26 November 2014
Howard Wilson Reports
Once again our volunteers turned out in considerable numbers on Gigabash 1st & 2nd November. 106 people descended on Minffordd for the weekend and almost 80 of them enjoyed the thee course meal at Tan y Bwlch café on the Saturday evening.
The weather was mixed but did little to stop the “big push” to clear many of the old shipping containers that over the years had accumulated in Minffordd Yard. The main driving force here is the imminent building of the Waggon Tracks Shed which will accommodate the vast number of FR slate and goods wagons. Much work has been completed in the earlier part of the year including a new storage building. The task for almost 30 of the Gigabash crew was to “mob-handedly” shift the remaining contents of the containers into the new shed. The empty containers will then be removed.
The electrical components were transferred from the brown container, the sanitary ware from the orange one, scaffolding and steps from the blue one. The old GPO caravan was cleared of Marketing equipment and the old Terrapin building that had come to the yard over 40 years ago having been used during the construction of the M1 motorway, was cleared of Buildings Department hardware ready for demolition. The old woodworking shop was also left cleared pending plans for a new workshop that may be built to the right of the Infrastructure Offices.
The area of ground adjacent to the old good shed and Nissen hut will then be clear, ready for the Waggon Tracks Shed.
At the station, almost all of the canopy fascia received a coat of brown paint, that is, until the rain started. But we managed to put cream masonry paint on the quoins of Station House and clean and re-black the platform lanterns. On the other side of the tracks the down platform shelter had the window frames and barge boards repainted. We started to paint the metal fence up the back of the platform but then the rain took over…
The gardeners tidied up the long garden, weeding, pruning and making it fresh for the winter months and into next year. The group of young gardeners finished their reworking of the garden adjacent to the hostel warden’s flat; a job that they had started a while ago.
The gardeners tidied up the long garden, weeding, pruning and making it fresh for the winter months and into next year. The group of young gardeners finished their reworking of the garden adjacent to the hostel warden’s flat; a job that they had started a while ago.
The sign-writers continued with their work in the Gweithdy. The Drains gang finished their batch of drains down at Llog Meurig below Lotties and the electricians put bright while lights above notice boards at Harbour and over the entrance to Spooners, and then put some illumination in the new platform lamp standards there too. It all looks really good!