in their adopted section of the trackbed and also had a go at an "ecology hunt" we have devised to encourage the children to look around them and discover the wildlife of the trackbed.
Last weekend we ran a very successful series of trackbed tours for visitors to the Great Central Railway'ss 40th anniversary gala. With most of our work away from publicly accessible locations, this was one of the first chances for people to see all the hard work that our volunteers are putting into the project. We hope to be able to repeat something similar in the future.
As well as the tours last weekend we also had multiple volunteer work parties beavering away on various aspects of the project. Work on restoring the bridge wall at Wood Lane is continuing steadily. This is quite a complex job to ensure that the predominate stones all fit back into their original places. Thanks to the volunteer help of a local builder with stonemasonry skills, the bridge is looking absolutely fantastic. Another few weeks should see it returned to its former glory! The bridge restoration would not be possible without the very kind donation of materials by Lafarge Aggregates and the donation of a concrete pour for the foundations by Lafarge Ready-mix.
Work was also progressing at Rothley carriage and wagon works to restore the first of three wagons into the livery of the Mountsorrel Granite Company. Restoration of the frames is continuing well and we will soon be working on the timbers. East Midlands Airport
has kindly agreed to fund the sign writing costs for all three wagons. This is fantastic news, allowing us to employ a professional sign writer to ensure the livery is to a very high standard. We are very grateful to the airport for this donation.Our ecology group was also at work clearing nettles ahead of the wild flower planting.
The project really is a hive of activity at the moment! The pace will not be letting up over the coming weeks with work on the bridge continuing, wagon restoration and our ongoing visits from schools and groups.
There couldn't be a better time to get involved with this vibrant and very active project. If you would like to volunteer please get in touch with Steve Cramp. If you'd like to donate, please download our standing order form or contact George Overton.
Monday, 11 May 2009
Mountsorrel Railway featured on Radio Leicester
This morning BBC Radio Leicester broadcast an interview with project coordinator Steve Cramp, which was recorded last week. Subsequently the BBC website featured a news article here about the Mountsorrel Railway, along with a recording of the interview. A transcript of the interview is below; we're very grateful to the BBC, and to DJ Ben Jackson, for their interest in the project.
It's been a busy and exciting week for the Mountsorrel Railway: work to repair the Wood Lane bridge and the wagons continues, schools and community groups have been visiting, and we ran guided tours for over 120 visitors (from as far away as Paignton in Devon!) from the Great Central Railway gala at the weekend. Of course work also carries on to prepare the trackbed for ballast and rail.
Transcript follows:
BBC Radio Leicester, Ben Jackson breakfast show, 11 May 2009 transcription of interview with Steve Cramp re Mountsorrel Railway:
Ben: “I went to find out what was happening about the long forgotten Mountsorrel Railway. Well it turned out that work was underway to restore it and eventually run trains along it. That work's continued at lightning pace. But even more importantly, perhaps, it's turned out to be an amazing community project concentrating on ecology just as much as industrial archaeology. Steve Cramp is the project manager. I went out to see him last week.”
Steve: “We're walking on the trackbed of the old Mountsorrel Railway, and we've moved the leaf mulch and mud off the top now. It's revealed the original Mountsorrel ballast that lay underneath and that's what you can hear that we're walking on now. It's hundred year old ballast that's just crying out for a new railway. This area where we are at the moment, Ben, the trees and the bushes at the side had almost formed an archway above the railway which had just, basically, left a tunnel. And what'd happened underneath was very little wildlife, as far as grasses and wild flowers, could actually come through. Whereas originally, during the original life of the railway, you would've had grasses and wild flowers along the cutting sides. It would've looked beautiful and of course they all encourage insects and butterflies to come back, of which we've just seen one.”
Ben: “It's beautiful. Just for people who don't know, this is the old railway. It was never a passenger railway, it was an industrial railway that ran from Great Central Railway, which is behind us, through into Mountsorrel to serve the quarry. That was all it was here for, and for decades it would've been all but forgotten except by a handful of local historians.”
Steve: “Yes that's right. It fell out of use in the mid 1950s, and was lifted around the end of the 50s. And from then it was just left and abandoned and it disappeared from view, from the roadside and the surrounding area. It just looked like a hedgerow. But inside there was the railway waiting to be reborn.”
