A cool bright morning greeted the team at Tywyn Wharf this morning; Andy Sheffield, Max Birchenough, Allan Black, Charles Benedetto, Pete Thomas and John Olsen were on hand to work in the museum.
Max spent a little time on the invaluable task of sticking white crosses at four different heights (small child, child, adult and feathered friends) on the two new glass screens erected outside the museum and cafe platform south facing entrances. These markings should prevent accidental collisions with the glass, which have been placed to protect the entrances from the prevailing south westerly rains. Pete and Andy drilled mounting holes in the newly fabricated headboard mounts and sanded them smooth for Pete to paint in white, ready for use on the first floor. Andy removed the donation box beside the platform door and cleaned the frame of the large glass internal window in preparation for repainting.
Max and Charles assisted John to bring the Chattenden and Upnor points indicator from the Gunpowder Store to the museum in order to return it to working order and de-rust and repaint it after many hard years out in the yard. Allan and Max took on the roles of chief rust knockers and lubricators. Charles once again displayed his lack of fear of heights by ascending the scaffold tower to clean and polish the brass nameplates on the third and final mesh panel. John bounced from job to job supplying tools, materials and verbal incentives.
We joined Ann McCanna and Tom Place in the cafe for or morning refreshments and were delighted to be joined by Ray Brooks, a now retired stalwart of the museum working parties, for coffee chocolate biscuits and chat. Ray brought a lovely 2024 calendar featuring the quarry Hunslets at work, for the museum; we hope to prominently display it near Rough Pup.
After coffee the team convened a meeting to discuss a proposed new system for assessing power tool competency drawn up by John in consultation with Liz Porrett so that we meet our obligations under the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) legislation of 1998. After questions pertaining to the scheme had been addressed it was agreed to adopt the procedures once John had produced all the forms covering the various power tools that we use during the working parties. A wider safety discussion of yard working then followed where issues of safe working and safe site access were aired. As some of these required input from the railway John agreed to consult with Liz for answers to certain questions and consult with the other museum Trustees over an additional item.
The meeting was concluded at around noon and we returned to the museum to finish off the mornings jobs and do a bit of tidying up as the electrical department were working on new wiring.
Photos by John Olsen