GWSR Broadway Developments

Not necessarily,

PH

 

In my opinion it depends on how much it is open. If the cafe is open 5 or more days a week then it could be a paid job but if it is only open Sat/Sun then it may not interest anyone running it on commercial terms as it is like a hobby.

It surprises me that the railway hasn't agreed already what will go in each of the rooms as they have made the station building longer than it was originally so they must have had a good idea what would go in each of the rooms they have created. I would like to see a cafe and waiting room myself and a shop maybe. You could always put a shop in a coach or wagon on the site as many railways have done.

As for historically accuracy. I like the way the Great Central did their stations with having each station at a different time period in the lines history. So Rothley was as it was in 1912, Quorn in the 1940s, Loughborough 1960s. It works very well and even the cafe at Quorn last time I went was with 1940s atmosphere and music (the one under the stairs). It is a while since I have been so it could have changed. Maybe the Broadway team could go there for some inspiration ? and theme Broadway around a particular time period ?

I went to Broadway myself on 4th Nov and the station looks great. really impressed. Last time I saw it the Signal box was only partly complete and the station hadn't been started.

 

I think thats the point.... everybody was working towards a plan that included a catering option in the last room with an attached kitchen. but it seems that TPTB have changed the plan without discussion with the troops on the ground and not for the first time...

 

The cafe and kitchen were in the very earliest drawings, and each room in the drawings was outlined for the public to see on the Heras fencing outside.
We all helped to build that cafe, and its real fireplace.

That fireplace will now be useless and covered in shelving. The room will be bare, devoid of anything Victorian. Can you imagine how we feel?

 

What is the reason given for not going with the original plan. Is there not room to have both a shop and the original cafe ?
Could the shop go in some external building or a coach/wagon ?

 

Can you clarify exactly what stage the fitting out of the originally-planned cafe and kitchen has reached. Was the first-fix for the electrics for the planned cafe and kitchen already completed? If Yes, has it now been removed in readiness for conversion into a shop? If Yes, then my shareholder money is being wasted. If No, then there is still time.

It does indeed sound sad if no refreshments will be provided, at the end of the line, in a place as touristic as Broadway, next to a "For Sale" B & B. Are we now at the stage of TALKING about changing to a souvenir shop, or is it already happening (i.e. money being spent on undoing previous work)? As a shareholder and avid reader of the Blog, to see the rails going through the station in leaps and bounds, but constant hiccups with the building is, well, at least a shame!

Hopefully reason will again prevail.
Belgrade

 

I can imagine that most of you probably feel like not turning up next week.
There's only so many times that you can all collectively think "Bend over, here it comes again" without losing the will to persevere. I feel for you guys I really do

 

As has been said, " here we go again" perhaps the working parties need to flex their collective muscles, nothing exercises boardroom brain like the threat of a project grounding to a halt, it seems A mistake has been made either by appointing the wrong person as project leader, or by a very late change of plan, invite then to reconsider, show them in practical terms what the on the ground reaction to their changes means, in the re working, in the extra costs, in wasted man hours, a site visit probably to bring home why this late change needs to be re thought on. and if its the very self person who has plagued the project with their il conceived plans all a long, maybe they shouldn't really be involved at all.

 

According to the latest entry on the Boardroom blog, posted this morning (http://gwrboardroom.blogspot.co.uk/ ), "The Management" are claiming that they decided over two years ago that Broadway station should be blessed with a shop rather than a café.

Really?

If that's the case, the decision must have been taken in a very secret meeting, as that's the first that I have heard about it from an official source. One would have expected that the decision would have been publicised in The Cornishman, but I do not recall reading anything about it there. It would certainly appear that the team actually building the station also knew nothing about it.

Has anyone bothered to carry out a simple comparison of the takings in Toddington's shop and its café to determine if the change is actually likely to be worthwhile?

Or is it the case that vested interests in the Toddington café fear a significant drop in revenue when Broadway becomes the primary destination, particularly for those arriving from Cheltenham?

I have been a GWSR member for some years now, and have invested a considerable sum in shares by monthly payments throughout the period of crisis following crisis in the Broadway station development, but now I am beginning to think that it's time to cut all ties with the railway.

 

So in that case, why were the planning documents not updated to show the internal changes, ? no builder would build what was not on the planning documents , So whos not being open and honest here? if the interior has been changes, shouldn't amended line drawings have been issued to those building the station?

 

There's a real irony here. The best businesses treat their employees like volunteers. They're paying for people's labour, but they know the value of engaging hearts and minds as well. So they ask questions and listen to the answers; they keep people informed, they consult and involve people in decisions as far as possible.

The GWSR, on the other hand, is a voluntary organisation; in fact they loudly trumpet the fact that they are far more volunteer-run than most other heritage railways. So engaging and motivating volunteers should be second nature. One would expect them to be experts at consultation and involvement.

To be fair, reading all the blogs, I'm sure that there are many parts of the railway where they get it right. For some reason however, the Broadway project has been an ongoing saga of getting it wrong.

 

Even if they can't staff the cafe, why can't they at least make it look like a cafe, have tables and chairs in there for people using the coffee machine and other vending machines. Surely they have another room that can be used for the shop

 

The Talyllyn's café at Wharf is run largely by paid staff and as you may know, has a chequered history of contribution to the railway, having been in loss as recently as 2015. I gather however that it is doing very well this year, due in part to the development of a customer base among those who are not travelling on the railway, with Sunday lunches a good contributor. It may be helped by the lack of attractive alternatives in Tywyn (cue joke for how small a piece of paper would be adequate to list things to do in Tywyn), and I would hesitate to read across from this to the situation for cafes elsewhere.

 

If only we had a time machine and could go back to 2015 and know what we know now.Why has this leaked out now?
Because the volunteers have basicly finished the BIG job of getting it up and now hand over the building to the contractors to finish the inside off.I wonder what the lads who put all this hard work in over the last 5 years are thinking after waking up and seeing this on the boards blog.
It beggars belief.............Next stop steam working from Chelt/Todd.and DMU Todd/ Broadway.Watch this space.

 

The big "but" is, so I understand, Abergynolwyn.

PH

 

As noted ahead of the event by, among others, the late Sonia Rolt. Evidence, as if it were needed, that the consequences of some decisions are very long lasting indeed.

In the case of the TR extension, methinks I'd have been sorely tempted by the notion of a funicular ride to an eatery with a view atop Alltwyllt Incline. Anyone for a horse drawn jaunt from there, via a relaid Galltymoelfre tramway to the foot of the Cantrybedd Incline?

Sorry folks ...... back to Broadway!

 

The webcams seem to be down. I hope not connected to the latest issues.

 

Correct

 

It all shows that refreshments are not a WIBN thing but pure business. Abergynolwyn was (and is) in the wrong place but the building might thrive as a holiday let, if big enough for conversion. As a terminus, Broadway is different. I won't comment on fraternal quarrels as to how decisions get communicated.

PH