Churchward House Update and Toddington Kerbs & Paving

Churchward House Report from Jim H - C&M Project Lead

Well a month has flown by since our last Blog and here is my long overdue report on progress.  During that time our efforts have been concentrated on some structural and electrical alterations to the offices which are going to become operational early in the New Year.

In addition a major effort has been made to decorate those offices, painting the walls in Gardenia to hide the awful pale blue. Hopefully when the new brown carpet tiles are fitted these offices will have a plausible GWR “chocolate and cream” theme.

Here are the floor plans for the office accommodation :

First Floor :

Ground Floor :

The structural works have involved removing a surplus door and it’s frame from the Finance Office on the first floor.  A hole then had to be made in the internal wall for this door and frame to become the entrance door to the Operations Office on the ground floor. 

A new stud wall has been built to separate off the Operations Office from the Messroom 

New stud wall separating the Ops Office from the Messroom

New stud wall clad and ready for plastering

and another to fill in the gap left where the surplus door was taken out of the Finance office.  Both these walls have now been plastered and decorated.

Before - Unnecessary Finance
doorway being removed

And after - New stud walling, 
plastering and redecoration

Before

& 

After

Electrical work carried out by Steve L has included an additional 240 volt socket in the Operations Office plus re controlling the lights in that office so they work on the same switch rather than one from the Messroom area. An additional light has also been installed in the entry area to the Gents toilet which was rather dark. Other alterations are ongoing.

On the first floor we have all but completed decorating the Administration and Finance Offices, the Meeting room and the main corridor. Just the radiators need painting plus a couple of snagging items.

The Future Admin Office looking towards
 the station before work started

And looking rearward towards the yard

Before & After

After redecoration - Looking forward

And again - Looking rearward towards the yard

On the ground floor redecoration of the Reception Office is complete including painting the radiators. 

Reception Area - Redecorated and waiting for carpet

Another view within the Reception Area
with the Car Park visible through the windows

The Operations Office is ready for top coating and radiator painting. The corridor will be next in line for attention.  Oh and we mustn’t forget the tiny Literature Store which is complete and ready to take the new Timetables when these become available. 

We have already started painting both the Ladies and the Gents toilets.

On other issues, the fibre optic cable is now installed as is the new IT cubicle with it’s UPS supply.  The new telephone system will be a VOIP one. I believe this means that Maxine can take her ‘phone with her on holiday, and when plugged in abroad, can answer calls as if she were in her office in Churchward House.  Not a feature I expect to be used very often!! 

So plenty happening but whether it will all come together in January remains to be seen.  Watch this space!!

Jim H.

Toddington Kerbs & Paving Works - Rob W - Designer

There has been a long-term history of flooding of the northern end of the platform and the north pedestrian access gate. This summer a detailed study was done of the kerb levels, the fall of the paving slabs and the storm water flows down the kerb line during heavy rain.  The survey also highlighted a problem of kerb overtopping and standing water remaining on the southern pedestrian access path after storms.

A scheme to rectify these problems was designed and approved to be implemented as quickly as possible during the off season, but without interfering with the Santa Specials or Christmas timetable.

The work was broken into four phases, each of which can be implemented as a discrete sub-project. Only one working area will be tackled at a time, and each work area has been designed to be closed off when customers are going to be be given access nearby.

The first phase started on 30th October when all the necessary plant and equipment were taken from Winchcombe to Toddington, and supplies dropped off by our external suppliers.

Monday 4th November work began in earnest. The first area to be tackled was the north pedestrian access. All the kerbs in this area were lifted and replaced by larger kerbs that gave a 100mm freeboard to keep the stormwater on the road and prevent it crossing the paving and onto the platform, as shown in this picture taken by Stu H from Lineside Drainage recently.

Recent flooding - Showing the route the stormwater
normally takes on its way to the platform

The team of Rod W, Terry A, Keith S, Paul C, Bob W, joined by Rob W began lifting the kerbs from the vehicle gate to the yard right up to the old postbox. 

The first kerbs to be set were the tapers and dropped kerb for the ramp.

Here Rod and Terry are using the kerb lifter to get the first kerbs into position.

Along the way there were a number of important discoveries such as four cables that work the gate hidden just under the surface of the road and concreted into the old kerb line. Each one had to be dealt with by very careful use of power tools and incorporated properly into the new kerbing.

There were also old cable ducts which Neil C gave permission to remove where no longer needed.

By the end of day 1 fantastic progress had been made. All the new kerbs were in their final positions. You can see the difference in kerb height from the last kerb sitting next to the old one.

End of Day 1

On day 2 work started on the complex layout of slabs that create the disabled access ramp whilst maintaining the 100mm freeboard.

Here Rod W, Terry A and Bob W have got the first ramp slab into position and got the critical heights set correctly. This is now being followed by cut side slabs that will maintain the critical freeboard height.

It was critical here that the top edge of the ramp was the same height as the top of the full kerbs.

The next task was to obtain an even slope from the back edge of the ramp to the slot drain under the gate, which is the limit of the new paved area. The old slabs were removed, and as you can see, this is a complex piece of setting out by the team whilst Rod breaks out the old cable tray base.

The whole area was covered in granular material and then vibrated hard to give a solid base on which to lay the mortar bed.

More slabs were added to the rear of the ramp and then a single line of level slabs set to follow the kerb top level towards the post box.

Here are the finished slabs and ramp at the north gate, just waiting for the specialist mortar to point the joints on the ramp area and around the fence posts.

The day after these photos were taken the heavens opened and all the surrounding areas were totally inundated by flooding (see Lineside Drainage's Blog for details) and yet for the first time in recent years the platform at the north end of the station did not flood - Well that proved that the design was sound, and that the C&M Team had got it in just in time !!

Here is the latest update from the team taken at the end of today (27/11/19).

We are very pleased to have hit our target of getting the north gate ready for the Santa Specials this weekend. The area will now remain fenced off to keep the public safe during the festive period.

That's all for now !

We all hope you find this blog interesting.

Rob W