Shed Notices

I’m pleased to advise that the onsite catering available at the Show has been extended to provide hot food in the restaurant in the Peterborough Suite, to the right of the Foyer as you come into the venue through the entry ticket booths.  The restaurant will offer a hot breakfast from 07:30 until 10:30 and a hot lunch from 12:30 to 14:30.  The restaurant will also offer rolls, sandwiches and sweets and will open early so that stewards, exhibitors and layout operators can eat before the venue opens to visitors at 09:00.

A further catering unit, outside the Atrium and accessible as soon as you pass through the entry ticket booths, will offer drinks, hot rolls and pastries.  A third catering unit, inside the Main Hall in the yellow zone and accessible once you’ve been admitted to the Show, will offer drinks and light refreshments.  Tables and chairs will be provided for the use of those taking advantage of the facility.

For the first time, the bar between the Foyer and the Peterborough Suite will also be open serving a range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.

We hope that this range of catering options covers most visitors’ needs and we look forward to seeing you at the show a week on Saturday.

Alan Regan, Show Director & Carol Regan, Venue co-ordination

The May mailing of SMT and Bulletin is scheduled for collection by Royal Mail from Warners Midlands in Bourne today, 13^th May.  The entire mailing to UK and overseas members will be collected at the same time.

Mailing to UK members is First Class, so packages will start to arrive from Saturday 14^th.  There are no delays at the time of writing.  Information for the UK can be found here.

Mailing to overseas members is by Air Mail.  Delivery times may be affected by ongoing COVID-19 reduction measures and reduced air transport capacity.  Items to some EU destinations are also experiencing customs delays.  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 14^th May.  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 is unusually heavy, comprising SMT, Bulletin, the Show Guide, Annual Report and Draw Tickets, weighing just under 700 grams.  We’ve been unable to send the last three to members overseas, to keep the 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 and Show Guide will be published to our Members Site concurrent with SMT and Bulletin.  If any overseas member needs paper copies, please contact me at alan.regan@16mm.org.uk and I’ll get them to you.  We’re only able to accept payment for Draw Tickets by cheque or money order in Pounds Sterling drawn on a UK financial institution, but if you’re an overseas member with access to this facility and want to participate in the draw, please contact me for tickets.  This topic is discussed further in the Chairman’s Column in SMT.

Thanks to editors Gareth Jones (SMT), Dave Gordon (Bulletin and the Show Guide) and Mike Riley (Annual Report) for getting their publications out on time, and to all the members who contributed to both of them.  Your input as ever 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 again be an enjoyable read.

Alan Regan, Chairman

Advance entry tickets for the National Garden Railway Show, which takes place on Saturday 25th June 2022 at the Peterborough Arena, are on sale in the Association ticket shop.  Adult entry tickets are £14 each and junior entry tickets are as in the past free.  We’re also able to offer a shuttle bus from Peterborough railway station to the venue.  The first departure to the Arena will be 09:00 from outside the railway station, the second at 09:45.  The full shuttle bus timetable will appear in the Show Guide which will accompany May’s issues of SMT and Bulletin and is here on our show web site.  Adult return tickets are £10 each, which is half the current price of a return journey using a taxi.  Junior return tickets are again free.

We plan to sell entry tickets and shuttle bus tickets on the day, but you may need to queue to buy your ticket and in the case of shuttle bus tickets, we’ll be selling them at the Arena as you arrive, which may delay you getting into the show.  Paper advance entry tickets will also be available via the May issues of Bulletin.

Online sales of advance entry tickets will end at 09:00 on Thursday 23rd June.  Requests for paper advance entry tickets must be received by Friday 17th June, to give time for them to be posted back to you.

Ticket holders may enter the site from 09:00 to take advantage of the toilets and catering facilities in the Peterborough Suite and outside immediately adjacent to the entrances to the Foyer.  Anyone who has bought a ticket in advance will be allowed into the Atrium and straight on into Main Hall of the show from 09:30.  Those who buy tickets on the day will be allowed into the Atrium and Main Hall from 10:00.  This differential is to encourage purchase in advance, which greatly eases the burden on the volunteers who run the show on the day.

When you buy your ticket online, we email your tickets to you there and then and ask that you print them out on receipt and store them safely for the day of the show.  Please don’t wait until the day before the show to print your tickets.  If you experience difficulty, the people who can help you will be busy setting up the show.  If you turn up on the day without having printed your ticket, your entry to the show risks being delayed whilst we swap you advance entry ticket for an on-the-day ticket.

This will be our first show since the Covid-19 pandemics of 2020 and 2021.  We want you to feel safe and to enjoy yourselves.  We’re organising the show to avoid indoor queues or massing of visitors, which is why we’re encouraging purchase of tickets in advance, and direct entry from the Atrium into the Main Hall, to avoid lots of people having to stand shoulder to shoulder waiting for entry into the Main Hall.  Almost all the hobby’s current traders will be present, plus preservation societies and over a dozen layout.  MotY and M2M will make a welcome return.  The show promises to be back to its pre-Covid vibrant self.

Alan Regan, Chairman and Acting Show Director

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