Ben: “The thing is, since I last came down, which is a few months ago now, the whole project's grown. And it started off as you wanting to get this railway back up and running, in some form, and actually it's become an ecology project that happens to have a railway in it. And even more than that it happens to be a youth ecology project, because you've got all all these local schools. My son's local school has been down here on a school trip, digging up metal with metal detectors and all that kind of thing and, as you say, planting wild flowers. What is it that's made this such a community project?”
Steve: “I think really it's perhaps people can see that we're bringing something good to the area, something that people can get behind, and we can create that community spirit that seems to be lacking from society in so many areas now. We're not just a little shutaway group doing something with a specific interest. We have children in the junior ecology group as young as four, and they go up to 13, and then beyond that we have young people, and middle aged people, and older people. All sorts of people helping us with the railway rebuilding. I think our oldest volunteer's 77 and as I just said our youngest is four. So it's something for everybody. And we have men, and ladies as well; we have entire families that are involved with the project. The vast majority of our volunteers are from the local villages: Mountsorrel, Rothley and Quorn, although we have some that come every week from Birmingham. The project really does seem to reach out. But it differs from a typical heritage railway restoration project in that we do have so many local people involved. It really is a community project.”
Ben: “On a day like today it's actually achingly beautiful down here. We're surrounded still by the last of the bluebells and all sorts of other local small plants. I'm being divebombed by butterflies and flies of all various descriptions. This is just beautiful.”
Steve: “Yes there's buzzards down here, and kestrels, and owls, and we developed a program of putting birdboxes up. In fact just behind us here you can see there's a blue tit box on the tree, which is now inhabited. The boxes have only been up a couple of months and already a large number of them are inhabited by birds. The boxes have been well built, they've even got slate roofs! There's a pride and a passion in what the volunteers are doing.”
Ben: “I have to say I've done a lot of those sort of projects in the past but I think that's one of the most fantastic. It's really inspirational there. I think it's because the community have got so heavily involved. If you want to find out some more information, if you go into a search engine on the internet and just put in “Mountsorrel Railway” you'll find a great website there. Really well worth having a look at, and maybe you'll want to give them a hand.”
It's been a busy and exciting week for the Mountsorrel Railway: work to repair the Wood Lane bridge and the wagons continues, schools and community groups have been visiting, and we ran guided tours for over 120 visitors (from as far away as Paignton in Devon!) from the Great Central Railway gala at the weekend. Of course work also carries on to prepare the trackbed for ballast and rail.
Transcript follows:
BBC Radio Leicester, Ben Jackson breakfast show, 11 May 2009 transcription of interview with Steve Cramp re Mountsorrel Railway:
Ben: “I went to find out what was happening about the long forgotten Mountsorrel Railway. Well it turned out that work was underway to restore it and eventually run trains along it. That work's continued at lightning pace. But even more importantly, perhaps, it's turned out to be an amazing community project concentrating on ecology just as much as industrial archaeology. Steve Cramp is the project manager. I went out to see him last week.”
Steve: “We're walking on the trackbed of the old Mountsorrel Railway, and we've moved the leaf mulch and mud off the top now. It's revealed the original Mountsorrel ballast that lay underneath and that's what you can hear that we're walking on now. It's hundred year old ballast that's just crying out for a new railway. This area where we are at the moment, Ben, the trees and the bushes at the side had almost formed an archway above the railway which had just, basically, left a tunnel. And what'd happened underneath was very little wildlife, as far as grasses and wild flowers, could actually come through. Whereas originally, during the original life of the railway, you would've had grasses and wild flowers along the cutting sides. It would've looked beautiful and of course they all encourage insects and butterflies to come back, of which we've just seen one.”
Ben: “It's beautiful. Just for people who don't know, this is the old railway. It was never a passenger railway, it was an industrial railway that ran from Great Central Railway, which is behind us, through into Mountsorrel to serve the quarry. That was all it was here for, and for decades it would've been all but forgotten except by a handful of local historians.”
Steve: “Yes that's right. It fell out of use in the mid 1950s, and was lifted around the end of the 50s. And from then it was just left and abandoned and it disappeared from view, from the roadside and the surrounding area. It just looked like a hedgerow. But inside there was the railway waiting to be reborn.”
