Wednesday 20 December 2017

Merry Christmas

Well, we are having one, we hope you have one too.

Today saw the gang celebrate the year's work with a Christmas dinner at a secret location that those who helped to build Hayles Abbey Halt rather grew to like: Hayles Fruit Farm. See, they even spell Hayles the same way as the GWR did. We like it there.

The merry gang can be seen here eagerly awaiting the first course. In the foreground is a raffle we held, with the proceeds going to the Sally Army. The zimmer frame visible is no pointer to our average age (although....) nor to an industrial accident, but an accident in a far more dangerous place - the home ! Poor old John had an awkward stumble on the bottom three steps of the stairs, and badly broke his ankle. Sadly it in no way hindered the stream of appalling jokes. (long may they continue, really)




















An interesting thing about the fruit farm tea room is the lovely view over the valley in which the ruins of the former abbey lie (those abbots knew where to build OK) and right in front is the bird table, with two unusual visitors today - a nuthatch, and a great spotted woodpecker. Their arrival was most distracting when speaking to your table neighbour.



During the excellent meal - here is a grilled salmon steak on top of buttered mashed potato, garnished with vongole, accompanied by jugs of Hayles pear juice - we were entertained by Robert with a quiz. He puts one together each year, not only to test our knowledge of railways, but also to remind us of some of the hilarious moments we had over the last 12 months.






Robert in full cry

Sample questions that were put to us by him:
- What is Britain's highest railway station?

and

- What underground station is the next one north from Euston?

and

- Which feeble excuse was used by one volunteer not to turn up one day? Was it:
a. I had to wash my hair
b. I had to take the wife shopping, or
c. I wanted to watch the budget speech.



The answer was C ! Would you believe it. We will try very hard next year to make our days more interesting than 'c'.

Bob very skilled on the accordion
A bottle of fizz for boring you with tales of rails and food.



















Bob entertained us with a rousing 'Pack up your troubles in the old kit bag' (What troubles? We are zooming ahead!) and some Christmas carols. The singalong 'Away in a manger' was however completely torpedoed by the arrival of the cheesecake, and the choir of 27 fell silent, except for a general munching in the room. Pearls before swine...

Before we go, here's a track update from Broadway, fresh off the new camera. It's a picture taken only this morning. If you half close your eyes the track is in, isn't it? Just a few more yards to go, and quite a bit of clipping and fettling. We will continue with this on Saturday.
Is that a ballast train there in the background? Hmmmmm.....

11 comments:

  1. A well deserved break from the routine. You have all earned it. Wishing you all the best for the season and a happy new year.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great picture. The weather is looking brighter than it is here.

    All right, try this question (I suppose Robert knows the answer ) :

    Which railway station in England (now closed) was never joined to the railway ? Answer next time. (I daresay there are about ten correct answers. I can only think of one, just at the moment..

    Merry Christmas

    Peter

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My answer to that question would be: Dartmouth. Am I correct? BTW, it's open NOW as part of the Torbay and Dartmouth railway! regards, Paul.

      Delete
    2. Yes, I might have guessed St. Blazey would be first with the right answer. Congratulations, Paul.

      The station, situated on the west bank of the River Dart, was no more than a ticket office and waiting room. Even so, it looked like a railway station, with a taxi rank outside, and even had a stationmaster ! It was possible to buy a through ticket to/from London - Dartmouth, and so it was always classified as a railway station. The railway line stopped on the east bank of the Dart at Kingswear.

      St. Blazey obviously knows more about it than I do. I had supposed the old station had become a tea room, and was no longer directly served by the ferry. I'd no idea the Torbay Railway had teamed up with the Dartmouth boat company. Can I once again buy a railway ticket to Dartmouth ? Fascinating.

      Merry Christmas.

      Peter

      Delete
    3. Can I add Hull Corporation Pier? :)

      Delete
  3. Congratulations on all the work put in to reach Broadway-Job well done.

    so what were the sample question answers?

    my guess would be the Snowdon mountain railway station at the top -no idea about the main line one though

    The tube is Mornington Crescent (Northern line-Charing Cross branch) although I guess Camden Town would be passable as some trains ie those on the City branch of the Northern line don't go through Mornington Crescent station

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I agree, but I thought it was a bit of a trick question, given that the Northern Line has two branches north of Euston.

      As to the highest mainline station, well the railway from Glasgow - Fort William is mainline. The highest station on the line would be on Rannoch Moor. Therefore, I would say Corrour Station. Situated on the Corrour estate, it was built as a private station, but it is listed in the timetables, and trains to Fort William call there, as does "The Caledonian", the overnight sleeper from London. Am I right ?

      Merry Christmas

      Peter

      Delete
    2. Thank you for the response

      I was hoping to get to the opening but being a diesel fan a bit disappointed the entire weekend is steam only at Broadway -I don't dislike steam just prefer diesel and the last one I saw on that line was a class 31 seen near Honeybourne from the Worcs -Oxford line looking South

      Delete
  4. A well deserved Christmas treat for all of you, we know that location well, we have had some great meals in there and the bird tables do catch your eye with the variety of birds alighting there. that last picture is so good, you must get not only a couple of pictures of the first loco through the station and a video would be amazing! Again well done the team for your amazing efforts this year in going the last mile to Broadway, we are really looking forward to being able to ride the train to Broadway and taking tea in the tea room all thanks to your efforts. May we wish your team a wonderful Christmas and New Year and look forward to meeting you sometime soon, so enjoy your Christmas break and again, thanks for your efforts.
    Regards
    Paul & Marion

    ReplyDelete
  5. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, regards, Paul.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Well done to all concerned, I see you've made it! Merry Christmas.

    ReplyDelete