MHR: Is Ropley Station still worth a family visit?

Thinking of taking my family to the MHR tomorrow. I saw a thread a few months back suggesting the whole character of Ropley Station has been changed by the construction of holiday cottages nearby? Is it still worth going there? I don't think my wife would be very happy if we turned up and found construction going on.
I see the miniature railway is closed. How about the children's play area and picnic area? Are they still open? Or overshadowed by the construction site? And is parking likely to be a problem at Ropley on a weekday if we did start our journey there (easier for the kids)?
Any advice from those who've been there recently much appreciated.

 

Was there for Peppa Pig weekend with my 2 year old and she loved it. Was probably the best station for families.
That was about 2 months ago.

the houses are being built, but are firmly behind the fence, tbh I wouldn't be buying one of those houses for the view.. you cant see much from downstairs.

 

Relations with neighbouring farmers were never cordial in the past - and I raised concerns about the way this development was marketed as if though it was done by or for the MHR. Unfortunately nobody from the MHR seemed to have any information at all of any partnership with the railway which suggests that these holiday homes are an opportunity entirely for the benefit of the farmer/landowner and not of the railway at all. The homes change the character of Ropley station permanently and there is no benefit to the railway at all. Talk of providing accomodation and encouraging visitors is to be frank pie in the sky. Show me the business model that shows railway visitor benefits monetised! One again I am happy to be proved wrong but if I am right the railway should take out an injunction to stop the farmer giving the impression that this is somehow benefitting or part of the railway.

 

You're so far wide of the mark it isn't remotely amusing. Relations with the farmer in question are very good and we would like to maintain them that way.

The holiday lets are not over bearing now they are nearly finished, and when the landscaping is finished will blend in well with time. I agree that the outlook has changed, but not in a way as detrimental as suggested here.

You're entitled to your opinion on the aesthetics, but please don't comment on relationships about which you are clearly uniformed.

 

any photos?

 

Website here: http://watercresslodges.co.uk/ - they look ok to me, quite sympathetic in design actually.


Keith

 

I really meant photos showing them in the context of the railway station

 

Look nice and in Southern Region color scheme, might try one myself.

 

I don't have any photos but just looking at the front page of the watercress lodges website the rolling images give some idea as to the proximity of the lodges which are behind the hedge at the back of the picnic area. I have witnessed their construction but today is the first time I've seen the website and from it the finished articles look very sympathetic to the area.

Although they will obviously be visible from the station, especially the platform footbridge, if you are planning of taking photos from the picnic area, yard or Harry Potter Bridge I don't think they will impede or impact on the ambiance.

 

that's how I imagined it would be , thanks....

 

First off I enquired by emailing the railway and received no reply. Not sure whether you are responsilble for MHR communications but somebody was and they did not respond.
Secondly I started a thread on here recently asking the same question and from the replies in the thread it was clear that nobody else knew anything either. Whether or not you saw the thread and chose not to reply the result is still a communication vacuum. Anyway , moving on......
As I said, historically relations with the neighbouring farmers were far from cordial "in the past" is what I said - and I stand by that - not sure whether you were around or not. I was.
If I and others are uninformed it is down to others to communicate. If they, like you, keep silent then is it my fault I remain "uninformed?"
Yes - a row of new houses now stands looking down on the station where once were fields and hedgerows and nobody can sit quietly looking at Arthur Blake's legacy without wondering how many eyes are staring down at them from a row of identical double glazed windows high above. So if If you define aesthetics as the difference between being observed by cautious birds and being gawped by humans on holiday then perhaps you have something , but it definitely isn't aestheticism.

 

Love that last word, try saying that with a mouth full of jellied eels.

 

Depending upon what you asked, you may not have had an answer because it was not possible to give an answer (because of course there will always be limits to the information that can be shared). I did see the previous thread, and you're right, I chose not to respond.

If you are uniformed then yes it is up to you to find the right way to get the information you want. I would humbly suggest that neither e-mail nor discussion forum posting is likely to be the best way. I am generally very approachable, and willing to discuss most things with members, shareholders and volunteers, but I wouldn't put half of it in writing in a public place. Sometimes though, one must accept that one remains uninformed, because one doesn't need to know.

I am left wondering what it is that you are wishing to do whilst sitting quietly contemplating the scene in front of you, that means you would worry about the buildings some forty odd feet away, the other side of some less attractive railway buildings and a hedgerow? I had misunderstood your objection to the buildings and assumed you were upset by the look of them and the change to the outlook from the station, neither of which is as significantly affected as I had first thought it might be myself, and which I think will cease to be an issue with time. You are quite right though that the occupants of the holiday cottages will be able to fill their days gazing from the upper bedroom window of each cottage at the backs of the people sat contemplating Arthur Blake's legacy. I would suggest though that if that is the only thing they can find to do in NE Hampshire, the chances are that the farmer's enterprise will be relatively short lived as word will soon spread.

Part at least of your objection seems to be about a change in ambience, which is at least a branch of aesthetics I think. Well, change is unavoidable. There is very little left of the ambience of the remote, quiet wayside halt that Ropley was before 1973, and yet few would argue that the additional sidings, storage containers, workshop buildings, bridges etc are anything less than essential, or that they haven't created their own ambience as time has gone on. It is a constant evolution. What will you think of the upside station building when it is built I wonder?

Re-reading your posts I realise that maybe a/the problem you have with the cottages is that "suggestion" that the holiday lets may benefit the railway, when in your view they don't, or it maybe you object to the Farmer leveraging the proximity to the railway, or I may not understand at all. I don't really see the issue if I am honest, though if you want to find me at Ropley one day you're welcome to explain it to me. I will simply say that good relations with one's neighbours are a benefit that it is not always best to reduce to the level of pounds and pence. You may wish to contemplate that if you park a car in the new 50 space free car park created at Ropley as a result of the "developments".

 

What I don't understand is domeyhead's dogged insistence that said holiday cottages 'won't benefit the MHR'.

If the marketing spiel for the holiday cottages says there's a steam railway next door, what's the first thing that a family is going to do when they arrive? Travel on the feggin' thing! If that doesn't 'benefit the railway' then what does it do?

 

Here are four photos of Ropley station that were taken on Saturday. Looking at the photos I can't see any issue with the new holiday homes. The tree line at the back of the picnic area seems to cover the new holiday homes every well.
If you look around most of the preserved railway stations there has been some type of building development taken place. Don’t forget we need to continue to make our railway stations more family friendly. This has been done very well at the Bluebell by adding a pub to Sheffield Park station which has now changed the look of this station.

 

looks OK to me...I'd rather like to stay there myself

 

I would think these homes would be ideal for anyone coming for all three days of the steam gala.

 

I think you've hit the nail on the head there Lee. though god knows what they'd charge for the weekend!....................................................... then again divide per person I would have thought the cost minimal.

 

And if the catering at Ropley can come up to the mark, I would say that they are on to a winner.

Regards
Chris:

 

Surely you mean a beer tent Chris. Selling lashings of Triple F beer.

http://www.triplefff.com/