Aston On Clun. A forgotten Great Western outpost.

[MrWolf]

1 hour ago, lmsforever said:

I had the misfortune to drive a viva van ,rattly ,cold,noisy and had the worst seats I ever sat on it put my back out and I still suffer today!

 

The problem was that by 1971/72 when he HA vans were upgraded, they were pretty much antiques as the HA Viva car had ended production in 1966 and been superseded twice. 

The only reason it wasn't discontinued was that fleet buyers such as BR, the GPO, various water or gas companies and even meals on wheels wanted vast quantities of the cheapest van possible. 

So they got what they paid for.

[MrWolf]

A bit of fiendish work underway (fiendish because I'm finding it very fiddly) and not a stick of dynamite or an Acme anvil in sight.

 

 

It's made of split fuschia sticks over wire.

All I have to do when it's finished is train those roses up it.

 

That should be a laugh...

[MrWolf]

The wire will be painted to disguise it and the climbing roses should do the rest I hope!

 

[Mike_Walker]

Anyone see Bangers & Cash last night?

[Quasimodo]

In my younger days, I worked for a rose grower for several years. Roses were grown as a field crop for sale as bare root plants. It was long hours and very hard work in all weathers, but enjoyable all the same.

When creating the climbing roses, for your arch, I would avoid using yellow roses, as this colour was not common for climbing roses, in England, until after WW2. You cannot go too far wrong with red, white and above all pink climbing roses.

 

I hope this helps.

[MrWolf]

2 minutes ago, Quasimodo said:

In my younger days, I worked for a rose grower for several years. Roses were grown as a field crop for sale as bare root plants. It was long hours and very hard work in all weathers, but enjoyable all the same.

When creating the climbing roses, for your arch, I would avoid using yellow roses, as this colour was not common for climbing roses, in England, until after WW2. You cannot go too far wrong with red, white and above all pink climbing roses.

 

I hope this helps.

 

It certainly does, thank you. 

Pink they are, because I always thought of pale yellow being what we knew as "Dog roses" when we were children in the late 70s.

[The Stationmaster]

5 hours ago, Mike_Walker said:

Anyone see Bangers & Cash last night?

I take it that you weren't bidding for the AC?😮😄

 

No wonder he reckoned he ought to get £120,00 for it when you see dealers selling them for this sort of money

https://www.carandclassic.com/list/6/aceca/

 

However this would appear to be the one that didn't go for this sort of money on Bangers & Cash

 

https://www.classiccarsforsale.co.uk/ac/aceca/338289

 

Sorry to go O/T - something about trains next?

[MrWolf]

6 hours ago, Mike_Walker said:

Anyone see Bangers & Cash last night?

 

I gave up watching those sort of programs long ago. That includes the property, antiques, collectibles and upcycling shows.

They're all very fake and basically designed to talk up the perceived value of everything and create yet another unsustainable hike in prices.

As for car restoration on a commercial scale, there's two kinds. One is where customers come to you and don't care what it costs as long as the restoration is spot on. The other is buy stuff in as cheap as possible and do the bare minimum to turn a profit. Ever noticed that you rarely get to see much of the real bodywork restoration? It's often limited to shots of shiny paint going on or reassembly. All that tinwork and welding that takes months to do properly? 

I always laugh at those shows where they claim to be restoring a car in just two weeks. Even though they have a huge team chasing down parts and services, you'll notice that a lot of the other featured cars are in the background, half dismantled and in primer.

It generally leads to a lot of idiots who have a car rotting away thinking that it can be turned into £50000, when it's worth £5000 after a year's work and £10000 spent.

 

 

 

Edited November 4, 2022 by MrWolf

[MrWolf]

The crossing house is beginning to look like someone lives in it. Thanks to @KNP for the tip about the flowers. 

 

 

Edited November 4, 2022 by MrWolf

[Donw]

5 hours ago, MrWolf said:

 

It certainly does, thank you. 

