As the seasons change, the flora and fauna between the railway's fences adapt to survive, grow or reproduce.
Each season this page, will tell you what nature is up to between our fences.
Nature between the Fences – Spring 2024
By Dr. Ian S Pogson
So, my dear Mother’s birthday, the first day of Spring has passed and here on the Railway, we are seeing plenty signs of life. For much of winter, and certainly after the last Santa Express and New Year trains have passed, the most visible signs of life tend to have very un-camouflaged coats and trousers of orange. You can see them up and down the line all the time, but they are very noticeable and visible when there is little else to see. These are the Railway Workers. Not all sport orange coats; oh, no.
The wonderfully smart and helpful Station staff, Signallers and Friends of the stations often wear uniforms as befit their roles, the essential RCS (Railway Catering Services) are part-hidden behind counters, and the staff in the Discovery and Model Railway coaches do have legs, honestly! You may see the odd Volunteer (some of us are very odd, indeed!) in the Trust Office, the back offices at Winchcombe and very dirty-looking folk darting in and out of the sun/rain/snow at our running and repair sheds. Less easy to spot, but very, very talented are the C&W species. These range from again, very dirty people fixing rolling stock frames and bogies to almost unseen creatures making seats comfortable and colourful again, upstairs in their dwelling at Winchcombe. Train staff are also easy to spot in Guard uniforms or the bib and braces of loco footplate people – yes, we have ladies in there!
Orange coats signify a huge range of wildlife: - my group is the Estates team. We have sub-species of Clearance and Drainage, with a few Civil Engineers and Track Patrollers thrown in. Other related groups look after Signals and Communications, the Permanent Way (track) and the small in number, but seen everywhere - C&M - Construction and Maintenance make stuff happen. Anything from a counter top in the café to a whole building (see the new ex-Usk stone hut at the north end of Winchcombe station). As I write, these are the people hiding (often in vain from the precipitation) under the old garden centre glazing in the Toddington yard. There, they are making the new canopy for Platform 2 at Broadway, just as they made the one on Platform 1! The talents that our volunteers (and few full-time staff) possess is amazing. Nothing is too hard.
So, on to the real wildlife. Please look out west from the train as you pass the Royal Oak pub on the Cotswold side of the railway and see where we have planted fruit trees on the site of the old Navvy Camp, just on the west side of the tunnel at Greet. There are ponds there too, and we have also planted some elsewhere by the line, such as just north of Winchcombe on the Cotswold side.
Wildlife that we have spotted during the early Spring are roe deer, some white/pale yellow butterflies, several skylarks have been heard - and so too woodpeckers. Lots of Canada geese and also lots of rabbits, with quite a number of primroses at Gotherington and elsewhere.
Certainly signs of spring abound - lots of pink (probably ornamental cherry) blossom in bloom. Plant-wise we have noted the ubiquitous sprouting ash and hawthorn saplings in several places that we don't want them. Recognisable flowers in bloom have included Viola odorata (Wild violet) and Ranunculus ficaria (Lesser Celandine, also known as fig buttercup). Animal wise there was evidence (hoof prints in the mud) of deer alongside the River Isbourne. Numerous red kites reeling around in the air are becoming more common.
As this writer works for the Drainage team (yes, in orange coats!), I have only reported on that which we have seen. All over the railway, Mother Nature is springing into life, helped along by Friends groups at each station, keeping the weeds down. I rarely travel the line, as my two days on the railway are split into one for Drainage (we could be anywhere along the 14 miles of track) and one day “darting about” as I said before at Toddington on the boiler of Standard 4MT 76077, or at LMS in Loughborough, where the rolling chassis resides.
If you wish to read any more about the various groups I have mentioned, each Department has its own Blog. If you click on “News and Media”, then “Blogs”, you can access them for yourself. The “Heritage Herald” is really well written, for example. The Civil Engineering one is really scary – what our teams can do with trusted Contractors is truly amazing. The story of the refurbishment of the viaduct at Stanton is quite astonishing.
If you wish to be involved, click on “Support Us”, then “Volunteering” from gwsr.com
Dr. Ian S Pogson CEng
GWSR Drainage Team and
76077 Toddington Standard Locomotive Limited
More terrific lineside photos are available on the page set up by Mike Peers on the image-hosting website,flickr.
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