Purbeck Mineral and Mining Museum

I can remember it running in about 1970ish, crossing the A351, it had 4 straight through exhaust pipes then, and what a lovely sound it was too, i seem to recall that the top exhaust pipes were either brass or copper at that time. Myself and a couple of friends used to go over to Norden and other mining sites in the Purbecks a lot at that time and had an officially organised tour of one of the underground adit mines at norden and several unofficial visits to other sites, including Greenspecks, Cotness and other mines but the most amazing was Povington, which was abandoned at least 10 years prior to us visiting it, as it was within the military ranges! Absolutely amazing place, with wooden framed N.G. surface rolling stock with trees growing through them, unguarded vertical shafts with rickety wooden ladders and our non safety rated torches, no H&S for us in those days, our main concern was not being bitten by the multitude of adders we came across, ah such innocence of youth !!!!!

 

I can feel a pamphlet or short story winging its way from Dunster

 

Perhaps i should scribe a few notes before starting on the epic "What will I tell them at the Yacht Club", a collection of tales from the pioneering days of various unnamed, preserved railways and other such "interesting" stories !.

 

Touche

 

Povington is one of the places that the Mining museum has no photos of. I guess being on military land cameras would have been a no no, but any information, you care to write down, would be of interest to the museum. You can contact them via their website. (they may take a while to reply due to a complete shutdown due to the virus) Chris Legg's book "The Furzebrook Railway" only mentions Povington once on page 20 when he says "Povington became and remained an important mining area to the Pikes. In the 1930's the Furzebrook railway extended westwards to the mines, and clay is still being extracted open-cast today"

 

It looks like the website has problems. I think covid 19 has got to it. Rolling Screens and contact pages not working etc. Hopefully they will get things working again as soon as Covid 19 goes

 

Guess the museum could now partially reopen for outdoors only? Maybe with one of the diesel locos on static display.
The inside might need a few more measures in place?.

 

It will need some volunteers. iwanttovolunteer@swanagerailway.co.uk
The museum will also need to invest in contactless donations as Britons have been warned to use alcohol sanitiser after handling money amid fears the deadly Coronavirus can be passed on via coins and banknotes.

 

It has been decided not to open the museum this year (2020). They will concentrate on Maintenance.

 

Bump for this thread concerning Middlebere/Newton/ Fayles narrow gauge tramways as there is another in Heritage centres.
On Facebook the museum said will reopen with a Ruston loco every last Sunday of each month.

 

Exactly - plus August Bank Holiday Monday apparently. According to the website -
The museum will be open and the Industrial narrow gauge railway will be running on the following Sundays from 11:00 to 16:30 on the 30th May, 27th June, 25th July, 29th & 30th (Bank Holiday) August & 26th September.

 

Now closed to Easter, but from the FB page working parties every Friday and they have got the Snapper loco working and the passenger coach out (edit photo from Facebook page added)

 

Passenger Coach will probably not be used as it does not comply with regulations.

 

What will be needed to make it comply, looks similar to the coach being used at Kew steam museum (edit: and other NG lines)? (Photo by Bob Appleton)

 

Which coach is that, the ex WHR one that was rotting in the siding or the Penrhyn style one that has brakes on all wheels and a guards seat and has spent most of its time covered over with a waterproof cover? Or is it the fact that it was completed by previous volunteers that have since left the issue with it?

Whats this I hear about the tunnel being closed as it has collapsed due to lack of maintainance?

 

I will try reposting the link to the photo on Facebook from 2nd November
https://scontent.flhr1-2.fna.fbcdn....63_4469324493150820_8655887540493021865_n.jpg

From the comments they hope to use it for passenger use and was built by Toby?

For the "mine tunnel" in June there was a comment you could look into to it, but not go in it, no further update?.

 

It wasn't built by Toby, as good as he is at building things. The unfinished chassis came from Devon. The brakes and wood work were completed by two volunteers who have since departed.

The tunnel was not built according to the plans, by someone who apparently knew what they were doing so didn't follow them. Lol.

 

Thanks, still does not answer about Biggles saying it does "not comply with regulations." and why?
The srstock.co.uk website has a photo of the 8 seat coach before restoration and the volunteers did a good job.

There is also a photo of the ex WHR covered 12seat coach, is it still stored at the museum?.

 

I would like to know what about the carriage doesn't meet regulations too. Again I suspect it is more a case of "we didn't make it, the other lot did, so it can't be right" than anything else. Bit like the engine of the Ruston being taken apart by the new "experts" again as the volunteers that were forced out hadn't done it properley (despite the chap who actually repaired it being a mechanic for most of his working life, and getting it running on all four cylinders for the first time in years). Apparently the gear box needed to be repaired as the gears were not being changed properly, no explanation as to the how or why of this ever being given.

All none museum stock was ordered off site when the volunteers left on mass, athough this didn't apply to every one of course. I have been informed that the WHR coach has now been removed.

I am not sure how a passenger train can be run given there is no length of track to run, the orignal intention was do complete the track over Skew Arch bridge, until it got demolished then apply to run passenger trains. The existing track needed a lot of maintainance years ago, so I cannot imagine what state it . IT is a real shame as I suspect the museum will die a slow death as it gradually falls apart.

 

Its always darkest before the dawn