If you register, you can do a lot more. And become an active part of our growing community. You'll have access to hidden forums, and enjoy the ability of replying and starting conversations.

S&D Railway Trust

Discussion in 'Heritage Railways & Centres in the UK' started by Andy Norman, Feb 24, 2020.

  1. Snifter

    Snifter Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 26, 2014
    Messages:
    1,628
    Likes Received:
    4,210
    Gender:
    Male
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Do I recall that JJP has the final say on who is appointed to the board ? The most powerful person on a board after the chairman is the secretary. A quick look at companies house is quite revealing.

    https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/01010188/officers

    Looking at how the board is made up, two directors may hold an opposing view but they would be easily voted down. A former director was booted off the board and also de-rostered as a driver. It would appear to be another case of the Minehead Cuckoo throwing a chick out of the nest.

    Pour encourager les autres n'est pas ?
     
    MellishR likes this.
  2. ikcdab

    ikcdab Member Friend

    Joined:
    Dec 12, 2006
    Messages:
    610
    Likes Received:
    1,849
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    WSRHT Trustee, Journal editor
    Location:
    Taunton
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Brian, it's the shareholders who have final say....
    Ian
     
    osprey and Blackdown Boy like this.
  3. Daddsie71b

    Daddsie71b Member Friend

    Joined:
    Apr 4, 2013
    Messages:
    770
    Likes Received:
    638
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    34091
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    I feel for Steve Edge, he at the moment is trying to polish a turd so it would seem to a number of people.

    But turd the WSR is not.

    It is a great railway and has many positives, however, the current management do seem to have a knack of undermining the good work of those on the ground.

    The railway (WSR) needs to be congratulated to have pulled itself back from the cliff edge, only for, one could suggest, it to have a better run up at the abyss.

    I am not a WSR member but am of MN and a new one for SDRT.

    Steve
     
  4. Roger Thompson

    Roger Thompson Member

    Joined:
    Aug 18, 2014
    Messages:
    635
    Likes Received:
    1,894
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired
    Location:
    Warwickshire, formerly Somerset
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Ian, in theory, you are correct, but with the thousands of small shareholders there are really only two that matter, namely the WSRA and the WSSRT.

    Sent from my SM-T590 using Tapatalk
     
  5. Snifter

    Snifter Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 26, 2014
    Messages:
    1,628
    Likes Received:
    4,210
    Gender:
    Male
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    In which case, who voted to remove the former General Manager ?
     
    tracker likes this.
  6. nick813

    nick813 Well-Known Member Loco Owner

    Joined:
    Jan 28, 2010
    Messages:
    1,503
    Likes Received:
    1,503
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    poole dorset
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Last edited: Mar 14, 2020
  7. RailWest

    RailWest Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Dec 7, 2011
    Messages:
    3,802
    Likes Received:
    7,438
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    West Country
    I would disagree. Many commentators have remarked on NatPres about the low number of visitors to Washford outside of special events etc. When the possibility of having to leave Washford first came to light circa-2010, there was a realisation among the more realistic S&DRT members that the S&DRT could not survive simply as an attraction in its own right, it needed to be somewhere where it could be a 'extra attraction' to a location which already attracted lots of tourists.

    Consider for example the situation at MSN - it may be in the same local authority district as Bath, but (having lived in both places) I can assure you that from a tourist perspective it might just as well be on another planet - people simply do not go to the MSN area in large numbers. Fortunately the S&DRHT has reached the point that it can at least on occasions offer steam-hauled rides on a train which does actually go (almost) somewhere, but I think I would be right to say that - at the moment - demand does not outstrip capacity.
     
  8. Miff

    Miff Part of the furniture Friend

    Joined:
    Jun 17, 2008
    Messages:
    2,857
    Likes Received:
    2,793
    Assuming Facebook is not a significant plc shareholder :) what do you mean?
     
  9. Snifter

    Snifter Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 26, 2014
    Messages:
    1,628
    Likes Received:
    4,210
    Gender:
    Male
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    In the meantime, the real question is going unanswered in that why did the plc cause the money to be redirected from what had been agreed ? What is the explanation behind the comment "lessons have been learned " ? That is admission of a mistake being made.
     
    tracker and MellishR like this.
  10. Bayard

    Bayard Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2015
    Messages:
    1,826
    Likes Received:
    3,871
    Gender:
    Male
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    A common response to posts critical of the WSR Plc board or it's chairman is to point out how well things are going "on the ground", as if the criticism were directed at the workforce. If the worst came to the worst, the WSR would not be the first company run into the ground by its management, despite a willing and capable workforce, by a very long way.
     
