Trainspotting (no drugs were harmed)

[yen_powell]

About 3 years ago I was just riding about in a windy part of Essex when I shot past a sign with a weird name and saying it was a railway museum. I turned around and went back for a look. There was a long access road, but no gate, so I rode up it for pure nosiness and found myself in a gravel car park. I could see a few wagons the other side of a farm building and a large wooden framed railway building sitting on blocks looking very battered and like it had been left there by one of those ring and runaway delivery companies. The place was shut up so I thought I would come back another time.

Well there was a bit of a virus thingy for a few years and other stuff got in the way, but on Saturday I decided to go and have a look. A quick search found their old fashioned website and it said that the 4th February was actually there first day open of 2023. I got up late and dithered so it wasn't until about 11am that I set off. Because I had to get fuel I started from a weird location so my satnav took me the whole way on back roads. For the first 20 miles I think I only passed about 2 cars coming in the opposite direction. The roads were dry, but covered in dried mud from all the meteorological grimness of January. They also tended to have dirty great gouges of asphalt missing from frost damage, so you had to pay attention.

By the time I got closer I realised I was heading into an area heavy with 2 wheel coffee/bacon sandwich tourists.  I have no problem with the riders themselves, it's just that where they gather there tends to be a police or speed van presence and that always makes me nervous. After giving my 100th nod back, I thankfully got sent down a side road with the delightful name of Tinkers Hole. I stopped for a picture, there were actually two signs, the other one said Tinkers Hole Road, so I ignored that one.

This time when I arrived and there were about 4 cars in the car par, the wooden building delivery was gone now. All were on the only small area of asphalt, so I crunched around in a careful circle on the deep gravel to park so at least I would be facing the right way when I left. I walked up a ramp and found a long parcel van inside a barn. The only door was a heavy sliding one, I fought with the thing, it was a real effort to open it. Finally I got it open and stepped inside trying to look like it was no effort at all. There a woman was standing behind a grill and she took my money for entry. I asked where to next and she pointed at the entry door's opposite number. I had another fight with a door I wasn't manly enough for and arrived out the other side into what looked like two huge barns joined together, rammed with old railway stock. There was even quite a lot of Canadian stuff, not sure why.

This was obviously written by someone having a stroke.

[yen_powell]

 

 

[yen_powell]

 

There were no areas they were ashamed to represent.

 

An Essex wagon. Designed for the absolute shit state the clay roads get in during the winter.

[yen_powell]

There were even tube trains here, including some I went on as a child, they ran them for so long.

[yen_powell]

 

 

 

 

[yen_powell]

 

 

[XTreme]

Absolutely superb Yen.........they keep everything spotlessly clean!

How far does the track run for?

[yen_powell]

38 minutes ago, XTreme said:

Absolutely superb Yen.........they keep everything spotlessly clean!

How far does the track run for?

I went on a little ride on the trains shown at the platform and according to google maps it was about a kilometre each way. Looking at the maps, there is no connection to any other railway so everything must have been brought in by road. There has never been a railway there as far as I can tell, everything you see has been moved there. The railway to the town which is to the east of the site was used to transfer nuclear waste until recently but the line goes nowhere near the museum.

[XTreme]

2 minutes ago, yen_powell said:

Looking at the maps, there is no connection to any other railway so everything must have been brought in by road. There has never been a railway there as far as I can tell, everything you see has been moved there. 

Massive cost to do that!

[yen_powell]

1 minute ago, XTreme said:

Massive cost to do that!

According to the website, it is the farm owners doing it on their own land (The Jolly family, I kid you not) and volunteers, which would be the cars in the car park. I was on my own most of the time until two families turned up on the train ride.

[boboneleg]

Nice one Ian , it looks like there’s plenty to see there

[Slowlycatchymonkey]

I know someone who married a Jolly. Her names Jo. 
Jo Jolly  

She doesn’t seem the find it as funny as I do

[Saul]

16 minutes ago, Slowlycatchymonkey said:

I know someone who married a Jolly. Her names Jo. 
Jo Jolly  

She doesn’t seem the find it as funny as I do

I work with a Dr Richard Cockshot, who is also at our local surgery in partnership with Dr Jan Knobloch.  Dick is used to it and doesn't bat an eyelid, but Jan, who is a german chap, thinks we are all a bit weird.     Jan is a lovely fella but just doesn't get our sense of humour at all. 