Ben: “The thing is, since I last came down, which is a few months ago now, the whole project's grown. And it started off as you wanting to get this railway back up and running, in some form, and actually it's become an ecology project that happens to have a railway in it. And even more than that it happens to be a youth ecology project, because you've got all all these local schools. My son's local school has been down here on a school trip, digging up metal with metal detectors and all that kind of thing and, as you say, planting wild flowers. What is it that's made this such a community project?”
Steve: “I think really it's perhaps people can see that we're bringing something good to the area, something that people can get behind, and we can create that community spirit that seems to be lacking from society in so many areas now. We're not just a little shutaway group doing something with a specific interest. We have children in the junior ecology group as young as four, and they go up to 13, and then beyond that we have young people, and middle aged people, and older people. All sorts of people helping us with the railway rebuilding. I think our oldest volunteer's 77 and as I just said our youngest is four. So it's something for everybody. And we have men, and ladies as well; we have entire families that are involved with the project. The vast majority of our volunteers are from the local villages: Mountsorrel, Rothley and Quorn, although we have some that come every week from Birmingham. The project really does seem to reach out. But it differs from a typical heritage railway restoration project in that we do have so many local people involved. It really is a community project.”
Ben: “On a day like today it's actually achingly beautiful down here. We're surrounded still by the last of the bluebells and all sorts of other local small plants. I'm being divebombed by butterflies and flies of all various descriptions. This is just beautiful.”
Steve: “Yes there's buzzards down here, and kestrels, and owls, and we developed a program of putting birdboxes up. In fact just behind us here you can see there's a blue tit box on the tree, which is now inhabited. The boxes have only been up a couple of months and already a large number of them are inhabited by birds. The boxes have been well built, they've even got slate roofs! There's a pride and a passion in what the volunteers are doing.”
Ben: “I have to say I've done a lot of those sort of projects in the past but I think that's one of the most fantastic. It's really inspirational there. I think it's because the community have got so heavily involved. If you want to find out some more information, if you go into a search engine on the internet and just put in “Mountsorrel Railway” you'll find a great website there. Really well worth having a look at, and maybe you'll want to give them a hand.”
Thursday, 23 April 2009
Junior Ecology Group launches
The Mountsorrel Railway project has begun a new group for those aged under 14 who would like to be involved in the project.
The Junior Ecology Group will take on tasks to help develop and encourage the ecology of the trackbed and will work alongside our existing Ecology Group. Current tasks involve the planting of wild flowers along the sides of the formation and studies/investigations into the vast diversity of wildlife that exists along the railway corridor.
This is an ideal opportunity for children to learn about wildlife up close and in a natural environment. If you or your children would like to get involved with either the Junior or Senior Ecology Group, please send an email to amanda@mountsorrelrailway.org.uk.
Children under the age of 14 must be accompanied on site by a parent/guardian at all times.
Wednesday, 18 March 2009
Schools and community groups get involved
We're pleased to report that several local schools and community groups, including the Guides and Scouts, are now involved with our schools project!
They'll be working with us during the summer term to undertake a large scale planting of wild flowers along the sides of the trackbed. This should encourage the ecology of the trackbed after the lack of light, resulting from the tree canopy, which had stifled plant growth for many years. Our local young people will also have the opportunity to study the history of the railway first hand with metal detecting and archaeological investigations.
We would like to express our thanks to Brooklea Nurseries Ltd of Rothley, and Loughborough Road Nurseries and Garden Centre of Quorn, for their kind donation of seed trays for use with the schools project. It's great to see more local businesses supporting the project. If your firm would like to support the Mountsorrel Railway, please contact George Overton.
If you're involved with a local community group, or a school that is not yet taking part, please email Steve Cramp for more details. The project doesn't make any charge for undertaking these visits; we merely seek to open up the ecological and historical educational possibilities of the project to as many people as possible.
They'll be working with us during the summer term to undertake a large scale planting of wild flowers along the sides of the trackbed. This should encourage the ecology of the trackbed after the lack of light, resulting from the tree canopy, which had stifled plant growth for many years. Our local young people will also have the opportunity to study the history of the railway first hand with metal detecting and archaeological investigations.
