Romsey Signal Box

[Romsey]

Romsey Signal Box project has been closed to the public since December 2013 due to building work on adjacent land blocking our main access route.

After experimenting with revised opening arrangements last Autumn as part of the Romsey Festival, the Signal Box will be open to the public on the weekend of 7th and 8th March from 1000 to 1600 on both days. This is in conjunction with Romsey Model Railway exhibition.

http://www.romseysignalbox.org.uk/

We will be demonstrating how the signal box would have been operated at a level suitable for the general public. We also invite our visitors to get involved pulling levers and working block instruments under instruction. Specialist visitors ( such as the visitors on this site ) often get more involved in operations.

Please PM me if you need any further information.

Cheers, Neil

[Romsey]

As another element of the weekend there will be a minibus trip along the route of the "Sprat & Winkle" line between Redbridge and Andover. This is the public announcement which will appear in the local paper on Friday13th February.

Sprat & Winkle trip!
The Friends of Romsey Signal invite interested members of the public to have a nostalgic trip up the Test Valley in Hampshire to view the remains of a railway opened exactly 150 years ago.
The railway between Redbridge (Southampton), Romsey and Andover, often referred to as the Sprat & Winkle, was opened on 6th March 1865. The line from Redbridge to Romsey remains open, however the line up the Test Valley to Andover closed in 1964 and much has been converted to form part of the Test Way, a long-distance footpath.
The opening of the line caused the junction to be created at Romsey, whereupon a new signal box was required. This signal box, closed in 1982, has been preserved and restored to operational order by the Friends of Romsey Signal Box.
In recognition of the 150th Anniversary, the Friends will be opening the signal box for two special Open Days on Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th March, 10am-4pm (entrance free, donations welcomed). Access from Romsey station and local roads will be clearly signposted.
The Friends are also arranging an afternoon’s guided trip on Saturday 7th March, alongside the route of the line by minibus, starting and finishing in Romsey, to view various locations of railway interest. Spaces on the minibus must be pre-booked, cost £10 per head (to cover the minibus cost). For more details, and to book seats, contact the Romsey Heritage & Visitor Centre, 01794 512987, or Dick Hewett, treasurer@romseysignalbox.org.uk, 01794 500523. A second trip may be arranged if there is sufficient demand.

Cheers, Neil

[Romsey]

Just for information, the Saturday minibus trip and the duplicate trip on Sunday are very nearly full. 4 places left on Sunday evening.

Romsey Signal Box will be open 1000 to 1600 on Saturday and Sunday. It will be signposted from Romsey station and Great Well Drive (Park at the Doctors Surgery). Parking is free in the town centre on Sunday.
http://www.romseysignalbox.org.uk/
and click on the "visit" tab for directions.

Best wishes, Neil

[Romsey]

Romsey Signal Box will re-open to the public on a regular basis from 2pm on Sunday 6th September, after a VIP reopening ceremony.
Thereafter, opening dates for the remainder of 2015 will be Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th September (both 1200-1700, entrance free), and Sundays 4th October, 1st November and 6th December (all 1200-1600, entrance £3 adults gift-aided, children free).
Easy access from Romsey station, signposted parking at "The Rapids". For more details, please visit http://www.romseysignalbox.org.uk

Regards, Neil

[John Webb]

Best Wishes on the restoration of regular opening. Hope all goes well with you new neighbours!

[Romsey]

Romsey Signal Box opening details for 2016

Regular open days
We will be open from 1200 to 1600 on each of these dates.
First Sunday of each month from February to December.
7th Feb, 6th Mar, 3rd Apr, 1st May, 5th June, 3rd July, 7th Aug, 4th Sep, 2nd Oct, 6th Nov & 4th Dec.
Third Saturday of each Month January to November.
16th Jan, 20th Feb, 19th Mar, 16th Apr, 21st May, 18th June, 16th July, 20th Aug, 17th Sep, 15th Oct & 19 Nov.

