News – Hednesford Signal Box & Harper’s Buses

Hednesford’s No.1 signal box will be transformed into a classroom by college students.
The box was moved to Hednesford Park earlier this year and will be restored by construction students from South Staffordshire College before being put to use as a community hub.
The group, aged 16 to 19, will be painting, decorating, repairing and guttering the box as well as removing its windows and replacing them with wooden frames.
The work will be undertaken in partnership with Cannock Chase Council, the Friends of Hednesford Park and local residents.
The work is due to start in September and teacher David Dew will oversee the restoration.

http://www.friendsofhednesfordpark.org.uk/

Aston Manor Road Transport Museum (AMRTM)

For years they had been left to rot in an old barn hundreds of miles away, but now a pair of vintage buses manufactured in the Black Country have returned home to be restored to their former glory.
The coaches came off the production line at Guy Motors Ltd. factory in Fallings Park, Wolverhampton in 1959 and were bought by the Heath Hayes firm Harper Brothers to carry passengers on day trips to the coast. After eleven years of service they were sold to a scout group in Northern Ireland in 1971 and re-deployed to ship youngsters from their headquarters in Limerick to scout camps across the country.
Three years ago it emerged that the 52-seat coaches were stranded in a barn on the outskirts of Dublin in a dreadful condition, their once gleaming distinctive green and yellow paintwork peeled away and tarnished by rust, polished interiors now sullied and engines dead to the world.
But thanks to the generosity of their former owner and an un-named benefactor the buses are back on home soil, having arrived at the Aston Manor Road Transport Museum in Aldridge, after being loaded onto large flat-bed lorries and transported across the Irish Sea.

Three AMRTM Guy Arab LUF vehicles together at last. L to R, the former 1292RE, former 1291RE (ex-Harper’s 58/57, both Willowbrook Viking bodies), LJW336, the ex-Guy demonstrator with SARO body. Having got both the Harpers home, we’ll be appealing again for funds to allow the museum to start restoration of one, at least – and calling in past promises. Let’s see how popular our formal local operator really is!

http://www.amrtm.org

From the Cannock Chronicle: http://yourchronicle.com/

Canal News – Some Events August 16 – 17, 2014

Pirate Weekend at Stoke Bruerne

Pirate

16 – 17 Aug 2014
10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Address
The Canal Museum
Stoke Bruerne
nr Towcester
Northamptonshire
Nn12 7SE

Shiver me timbers – pirates are set to invade the Canal Museum at Stoke Bruerne.
Join in a weekend of piratey fun at the Canal Museum, Stoke Bruerne. Artistic mini-pirates can get involved in arts and crafts activities, pirate face painting, tombola and pirate boat trips. Why not dress up as a pirate and join in the fun!

Be a Junior Lock Keeper at Foxton Locks

Foxton Locks
Grand Union Canal

17 Aug 2014
10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Address
Foxton Locks
Foxton
Leicestershire

Children aged between 7-14 can become a lock keeper for an hour – free event.
Become a junior lock keeper at the famous flight of Foxton Locks.
Booking is essential as spaces are limited.
Parent/Guardian consent is required and they must also be present throughout the activity.
To book your child’s place please contact Sarah.Cook@canalrivertrust.org.uk or text your interest to 07715 377788
This activity is run by the Canal & River Trust in partnership with the Foxton Inclined Plane Trust for the BiCentenary of the Grand Union Canal.