We would like to express our thanks to Brooklea Nurseries Ltd of Rothley, and Loughborough Road Nurseries and Garden Centre of Quorn, for their kind donation of seed trays for use with the schools project. It's great to see more local businesses supporting the project. If your firm would like to support the Mountsorrel Railway, please contact George Overton.
If you're involved with a local community group, or a school that is not yet taking part, please email Steve Cramp for more details. The project doesn't make any charge for undertaking these visits; we merely seek to open up the ecological and historical educational possibilities of the project to as many people as possible.
Friday, 13 February 2009
Mountsorrel Railway takes a giant leap forward!
Over the last week local digger contractor, Steve Barsby, has been hard at work scrapping mud from the surface of the trackbed. The original trackbed base was buried under an average of three inches of mud and leaf mulch that had built up on the surface since the railway fell out of use. Contractors have removed all of the mud to reveal the original trackbed for the first time in almost 50 years. We now have a length of over 1,100m, which is two thirds of the total trackbed, poised to receive ballast!
(more recent photos available at our Flickr site)
This work was only possible thanks to the very kind donations of our many supporters. The on going progress of the project depends entirely on your financial support, so please send a donation (on a cheque made out to RVP Ltd, with Mountsorrel Railway written on the back) to 112 Balmoral Road, Mountsorrel, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE12 7EW, or contact george@mountsorrelrailway.org.uk.
The next task is to stabilise several soft areas of the trackbed. J. McCann (Nottingham) Ltd have very kindly agreed to undertake this work for us at NO cost to the project! We hope to complete this work in March. We will then start work on laying the ballast that Lafarge Aggregates have very kindly donated to the project.
These are very exciting times for the project, so why not become involved yourself? As well as the continuing process of rebuilding the railway, we are also about to embark on a series of site visits with several local schools. This will allow the children to experience the history of the railway first hand. Our Ecology Group is also under way, developing ideas and initiatives to encourage and study the wildlife along side the railway. There are many areas and we have something to interest everyone. To enquire about volunteering with any area of the project please contact Steve Cramp at steve@mountsorrelrailway.org.uk.
(more recent photos available at our Flickr site)
This work was only possible thanks to the very kind donations of our many supporters. The on going progress of the project depends entirely on your financial support, so please send a donation (on a cheque made out to RVP Ltd, with Mountsorrel Railway written on the back) to 112 Balmoral Road, Mountsorrel, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE12 7EW, or contact george@mountsorrelrailway.org.uk.
The next task is to stabilise several soft areas of the trackbed. J. McCann (Nottingham) Ltd have very kindly agreed to undertake this work for us at NO cost to the project! We hope to complete this work in March. We will then start work on laying the ballast that Lafarge Aggregates have very kindly donated to the project.
These are very exciting times for the project, so why not become involved yourself? As well as the continuing process of rebuilding the railway, we are also about to embark on a series of site visits with several local schools. This will allow the children to experience the history of the railway first hand. Our Ecology Group is also under way, developing ideas and initiatives to encourage and study the wildlife along side the railway. There are many areas and we have something to interest everyone. To enquire about volunteering with any area of the project please contact Steve Cramp at steve@mountsorrelrailway.org.uk.
Wednesday, 28 January 2009
Latest newsletter online
After taking a short break for Christmas, the Mountsorrel Railway project is back for 2009. Click the link below to see the latest newsletter, which covers recent developments, the schools project, and the ecology group that's recently been setup:
The newsletter will also be available at the GCR's Winter Steam Gala this coming weekend, when Mountsorrel Railway volunteers will be on trains and at Rothley station to tell visitors more about the project. We hope to see you there!
The newsletter will also be available at the GCR's Winter Steam Gala this coming weekend, when Mountsorrel Railway volunteers will be on trains and at Rothley station to tell visitors more about the project. We hope to see you there!
Friday, 19 December 2008
Trackbed preparation and ecology group begin
Steve Barsby, a local digger contractor, has been on site preparing the trackbed near to the GCR junction in readiness for ballast laying to commence early next year.
The first 150m of the trackbed have been scraped back to reveal the original ballast bed; holes and soft areas have been stabilised where necessary. Contractors will return (for free!) in January to extend this work half way along the trackbed towards Bond Lane. This will form the first phase of ballast laying and will give us a length of almost 1km to lay track over.