[Slowlycatchymonkey]

2 hours ago, Saul said:

I work with a Dr Richard Cockshot, who is also at our local surgery in partnership with Dr Jan Knobloch.  Dick is used to it and doesn't bat an eyelid, but Jan, who is a german chap, thinks we are all a bit weird.     Jan is a lovely fella but just doesn't get our sense of humour at all. 

That is class!!!

[skyrider]

2 hours ago, Slowlycatchymonkey said:

I know someone who married a Jolly. Her names Jo. 
Jo Jolly  

She doesn’t seem the find it as funny as I do

she is not to jolly about it then 

[Slowlycatchymonkey]

2 hours ago, Saul said:

I work with a Dr Richard Cockshot, who is also at our local surgery in partnership with Dr Jan Knobloch.  Dick is used to it and doesn't bat an eyelid, but Jan, who is a german chap, thinks we are all a bit weird.     Jan is a lovely fella but just doesn't get our sense of humour at all. 

Bet he does, Germans love knob and arse humour, they’re as repressed as the British

[Saul]

4 hours ago, Slowlycatchymonkey said:

Bet he does, Germans love knob and arse humour, they’re as repressed as the British

Jan not so much, lovely fella but pretty straight laced.  I asked him if the new practice nurse was Fanny Minge, he just walked away shaking his head.     His practice partner Dick has had the nob jokes his whole life so its water off a ducks back to him.  I don't see either of them so much as they most work out of a different hospital base to me now.  Mores the pity they are both good company.   

[Catteeclan]

Have to give that place a look next time Mandis brother's down. Cheers Yen.

[Pedro]

Good stuff, it’s great that you’re left by yourself to enjoy the place. People often ruin the experience.

 

[yen_powell]

2 hours ago, Pedro said:

Good stuff, it’s great that you’re left by yourself to enjoy the place. People often ruin the experience.

 

Yes, people are alright in their place, just not where I want to go and look at stuff.

Whilst trying to look at the secret agent gadgets in a museum in Maldon a few years ago, 3 little shit bags were running about and making so much noise behind me, I wished the nearby bayonets weren't safely locked away. This was when I got that picture of the MI5 'bum key holder'.

[Pedro]

1 hour ago, yen_powell said:

Yes, people are alright in their place, just not where I want to go and look at stuff.

Whilst trying to look at the secret agent gadgets in a museum in Maldon a few years ago, 3 little shit bags were running about and making so much noise behind me, I wished the nearby bayonets weren't safely locked away. This was when I got that picture of the MI5 'bum key holder'.

I once was the first person into the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao, there’s this big exhibit in a giant room where you walk amongst some huge metal sheets signifying life and perspective and all sorts of feelings, and it was great to feel lost for an hour in there. When at the end of my visit I decided to pop back in to that room a group of spanish women had just walked in there and were clearly enjoying it very much, noisy as only older spanish ladies can be, it just wasn’t the same! 

[Specs]

On 05/02/2023 at 11:01, yen_powell said:

About 3 years ago I was just riding about in a windy part of Essex when I shot past a sign with a weird name and saying it was a railway museum. I turned around and went back for a look. There was a long access road, but no gate, so I rode up it for pure nosiness and found myself in a gravel car park. I could see a few wagons the other side of a farm building and a large wooden framed railway building sitting on blocks looking very battered and like it had been left there by one of those ring and runaway delivery companies. The place was shut up so I thought I would come back another time.

Well there was a bit of a virus thingy for a few years and other stuff got in the way, but on Saturday I decided to go and have a look. A quick search found their old fashioned website and it said that the 4th February was actually there first day open of 2023. I got up late and dithered so it wasn't until about 11am that I set off. Because I had to get fuel I started from a weird location so my satnav took me the whole way on back roads. For the first 20 miles I think I only passed about 2 cars coming in the opposite direction. The roads were dry, but covered in dried mud from all the meteorological grimness of January. They also tended to have dirty great gouges of asphalt missing from frost damage, so you had to pay attention.

