Moreton Pit Light Railway

The day rose fine and fair,  just right for a day out for the family on the MPLR.  Of course, Mario and his ice-cream cart was very busy today and he was making the most of the sunny weather.

Wynn, the railbus, has been working flat out and even had to pull another carriage!

Wynne arriving full of passengers...

Soon the platform was filling up but not just with visitors to the railway and reserve, these had more seasonal things on their minds!  What is that commotion going on at the end of the platform?

Well, that looks remarkably like some morris men!

Adderbolt Morris Men

Yes, it is the Adderbolt Morris Men and there are two very familiar faces amongst them!  Is that our Terry and Job? Of course it is, with Hamish proudly watching from the side.  Adderbolt Morris are a local team tha have been going for some years but started to lose members for a while.  So Terry and Job decided to join them and now they practise every Thursday in the big engine shed.  But, do you know where their name comes from?  Lets have a closer look at their kit……

See the Dragonfly symbol on the musicians back?  Well, another name for a dragonfly is ‘adderbolt’, and of course there are plenty of dragonflies to be seen on the reserve, so that’s how they got their name.

Well it’s not just been morris dancing going on today we have had a few trains running too, plus the mill has been very busy again.  But here are few of the trains that were seen today.

Vincent

Arthur James

Arthur James just passing Vincent

So, we followed Wynne to Lavender Hill Halt to see what was going on there…

Wynne arriving at Lavender Hill Halt

Wonder what that passenger is looking at?

Passengers alighting and heading to Pitz Cafe

Now we know what they were watching!

Well, it was such a lovely day the Adderbolt Morris Men spent the whole day going round the MPLR!

Good job the Pitz Cafe also has an alcohol licence! Rene the cafe owner came out to watch..

Even the vicar enjoyed it!

As we follow Wynne round we have a short stop at Bill Oddie Halt to take a few minutes out to do a bit of bird watching from the hide.  Polish Pete has set up his tea hut because of all the visitors there has been…

Looks like Wynns' driver is going to grab a quick cup of tea. There's two visitors for the bird hide ready with their binoculars.

But hang a minute, what’s that tankard and glass doing there?  Don’t tell me the Adderbolt Morris Men have been here too!  Looks like someone left something behind!

Well it has been a lovely day on the MPLR and everyone has enjoyed themselves including the Adderbolt Morris Men.

Adderbolt Morris 1962

Well, the sun may be shining but the winds still coming from the East and is as cold as ever. But it hasn’t stopped the MPLR staff giving the railway a good spring clean and a lick of paint. The PW boys were out and about on the Bank Holiday the other day getting the station area ready for another summer. Alex, resident painter and decorator, was doing a bit of overtime just finishing off painting the new fencing on the station.

Alex having his lunch with girlfriend Shemone

The fencing is looking very smart with its new white paint.  Job thought that he had better check on the work and decided to take a look to see if Alex had done the back of the fencing too!

Alex had been very busy as he had also painted Bill Goodie the Reserve Manager’s house at Railway Cottages.  We think that he has done a very good job too!

A nice Essex pink

Mrs Goodie obviously thought so too as we caught her sunbathing outside her nice pink cottage!

Alex’s girlfriend, unfortunately, was not at all impressed that her Bank Holiday had only been a couple of sandwiches on the station platform.  Alex said that Shemone’s favourite place is by the lakeside!  Still, they did make it up in the end and spent a romantic evening on the bench.

The young couple cuddle up to keep warm

We have to agree that it is very romantic in the quiet of the evening at the MPLR.