Rambling On

I have to plead guilty this year to the sad dereliction of the Dorcester Railway this winter.

I, under the strict control of the Chief planning Officer, have completed all those alterations to our home that I have been promising to do for the last eleven years. Well most of them anyway. Just when I thought I had finished, and cast an eye to my rapidly deteriorating railway, another distraction was found like visiting grandchildren.

At last I have been let loose and I cannot believe how the garden has taken over the railway this year. For a start the whole thing was covered in leaves and overgrown bushes. Then the shingle base is definitely looking worse for wear and the part of the line  that had to taken up for a new patio desperately needs re- planning. But where to start?

The engines and rolling stock are looking longingly at me demanding to be dusted down and run. The buildings in the village are suffering the effects of a couple of fights by neighbouring cats; my cat just watches them and yawns. The box of people awaiting painting is about to form a protest march back to Model world. The coach kit I brought at Llanfair (2004), the station name boards from Kew and the sheets of plastic from Leamington Spa, to make a water mill, are all haunting me daily.

But first things first and that new detour needs some careful planning. There is only one thing for it a session of earth moving. Every year I promise myself that it will be the last time I move what always turns out to be skip loads of clay but surely just one last time should it! My sloping garden is getting flatter every time. I will have a bowling green one day. The removal of a few shrubs, undercover of darkness to avoid planning permission has allowed me a new passing loop.

This work will also allow me to indulge in my other passion of gardening. I hope to find a good selection of plants to fit in with the railway and also cover the ground to keep the dreaded weeds at bay. I was really pleased with last year’s efforts. The Busy Lizzies were stunning.

A bit of rewiring, re shingling and an awful lot of track cleaning and once again I can proudly declare the Lakeside, Gorge and Bridgend Railway up and running. The trouble is with the railway running I cannot resist running the trains until the light fades and then with the lighting on it does seem to take on a very different life.

Perhaps when it is raining I will have a go at the painting and repair, etc. But then the pile of railway magazines in the corner looks very inviting especially when the chief planning officer produces a cup of tea and a piece of home made cake. Ah well!

There is always another day on the Dorcester Railway.

 Roger Palmer 2006.