Snagging and snow!!

In the last two weeks work on the refurbished platform and Canopy has been completed - see the excellent pictures by Simon Denvers on the stunning new look!

Last Wednesday 4th April Karen Davidson who had manged the project on behalf of Network Rail, came to see the final results for herself. The weather was appalling - snow and gale force winds but Karen turned up to view!! John LeGrove and Neil gave her a tour and thanked Karen for all her hard work and thoughtfulness. She was pleased with the finished effects despite viewing them in a world of whirling white!! John and Neil presented Karen with a bouquet of flowers from FOGS to mark our appreciation.

Today Tuesday Eric and Neil met Andy Lee from Network Rail and Ian Purdham from Story Rail for the final snagging/ handover session. The weather was a little kinder - hailstones and sun! Both Andy and Ian were delighted with the finished look especially the newly painted Canopy in heritage colours of cream, greeen and red with the new contemporary skylights making the whole Canopy a lot lot brighter! Andy and Ian resolved to complete some small jobs including the resanding of some of the paving blocks, the painting of the lighting columns and the restoration of the yellow diagonal lines in front of the fire door. The really welcome news was that the perimeter railings on Howard Street are to be painted - Karen had promised to try and do this and FOGS is so pleased that money has been found for this work! The railings were last painted by members of FOGS way back in 2006 - a long long labour of love and toil and to know that they are now going to be painted to the highest of standards was very welcome news!  We thank Karen, Andy and Ian! We look forward to seeing them painted in the near future. We gave Andy and Ian copies of Glossop Life, the free magazine being distributed around Glossop and surrounding areas which features the excellent and complimentary article that Fiona Saggers of FIG Creative has written on the Station/FOGS. Both Andy and Ian were very pleased with this and will promote it within their own organisations. Which just leaves us the pigeons to sort out!!!!!!

DINTING VIADUCT

Or as it is better known locally Dinting Arches! Recently announced by Network Rail is a £6.5 million refurbishment of the Arches. This has been welcomed by all as it is the definitive satatement that the Glossop Line has a future! A public meeting was held recently at Dinting Primary School and it was heartening to see the level of local support for the scheme which is expected to last for at least 18 months. Original archive drawings of the Arches along with graphics showing the refurbishment were arousing a lot of interest! Scaffolding has already gone up and the whole viaduct will eventually be clad similar to Mottram Viaduct in recent times. FOGS has asked,  with the support of the Editor of the Glossop Chronicle David Jones, that the refurbished Arches should be floodlit. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to do this and any support you can offer would be appreciated. Network Rail have promised to consider this.

Contact sarah.mcardle@networkrail.co.uk

Straight station Signs at Glossop Station!

For several months now the station signs fixed to the lamp columns have been out of alignment due to refurbishment and painting and it was Simon wielding a wooden ladder who tackled this problem on Sunday! Going home for a spanner he, Eric and Neil then got the signs levelled and adjoining. "Symmetry at last!" sighed Neil, who later in the day came down Talbot Street especially to see these signs as they should be! Huge thanks to Simon for his patience with this - his desire to get  a tricky one correctly aligned was frustrated - we then realised that the lamp column was not perpendicular to the platform - an issue for another day!!

SVA at Glossop Station!!

What is SVA??!! Well it's John LeGrove's new acronym for STATION VEGETATION ADORNMENT and a very approporiate one it is! On Sunday 1st April - not an April Fools' Day joke - FOGS' members were to be found at 06.00 at Glossop Station for the first session of the new licensed agreements with Network Rail permitting access to track and the Embankment. The plants in the Embankment have all taken and appear to be thriving. The daffodils planted last September in haste by Neil are in full bloom and make a welcome splash of colour. We too made a splash of orange in our new Network Rail supplied jump suits - and very comfortable and practical garments they are too! The gloves are magic too!! Thus began further planting by Eric, Neil, John LG - a very enthusiatic addition to the gardening team! Pete kindly joined us after a night shift at Dinting Signal Box! Working on the track was John K clearing all types of litter whilst Bunty supervised goings on and started the usual cleaning with gusto! A most welcome sight was Jacqueline who kindly came down to make tea/coffee and surprise us all with hot bacon butties - most welcome amidst the labours on a cold but beautifully clear morning. John LG also washed down the buffer stop ready for further paint - we should have the best buffer stop in the country soon! Simon also joined us taking photos and then embarking on his own project of cleaning the electronic information board - a challenge in itself!! The 3 tubs had been placed back into their orignal position by Eric and Neil and, later in the morning, they were planted up with additional help from John. "It's a bit like that Charlie Dimmock programme," he commented! Work finished around 9.00 as we all surveyed the improvements. It was a pleasure to welcome back RussellPike from Network Rail Guide Bridge as our Suprvisor and we again thank him for his patience and good humour!!