Additional opening Dates
Any additional open days will be publicised on our web site
Saturday 5th March
Sunday 11th September Free admission as part of the Heritage Open Days event.
http://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/directory

Group visits welcome at other times by appointment.

Admission prices
Adults (16 and over) : £3.00 (with Gift Aid) £2.50 (no Gift Aid)
Accompanied under 16’s free.

£10.00 for an annual pass, which includes membership of Friends of Romsey Signal Box.

For further details please visit our web site –
[url]http://www.romseysignalbox.org.uk/
[/url] or “PM” me through this forum.

Thanks, Neil

[Chris Osment]

But the question from me is - having been caught out this year - what date will the Romsey Fair be??? Any potential clash again?

[Romsey]

I presume you mean Romsey Agricultural & Horse Show, which will be held on Saturday 10th September. ( Romsey Show day is a whole day of traffic jams for about 10 miles in all directions.)
That is why we are only opening on the Sunday on the Heritage Open Day weekend.

Thanks, Neil

[Chris Osment]

Thanks for the info. Fortunately, I only got a 1.5 mile jam when I came this year

[Romsey]

From the 1940's until until closure in 1982, Romsey SB was clad with asbestos sheets below the windows. As asbestos sheeting has not been accepted for buildings for 30 years or more, the signal box was re-clad with vertical matchboarding when it was relocated and rebuilt. Most of the other early LSWR signal boxes in the area (Dunbridge, Dean, Wilton South, Netley) survived until closure with horizontal weatherboarding below the windows.

In the next few years the cladding will need to be replaced and the subject of weatherboarding was raised, but we have no proof of Romsey SB being clad with weatherboarding. I have searched the photo archives of the local history group, but the few photos were taken after 1947/1948.

Does anyone have photographic proof that the signal box was ever clad with weather boarding?

Thanks in anticipation, Neil

[John Webb]

Would the "Britain from Above" website have anything useful on it? (I haven't been able to check - their recent website revamp has left me unable to view it for the moment.)

[Chris Osment]

I would argue that, if you are going to use weatherboarding, then horizontal definitely rather than vertical. Was it not Fordingbridge which also had (asbestos) sheeting? - I wonder if there are any older pictures of that boxt before that was fitted?

If you need to replace the cladding, then clearly you do need something to protect the inner skin against the weather, so I'm not sure with what else you could replace it that might be considered authentic other than weatherboarding.

[Romsey]

Would the "Britain from Above" website have anything useful on it? (I haven't been able to check - their recent website revamp has left me unable to view it for the moment.)

Thanks that was a useful suggestion, but didn't help. The local history group had some lovely photos from the 1930's taken from the air but they concentrated on the town, abbey and River Test with the railway as a faint line in the far distance.

[Romsey]

An image published in the South Western Circular in October shows vertical matchboarding! Thank you all for your assistance and suggestions.

That solves the type of cladding to be applied, but the latest vertical cladding (dating from the late 1990's) is starting to rot on the side of the SB most exposed to the prevailing winds. The Romsey Historic Buildings Trust, who own the structure, are involved and are working on using machined hardwood planking for the replacement cladding with a better design to avoid moisture traps at the bottom of the cladding.

Cheers, Neil

[John Webb]

.......but the latest vertical cladding (dating from the late 1990's) is starting to rot on the side of the SB most exposed to the prevailing winds. The Romsey Historic Buildings Trust, who own the structure, are involved and are working on using machined hardwood planking for the replacement cladding with a better design to avoid moisture traps at the bottom of the cladding.......

We found something similar during the Summer while the St Albans South box was having a major external repaint. Where the first floor vertical boarding met the horizontal beam at first floor level, failure of the previous paint had let in damp over a 6 foot stretch, rotting the top of the beam and the bottom of the boarding, all of which had to be replaced. A similar technique was used of a single plank of wood with machined grooves used to replace the bottom 6 inches of boarding rather than extending each board individually.