There were three of us working at Hotchley Hill today, and a fourth manning the donkey-saw at Ruddington, making stakes out of old point rods. These will be driven into the ground to stop the low retaining walls (built last week) falling inwards.
Continuing last week's efforts, we carried on digging away the decades of ballast, soil and industrial debris that have accumulated around the building. This revealed a few interesting things, including a yellow plastic coal sack (date unknown - any insight?), an extremely rusty gravity lock (for electrical interlocking of levers) and a drainage pipe. The pipe runs out of the base of the building's south wall for a few yards before opening into the cess. It can be seen in the opening-day photos, though it isn't quite obvious what it serves to drain.
We also removed the fuseboard and the shell of the chemical W/C, as well as a low wooden bridge that crossed the points rodding in the locking room. This makes it far more comfortable (and safer!) to walk around the floor - and clears the way for signalling equipment that will eventually occupy that side of the room.
Tucked away under said bridge, we found a single page of documentation from the building's life as a shunters' cabin. Dated the 30th of November, 1976, it records an empty working (9T05) of fifteen wagons from Leicester to British Gypsum at Hotchley Hill. The form is numbered BR20212/1, and has nothing written on the other side.
As always, I would be delighted to hear from anyone with a spare pair of hands on a Saturday. In particular, we're looking for someone experienced in woodworking.
