Shed Notices

Larry and his Garratts and Shay, taken on Chris Moody’s line in 2011

I’m very sad to report that Larry Cheeseman, long time Association and Bedfordshire Area Group member, died on 3rd April after a battle with cancer.  He was 87.  Larry will be more widely known as a builder of 16mm scale locomotives.  He built over 200 of the Danny and James diesel, simple but robust and hefty battery powered metal-built locos with enough umph to pull a stranded train.  He also built a number of prototype and free-lance Garratts and models of the Bowaters/W&LLR “Monarch” and W&LLR “Sir Derfaldwyn”, along with a number of other one-offs.  Failing eyesight caused him to give up building some years ago, but he remained involved with the hobby and had a plethora of stories to tell about his time as a model maker, which stretched well beyond 16mm scale, as well as his colourful life in general.  Larry will be missed by those who knew him, especially members of the Beds Area Group.  He didn’t seem to let deteriorating health get him down, which is surely an inspiration to us all.

He is survied by his partner Shiela, to whom I extend the Association’s condolences.

Details of Larry’s funeral will be released in due course.

Alan Regan, Chairman

As previously outlined in SMT, we’ve organised a weekend treat for fans of the Welsh narrow gauge and for those who love the splendid scenery that Snowdonia has to offer.

On 9^th & 10^th July, we plan to visit both the Welsh Highland Railway and Ffestiniog Railway.

The weekend will run as follows:

Saturday 9^th July

Train leaves Porthmadog at 9.40 and will arrive at Carnarvon at 12.10. There’ll be time for lunch before the train departs at 14.20, arriving back at Porthmadog at 16.40.

After this, for those who’re interested, there’ll be a shed tour of Boston Lodge works from 17.00 to about 18.00. 

Sunday 10^th July

Train leaves Porthmadog at 10.30 and will arrive at Blaenau Ffestiniog at 11.45. There’ll be time for a quick walk around and a drink before the train heads back at 12.20, arriving back at Porthmadog at 13.35.

The costs of the tickets are as follows:

• Return trip on Welsh Highland –   £40
• Boston Lodge tour* –   £10  
• Return trip on Ffestiniog   –   £30
  • Tickets will be limited to the first 50 people only

Prices are per person

As a comparison, if you booked as a single person the trips would cost you £55 and £40 respectively so you’re making quite a saving by attending as part of our group.

Tickets will be available online from 2^nd April. A maximum of 4 tickets can be bought per member (including the member).

We should be able to have a carriage or two for ourselves depending on numbers so it will be an opportunity to enjoy the wonderful scenery that North Wales has to offer as well as spending time with fellow modellers.

Mick Blowfield, our National Show director, is scheduled to undergo surgery in April.  He has been advised by his surgeon to plan for three months convalescence.  This means he won’t be able to take on Show duties, including attending the Show itself.  After weighing up options, we’ve decided to do the following:

1. Tom Rowland, Deputy Membership Secretary since he was co-opted to the Board late last year, will take over from me as Membership Secretary.  Tom and I have been working together since he joined us and he’s made terrific progress, now handling all the new member activity and having as much dialogue with members and Warners as I do.  I will continue to support him but both Tom and I agree that he’s ready to be the primary day-to-day interface to members and Warners.
2. Tom taking over from me will enable me to take over from Mick and complete delivery of the 2022 National Show.  It’s our first full show since all legal Pandemic restrictions were lifted and we can already see that it will be a big one.
3. I am also Chairman.  Alan Finch has indicated his preparedness to accept this position when I stand down, subject of course to being nominated by the Board (that’s the process).  No other Director wishes to put themselves forward for this role and all have indicated support for Alan taking it on.  The Board have formally appointed him as Deputy Chairman and he will take over from me in terms of all day-to-day activity and communication.
4. To facilitate these changes, during tomorrow Saturday 19^th March, changes will be made to our IT infrastructure so that emails to membership@16mm.org.uk will route to and be managed by Tom.  Emails to chairman@16mm.org.uk will route to and be managed by Alan Finch.  Mick and I will share access to show.director@16mm.org.uk and when Mick leaves for surgery, I will manage this email address and take over all Mick’s responsibilities vis-à-vis the National Show on Saturday 25^th June 2022.  Mick will return to his role after convalescence, expected to be during July.

I will still be Data Protection Officer.  There is little day-to-day activity in this area, so I will be free to concentrate on the Show.

The Board feels that this provides an orderly transfer of responsibilities with existing role holders all available to help assure continuity, and also gives us the best chance of delivering a successful 2022 National Show.

Last but by no means least, we all also wish Mick the very best with his planned surgery and look forward to him returning to head up preparation and delivery of the 2023 National Show.

Alan Regan, Chairman & Membership Secretary

We are very pleased to announce the winners of the Association 2021 Christmas Quiz, set by Laurence Smith.

Unusually, two entrants were tied for second place. One of these has been selected randomly to receive the 2nd prize of a Summerlands Chuffer, and the other will receive a year’s Association Membership for 2022.

Well done to all of you. We would like to take the opportunity to thank Chris Bird of Summerlands Chuffers for kindly donating two of his ‘Chuffers’ as prizes again this year. You can view the complete range of Chuffers at www.summerlands-chuffer.co.uk.

The answers to the quiz have also been published.

Richard Huss, IT Officer

I am extremely pleased to announce that Tom Rowland, a member in the West London area, has volunteered to succeed me as Membership Secretary.  Tom has been a member since 2003 and his motivation for coming forward is that, a bit like me 14 years ago, he wants to give something back to our wonderful hobby and support our great Association.  Tom, I think you know how much I appreciate this, but it’s never a bad thing to say how you feel!

Tom’s been unnanimously co-opted onto the board and he and I are spending time together online every week so that I can pass to him more and more aspects of the role.  He’s already managing most of the Members Site activity, creating new member acounts and administering changes, so don’t be surprised if you hear from him on these matters instead of me.  Tom will take over other activities in the weeks and months ahead and our objective is that I hand over to him completely and stand down at the AGM at the National Garden Railway Show on Saturday 25th June, later this year.  I will stay on as Data Protection Officer, but will stand down as a director.

The Board will then elect a new Chairman from amongst their ranks.  Our next online board meeting is late this month and I’m sure that this will be a topic of discussion.  I will make a further announcement after the meeting.

Alan Regan, Chairman & Membership Secretary

Emails inviting members who renew their subscription either online or by cheque and have an email address will be sent out late this month.  I know that some of you prefer to get renewal out of the way as early in the year as possible and indeed some members have already done this.  The reason for this announcement is to let everyone know that this is now possible.  What we call the “renewal offers” have all been created in Warners MyMagazineSub system, so if you want to get your subscription paid now, click on View Renewal Offers, log in using the email address and password that you used to register with the system, then select the renewal offer of your choice.  Direct Debit is by far our most popular renewal option and these are listed first, so depending on the type of device you’re using, you may need to scroll down the page to find the credit/debit card options.

The system will send you confirmation by email after you’ve completed the renewal and if you renew before we prepare the email invitations, clearly we won’t send you one.  Remember that a personalised renewal invitations will not be sent out with the February mailing of SMT & Bulletin, because we no longer use address carrier sheets, so creating these personalise invitations would be an additional expense and needlessly use more paper.  If you’re not sure whether you need to renew, click on View Renewal Offers and log in as explained above.  If you renew by Direct Debit, the system will tell you that your subscription renews automatically.  If you see that no renewal offers are available, it is because you do not need to renew your subscription at this time.

Alan Regan, Chairman & Membership Secretary