THE BARROW HILL ENGINE SHED SOCIETY MAGAZINE Summer 2014 Price £2.50 Issue 45 JOOLS HOLLAND Vulcan - a loco comes at the Roundhouse back to life See page 15 See page 10 “Barrow Hill Live!” Preview See page 11 Plus MORE photos and stories INSIDE... including Rail Ale 2014 & Roundhouse Open Days See page 9 / 10 Top: 1704 Nunlow will be visiting the Roundhouse for the first time in September and will be in action at “Barrow Hill Live!” Photo: John Hillier Bottom: The hard work of the volunteers is shown off to great effect in this shot of the newly overhauled Barrow Hill wagon. Photo: Dave Darwin OpeningOpening Shot...Shot... Vulcan hauls a passenger train service back down the Springwell Branch during the Roundhouse Open Days in June Photo: Alexa Stott CONTENTS Chairman’s Chinwag 4 Headline News & Newslines 5 - Fuelling Point - Arrivals & Departures - NewRail Testing - VSOE Pays a Visit - Colas 60 at the Roundhouse - Bradford Railway Circle Visit Events Update 9 - Rail Ale 2014 - Roundhouse Open Days - Jools Holland - “Barrow Hill Live!” The Vulcan Story 15 Dave Darwin Remembers 23 Butler Henderson Star of the Silver Screen 25 The Archives 26 The Baby Deltic Project 27 DPS Report 30 Volunteers Report 31 Money Matters 32 Volunteer Liaison Officer’s Report 34 Historical Corner 36 Naturewatch 38 On Sunday 6th April an event with a difference took place at the Roundhouse. The Chesterfield Branch FRONT COVER: Vulcan hauling passenger trains of the MG Owners Club used our large car park as a venue for a gathering of MG car owners and at the Roundhouse Open Days in June 2014, seen their friends. Some of the cars were lined up next to from an unusual angle. Photo: Alexa Stott HAVE YOU GOT A MEMORY OF BARROW HILL IN From the Manager STEAM OR DIESEL DAYS? Welcome to the second Do you have photographs of the Newsletter of 2014. depot which we could use in future issues of the Newsletter? I am very pleased to report that we have had another fantastic year so far and all the Please get in touch with Alexa Stott diverse areas of the site have grown and by post: Barrow Hill Roundhouse, have been successful. Campbell Drive, Barrow Hill, Chesterfield, Derbyshire S43 2PR. And now for something very different…. Or email: [email protected] To develop the Roundhouse’s reputation as a venue for all and for all types of events Designed and printed by we are very pleased to announce that the design print web signs Tel: 01777 860579 www.burgessdesignandprint.com 2 Classic Car Rally at the Roundhouse resident steam loco Blue Peter in the Bay Platform for a photograph. Photo: Mervyn Allcock world famous pianist and entertainer Jools their magazine BRM and website RMWeb Holland, along with his Rythym & Blues certainly will be, as will the other model Orchestra and special guest Melanie C, will railway shows they organise – London, be performing for one night only at the Doncaster and Peterborough. We are very Roundhouse on Saturday 13th September. proud that Warners want to be involved in This will certainly add another string to our this event and it proves that once again the bow. Please tell all your friends about this Roundhouse has come up with an idea that concert to ensure that it is a sell out. This is attractive to lots of people. will hopefully be the precursor to many As always, thank you for all your support more events of a similar nature. and here’s to a successful conclusion to We are also looking forward to our first 2014 “Barrow Hill Live!” in association with our new partner Warners Events. Although this name may not be familiar to you, Mervyn Allcock August 2014 3 CHAIRMAN’S CHINWag When I first started writing have referred to before. We are hoping these pieces for the Newsletter, to attract a grant of approximately £1m I wondered whether I would to improve our facilities and to extend sometimes struggle to find things the range of our activities, so that we to say. I need not have worried, are attractive to new visitors, particularly there is always something families and young people. The application happening at Barrow Hill. process in is two stages. Round 1, which involved a lot of hard work by the Barrow Just after the last Newsletter was published Hill team and particularly our consultant we had another successful Rail Ale Festival. Anita Hollinshead, was submitted in May, There is more detail elsewhere in this and it will be two or three months before edition, so all I shall say is that it was great we know whether we have been successful. event, now taking place over three