In the 40 years of our preservation activities at Quainton the work of our loyal volunteers has been the lynch pin supporting everything that has been achieved. I can vividly recall my first days volunteering at Quainton in the late smmner of 1971. Someone gave me a pot of paint and pointed me at the Down Yard gate and I got on with the job dreaming of days of steam past and to come. The site was bustling with activity as groups of young men and some girls crawled over dilapidated locomotives and rolling stock. Others laboured on the weed-grown and rotten track work. The place hmmned with enthusiasm and optimism.

It wasn't long before Christine and I were recruited by a very persuasive Anthea Hanscomb to join the Open Days Team and the Down Yard gate became out regular slot - complete with biscuit tin to put the money in! Not that we were allowed to do it for very long of course. Anthea's roster was divided up into 2 hour slots and woe betides you if you overran your allocated time and denied another eager volunteer of his full allowance! Those were the days indeed.

Fast forward 30+ years and our dependence on volunteers is no less today than it was then - greater if anything with many more open days and a much expanded site to run. Paid staff has been recruited to cover the specialist roles and provide the necessary professional framework. (Who had heard of "Health and Safety", "Risk Assessments" and "Segmented Marketing" in 1969?)

We started life as a group of like-minded enthusiasts who realised that if we let the public come and ride on our trains there was money to be had to fund restoration. The situation today is very different and to generate cash we have to earn it and are viewed by om visitors no differently than any other commercial visitor attraction.

In this changed climate volunteering is no less enjoyable than it was and every bit as vital. I'm not going to go on about the economic climate, dire as it is. I believe we are in a position where we could actually benefit from it as people scale down on expensive holidays and restaurants and spend their money on local days out. To be able to do this though we need you, our members, to help out by volunteering at the Centre - putting on a show that visitors will recommend to their friends and of course helping them to spend their money with us!

If you are able to help - even for just the occasional day - by volunteering at the Centre please don't hold back. A phone call to the office on 01296-655720 is all it takes to start the ball rolling.

With our 40th Anniversary in mind please do put the August Bank Holiday weekend in your diaries. On Saturday 29th there will be a members' social event in the evening and a celebration of the first open day with re-enactments on Sunday 30th. On Monday Bev Potter's Veteran and Vintage Car rally will include a look back to the 1960's. Other plans are being developed to make this a truly memorable happy event celebrating our achievements of the past 40 years. Do please spread the word and come along.

Notes:
The text in this Quainton Railway Society publication was written in 2009 and so does not reflect events in the 10+ years since publication. The text and photographs are repeated verbatim from the original publication, with only a few minor grammar changes but some clarifying notes are added if deemed necessary. The photos from the original publication are provided as scans in this internet version of this long out of print publication.

Reference:
Chairman's Notes - Allan Baker - Quainton News No. 101 - April 2009