Thames Valley Area Group Newsletter

Thames Valley Area Group - 2013 Autumn Newsletter

I realise some months have elapsed since the last Thames Valley newsletter. Unfortunately, much of my time nowadays is spent caring for an aged parent and this leaves very little time for L&B matters. This was not something I envisaged when just one year ago I agreed to take over from Chris Ward as Leader of the Thames Valley Group and obviously has implications for operating the Thames Valley Group about which please read below for more details.

Two bits of good news!

Firstly, I am pleased to report that John Elvin offered to take over from Chris Ward as Treasurer of the Thames Valley Group and his offer has been very gratefully accepted – thank you John!

The second piece of good news is that the Thames Valley Group recently gave the sum of £600 to the “All Aboard” appeal - see http://www.lynton-rail.co.uk/page/all-aboard for details.  If you have not already done so, then please do consider setting up a standing order to that fund as unless we do obtain planning permission the line will stay at one mile for ever. If you have already set up your standing order, then many thanks!

A Plea for Help

As noted in my opening paragraph, I am currently unable to do much for the L&B, in particular I cannot spare the time to transport our exhibition stand and sales stock to various events. We were due to have made another visit to the Didcot Railway Centre last weekend. Several members had offered to help man the stand, but I was not able to provide the necessary transport. There was insufficient time to look for someone else so we had to withdraw from that event. This was a great pity as when we went to Dicot in May we gained several new members, sold a lot of goods and generated much interest in the L&B.

So what can we do? One option is that an individual takes over from me the role of ‘Exhibition Manager’. He/she would then take the stand and stock to and from each and every show.  If you think you could do this then please e-mail me for more details of what this entails.

Another option is that various members take on the responsibility of taking the items to and from one or more shows. It might be this stays at my house in between shows or it might be handed from one member to another as the months go by. This would take a fair bit of organising, but at least we would be spreading the word and gaining funds from the sale of goods. Once again, if you think you could help in this way then do please send me an e-mail me so we can discuss further.

I appreciate that personal circumstances might change, so if today you feel you can look after a show in the summer of 2014 but then find you cannot do so, I for one will not hold it against you!  The important thing is that between us we will be doing our best for this railway we all love so much.

Finally a list of what we hope to undertake in the months to come.

Forthcoming Events

Saturday 19 October 2013 – Thames Valley Area Group Meeting The meeting will be in the hall of Newbury Baptist Church, Cheap Street, Newbury RG14 5DD and will start at 2.00 pm through to 4.00 pm.

This link gives more details of the venue. As you will see it is only 4 minutes walk from the bus station or 2 minutes walk from the railway station.

Peter Miles (Chairman of the L & B Trust) has this in his diary and will do his very best to attend. He will provide us with all the latest news as well as answer each and every question you can think of!

Saturday 4th & Sunday 5th January 2014 - SCOUTRAIL 2014 - Exeter Hall, Oxford Road, Killington. OX5 1AB

February 2014 – Newbury Model Railway Exhibition

March 2014 – Basingstoke Model Railway Exhibition

Whether or not you can help transport our stand I do look forward to seeing you at Newbury on 19 October. In addition to hearing all the latest news and seeing some of Trevor’s delightful films you will also be able to buy L&BR merchandise. Do your Christmas shopping early, avoid the crowds and help the L&B!!

Mike Pearce