THE STAFFORDSHIRE KNOT Issue No.6

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1 KNOTTY COACH TRUST Quaerendo invenietis * N e w s l e t t e r S u m m e r THE STAFFORDSHIRE KNOT Issue No.6 STOP PRESS I: KNOTTY HERITAGE TRAIN VISITS THE CHURNET VALLEY RAILWAY Over the weekend of June the Knotty Heritage Train (Haydock Foundry WT Bellerophon; NSR coaches 61 & 127; replica NSR brake van) ran on the picturesque Churnet Valley Line, the highlight of CVR s Anything Goes summer gala. This was the first time Knotty coaches had carried paying passengers on a genuine NSR line in almost a century! A truly historic event. Not 1915 but 2015! The Knotty Heritage Train at Leek Brook [David Gibson] Blessed as it was by perfect weather, the gala was extremely well attended and the trains packed. In addition to the public services on the Saturday and Sunday, private charters were run on the Friday for various groups including the Biddulph Historical Society and a local ex BR drivers and * Seek and you shall find. 1

2 firemen society. Attendants in Victorian dress were on hand to advise and answer questions about the Knotty Heritage Train and our future plans. Importantly, the event was also a great financial success and 2,200 clear profit was made for Project 228 and the Knotty Coach Trust. Gala organiser Jon Kerr said: This is the first gala I have organised and it went better than I could have imagined I very much hope the Knotty coaches will return to CVR next year and negotiations are already underway for an extended visit in 2016 many thanks to all involved for their hard work. The Knotty Heritage Train at Cheddleton [Dave Gibson] Knotty Coach Trust chairman Ron Whalley said This was a wonderful weekend and entirely justifies the decision which a small group of us at Foxfield made in 2008 to form the Knotty Coach Trust to fully restore these coaches. I have no doubt that over the next year or two we will be equally successful in restoring 1 st class coach no 228 and the Accessible Brake Coach. NSRC chairman Peter Green said: I can t wait to see 1 st class Knotty coach no 228 restored and running in the Knotty Heritage Train with its magnificent first class upholstery, blue leather and moquette I oversee the Project 228 bank account and with this gala and the CVR raffle takings last year (plus other donations) we have raised more than 5,000 already 2

3 towards the restoration of our 1 st class Knotty coach a tremendous achievement in less than 12 months. STOP PRESS II: HLF GRANT APPLICATION SUBMITTED The Heritage Lottery Fund grant application for the Accessible Brake Coach was submitted this week having been approved by the Heritage Railway Association. HRA have also formally written a letter of support. We should have a decision within eight weeks. So if successful we can start the rebuild in September. Fingers crossed! RESTORATION DEMONSTRATION PIECES DELIVERED FROM STANEGATE As part of our fundraising efforts to restore 1 st class coach no 228 and the Accessible Brake Coach (ABC) demonstration pieces have been made for public display at Foxfield and CVR (with donation boxes situated very close by!). They were delivered in time for the recent CVR gala where they were on show at the Knotty Coach Trust stall. 3