  11. 6960 Raveningham Hall

    6960 Raveningham Hall Member Friend

    Joined:
    Mar 23, 2016
    Messages:
    713
    Likes Received:
    1,033
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired.
    Location:
    Near St. Austell, Cornwall.
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    michaelh and Steve Edge like this.
  12. tracker

    tracker Member

    Joined:
    Aug 3, 2014
    Messages:
    464
    Likes Received:
    874
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired IT manager
    Location:
    Essex
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    I'm looking forward to seeing a Minehead Cuckoo in a large cage.
    Robin L.
     
  13. 35B

    35B Nat Pres stalwart

    Joined:
    Jun 18, 2011
    Messages:
    25,484
    Likes Received:
    23,713
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Grantham
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    I believe they are. But, based on what has been said here, this is an example of where bare facts may obscure the underlying story.

    I have no doubt whatsoever that the moneys have been spent on legitimate community engagement projects, and that these projects have been agreed with the donors. I have equally no doubt that those projects are not those that were not the projects in which the bid was based, and the beneficiaries are not those originally intended.

    Taking the bare facts of why this has happened to be as related by [mention]Andy Norman [/mention] , and I notice the factual accuracy has not been challenged, I’ve drawn my own conclusions about the good faith shown by the plc over the last 18 months to its agreements, there and elsewhere. Others are of course free to draw their own conclusions.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
    tracker, MellishR and jnc like this.
  14. ikcdab

    ikcdab Member Friend

    Joined:
    Dec 12, 2006
    Messages:
    610
    Likes Received:
    1,849
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    WSRHT Trustee, Journal editor
    Location:
    Taunton
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Posted in error
     
  15. Monkey Magic

    Monkey Magic Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Jan 6, 2018
    Messages:
    3,498
    Likes Received:
    6,845
    Location:
    Here, there, everywhere
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Sadly, it seems that people’s loyalty to the line has become a misplaced loyalty to the line’s senior managers.

    It isn’t my line right or wrong.

    There is also, an overweening sense of victimhood from some on the WSR. That if it weren’t for the traitors within such as the S&D, or the enemies outside such as nasty on National Preservation posters constantly sabotaging the WSR, then all would be glorious and rosy. It is always someone else’s fault.

    Has the WSR actually put forward any concrete proposals for Washford? The petting zoo sounds like something someone came up with in the pub? Also, who would own it, run it and profit from it?
     
    tracker, MellishR and Swan Age like this.
  16. aldfort

    aldfort Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 4, 2009
    Messages:
    1,923
    Likes Received:
    4,237
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired
    Location:
    Cardiff
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    6960 Raveningham Hall likes this.
  17. Bayard

    Bayard Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2015
    Messages:
    1,826
    Likes Received:
    3,871
    Gender:
    Male
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    However, what kicked this whole process off was a complaint that the "educational trips for thousands of children from 18 schools along the line, enabling them to learn about the railway’s history and heritage" part of the scheme had not been delivered. The WSRA press release makes no mention of this aspect.
     
  18. Bayard

    Bayard Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2015
    Messages:
    1,826
    Likes Received:
    3,871
    Gender:
    Male
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Doesn't "lessons have been learned " mean "OK, we got it wrong, now go away, stop bothering us and let us carry on exactly as before"?
     
  19. 6960 Raveningham Hall

    6960 Raveningham Hall Member Friend

    Joined:
    Mar 23, 2016
    Messages:
    713
    Likes Received:
    1,033
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired.
    Location:
    Near St. Austell, Cornwall.
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    I found the Wikipedia entry regarding the MP very interesting.

    In particular, the efforts to have him deselected on the grounds of’divisive’ and ‘unsupportive’ behaviour.

    Sound familiar?
     
  20. flying scotsman123

    flying scotsman123 Resident of Nat Pres

    Joined:
    Sep 9, 2013
    Messages:
    10,438
    Likes Received:
    17,937
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Cheltenham
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    He certainly seems a most unpleasant character, and not one I'd wish to have any association with. However, if he's the local MP and you have an issue you want to raise what choice to do you have?
     
    malcolm imps and Forestpines like this.

Share This Page