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Monday, 20 June 2011

A special welcome...


... to arrivals from VegPlotting.

(NSW, Non-Steam Wife) has clearly been generating a lot of traffic to Sentinel 7109. So here's a little posting especially for you!
2011 Greenhouse at Midsomer Norton Station
Sentinel 7109 lives at Midsomer Norton Station, near Radstock, Somerset, UK (BA3 2EY). This particular station was always characterised by its greenhouse which was situated next to the signal box. Station staff used it to cultivate all sorts of produce (which, in those more gentle 1950's days, there was time to do between trains).
1959 (Photo: Eric Rimmer (SDRT Collection)
from Alan Hammond's Heart of the Somerset & Dorset Railway)
The line was closed in 1966 and most of the station including the greenhouse was dismantled. In September 2003, the scene looked as in the picture below.
September 2003 wasteland
In 2005, work began to bring the signal box and greenhouse back to life.
October 2005
June 2006
January 2007 (with Graeme Mayes perched on the roof)
May 2007 (My name is on one of the roof-tiles as are many others
who sponsored the tiles at a pound a time)
June 2008 externally complete but no greenhouse
Magically stepping forward to 2011, the greenhouse is complete to accompany the signal box. Produce is being grown again and sold to raise funds for the project as a whole. So Garden Bloggers and all, do come and visit us at Midsomer Norton Station any Sunday and enjoy all the sights and sounds (and cake) that are on offer.
May 2011 Greenhouse and Signal box complete in all their glory
at

10 comments:

  1. Lu22 June 2011 at 23:02

    nice pix. How amazing that the greenhouse should be restored too when the restorers are really there for the trains!

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  2. AndyKChapman23 June 2011 at 10:43

    An original aim of the project has always been to restore the station to its state in 1955. So a greenhouse was definitely needed (as in the 1959 B&W picture).

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  3. Anonymous28 June 2011 at 17:25

    Great chronology, Andy. You dont see the changes month by month, but your year by year shots remind us what shear hard work and dedication can achieve. As you will, with Joyce. JW

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  4. Carol Michel5 August 2011 at 13:30

    Love it that they restored the greenhouses and they are once more full of produce. Welcome to blogging, too, and I hope you'll remember us garden bloggers and provide more interesting tidbits on gardening that somehow relate to steam engines.

    Highlight of Seattle Fling was meeting NSW aka VP and you both.

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  5. Anonymous5 August 2011 at 14:40

    I've always been a lifelong aviation enthusiast but as a one time mechanical engineer have always appreciated steam locos, and admire those who spend time preserving them.
    My other passion is gardening which is how I've known VP for a few years now.
    I've bookmarked this blog to read through earlier, and future, posts which I'm sure I'll find interesting and informative.
    Happy steaming, Flighty

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  6. Janet/Plantaliscious5 August 2011 at 16:32

    Glad to see that VP (sorry NSW) has corrupted you sufficiently that you now have your own blog ;-) I know nothing about steam engines other than I really like them, and hope to one day live in North Wales and travel on the various ones on offer there just as I did as a child. But I do love to see some of our steam heritage being salvaged, and if it comes with a greenhouse and cake, so much the better! Enjoy your blogging adventures.

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  7. The bike shed5 August 2011 at 17:46

    Welcome to the blogosphere - and another local vocal too. I went to the Teifi Valley Railway yesterday with son no3 who never tires of trains.

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  8. Diana Studer5 August 2011 at 20:26

    1955? As old as I am ;~) What made you chose THAT year? I love using a blog post to document in photos the progress of a project. No more scratching for dates and photos. It is out there, and you can Google it. From (Steam Husband and) another NSW.

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  9. Dobby5 August 2011 at 23:18

    Great job. As NSW knows I live 50 yards from the Ffestiniog railway. It's great to see the restored trains going up and down the line. I often wave. (At the passengers that is). No greenhouse at our local station though. Perhaps I ought to suggest it!

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  10. AndyKChapman7 August 2011 at 14:30

    1955 was chosen because it was the S&D in its most interesting state with a family atmosphere amongst employees and all sorts of steam locos being used to try to conquer the steep gradients. As such, it was very popular with railway enthusiasts of the day. It was also just prior to it being run down and starved to final closure in 1966.

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