I’m extremely pleased to announce that The Guide is being printed and is scheduled for collection by Royal Mail from Warners in Bourne this coming Friday 27th March. Mailing to UK addresses is first class and to members overseas is by Air Mail. Most copies will start arriving at UK addresses on Saturday whilst others will follow on Monday or Tuesday next week. Those to overseas members will arrive somewhat later. The address carrier sheet used for this mailing also includes a digest of the Shed Notices which announced the rescheduling of the National Garden Railway Show to Saturday 14th November 2020.
The Guide will also be available via the Members Only site from 09:00 on Saturday morning. All members with an email address have been invited to activate their accounts and most have already done so, but if you were expecting an invitation and haven’t received one, or can’t find it, send an email to members.site@16mm.org.uk quoting your surname, membership number and postal code and we’ll do our best to invite you as soon as we can.
Creating The Guide has been a collaborative effort, but the lion’s share of the work has fallen on SMT (and now Guide) editor Gareth Jones. Putting a 120 page, advert free publication together has taken many, many hours. Huge thanks Gareth for finding the time to do this amongst his other Association duties and especially his day job, where as a civil servant on Guernsey the demands of Brexit have now given way to preparing the islands for the Covid-19 pandemic. But thanks also to the many contributors to The Guide, to the Board and Officers who proof read assigned sections, and finally to Richard and Rod who did a full read-through late last week.
I suspect that we’re all in the same boat for the time being, running trains on our own if we’re lucky enough to have a railway at home, unable to share what we’ve done with other members at open days and events. The Guide should provide enjoyment and inspiration at this difficult time, right around the world, and hopefully encourage us still actively to pursue this great hobby. Gareth and Dave Gordon are looking for material for SMT and Bulletin which describes what you’ve been up to during enforced social distancing, so if you’ve something to share, please email smt.editor@16mm.org.uk or bulletin.editor@16mm.org.uk. Both or either would love to hear from you.
Please stay safe.
Alan Regan, Chairman and Membership Secretary