Spring, nay, summer is here! The day started off with 4 degrees C and we had our woollies and jackets on. The fog lifted, the sun came out, and gradually more and more layers came off, until we ended up with 17 degrees C and in shirt sleeves. What a change.

Here is our opening shot for the day. We are working on the last three sections. John O predicted brightly that it would be a quiet day because there were only 2 brick layers, but by mid-morning there were 5 of them and those on the mortar supply were running their socks off, up and down, with cries of 'Compoooooo' left right and centre. All right already, I'm coming, I'm coming !

Bob laid a row of corbelling bricks on the 180m section, with Tony on the other side keeping up with the infill.

Shortly afterwards they were joined by Pete and Pete, who are seen here on the 190m section backing up before the front is laid. John S is backing up a bit further along, and all in all this section saw the main attention for the day, finishing two rows higher. After corbelling, Bob moved on to this section and laid two rows along the front. Yours truly and Keith ran backwards and forwards with mortar made by John O, and positioning further brick supplies for our busy brick layers. They must not stop for want of supplies!

Today was a running day, and it was busy. A steamer and a DMU were out along the line. Here is a crowd coming down the ramp - can you see the train yet, dad? If you lean over a bit more, you can see it better...

Eventually 7820 trundled in with a well filled train. There were lots of children, and as they all waved to us enthusiastically, it seemed rude to ignore them, so work stopped for a moment and we waved back.

Then it was time for a brew. And a chat. It is amazing what the topics covered include. Today for example two volunteers were discussing their tinitus:

''Where did you get yours from?''
'I got mine from my 1100cc motorbike, what about you?''
''4.5 inch gun......'' !!!

Eventually the discussion turned to prostate problems, an issue which affects most of us on this job. So many of us had corrective surgery, that there was talk of holding a competition, to be called the 'Catheter Cup' ! Could be a horse race for elderly jockeys too. It does show the good humour of our little team. Soon CRC2 will be finished, and then what next?

After tea, an inspection ! JC, nominally absent but factually passing through and unable to resist a quick visit, came to say hello and comment on the brick laying. We passed, phew!

On the sand and cement supplies we practise a 'just in time' delivery system, which today was 'just too late' - we ran out of both sand and cement. While waiting for Keith to go off to the DYI store and get in a private buffer stock, 4 of us decided to do a little pea gravelling ad interim. As trains were running, we didn't much want to get the trolley out. Also, we were quite close to the source, so a different MO was devised. We filled the barrows up from the dumpy bags by the gate, and then wheeled them along the upper part of the platform, across a scaffolding board bridge, and then tipped the contents directly into the channel with the drain pipe. Worked a treat!

It was during these pea gravel runs that we (re) discovered the poor quality of our wheelbarrows. Not only are they twisted and torn (thin plating being the cause of that) but as you can see from this picture the tyres are of very poor quality, with this one not far from bursting. Several have already gone.

Instead of with a large lorry and a HIAB, we received our cement today by private car. Thank you Keith ! His effort means that next Monday we can continue mixing straight away, without having to wait for Fairview later in the morning. Lets hope that John O can scrape together a bit of sand for it.

The DMU also shuttled up and down the line, and carried a (smaller) number of passengers. It did smoke rather a lot though.

Every other turn was a steam one, so after a while we saw Dinmore Manor again, always a pleasant sight. Bob, John O and Keith pause to acknowledge the whistle, and to enjoy the spectacle of the arrival. And wave.

Here's our last picture, taken at about 3 o'clock. A row of corbelling has been completed and pointed, two rows on the 190m section achieved and backed up, and on the 200m section the slope is now pretty much complete, waiting only for some infilling between the horizontal bricks, and the final three rows of corbelling bricks.

Tomorrow: Broadway! The chimney pot is promised and should go on.