By the time I got closer I realised I was heading into an area heavy with 2 wheel coffee/bacon sandwich tourists.  I have no problem with the riders themselves, it's just that where they gather there tends to be a police or speed van presence and that always makes me nervous. After giving my 100th nod back, I thankfully got sent down a side road with the delightful name of Tinkers Hole. I stopped for a picture, there were actually two signs, the other one said Tinkers Hole Road, so I ignored that one.

This time when I arrived and there were about 4 cars in the car par, the wooden building delivery was gone now. All were on the only small area of asphalt, so I crunched around in a careful circle on the deep gravel to park so at least I would be facing the right way when I left. I walked up a ramp and found a long parcel van inside a barn. The only door was a heavy sliding one, I fought with the thing, it was a real effort to open it. Finally I got it open and stepped inside trying to look like it was no effort at all. There a woman was standing behind a grill and she took my money for entry. I asked where to next and she pointed at the entry door's opposite number. I had another fight with a door I wasn't manly enough for and arrived out the other side into what looked like two huge barns joined together, rammed with old railway stock. There was even quite a lot of Canadian stuff, not sure why.

This was obviously written by someone having a stroke.

 

On 05/02/2023 at 11:01, yen_powell said:

About 3 years ago I was just riding about in a windy part of Essex when I shot past a sign with a weird name and saying it was a railway museum. I turned around and went back for a look. There was a long access road, but no gate, so I rode up it for pure nosiness and found myself in a gravel car park. I could see a few wagons the other side of a farm building and a large wooden framed railway building sitting on blocks looking very battered and like it had been left there by one of those ring and runaway delivery companies. The place was shut up so I thought I would come back another time.

Well there was a bit of a virus thingy for a few years and other stuff got in the way, but on Saturday I decided to go and have a look. A quick search found their old fashioned website and it said that the 4th February was actually there first day open of 2023. I got up late and dithered so it wasn't until about 11am that I set off. Because I had to get fuel I started from a weird location so my satnav took me the whole way on back roads. For the first 20 miles I think I only passed about 2 cars coming in the opposite direction. The roads were dry, but covered in dried mud from all the meteorological grimness of January. They also tended to have dirty great gouges of asphalt missing from frost damage, so you had to pay attention.

By the time I got closer I realised I was heading into an area heavy with 2 wheel coffee/bacon sandwich tourists.  I have no problem with the riders themselves, it's just that where they gather there tends to be a police or speed van presence and that always makes me nervous. After giving my 100th nod back, I thankfully got sent down a side road with the delightful name of Tinkers Hole. I stopped for a picture, there were actually two signs, the other one said Tinkers Hole Road, so I ignored that one.

This time when I arrived and there were about 4 cars in the car par, the wooden building delivery was gone now. All were on the only small area of asphalt, so I crunched around in a careful circle on the deep gravel to park so at least I would be facing the right way when I left. I walked up a ramp and found a long parcel van inside a barn. The only door was a heavy sliding one, I fought with the thing, it was a real effort to open it. Finally I got it open and stepped inside trying to look like it was no effort at all. There a woman was standing behind a grill and she took my money for entry. I asked where to next and she pointed at the entry door's opposite number. I had another fight with a door I wasn't manly enough for and arrived out the other side into what looked like two huge barns joined together, rammed with old railway stock. There was even quite a lot of Canadian stuff, not sure why.

This was obviously written by someone having a stroke.

Must have been from the North Wales part of the line to Holyhead. Learnt something new. Had always thought that it was only GWR here in Wales. 

[XTreme]

2 hours ago, Specs said:

 

Must have been from the North Wales part of the line to Holyhead. Learnt something new. Had always thought that it was only GWR here in Wales. 

No.....LMS ran from Swansea Victoria to Shrewsbury!

Beeching closed it in 1964.