This Saturday, a couple of us went down to HH. We pottered about weeding, sweeping, and did a spot of digging, before the weather got too hot. We found the usual assortment of rusty iron and discarded pottery.
Far more noteworthy is that the badly-deteriorated surface of the roof has been completely replaced by contractors during the week. Not only was the old finish not waterproof, but we had repeatedly found large pieces of felt and tar that had been blown onto the line. No more!
As well as replacing the felt and underlying membranes, the contractors have cast a new hopper for the integral concrete gutter at the back of the main roof, re-skirted the open viewing area on the north side of the box, and installed new downpipes on the back wall of the building, draining into our soon-to-be-completed ditch.
The head-scratching, phone-calls and friendly politics that have been going-on behind the scenes for the last few months would make dull reading, but suffice to say that enormous thanks are due to everyone at the LNER(GC) Heritage Trust, and their hundreds of supporters. Without you, it simply would not have been possible.
We're not quite done yet!
Keeping all but driven rain out of the building is a big step forward, and opens up the possibilities for work we can do as volunteers, but there's still a long way to go until the signalbox is really safe, stable and secure. We're keen to push ahead with the windows and doors, which will require the purchase of materials, volunteer labour or no. Moreover, much of the exterior concrete needs professional attention before the spalling gets any worse - though thankfully the structure is still sound. Our contacts at the gypsum works opposite report recent and persistent visits from trespassers, so improving security is also a priority.
This is, of course the part where we ask for your continued, generous support of the project. If you can help out on a weekend, make a donation, or even just promote the project to anyone you think might be interested, it really does make a difference.
As always, the LNER(GC)HT's website can be found here: http://www.lnergcheritagetrust.co.uk/support-us with overviews of this, and other work on the GCR(N).