4 Two doors from coach no 228 have been beautifully restored by Stanegate Restorations of Haltwhistle. One is now on display at Froghall station together with an unrestored door as a before and after set. The other is on display at Caverswall Road station in a similar format. Also on display at Caverswall Road are the remains of one of the brake 3 rd duckets rescued from Wrea Cliffe Wood last autumn beside a restored replica of itself to show what it will look like when incorporated into the Accessible Brake Coach. SUMMER EDITION FEATURE ARTICLE: WHAT S IN A NUMBER? by Mark Smith (KCT Trustee) For quite a few years now, it has been thought that the only remaining first class Knotty 4-wheel carriage body, preserved at Cheddleton (and due to be restored by the Trust shortly) was numbered 28. This had apparently been discovered marked on one of the components during dismantling for some conservation work. I have done a lot of work with the surviving NSR carriage records, however, (compiled by the late Dr Jack Hollick, held by the Foxfield Railway in Hanley archives and computerised for the NSR Study Group) and have always been sceptical. The main reason to doubt the number 28 was because the surviving records show the sort of NSR carriage that carried it in the nineteenth century. And this wasn't like the 1870s first class surviving at Cheddleton, which has three very wide compartments (over 6ft 6in across). The accident report for a major crash at Uttoxeter on 11 Oct 1890 shows that 28 was a brake third which sustained "heavy damage". A brake third of the period would have had two narrow compartments (each less than 5 feet wide) and a 10 foot luggage section. It is very unlikely to have been a larger 6 wheeled vehicle, because no 6-wheel Brake Third of that number was built until Presumably the "new" no 28 was a replacement because the accident damaged one could not be repaired. In any case, this record discounts number 28 being an 1870s first class 4-wheel three-compartment carriage. When restoring two doors from the Cheddleton carrriage in their Haltwhistle workshop, Stanegate Restorations found what seems to be the correct number inscribed on various parts of the structure. It was usual to identify parts from a carriage in this way, as many, such as doors, were a craftsman made "fit" and it made sense to put an overhauled door back 4

5 exactly where it had come from, components being less interchangeable than we would expect today. The evidence thus points to this being carriage 228 not 28. From the NSR documents we have, there is no record of any carriage carrying the number before a bogie coach built at Stoke in But there must have been one that was withdrawn from service before the first surviving systematic list was drawn up (known as the Age of Carriage Stock 1916, available at the NA Kew and NRM York). Some corroborating evidence comes from numbers that we do know from other sources fell into the same range: was a four wheeler first recorded damaged in a collision at Sideway, just south of Stoke, on 5 November was the number reported on a NSR 20ft, three compartment, 4-wheel, first class body preserved for a while at "Nostalgia World" near Shrewsbury, after being moved from Market Drayton in KCT Trustee Dave Scragg took photos of it there, but it is believed to have been scrapped on site in This provides evidence that the NSR may have used groups of numbers for several set trains of close coupled four wheeled carriages in the range around 160 to 230, built in the 1870s. It is thus a good example of the Trust using new research to get restoration details as accurate as possible, working with partner groups like the NSR Study Group and the NRM. And of course the three compartment first class body at Cheddleton is no longer the only one surviving - the Trust recovered two more from the shores of Rudyard Lake last year, and who knows what their numbers may turn out to be..." PROGRESS ON LAMPS & CHIMNEYS Dave Donkin has been casting his spell and has magic d the prototype lamp chimneys for the Knotty coaches. With the replica lamps inside the carriages (LED lit so very useful in Leek Brook tunnel recently!), the chimneys on the roof above will set off no s 61 and 127 perfectly. Similar lamps and chimneys will be fabricated for the ABC and no228. 5

6 Fabricated Lamp Interior view above and roof chimney below 6

7 BRIAN ALLEN STEPS DOWN AS KNOTTY COACH TRUST TREASURER Brian Allen MBE is stepping down after seven years as Knotty Coach Trust treasurer. Brian who is of course President of the Foxfield Light Railway Society will, though, remain as a Knotty Coach Trust trustee. The other trustees recently presented Brian with an engraved pocket watch to commemorate his time as treasurer and as a token of appreciation for his sterling efforts and wise counsel. Many thanks indeed, Brian, from all of us at Foxfield. AND JEFF TURNER STEPS UP Jeff Turner will be taking over as Knotty Coach Trust Treasurer at our next meeting on 25 July. Jeff is a well known figure at Foxfield - already serving behind the bar and playing a key role in the Santa Specials. He has already helped the Knotty Coach Trust with setting out the figures for the ABC grant application (in the process established that neither Richard Warren nor Dave Scragg can add up). I asked Jeff to describe himself: Born and brought up in Meir. I am married to Wendy and have two sons Patrick and Alex from a previous marriage. I'm a part-time Company Accountant and have been coming to Foxfield almost weekly since May last 7

