Shed Notices

I’ve been notified by the venue of planned road closures to support HS2 building work which may affect those travelling by road to the National Show.  The closure is to the A46 between the Kenilworth exit and junction with the A45, and also to the B4115.  Visitors using the A46 and approaching from the southwest will need to leave at leave the A46 at Thickthorn Roundabout (the exit for Leamington and Kenilworth) and follow the diversion for local traffic travel along the A452, then the B4113 to approach Stoneleigh Park.  This might be the route you’d have used anyway.  Visitors approaching from the north or east should also follow the diversion for local traffic along the A423, then the A445 until you see signs for Stoneleigh Park.  The route that visitors from the south would use to access Stoneleigh Park should be unaffected.

Directions to the show and the map showing recommended routes is being updated and will be released shortly has now been updated to reflect this.

A similar closure of the A46 in February resulted in increased traffic on local routes but did not cause any issues with access to the venue.

Alan Regan, Show Director

The Board are pleased to announce that Inglis Embroidery based in Sussex have been appointed as the new Association Clothing suppliers. They will be offering similar clothing products to those we have had in the past, plus some exciting new lines!

Their Association shop will be launched on 12th April online and simultaneously at the National Garden Railway Show where a small selection of products will be available.

However keep your eyes peeled for a pre-launch limited time Special Offer!

Rod Nipper, Publicity

With approaching eight weeks to the National Show on 12^th April, Carol and I visited the venue on Tuesday.  A frequent criticism of last year’s show was that it was too dark inside the main hall, though some thought it was fine.  Well this year I think everyone should consider it fine.  Hall 2 has brand new, state-of-the-art lighting and it’s very bright.  The black drapes on the wall no longer suck up the light.  I’m sure I could very comfortably work on one of my locos.  Have a look at this video and decide yourself.  It’s great to see the venue listening to its customers and investing to deliver a better visitor experience.

Another change is the implementation, at the head of the entrance queues for show visitors outside the entrance Foyer, of mobile metal detector “arches”.  If they detect metal in a bag or package, the item will be quickly checked but in as unintrusive a basis as possible, packages with a wand, to see what’s inside, bags with a torch.  The aim is to keep us all safe.  Hopefully you’re aware that the proposed Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill, known as “Martyn’s Law”, contains a requirement that events expected to have 800 or more visitors at the same time need to implement a range of measures to keep us safe and conform to the law.  It hasn’t been passed yet but it’s widely expected to do so.  Stoneleigh, like any responsible venue, is getting ready for the future.

The members most likely to be affected by this are those bringing items to sell at M2M.  We recommend that you prepare, by making items containing metal parts easily accessible.  Anticipate that items will need visual inspection and think about how you can readily facilitate this.  M2M check-in opens at 09:00 so try to be there when it opens.  Finally, even though this may provide a level of inconvenience, making events safer is surely in everyone’s interest.

I’ll provide further updates via Shed Notices as the date of the show approaches.

Alan Regan, Show Director

This year, raffle tickets for the Grand Prize Draw are being sold in books of 12.

If you’ve received tickets with SMT and wish to pay by cheque, please ensure you send a cheque for £12, not £10.

If you’d prefer to purchase fewer than 12 tickets, simply send payment for the number of stubs you’re sending and dispose of the rest.

Thank you for your support, and good luck in the draw!

The February mailing of SMT, Bulletin, the Annual Report along with a book of tickets for the Grand Draw will be dropping through out doors from tomorrow.  If you want to enter the draw, please remember there are three ways to do so:

• Enter your name and membership number or address and postcode on the stub of each ticket and return them with your payment to the address on the ticket.
• Or, complete all of the stubs and bring the book of tickets to the show and hand them in at the Grand Draw stand in the Association Hub.  You can pay by credit/debit card, cash or cheque.
• If you no longer have a cheque book and don’t plan to attend the show, remember that from this year you can pay for them by Direct Debit.  This service is still open but you need to act quickly.  Subscriptions received by 13th February will be claimed at the end of February, those received after this date by by 13th March will be claimed at the end of March.  Subscriptions after this time will be to the 2026 and future Grand Draws.  Click this link to access the Grand Draw subscription site.

Good luck in the draw!

Alan Regan, Show Director

The February mailing of 16mm Today and Bulletin is scheduled for collection by Royal Mail from Warners Midlands in Bourne later this week.  The entire mailing to UK and overseas members will be collected at the same time. Mailing to UK members is First Class.  There are no mail delays at the time of writing.  Information for the UK can be found here.

Mailing to overseas members is by Air Mail. There are no major delays expected to non-UK mailings. Further information regarding mailing to addresses outside the UK can be found here.

SMT and Bulletin will be available on our Members Site from 09:00 on Saturday 8^th February.  If you haven’t received an invitation to activate your account on the site, or can’t find it, please email members.site@16mm.org.uk providing your surname, membership number and post code and we’ll send an invitation as soon as we can.