Pink they are, because I always thought of pale yellow being what we knew as "Dog roses" when we were children in the late 70s.

 

We had lots of dogs roses in our hedge in somerset all a sort of washed out pink.

 

Don

[MrWolf]

1 hour ago, Donw said:

 

We had lots of dogs roses in our hedge in somerset all a sort of washed out pink.

 

Don

 

They do seem to appear only in pale colours when growing wild. I think that there will be a few clumps in hedgerows to add a splash of colour and I have plenty of the MiniNatur roses left that I can tint with acrylic paint to get a different look.

[Limpley Stoker]

That rose arch makes the keepers cottage -turning it into a domestic haven, I wonder if crossing keepers were allowed to pop home for lunch if there were a big gap in the timetable ; he would hear the bell from the kitchen table.

More likely Mrs Keeper would take his lunch over to the box.

[NHY 581]

1 hour ago, MrWolf said:

The crossing house is beginning to look like someone lives in it. Thanks to @KNP for the tip about the flowers. 

 

 

 

 

That's splendid, Rob. Simply splendid. 

 

 

[longchap]

4 hours ago, MrWolf said:

 

I gave up watching those sort of programs long ago. That includes the property, antiques, collectibles and upcycling shows.

They're all very fake and basically designed to talk up the perceived value of everything and create yet another unsustainable hike in prices.

As for car restoration on a commercial scale, there's two kinds. One is where customers come to you and don't care what it costs as long as the restoration is spot on. The other is buy stuff in as cheap as possible and do the bare minimum to turn a profit. Ever noticed that you rarely get to see much of the real bodywork restoration? It's often limited to shots of shiny paint going on or reassembly. All that tinwork and welding that takes months to do properly? 

I always laugh at those shows where they claim to be restoring a car in just two weeks. Even though they have a huge team chasing down parts and services, you'll notice that a lot of the other featured cars are in the background, half dismantled and in primer.

It generally leads to a lot of idiots who have a car rotting away thinking that it can be turned into £50000, when it's worth £5000 after a year's work and £10000 spent.

 

 

 

 

Hello Rob,

 

I’m in total agreement with the sentiments in your post. The TV programmes may appear superficially interesting to many, but bear little resemblance to real world car restoration as realistic knowledgeable people see it. I’ve restored six classics over the years, two being total restorations in every sense and all done the sensible way, so they should last way past I’m history, even the one I let a deserving soul become guardian to.

 

I despair with the commercial driven hype now surrounding classic cars , particularly the high price levels meaning the wrong people end up owning, but not driving them. Even the once every day classics have risen beyond the ownership capabilities of most younger people, which doesn’t look good for future fun.

 

EVs just do nothing for me. ‘Nuff said.

 

 

Edited November 4, 2022 by longchap

[Gypsy]

Like that a lot. I feel the need for some bougainvillea on one of my little creations so will be stealing the ideas – thanks to you and @KNP!

[NHY 581]

23 minutes ago, Gypsy said:

Like that a lot. I feel the need for some bougainvillea 

 

 

Nice. Can't beat a bit of fish soup with a nice chunk of bread. 

[John Besley]

14 hours ago, MrWolf said:

The crossing house is beginning to look like someone lives in it. Thanks to @KNP for the tip about the flowers. 

 

 

 

Following a bit of a theme in missing doors .... what happened to the gate?

[Captain Kernow]

15 hours ago, MrWolf said:

The crossing house is beginning to look like someone lives in it. Thanks to @KNP for the tip about the flowers. 

 

 

Suberb.

 

Absolutely superb!

 

[The Stationmaster]

16 hours ago, Limpley Stoker said:

That rose arch makes the keepers cottage -turning it into a domestic haven, I wonder if crossing keepers were allowed to pop home for lunch if there were a big gap in the timetable ; he would hear the bell from the kitchen table.

More likely Mrs Keeper would take his lunch over to the box.