A local supporter from Seagrave has also offered to create the wildlife habitats for us. These will be created at various intervals along the side the trackbed and are aimed at increasing the biodiversity of the wildlife along the railway corridor. This is the first of many initiatives devised by our parallel ecology group.
Work has also started on a OO gauge scale model of the Bond Lane halt we hope to build. When finished this static portable model will help us to illustrate how the halt will fit into it's surroundings. This will be a great promotional tool for the project which we can take to galas, events and shows to publicise the project.
If you would like to become involved, or to support the Mountsorrel Railway, please contact the relevant volunteers listed below:
Railway restoration and history - Steve Cramp steve@mountsorrelrailway.org.uk
Ecology group - Amanda Bolton amanda@mountsorrelrailway.org.uk
To donate - George Overton george@mountsorrelrailway.org.uk
We would like to thank you for reading our website and supporting the project. We wish all our supporters a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!
Tuesday, 25 November 2008
Mountsorrel Railway stump removal complete!
Thanks to J. McCann (Nottingham) Ltd, last Saturday stump removal was finally completed over the full length of the trackbed, all the way to the end of the line at Bond Lane!
The stumps that have been removed are mostly being used to create wildlife habitats at the side of the railway. Not only will these provide a home to a varied selection of animals, birds and insects, but the additional wildlife will be another point of interest for passengers riding on the rebuilt railway.
The development of these habitats is the first project for our new ecology volunteer group.
The ecology group will operate separately, but in parallel, to the railway reconstruction work, utilising a different volunteer group mainly made up of local people with either a professional or casual interest in ecology.
The purpose of the ecology group is to both study and encourage the diversity of wildlife that exists along the Mountsorrel Railway corridor. The group's aim is to specifically encourage species of wildlife that would have been native to the railway corridor during the original operating life of the railway. This includes types of wild flowers, birds and animals.
If you would like to become involved with the ecology group please send an email to: amanda@mountsorrelrailway.org.uk.
Last Saturday we had a visit from railway photographer Clive Hanley and railway video cameraman Mike Snow. Clive has kindly made his photos available for viewing at:
http://clive-hanley.fotopic.net/c1615526.html
Mike has also put a video up on YouTube showing work on the Mountsorrel Railway. This can be found at:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=JZudjljynDw
Reconstruction work on the branch line over the coming weeks will focus on surveying, profiling and grading with a view to laying ballast early in the New Year.
If you would like to support the project then please send your donation cheque, payable to "RVP Ltd", with "Mountsorrel Railway" written on the back, to 112 Balmoral Road, Mountsorrel, Loughborough LE12 7EW.
The stumps that have been removed are mostly being used to create wildlife habitats at the side of the railway. Not only will these provide a home to a varied selection of animals, birds and insects, but the additional wildlife will be another point of interest for passengers riding on the rebuilt railway.
The development of these habitats is the first project for our new ecology volunteer group.
The ecology group will operate separately, but in parallel, to the railway reconstruction work, utilising a different volunteer group mainly made up of local people with either a professional or casual interest in ecology.
The purpose of the ecology group is to both study and encourage the diversity of wildlife that exists along the Mountsorrel Railway corridor. The group's aim is to specifically encourage species of wildlife that would have been native to the railway corridor during the original operating life of the railway. This includes types of wild flowers, birds and animals.
If you would like to become involved with the ecology group please send an email to: amanda@mountsorrelrailway.org.uk.
Last Saturday we had a visit from railway photographer Clive Hanley and railway video cameraman Mike Snow. Clive has kindly made his photos available for viewing at:
http://clive-hanley.fotopic.net/c1615526.html
Mike has also put a video up on YouTube showing work on the Mountsorrel Railway. This can be found at:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=JZudjljynDw
Reconstruction work on the branch line over the coming weeks will focus on surveying, profiling and grading with a view to laying ballast early in the New Year.
If you would like to support the project then please send your donation cheque, payable to "RVP Ltd", with "Mountsorrel Railway" written on the back, to 112 Balmoral Road, Mountsorrel, Loughborough LE12 7EW.
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