8 year. My interests are football (Stoke obviously), playing squash against my younger son Alex, making home made wines, especially strawberry. I enjoy my real ales and used to be a keen quizzer (I once appeared on Fifteen to One in 1995). I also play over 50's walking football every week. Jeff s obviously also into face painting as well because when I asked him for a photo of himself for the newsletter he sent me this Jeff Turner (on a bad day) KNOTTY HERITAGE TRAIN EDUCATIONAL DAYS As part of the HLF grant application process the Trust will be organising educational days out at Foxfield for local schools to learn about heritage. The events will be National Curriculum compliant and we have been receiving professional help from David Charlton (teacher) and Judith Ellis (education expert). We hope to start in the autumn. Anyone from a teaching background (or any background, really) or anyone with children of 8

9 school age who would like to become involved please contact Richard Warren AND FINALLY DATES FOR YOUR DIARY The Knotty Heritage Train runs at Foxfield on the following dates: 18 & 19 July 2015 (Summer Gala) 2 August September & 27 September 2015 (Autumn Gala) 4 October 2015 We are also attending the Manchester Model Railway Show ( the longest running model railway exhibition in the world ) on 5 & 6 December ************************* The KNOTTY COACH TRUST is a registered charity originally set up to restore North Staffordshire Railway coaches 127 & 61. This was achieved in 2013 & 2014 respectively and the two vehicles are in service on the FOXFIELD RAILWAY. When not running they are displayed in the railway s museum at Caverswall Road station. There are two current projects in hand: the restoration of NSR 1st class coach no228 and the restoration/reconstruction of the Rudyard brake as an Accessible Brake Coach. Looking further to the future we are the guardians of three Midland Railway coaches which we will start work on once there are no more Knotty coaches left to restore. Ideally, we would like to build a replica NSR loco to haul the KNOTTY HERITAGE TRAIN, perhaps a A class tank. Sadly, this will probably fall to the next generation of trustee; we are thus keen to recruit young supporters. So if you want to help the KNOTTY COACH TRUST in any way please contact: Richard Warren (FOXFIELD RAILWAY) Dave Scragg (FOXFIELD RAILWAY) R.A.Warren@mail.com dm.scragg@virgin.net Peter Green (CHURNET VALLEY RAILWAY) phg101@btopenworld.com ****************** ALL PRESS ENQUIRIES TO: Dave Scragg dm.scragg@virgin.net 9

10 NSR Rolling Stock Restoration Trust Conserving the past for the future Registered Charity No Standing Order Application Please complete this form and hand to either Richard Warren or Dave Scragg who will forward to your bank. Alternatively sign, scan & return to or post to:- Dave Scragg, 57 Camborne Crescent, Westlands, Newcastle, Staffs, ST5 3NQ. To your bank, I wish to take out a Standing Order to The NSR Rolling Stock Restoration Trust. I understand that the amount shown below will be paid at monthly intervals as indicated. To Bank plc:... Branch:... Account number to be debited:... Standing Order SORT CODE BANK/BRANCH CREDIT ACCOUNT MONTHLY AMOUNT NatWest, Longton, Staffs Please credit the account of The NSR Rolling Stock Restoration Trust with the above monthly amount. First payment to be made on... (day),... (month),... (year) and thereafter each month until further notice. Name:... Address: Post Code:... address:... Signature:...Date:... Gift Aid declaration Please treat all donations and subscriptions that I make today and in the future as Gift Aid donations. You must pay an amount of income tax and/or capital gains tax in each tax year at least equal to the tax that the NSR Rolling Stock Restoration Trust will claim from HM Revenue & Customs on your Gift Aid donation(s). Name:... Address: Post Code:... Signature:... Date:... Please notify The NSR Rolling Stock Trust if you: 1. Want to cancel this declaration. 2. Change your name or home address. 3. No longer pay sufficient tax on your income and/or capital gains. 10

11 CIRCULATION: FLRS members NSRC (1978) members NSR Study Group members Local Press Heritage Railway Press Biddulph Historical Society Arnold Bennett Society Other local Heritage Groups VCT HRA Local Museums R.A.W./D.J.W. July