days If we are we shall have to submit a much with the addition of Thursday evening. more detailed application in 2015, so that if Great beers, great entertainment, good we pass that hurdle it will be 2016 before crowds with no trouble and a nice little the work can start on site. A long and hard earner for the Society. My thanks go to process, but not unreasonable if we want all those involved in the pre-planning, and to access £1m of public money, and the the actual running over the weekend. Hard results will make it all worthwhile. work I know but worth it. Another submission made in June was our One of the things that makes the Rail Ale Accreditation return to retain our status Festivals so special is that whilst the event as an Accredited Museum. This is a useful attracts existing Barrow Hill members, accolade in its own right and also ensures (funny how appreciation of railways goes access to other grants to keep improving hand in hand with appreciation of beer), the museum. Again it involved a lot of hard it also brings new visitors to Barrow Hill, work, particularly by the Archive team, some of whom may have known very little which pulled out all the stops to work about us before they came. What we hope through the backlog of documenting the is that they will come back and not just for collection. Again it will be some months the beer, because that is what we are trying before we find out the result of our to do, grow our visitor base. This is partly application. because we want to ensure that we can keep generating income from our events One of the things that we are required to to make the site better and better, but also do as an Accredited Museum is to have a because we want to educate and inform properly documented procedure for all non-rail enthusiasts. volunteers, telling them what the Museum requires from them, and what they can Our desire to attract new non-rail expect from management. We have drafted enthusiasts is the basis of our Heritage a Volunteer Agreement which sets all this Lottery Fund grant application, which I out and will be introducing it to volunteers 4 HEADLINE NEWS FUELLING POINT 1000 on long term loan from the National Railway Museum. The locomotive had The fuelling point has now been craned previously been at the Bo’Ness & Kinneil into position and we are just waiting for Railway and came down to Derby for the environmental protection to be put Bombardier’s staff open day in celebration in place. This is an important addition to of 175 years of railway engineering in the the potential commercial activity of the city. Some of the Roundhouse team helped site and we have already had interest from with the cleaning of the locomotive at the several main line train operators. event before it moved to Barrow Hill. As an LMS loco it will form an important part ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURES of the Roundhouse’s planned celebrations Shortly after Rail Ale, the Roundhouse in Autumn 2015 of 50 years since the end proudly welcomed Midland Compound of steam at Barrow Hill. The Barrow Hill team at Bombardier with Midland Compound 1000. Read more about the history of the Midland Compound in Dave Darwin’s piece on page 24. in small groups starting in the next month Talking of views we would welcome your or so. contributions to the Newsletter, either letters commenting on anything in it or an On the subject of Accreditation, may I article on your experiences or views as a thank those of you that took the trouble railway enthusiast. There must be lots of to respond to my request in the last good stories or thoughts out there and we Newsletter to give me your comments would love to hear them and publish them on the Aims and Objectives that were included in our Forward Plan. This is Mike Kennedy your Society and we need your views. 5 HEADLINE NEWS continued... At the end of April, we said goodbye to VSOE PAYS A VISIT Atlantic 251. This has been a popular exhibit at Barrow Hill and an important part The VSOE has once again used the of several of our big events. It was here far Barrow Hill site for servicing during rail longer than we had originally anticipated and tours to Chesterfield for Chatsworth we were very sad to see it go. However, and Nottingham for the Trent Bridge Test visitors to Shildon will now also be able to Match. enjoy this very handsome locomotive. 29th April sees 251 on a lowloader prior to its move to Shildon. Photo: Dale Holford NEWRAIL TESTING NewRail is currently undertaking the De- Rail Project at Barrow Hill.