George Woodcock

Hello Fenchurch St Peter will feature in the next edition of Rail Express Modeller and will contain some outstanding photos by Ian Manderson. Cheers George

Hello Towcester will be appearing at York show over the forthcoming Easter weekend. as usual there will be an appearance by a celebrity guest operator during part of the weeknd. Cheers George

Hello Steve, the area where the signal box and goods shed used to stand at Middle Drove(Fenchurch St Peter) is now a large concrete pad for cleaning and stacking sugar-beet before transport to wherever. Cheers George

Hello I am fine Steve and hope you are as well. A sugar beet is like a very big Parsnip, though a little bit longer and an awful lot fatter. Diameter across the top a good 9ins. When they are harvested the tops are cut off along with the leaves. We used to load them using root forks which are like large muck fork but with little round lumps on the end of the tines so they don't pierce the roots. I seem to remember that we loaded them levelish with the top of the wagon though after over fifty years my memory may be playing me false. Our crop used to go to Peterborough which is where I imagine your crop would go to. The factory used to be near the station on the way out to Northampton, long gone now, closing in 1991, along with many of the others. The four remaining plants are at Bury St Edmunds, Cantley,(nr Norwich), Whissington and Newark. The railway line we used to load the sugar beet was the industrial iron stone track from the Market Harborough-Northampton line which ran through top of our yard to the ironsone quarry at Pitsford. They would bring two or three wagons up from the exchange sidings in the morning and collect them in the late afternoon so we had to get a move on. This of course could only happen when they weren't moving iron ore trains. My father was the quarry manager. The quarry closed in 1964 along with several others in the area over the next five years they were all restored to agricultural use and very little remains to show where they were. Another local sugar beet grower, Harvey's Farms, built a ramp at Chapel Brampton station gods yard and loaded their beet there. After the closure of the ironstone line we used this as well. The ramp is now where the café coach stands in the yard at the re-opened Chapel Brampton station on the Northampton and Lamport heritage line. Hope this helps.

Hello I used to load sugar beet into mineral wagons when I was a teenager by hand. That was after we had loaded them by hand in the field onto the trailer to take them to the siding in the farm yard. Always cold as I remember but at least working got you warm . Very muddy as well.. Seeds sounds great for the beet, especially in N. keep up the good work. Cheers George

Hello I always enjoyed watching this layout as I have a sentimental attachment to Charwelton. My father was the quarry foreman back in the 1950s and he also was in charge of the restoration work when the quarry closed in the early 60s along with other BSC quarries in Northamptonshire. the track to the quarry would have long gone by the 80s. I wish you well with the project and very much look forward to seeing this outstanding layout back on the exhibition circuit. I will be looking forward to seeing your progress. Northamptonshire has quite a few lines that are worthy of giving the kiss of extended life to. Cheers George

Hello John, Paul and I had a good weekend at Ally Pally with Towcester. we had a couple of minor glitches on Saturday but they were sorted and Sunday was a trouble free day. There were the odd operator errors, mostly by me, for which I apologise. However if any-one on here had an issue with the operation of the layout I would welcome their input on how we can improve things. I am very much in favour of constructive face to face comments not hiding behind the anonymity of the web. I'm sure this goes for all the other owners/operators of layouts who give up their time delight and entertain people. Also if we are having a problem with the electrics please feel free to pop round the back and show us what the problem is. Finally if you have nothing better to do you can always go get the teas in for us as we don't have time ourselves; three a day is our normal average. Belatedly thanks to Warners for inviting us, to their staff for making it possible and to the MRC and Ally Pally stewards for making it such a pleasurable experience. See you all again in 2019 when we return with Fenchurch St Peter. Cheers George

Hello Towcester has now had it's troublesome Dapol semaphore signals replaced by new colour light signals, just like the real railway in the late 1970s. You can see the layout this coming weekend at Ally Pally with one or two other additions and a celebrity guest operator. What more can you ask for. Cheers George

Hello We were given an award for 'Towcester' at Glasgow which stated we were second best visiting layout in 2125. We still treasure it very much. Cheers George

