Report from the Members' Weekend and Officers' Conference
Holiday Inn, Basingstoke
19th to 21st October 2007

Friday 19th October

Three visits were arranged for the Friday afternoon and a lecture for the evening.

	Salisbury Depot

Network Rail Basingstoke Area Signalling Centre [ASC] This new facility is now partly up and running and is expected to be fully operational sometime next year when it will take over completely sections currently controlled from the old 'box' and adjacent areas. The signallers on duty gave a clear insight into operations and explained the recent changes made at Basingstoke to the layout and signalling.

SWT Siemens Desiro Driver Training Simulator Participants here included our Society President Hugh Gould (no SPADS). All participants had the opportunity to drive one of the four simulators - numbers 450196 to 450199 inclusive. Helped by a growing number of staff who noted the enthusiasm of the participants, this proved to be a fascinating and enjoyable experience. Souvenir Desiro tiepins and, later, certificates were issued as a concrete reminder of this visit.

Lecture Over 100 people attended the excellent evening lecture given by Gordon Pettitt, former General Manager of the Southern Region, entitled 'The Nationalisation Years'. A brief report will appear in the RO and a slightly more detailed one on the Surrey Branch website page. He provided much food for thought outlining the history of the railways in this period and showing the sometimes difficult relationship between Government and British Railways. The official part of the evening culminated in a question and answer session which was equally informative.

Saturday 20th October

There were two daytime visits followed by a formal evening dinner with after-dinner speaker.

	The Minature Railway at Ropley

Ropley signal box

This was followed by a round trip on the line to Alton and back, still behind 35005, including a generous ploughman's lunch. With freedom tickets allowing travel at will, there was plenty of time to explore on and off the line with ample opportunity to take photographs, visit the miniature steam railway and to ride behind the other locomotive in steam that day 73096. A small group were given an impromptu walk, with the obligatory fluorescent vests as they were near the running lines, to view more of the rolling stock after talking to one of the MHR volunteers. This had not been pre-planned but was a welcome added extra for those concerned.

One of the bus crew - lucky man - won the draw (in aid of The Railway Children's charity) for a ride on the footplate of Canadian Pacific on the 3pm round trip arriving back at Alresford in time for the group photograph and the drive back to Basingstoke.

The RCTS party at Alresford

35005 at Ropley

Winchester A small group (all ladies apart from Alan Norris, the tour leader) chose the alternative day out in Winchester. Arriving by minibus at the King Alfred Statue, the group met up with David Sutcliffe, an official city tour guide, at the nearby Guildhall. David took the party around the old parts of Winchester stopping frequently to explain the background of many of the historic buildings in this part of the city. Unfortunately, the inside of the Cathedral was closed to visitors on the day but nevertheless the group were able to visit the Cathedral grounds. Here David explained that the Cathedral, built in the 12th century on the flood plain of the River Itchen, has had the continuing problem over the years of water undermining the foundations. The itinerary continued via Winchester College and the Cathedral refectory (for a welcome coffee stop), called into an old church, and then uphill to the Great Hall of the Castle, where King Arthur's Round Table was on display. The tour concluded with a brief visit to the old barracks area where there are several military museums. After a break for lunch the group met up again for a visit to the City Mill, which has been restored by the National Trust. There was milling in progress and, as an added bonus, a demonstration of Tudor cooking which included sampling the freshly cooked bread and cakes. After a little free time for retail therapy the minibus arrived from Alresford for the return journey back to the hotel.

	John Redgate presents flowers to Irene Rabbitts

Dinner Altogether 107 people sat down for the excellent formal dinner. Stewart Palmer - Managing Director of South West Trains - gave a very interesting after dinner talk outlining achievements to date, current efforts and future plans for the new SWT franchise. This was followed by a lively and at times challenging question and answer session which had to be curtailed as it was getting very late due to the slow service at dinner.

Sunday 21st October

An excursion was arranged for those staying but not attending the Officers' Conference.

Basingstoke Canal and the 'John Pinkerton' narrow boat Proving to be a very popular trip with an unexpectedly high level of interest, forty six people joined the Sunday morning visit along part of the restored Basingstoke Canal for a leisurely cruise on the 'John Pinkerton'. Because of engineering works on the canal, the starting point had been changed from Odiham to Mytchett near to the Canal Centre. After a safety briefing the boat set off southwards with the company enjoying light refreshments. Interesting features in this section included the Ascot to Ash Vale branch line passing over the canal after a short while and, after passing under the Alton line a little later, the boat arrived at the interestingly named lake known as "Greatbottom Flash". This part of the canal is a haven for birds, with plenty of grebes and coots to watch while the boat was turned. Heading back northwards past Mytchett, the canal centre and on towards Frimley, this straighter stretch, running through a mainly residential area, includes the interesting feature of an aqueduct carrying the canal over the LSWR Main Line. After turning at Frimley Green, it was time to return to Mytchett and thence back to the hotel.

Officers' Conference This left the rest of us free to attend the Officers' Conference - minutes of which will be available in due course. It was informative, productive and mostly good humoured with opportunity for questions and discussion.

At Alresford Station

Finally

We were lucky enough to enjoy crisp cold sunny Autumn weather over the whole three days. But most importantly thanks are owed to everyone who contributed to the success of this weekend, not just the Surrey Branch committee members and the Management Committee, the speakers and the people who allowed the visits, but our minibus drivers, all the volunteers who helped in all sorts of ways to ensure that everything ran as smoothly as possible and the wives and partners who provided support and those who came and joined in. Without all these people, it would not have happened or been as much fun.

The 2008 Members' Weekend and Officer's Conference will be 24th-26th October in Scarborough.