The Wailing Wall Construction Company PLC

Very occasional newsletter no 1 - April 2011

The Wailing Wall Construction Company PLC is a loose collection of Bridgnorth volunteers who, over the years, have been responsible for many maintenance jobs around the site.

The PLC reference comes from a humorous poem by one of the members, who described this assembly as 'Pretty Limited Craftsmen'.

These 'skills' include plumbing and electrical work, fencing, carpentry, concreting, bricklaying, together with limited involvement in paint scraping and general decoration.

One of our recent projects was the creation of partitioning to provide a secure environment for the Booking Office. Included in this work was the provision of a 'new' heritage door, and the manufacture of new plaster coving to match the original.

During this refurbishment, the opportunity was taken to tidy up and conceal a myriad of various telephone and alarm system cabling. This has given the Booking Hall a much tidier and greater period appearance.

This look was completed with the supply and fitting of three large glass globe pendant fittings, which were greatly appreciated by the various booking clerks.

In the Yard entrance, we have supplied and planted flower boxes. These sit either side of two station benches, against the stone wall. These have proved very popular with our visitors, who enter our site over the level crossing from the overflow car park.

Visitors can sit and view the progress of the construction of the Standard 3 Tank 82045. The frames for this new build stand on a 40' x 8' reinforced concrete base, which although paid for by the loco builders, was excavated, shuttered and laid by the Wailing Wall, very early on a Saturday morning in the pouring rain. They say the sun shines on the righteous - I'm not quite sure what it says about us!

Before Christmas, the Wailing Wall were asked to create another concrete extension, including 240v mains supply, to the loco base for the provision of a storage shed for the project. We are currently waiting for the shed to arrive, before we get involved in its erection.

The space now occupied by the 82045 project was, for years, filled with various huge lumps of metal, which by all accounts had been sitting there rusting and waiting for someone to finally make a decision on their disposal.

Having got this site right down to the level crossing cleared, the Wailing Wall created a long section of picket fencing (from recovered pallet wood) to create a safe and attractive viewing area for our visitors to watch locos running round across the crossing.

This area proved to be incredibly popular when 60163 Tornado visited; it was noted that visitors were 10 deep to watch this particular spectacle.

Many visitors, expecially those arriving by coach, have commented on our amusing signage outside our 'office'. In our own small way, we like to see a smile on their faces, even before they have had refreshments or a train ride - preferably both.

Elsewhere, the Wailing Wall has vastly extended the 'in house' airline system in the Machine Shop, a move which is greatly appreciated by the full time engineering staff.

Recently, our members have been heavily involved in the complete refurbishment of the station entrance into the Booking Hall. A complete new window and glazing was required to the right hand elevation. It has to be said that the original window was not so much removed, more likely it actually fell to pieces in our hands. The timber was so rotten that even the loco boys were not keen to accept it for lighting up purposes.

Considerable time and effort has produced a very acceptable level of 'heritage' atmosphere, which probably most of our visitors miss in their haste to purchase tickets and visit the Gift Shop - nevertheless, the 'heritage' people seemed pleased with our efforts.

Over the winter many of the station benches have received attention, including replacement boards in hardwood, and receiving a minimum of five coats of paint.

Over the past few weeks, we have been engaged in replacing the 'skirt' boards round the base of the Station Buffet. Although this building is long overdue for replacement itself, it is quite amazing how the newly black gloss painted boards give this sorry building a much-needed boost. Together with the addition of flower troughs around the picnic tables, and the newly constructed outer casings around the litter bins, we hope it is far more appealing to our visitors.

Elsewhere, the new replacement station lighting is nearing completion - this, though an expensive procedure, does create the desired ambience and, at the same time, considerably cuts down the energy bill by the use of low energy bulbs.

by Robin Pearson
WWCC PLC