This mailing for UK recipients this month as it includes the Annual Report and the National Garden Railway Show Prize Draw tickets, along with SMT and Bulletin.  We are unable to send the first two to overseas members, to keep the package weight under 500 grams.  Customs arrangements arising from the UK’s exit from the EU require additional processes for overseas mailings exceeding 500 grams and due to the infrequency of such mailings, Warners don’t have these in place with Royal Mail.  The Annual Report will be published to our Members Site concurrent with SMT and Bulletin.  If any overseas member requires a paper copy of the Annual Report, please contact me at membership@16mm.org.uk and we’ll make arrangements to send one to you.

This year we will not be sending the Show guide with the February mailing. The guide will be available on the Show website nearer the show date of 12^th April, and paper copies will be available at the show.

Many thanks go to the editors of the magazines – to Greg Moir for his first time editing 16mm Today and to Harry Jones and Jonathan Mead for their work on Bulletin. Also thanks to Andrew Mountfield, with contributions from the Association board, for the Annual Report, and George Sheppard for arranging the Draw Tickets

Thanks as well of course to all the members who contributed to the publications. Your input as always is very welcome and critical to the editors being able to present varied and interesting content.  I hope you enjoy what I’m sure will as always be an enjoyable read.

Tom Rowland, Membership Secretary

Invitations to renew your subscription for the membership year commencing 1st March 2025 are scheduled to be sent by email in the week beginning Monday 3^rd February.  You will be sent an invitation unless:

• You have joined the Association since 1st December 2024, have already renewed your subscription or pay your subscription by Direct Debit (i.e. you do not need to manually renew at this time)
• You have previously advised us that you do not wish to renew your subscription
• We do not have a valid email address stored against your membership record

If you wish to act on the invitation, please take time to read the instructions provided in it, which are divided into three sections.  The first is for members who have joined online or renewed online in the past, the second is for those who haven’t used the online renewal system in the past and now wish to do so, and the last is for members who wish to renew by phone, mail etc.  If you want to renew by cheque please wait for February Bulletin, due for mailing from Warners on Friday 7^th February, which will contain full renewal instructions.  These will be on page four.

Please pay particular attention to the renewal option you select.  If you see a NEW subscription in your shopping basket as opposed to a subscription RENEWAL, you will pay £3 extra to renew for the coming year.  Please go back, empty your basket and start again.  Every year a small number of new subscriptions are taken out which were intended as renewals, resulting in an extra cost to the purchaser, and also creating extra work for the Association and the renewals team at Warners.  Remember also that you can change the type of membership subscription as part of the renewal if what you’ve had in the past no longer meets your needs.  You can also take out a Direct Debit to renew your subscription if you wish.

If you have queries or difficulty, please contact Warners at 16mmNGM@warnersgroup.co.uk or by phone number on 01778 392016 (outside the UK call 00 44 1778 392016).  Likewise, if you expect to but don’t receive an invitation, please contact Warners.  We’re unable to send out invitations ourselves.  If after two working days you haven’t received or aren’t satisfied with the response, please contact me at membership@16mm.org.uk.

Tom Rowland, Membership Secretary

Your Member-to-Member stand wants YOU!

We are always recruiting people join our fantastic team of volunteers!

Roles include:

• Booking-in
• Layout during booking in
• Sales
• Cashier
• Assisting me
• Payout
• Clean-up

I am in URGENT need of sales volunteers from 1200-1400!

Benefits include free admission and meal vouchers.

** Due to insurance requirements, volunteers must be at least 18 on the date of the show. **

If you’re interested, please drop me an email on member-member.sales@16mm.org.uk

Thanks!

Rebecca J Lockley, M2M Sales Coordinator

The National Garden Railway Show takes place on Saturday 12^th of April 2025 at Stoneleigh Park, Kenilworth, CV8 2LG, from 09:00 to 17:00.  I’ve emailed all those who either stewarded last year or in previous years.  36 people have already responded, but sadly 10 can’t steward this year, so already we need new stewards, people who have possibly never done it before, to step into the breach.  To put the need in context, we have 76 stewarding duties across the show on Saturday.  So far we have 19 people to cover those duties.

So why would you volunteer as a steward?  You’d be giving something back to the Association, you’d see the show from another perspective, I hope you’d find it enjoyable and rewarding but most of all, you’d be contributing to the successful running of the greatest garden railway show in the UK, perhaps in Europe.  If you could give up a couple of hours you won’t have to pay the £18 entry fee to get into the show and we’ll give you a refreshment voucher to spend at any of the catering outlets at the show.  You’ll be free to enjoy the show once your assigned duty has ended.  If you’re with us on Friday 11^th for set-up, we’ll provide complimentary tea, coffee, soft drinks and biscuits.

We have lots of duties needing stewards, from setup, jobs during the time the show’s open, to break down after the show closes, some needing you to be mobile, others sitting down, like checking entry tickets.  We all have different abilities and capabilities, so if you can help, please email me at alan.regan@16mm.org.uk or phone me on 07808 391152.  Let me know your availability and anything that might affect what you’re assigned and I’ll do my best to allocate duties that best suit you.

Alan Regan, Show Director