Norden Park and RideWe celebrated the 10th birthday of the Norden Park & Ride scheme on 12 August. This pioneering scheme was created by Purbeck District Council and was built on a former ball-clay mining area. It features a cob-walled visitors’ centre, a children’s play area, the start of a ball-clay mining museum, bicycle-hire facilities and a refreshment service. There is space to park 500 vehicles and over the last 10 years 280,000 vehicles have been taken off the A351 through Corfe Castle and Harman’s Cross as 840,000 people left their cars in favour of the steam train! Slide Show Offer.Dave Wellman of our Publicity Unit offers slide shows for no charge to local organisations. He is available day or evening and can be contacted on 01929 481140. Purbeck Railway CircleNext meeting is on Friday 21 October, when we join forces with the Purbeck Film Festival for a special showing of The Train (1964), a tension-filled, action-packed World War II adventure pitting a French railway official (Burt Lancaster) against an art-loving Nazi (Paul Scofield), determined to flee Paris just before the liberation with a trainload of paintings. This full-length feature film was directed by John Frankenheimer, in whose hands the whole paraphernalia of trains, tracks and shunting yards acquires an almost hypnotic fascination. We meet in the Catholic Church Hall, Rempstone Road, Swanage, at 7.00 for 7.30 pm and all are welcome. In July, we met at Harman’s Cross when Gerald Atkinson told us about the Railway’s Youth Group – The Sygnets – whose aim is “Keeping Young People on the Right Track”. Three Sygnets outlined their involvement with the Group and the highlights they had experienced. Their enthusiasm was clear for all to see and we agreed that they are perhaps the most under-recognised and potentially most important department for the future of our Railway! Roger Orchard, Station Manager for Harman’s Cross, then outlined the history of the station, built from scratch by the Swanage Railway and opened in 1989. He told us that up to 6,000 people visit the Station and the Village Hall in our “Thomas the Tank Engine” weeks (plug for our next Thomas Week, 22-30 October). The Volunteer Porters’ Tale Reproduced with acknowledgement from Swanage Railway Magazine My father and I have been working on the Swanage Railway for two years, although sometimes it seems a lot longer. This is a good thing because already we feel part of great team of volunteer railwaymen and women. All the volunteers we have met have been very willing to pass on their knowledge, some gained over many years on mainline and heritage railways. We leave home 1½ hours before Corfe Castle station opens. When we arrive at the village, our first port-of-call is the cake shop where we get our sticky buns! Mission accomplished, we begin our check of the station. The first task is to look down the platform and check that the line is clear and safe. Once we are satisfied that there are no obstructions or anything unusual to interfere with the running of the service, we open up the station for business. We unlock the station and call at the signalbox to find out who is the day’s Responsible Officer. Then comes the heavy job of moving all those porters’ barrows onto the platform, adding to the wonderful atmosphere that makes Corfe Castle Station so special. Finally, everything is ready for the travelling public. We are always pleased to see them as they are the lifeblood of the railway and we spend much time answering their questions. We feel that this is most important as it helps to project a good image of the SR. As the day progresses, we are kept busy helping passengers board and disembark and dispatching trains with safety. When we are on a weekend duty we often see the ‘Driver Experience’ trains pass through the station and on Sundays we watch the ‘Dorsetman’ Luncheon Train go through, but it never seems to have any meals left over for us poor Porters! Shame! On the other hand, the staff on the ‘Santa Specials’ spare us the occasional mince pie, which goes down well with a cup of tea. At the end of the day, we shut up the station and leave it safe and in good order for the next day's staff to take over. We then begin our 1½ hour journey home, tired, but happy. Robert Ward. If you are interested in helping us in any way at all, contact Volunteer Liaison Officer Mike Whitwam on 01202 430894, write to him at Station House, Swanage, BH19 1HB or leave a note for him at Swanage Station Booking Office. |