The Ashover Light Railway Society

ALRS members should have recently received issue 60 of Where The Rainbow Ends, the quarterly journal of the Society.

Inside you will find a report of this year’s AGM held at our Rowsley site. The rain held off for long enough to enable this to take place outdoors, with social distancing easy to achieve. After the main business part of the agenda was concluded members were able to witness the first public outing of the Jaywick locomotive under its own power. (Admittedly this was by courtesy of compressed air, progress towards steam operation continues)

October saw the Society’s first presence of the year at an external event in 2021 as all local shows etc. have been victims of the Covid pandemic. The event was organised by Ashover Parish Council, the Ashover History/Artefacts/Memorabilia exhibition in the parish hall. This was a well attended event.

Advance notice of the annual general meeting of the ALRS.

Members will receive written notification by post or email in the next few days, but a date for your calendar is our AGM.

This will be on Saturday September 25th 2021 starting at 11.30 at our Rowsley site. If the weather is fine we intend to meet outside as we did last year, but if the weather is inclement it will be held inside our workshops.

(This posting will be duplicated on our Facebook page)

The quarterly tote results are:-

1. A.E. of Sheffield £40.50

2. T.L. of Chesterfield £24.30

3. D.W. of N.York  £16.20

New members of the tote are always welcome. Application forms can be found on the membership page of this website.

The COVID-19 pandemic has effectively stopped all practical work at the Rowsley site (until next month)

The March tote results are available:-

!. DW of North Yorkshire wins £40.50

2. BL of Ripley wins £24.30

3. CB of Sussex wins £16.20

Application forms to joint the tote are available on the membership page on this website.

The tote for December 2020 has been drawn, and the results are listed below:-

1. JW of New Zealand £40.50

2. DM of Matlock £24.50

3. AE of Sheffield £16.20

Congratulations.

New members of the tote are always welcome, and an application form can be found on the membership page of this website.

The society’s AGM was held on September 19th in Covid secure conditions at our Rowsley site. The weather allowed for members to be seated at appropriate distances from each other in the sunshine, and to examine at close hand the progress that has been made at the site since the easing of Covid restrictions.

The next issue of WTRE (the Society’s quarterly magazine),due shortly,  will include an expanded copy of the chairman’s report so that absent members can kept fully up to date with progress.

Tribute was also expressed to the railway artist Eric Leslie whose work has formed the basis of our Christmas cards. (Cards can be purchased from the merchandise pages of this website.)

Eric Leslie r.i.p.

It is with great regret that I record the death of the talented railway artist, Eris Leslie.

Eric was the artist responsible for the artwork on our Christmas cards (and contributed towards the Lynton & Barnstaple products as well). If you navigate to our merchandise pages you will be able to make a purchase.

Quarterly tote draw

The results of the tote are below

1. P.M. of the Isle of Man £41.25

2. R.B. of Wingerworth £24.75

3. J.W. of New Zealand £16.60

New members of the tote are always welcome, and the more members the greater the prizes. Navigate to the membership page of this website to download an application form and take part.

2020 A.G.M.

The Covid delayed A.G.M. of the society is taking place this Saturday, but in a different format to comply with the latest guidance on meetings.

Christmas Card 2020

Christmas may seem a long way away at this time of year, but the Ashover Light Railway’s 2020 Christmas card is now available to purchase.

The card is based on a watercolour painting of a winter scene by the talented railway artist Eric Leslie. It depicts a Baldwin engine approaching Woolley Station on its way to Clay Cross. The “Whistle Board” in the foreground warns drivers of the level crossing over Dark Lane adjacent to the stone house, Brookside Villa, whose occupants shared with the train crew the job of handling the crossing gates.

To purchase the card go to the merchandise section of this website where you will find our merchandise catalogue and order form , or use our sales section of eBay (alrs_sales)

Tote Results

The quarterly tote has been drawn, and the results are shown below

1. KV of Mansfield wins £40.50

2. TG of Alfreton wins £24.30

3. JW of New Zealand wins £16.20

Forms for joining the tote can be found in the membership section of this website.

Progress at Rowsley

The recent easing of lockdown restrictions has allowed a limited amount of progress to be made at Rowsley with tracklaying into the relocated containers, as well as removal of several weeks growth of nettles and similar weeds.

As a result of restrictions resulting from the current virus situation it has proved impossible to provide members with a hard copy of WTRE at the present time. However, in order to supply ALRS members with their narrow gauge “fix” a digital version is being emailed. If you haven’t provided the society with an up yo date email address, please let us know ASAP so that we can supply you with a PDF version.

Thank you