New Club Room
Welcome to our second meeting at Eaton Bray, judging by the feedback from members they are pleased with the new Hall and the under stage storage seems to work very well. We will continue to push for an earlier start but we will have to wait and see how things work out. As I explained last month we are dependent on the Sunday School clearing the Hall by 11.00am. In the meantime we will start the breakdown at 4.30 to be clear of the Hall by 5.00pm.
If you missed last month Smokebox, the dates for this year’s meetings are as follows, note Prayle Grove will not be at the Club Meetings marked with *:
3 May
31 May *
5 July
6 September *
4 October
8 November
20 December
As yet we have not managed to fix a date for Steam in Beds 2009, because of the time limitation on Sundays we are hoping to be able to fix it for a Saturday in October/November/December. We will keep you updated via the Smokebox and our Web Site.
Exhibitions – 2009
In the past month Ridgmont has attended both the Large Scale Show near Leamington Spa and the G-Scale Society Show at Nottingham. We put on a very good display at both, thanks to everyone who helped with the loading and unloading at Eaton Bray and those members who travelled to the shows to support Ridgmont. Thanks also to Ray and Mark for bringing along all the extra scenic treatment for the G-Scale show, Ridgmont was looking its very best.
I have received a letter from Nigel Town asking me to pass on his thanks to all those involved with Ridgmont for flying the flag on behalf of the 16mm Association at the G-Scale Show, he has had some very positive feedback from G Scale members and the show organisers about 16mm in general and Ridgmont in particular, so his thanks to all those involved.
I have received final confirmation of our invitation to the Soar Valley Exhibition on the 26 and 27 September 2009. As reported last month we will be taking Ridgmont to the Kew Steam Show on the 14/15 November. Make sure you book those dates in your diary.
Forthcoming Exhibitions and Shows
Prayle Grove will be attending the following shows:
16/17 May - Merstham Show
23/24 May - Cambridge Garden Railway Show
6/7 June - Hollycombe, Hunslet Weekend
18/19 July - GMES Rally, Contact Roger Haywood
24 October - Brandon
Any members interested in running at any of the above please contact Carol on 07800 798509. Please note that running for the Merstham show is for the Sunday only.
Other Railway Exhibitions
9 May - Ely & District Model Railway Club
16 May - Loddon Vale Model Railway Club, Wokingham
26/27 September - Soar Valley Exhibition, Ridgmont will be attending
14/15 November - Kew Steam Show, Ridgmont will be attending
Model Engineering Shows
16 May - Llanelli & District Model Engineering, Spring Rally. Contact: George Golightly 01554 820745
6/7 June - 19th Welsh National Locomotive Rally. Contact: Don Norman 01656 784530
13/14 June, 29/31 August - Harrow & Wembley Model Engineering Open Days. Contact: Brian Tilbury 020 8248 0442
11 July - Chiltern Model Railway Association Interactive Modelling Event, Westfield Community College, West Watford
Wags Wharf
As reported last month Wags Wharf now has a permanent site at the Pitstone & Ivinghoe Museum, Easter Monday was the first open day of the season. Attendance for the day was close to 500 which is a record for an Easter Monday. Do please come along to see Wags and the other displays including 3 other model railways.
The open days scheduled for this year are as follows:
4 & 25 May - May Day & Spring Bank Holiday
14 June - Sunday
12 July - Sunday
9 August - Sunday
31 August - Summer Bank Holiday
13 September - Sunday
Please pick up a leaflet for the Museum’s 2009 season.