Patrick Davey

More lighting experiments at Brookhall Mill.

Introducing the man who put Brookhall Mill on the map - the long time Mill Superintendent, Mr. Weaver (nobody ever knew his Christian name). In charge of the mill from before WW2 until the late 1950s, Mr. Weaver was very popular with all the mill employees but less so with GNR(I) management who viewed him as something of a 'loose cannon'. He started his railway career as a boy porter at Inniskeen, Co. Monaghan in 1905, transferring to Ballyroney, Co. Down as Senior Porter in 1920, before being appointed as Stationmaster at Carrickmore, Co. Tyrone in 1935. It was while at Carrickmore that he began to lock horns with management, who first asked the GSR to take him on at Dugort Harbour but then decided to move Mr. Weaver to Brookhall where it was assumed that because he would be out of the public eye, he would be less likely to cause embarrassment in Amiens Street. This happened in early 1939 but it was an unintentionally fortuitous move by the GNR because Mr. Weaver was exactly the right person for the job when the mill was required to move to a war footing. Inspirational and motivational to the staff throughout the war, Mr. Weaver fine-tuned Brookhall Mill into a very efficient and productive operation, which was certainly appreciated by the War Department and grudgingly acknowledged in Amiens Street. Very much at home in the GNR house at Brookhall, Mr. Weaver's hospitality was legendary, so much so that Brookhall became something of a 'retreat' for GNR staff who would often be given leave to spend time there as a reward for exemplary service. Mr. Weaver's Saturday night céilís were renowned throughout the GNR and many's a sore head was nursed the following morning. Mr. Weaver was passionate about steam traction and felt increasingly uncomfortable with the appearance of diesel locomotives during the 1950s, so he had to 'hold his nose' on any occasion when they rumbled into his mill. Mr. Weaver had one great passion outside the railway - vintage cars...... The man himself. Even the buses stopped for him: Mr. Weaver was always very dapper, sporting his trademark linen suit (made of course from the finest Brookhall linen), brown bowler hat and immaculately-polished black Oxford shoes: Mr. Weaver was very proud of his vintage cars:

I will indeed Mark - thanks!

Been working on the interiors of the mill buildings recently, and experimenting with lighting. Lots of fun that!

IMG_9833.MOV A short clip showing the weathered roofs back on the buildings on the layout. I don't like the green patch on the office building roof, that will need toned down.....

Wowwwww

Every one is an absolute gem Ernie, thank you for your ongoing work to share these wonderful photographs with us, it is very much appreciated.

Leslie what about even a Facebook page?

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Further details in the Facebook event above folks, Gordon is very very welcoming and he loves to hear stories of people who knew the real railway so that would be amazing GM! Some video clips coming……

fb://event/?id=1492221131291412

Today I had the great pleasure of viewing the stunning new Donaghadee layout in OO gauge by Gordon Hunt - it is currently on display in the town and is very much worth a visit by anyone within reach! So good to see another BCDR layout, and finished to such a high standard! And a special word of thanks to Gordon for his very warm welcome! I heartily congratulate him on this magnificent achievement - a wonderful project. Enjoy the photos!

Another roof upgraded - better and more detailed barge boards, finer finials, weathered slates and better lead flashing with rain streaks.

Currently upgrading the roofs of my smaller buildings with an excellent product from Scale Model Scenery, their LX415-OO Lightly Weathered Laser Cut Roof Slates, which make a big difference. Also improving the flashing around the chimneys, using DAS clay and silver paint. Rain streaks applied too.

Ha fair enough - I didn’t look at the back

No to the above - no diagram of Scarva in Arnold!

A bit more work at the mill this evening - the new water crane has been installed (to be further detailed) and the repositioned air raid shelter has been blended in. A large pile of coal has also appeared, to fuel the various fireplaces around the site.

This gives the location of the signals: https://mapshop.nidirect.gov.uk/Catalogue/Digital-products/Historical-products/6-Inch-to-1-Mile-County-Series-Edition-4-1916---1957- Zoom in to Scarva and all is there for that particular date, 1954 I think.

Thanks for the mention LC! Does Arnold not include a diagram of Scarva in that book? As far as I recall, those diagrams included the locations of the signals? I'll check my copy shortly as I could be wrong!

Interesting replies everyone, thank you. Look what I found in my 'bits of everything' box: It's an old Hornby one but it looks decent enough I think? Will be sunk into the ground of course and any other suggestions re: personalisation would of course be welcome! Maybe a chain hanging down, for moving the arm...... and should the crane be facing the other way ie with the vertical part deeper into the V....? I know these structures are often seen with braziers to keep the water from freezing but this part of Co. Antrim rarely sees extreme temperatures!

A bit of reconstruction took place over the past few days on Brookhall Mill. Recently, this area had started to nag at me: I realised that the air aid shelter had been badly positioned. It was making the middle siding inaccessible to longer vehicles and locomotives, and I had previously trimmed one of the corners to rectify this: The plan had always been to repair this at some point, then I realised that the only realistic solution would be to reposition the shelter, so I took a deep breath and it was duly excavated. At least I know now that if the Luftwaffe had actually tried to bomb Brookhall, anyone in this shelter would have been quite safe: Linked to this work was the need to shorten the flat area in front of the office building: This would allow me to move the shelter closer to the office building and remove the issue of fouling the siding. Then I filled in the previous opening with thick card..... ...rebuilt the steps leading down from the office.... ...and repaired the shelter. This time I decided there was no need to make a large structure and sink this into the board, instead I would depend on the positioning of scatter material and foliage to hide the shallow walls, although the access steps would still be sunk into the board to give the impression of depth: Scatter material added, and this will be left to dry thoroughly before painting and having foliage added: Looks neater now I think! I also need to provide a water crane so the locos can drink from the tank atop the small boiler house...this will go to the right of the air raid shelter in the V between the platform road and the siding.

Lovely Colm as always, great to see you posting.

Choir practice is running late this evening and the bus driver is getting very impatient……

They’re still going……

The gentlemen of Brookhall have formed their own choir and the first rehearsal is in full swing. Introducing ‘The Mill Voice Choir’.