Crossing Keepers usually lived in the house and worked from there in many cases and simply went outside to deal with the gates and distant signals (when the latter existed).   The situation here seems to be rather different as we have what amounts to a signal box (and it says so on the front of it although I realise that could be a rather broad term on the GWR).  But if/once signals are added - and there will be a need for some probably unless we are looking at a sort of Hemyock parallel then it will be a signal box and it will have a Signalman - who could well live in the cottage of course.

 

so in reality we are talking about two different things with two different answers but there's nothing at all to prevent Mrs Signalman taking her husband's dinner to him in his place of work - the signal box - she definitely wouldn't be the first to do that.

[KNP]

18 hours ago, MrWolf said:

The crossing house is beginning to look like someone lives in it. Thanks to @KNP for the tip about the flowers. 

 

 

 

Very nice.

Almost ready to move into now.....

[Gypsy]

9 hours ago, NHY 581 said:

 

 

Nice. Can't beat a bit of fish soup with a nice chunk of bread. 

 

I do like a drop of that... slightly different colour though in my experience!

[BroadLeaves]

23 hours ago, MrWolf said:

The crossing house is beginning to look like someone lives in it. Thanks to @KNP for the tip about the flowers. 

 

 

 

That's looking very nice. Loving the stains from the flashing on the roof and the worn-away drive.

 

[John Besley]

Looking at the building again interesting to see no windows on the main viewing side, what prototype did you go by or have missed that one...

[MrWolf]

1 minute ago, John Besley said:

Looking at the building again interesting to see no windows on the main viewing side, what prototype did you go by or have missed that one...

 

It's a mixture of Llandrinio Road and Maesbrook on the Potteries, Shrewsbury and North Wales Railway, but actually measured up from Nateby Crossing on the Garstang & Knott End Railway. The buildings are identical, plus the one at Nateby is much nearer to me and a friend of mine used to live there.

Typically after all the effort, scale drawings were then published in The Pilling Pig, A history of the Garstang & Knott End Railway by Dave Richardson.

Well worth a read for anyone interested in ramshackle branch lines or light railways.

[MrWolf]

9 hours ago, John Besley said:

 

Following a bit of a theme in missing doors .... what happened to the gate?

 

I don't have children, let alone grandchildren, so I can't blame them. 

I put it somewhere safe when I was making the rest of the garden and can't find it!

 

6 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

Crossing Keepers usually lived in the house and worked from there in many cases and simply went outside to deal with the gates and distant signals (when the latter existed).   The situation here seems to be rather different as we have what amounts to a signal box (and it says so on the front of it although I realise that could be a rather broad term on the GWR).  But if/once signals are added - and there will be a need for some probably unless we are looking at a sort of Hemyock parallel then it will be a signal box and it will have a Signalman - who could well live in the cottage of course.

 

so in reality we are talking about two different things with two different answers but there's nothing at all to prevent Mrs Signalman taking her husband's dinner to him in his place of work - the signal box - she definitely wouldn't be the first to do that.

 

Originally as the Clun Valley Railway, the crossing gates were manual and operated by the crossing keeper. The points were operated from ground levers and the only signals were an old style station signal as per the Bishop's Castle Railway.

When the GWR took over in 1901, they ripped everything out and modernised the signals, points and gates. They also added the lean to scullery on the side of the crossing house to create five rooms. The theory being that it's now the stationmaster's residence and the signalman comes over from Craven Arms on his old motorbike.

 

51 minutes ago, BroadLeaves said:

That's looking very nice. Loving the stains from the flashing on the roof and the worn-away drive.

 

 

Thanks, the driveway, if that's what you can call it is supposedly discarded fire ash from the house. It's somewhere to bring in a cart loaded with firewood or manure, or to take away the contents of the ash privy. Mains water didn't (actually) reach the area until about 1931, electricity sometime later, although I am told by family that the hall has a big generator quite early on.

 

We need some grass, weeds and the rest of the veg garden before long