Newsletter: March 2017

Swithland Signalling Upgrade Appeal

Our Crowdfunding appeal, to raise funds to upgrade the signalling at Swithland, is now live at https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/mountsorreltrains. or can be reached via our website at http://heritage-centre.co.uk/donate/
We originally set ourselves an on-line target of £10,000, with the hope of raising the remainder of the £75,000 from our exceptional supporters and sponsors. At the end of March we have raised just over £68,000! We have therefore reduced our Crowdfunding target to just £5000. We are well on course but by no means yet over the line.

If you want further information about the work that will be necessary at Swithland then send an email to Malcolm at donate@heritage-centre.co.uk. Malcolm is also your point of contact if you wish to donate other than via Just Giving (e.g. for donations where you wish us to reclaim Gift Aid).
If you don’t wish to donate yourself then you can still help by spreading the word and sharing the Justgiving and website pages with your friends and via Facebook, Twitter etc. Justgiving believe each share can be worth £10!

Thank you for your support.

New Attractions

We are looking to open up further areas of the site on Good Friday the 14th April.

The Spinney Trail with den building area is virtually complete and tables have been installed to the high viewing area. Work is also nearing completion on the “Waffle Shack”. This will serve freshly cooked Belgium waffles with a variety of toppings, as well as tea, coffee, ice cream and cold drinks.

Down in the quarry we also hope to be able to open the Railway Museum and Exhibition Buildings. However, we do need volunteers to look after the site when we are open to visitors. If you would like to help take a look at http://heritage-centre.co.uk/help/vacancies/vacancies-mar17/

DMU Weekend 25/26 March

What glorious weather for our first train weekend of 2017. Many took the opportunity to walk the Nunckley trail, and watch the train passing the picnic area.

You can watch a short video of the train on YouTube at https://youtu.be/n9KXdwAR0Fk

The Mountsorrel Mystery

Author Stephen Done was on hand on the 25th to sign copies of his latest novel, “The Mountsorrel Mystery”. Set almost entirely on and around the Mountsorrel Railway so Granite’s was an ideal place to launch his book.

Copies are available from the GCR’s Shop.

Prince of Wales Photo-book.

If you are looking for a momento of Prince Charles’ visit back in January then Stephen Baum has produced an excellent photo-book of pictures taken on the day.

The soft cover version measures 9″ x 7″ (approx 23cm x 17cm) and comprises 24 sides (including the cover), and is printed on silk digital paper. Copies are on sale at Granite’s for just £5.95!

“Doris” does damage.

Sadly storm Doris damaged several of the trees around the Nunckley Trail. The most noteworthy being the Green Woodpecker tree just above the entrance to the trail. The tree broke straight through one of the nests (thankfully not in use this year). Our volunteers took the opportunity to cut through the tree just above each opening so that visitors can get a view of the inside of a Woodpecker nest.