The bad news is that Hotchley Hill was broken into again last week. This time, it seems the intruders used a railchair from the lineside to snap the screws via which our steel gate was locked to the wall. They caused chaos in the locking room, and ripped-up part of the operating floor above. Our broom was cut into three pieces.
They then returned on or before Sunday, and attempted to lift the boards over the concrete pit at the front of the building.
The vandals' motives are beyond us. So far as we can tell, nothing much was stolen, and they could have caused more damage had they wanted to. Nonetheless, we cannot possibly progress with our ambitions for the building without basic security.
Our first priority, of course, was to re-attach the locking hasps for the gate, and to patch-up the locking room floor. With the large number of screws required, our new generator once again proved itself invaluable. We were also joined by a member of the Rushcliffe Halt team, and have now returned the building to roughly the level of security it has had for the past year.
Normally, at this point, I would describe what we did in more detail, with photographic illustration (but see the note above).
Instead, I want to take a broader view. The building is as secure as it has been for the past year, and that is patently not good enough! We need to move faster, and for that, we need to make the best possible use of resources. One of those resources is /you/, dear reader!
It has been often said that the right way to raise funds is with specific goals, and specific costs. We would like to get a lot better at that, and so this is in the way of a pilot. If it works, we'll carry on in the same vein.
The Hotchley Hill project is asking for...
£400 to purchase a high-security steel door, which we will fit to the entrance to the locking room, behind the present gate.
£200 for a contractor to assemble and fit a fireproof steel-clad door to the old battery room.
If you would like to help, details are on the last slide.
Now the good news. Not so long ago, a couple of you were kind enough to draw our attention to the original signalman's track diagram for the box, which had come up for auction. I'm delighted to say that ours was the winning bid! While it can't be immediately displayed, we are arranging for high-quality digitisation to be made available, hopefully soon.
