To Darlington then. Peter Southgate and I visited the North Bay Engineering workshop in this interesting town yesterday to see the work well under way on the boiler of Blyth, the 2-4-0 Sharp Stewart replica which will operate down at the Blyth Road site. It ran on the SR for fifty years.
It was good to meet David Humphreys again and to meet his excellent team including Mark Ashton and Martin Clements – some excellent welding going on. There is nothing more exhilarating than seeing this locomotive coming back to life. The project is featured in this month’s Heritage Railways which is hot off the press. Below is a shot of the workshop with Blyth in the foreground and behind, Otter, a beautifully finished Bagnall showing the level of finish that will be applied to the Sharpie. 
Below Mark and Martin preparing for some welding
We now have a new Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/Southwold-Railway-Trust-432802730792891/ – and have made various improvements to the website, including the online shop. You can donate to Project Blyth through the website.
John Bennett 14.3.19