Hello I think Mick is referring to layouts owned by Richard, John and In where occasionally the odd name gets missed off a programme or magazine article. I know it is a very minor thing, almost childish to complain, but some people do take it very seriously. Ho hum. Cheers George

Hello I have received a form today that states that all exhibitors will have to wear Hi-viz clothing during setting up and breakdown of the show. Also hard hats if working at height and protective footwear. Seems a bit over the top for putting up toy trainsets but it seems the rules have been changed at least for Ally Pally. Cheers George

Hello Steve The layout is looking really good, perhaps I should build a Fenland layout now. I've just learned this weekend that Fenchurch St Peter will feature in the next edition of Rail Express Modeller. By the way I think you need more tractors. See you soon. Cheers George

Hello Towcester has now left Towcester museum and is back at John's house. A few little jobs to do and then hopefully it will be off to the exhibition ant Preston next weekend. Look forward to see people there. Thank-you to the good folks at Towcester museum for letting us feature in their splendid SMJ exhibition. Cheers George

Hello The only person to blame was me Terry but as I said it is all back to normal now. Just a few bits of greenery to put on this morning and a good clean of the track. Cheers George

Hello With the announcement of these forthcoming models as well as the Hattons version I was wondering what models/kits are available for loads suitable for the 1980s period. Cheers George

Hello After it's successful outing to Stafford the layout was damaged on it's return to base. I am glad to say that it has now been repaired and is back in full working order. Thanks to Richard for his help in doing this rather delicate job. The layout now has a rest till July when it will be appearing at Railex North-East. Cheers George

Hello For any-one who still wishes to see the layout in the exhibition it will now be there till the end of February. It will be coming out on Feb 28th, a few minor repairs and tidying up and then it will be off to Preston Show on 4/5th pf March. Cheers George

Hello Fenchurch is now ready to be loaded tomorrow morning for it's journey to Stafford. A show we always enjoy both as visitors and exhibitors. IPA ! cheers George

Hello Been using them for years. Nick, Jem and the staff provide a faultless service. As Reg says you need to support your local model shop and we are very lucky in Northampton to have one of the best. Cheers George

Hello This all depends on your definition of East Anglia. In the 'Companion Guide to East Anglia' the author John Seymour said that East Anglia consisted of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. I live in Northamptonshire which is not in East Anglia, in fact it does not appear to fit easily into any area but in TV terms we are part of Look East as is Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire none of which are in the East. The old Soke of Peterborough was in Northamptonshire until the early sixties when it moved to Cambridgeshire where it is now. So by John Seymour's definition Peterborough is in East Anglia. In my previous post I said Spalding was in East Anglia which, being in Lincolnshire, is obviously incorrect. The Fens as portrayed in Fenchurch St Peter cover the counties of Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Lincolnshire so they too are not all in East Anglia. Fenchurch being in Cambridgeshire is however in East Anglia. The Fenland region is flat with big skies and is the archetypal East Anglian landscape. This is definitely not the case. Large parts of Norfolk and Suffolk are rolling countryside admittedly without ant areas of very high ground. Anyway I love the landscapes of Eastern England just as much as the mountains of the north and west. Those big skies always do it for me. Sorry to ramble on Stewart but that's the way I am. Cheers George

Hello I think it may be awhile before it is in your neck of the woods Guy so you might have to travel a bit. Cheers George

Hello I can confirm that we will be at Bury on September 9th. Hopefully it will appear on their web-page soon. It will also be at Spalding in November so two more East Anglian shows for the Fenland layout. See you at one or the other I hope. Cheers George

Hello No it's not Mick, blackmail is such a wonderful feeling. Cheers George

Hello Thanks for the continued kind comments and good wishes. We are very grateful and flattered. Hope to see some of you later in the year and not just with Fenchurch St Peter but also with Towcester, Georgemas Jct and not forgetting Bedlam Heath's last appearance,(with us) at Tonbridge in February. Cheers George

Hello We just missed out in last nights Golden globe awards in LA. Still we have the Oscars to come yet though. Cheers George