Hopton (For Carsington) – Henmore Dale Light Railway.
Those with decent memories will remember the Henmore Dale Light Railway of old. The HDLR is a might have been 2ft gauge line that ran from a standard gauge interchange in the town of Ashbourne in a generally easterly direction along the valley of the Henmore Brook towards the same stone quarries that the Cromford & High Peak served. Along the way it served a creamery and a saw mill. Now the top end of the line would be under Carsington Water.
That’s the fiction.
The HDLR was the group layout of the Trent Valley Group of the 7mm NGA and was started, using second hand boards, as focus 
for the group. It grew a bit like topsy and was the origin of the TVG Open Days as we had to rent a hall to be able to put the whole layout up.
It grew as our standard of modelling improved. The Ashbourne Park Road area used second hand chipboard base boards and reclaimed track. First it extended towards Ashbourne exchange and then the other leg towards Winster by which time it was using lightweight boards and hand laid track.
We last exhibited this layout at York in 2013 (just looking that up and finding how long ago it was came as a shock).
Troubles
I’ve thought a lot about whether to include this next bit or to just gloss over it but in the end I think some understanding of it its required to see the story develop.
So far I mentioned that it all got a bit big and unwieldy. What needs adding to that is a growing dissatisfaction with the layouts mixed standards. The newer bits were fine scale but the stock still had to run over the early bits and the Park Road base boards were showing their age.
Following that show personalities came to the fore and the group dynamic became awkward. One of stalwarts of the group was Tim Allsopp who, unable to work on medical grounds, both stored the layout and did lots to it. I am very wary of writing this as he’s no longer here to defend himself but the layout was more and more becoming Tim’s layout with less and less input from the group. Time would tend to do it his way, If you had a good idea he’d tell you it wouldn’t work and then have the same idea a week later and if he didn’t like your suggestion he’d just ignore it. It was an attitude that risked splitting the group up.
Sandy Lane Halt – Henmore Dale Light Railway
There followed a summit meeting where all expressed their views and a new way of working was agreed and a new layout started. This was to be the next chapter in the Henmore Saga and be a simple model of a halt further up the line.
Sadly, it wasn’t the cure we’d hoped and it wasn’t long before Tim reverted to type and the group just stopped working on it. We still met as a group and Tim was still a great friend, excellent modeller and an inspiration. We all just got on with our own things.
The dynamic really changed in 2018 when Tim was diagnosed with cancer and steadily declined. He was able to see the layout at its one appearance at the group open day in January 2019. Tim passed away in the July.
Much of Tim’s model stuff was left to the group with members acting as joint executors with his brother. The basic deal was take your pick, use what you can, flog what you can. The 2020 Open Day featured a sale of Tim’s stuff and a significant sum was raised which went to a cancer charity.
This all knocked the group for six and there had been no talk of layouts for ages then Covid hit.
Covid & the TVG.
Only a fool would suggest Covid was a good thing but in a world of predominantly unpleasant news there was an unexpected benefit – ZOOM.
The TVG used to meet monthly in the pub. Usually the Brunswick by Derby station. We used to have use of the boardroom so could bring and play with models whilst having a decent beer. The boardroom was redeveloped and whilst we’d kid ourselves it was a group meeting it was no different to meeting your mates down the pub with Tim in his usual spot leaning on the bar. It wasn’t convenient for the shift workers and the more distant members.
What happened with Covid was that the TVG met online using Zoom once a fortnight and we have continued to do that to this day. The format is much the same as a face to face meeting as we all get a beer and take the mick unmercifully but a bit of modelling gets done too. We’ve only missed something like three meets and those were when we were all doing something different on the zoom night. One member tried to restart the pub nights but it didn’t catch on.
As part of clearing all the stuff from Tim’s a members garage became the store and has now developed into a modelling space (albeit a bit too chilly just now). As the covid thing eased a few practical working meetings have been held that have further sorted the Tim’s stuff archive and to strip some of the remaining bits of the old layout for usable parts before consigning it to the tip.
On zoom the group discussed what a new layout would be like if we built one and this refined itself to when we built one and now we’ve started.
Hopton (For Carsington) – Henmore Dale Light Railway is born.
With bucket loads of hindsight Tim’s demise was a shock that hit us all. Dealing with that and the interlude forced by Covid provided the break the group needed to put the old aside and come back with fresh ideas. Without it, we’d probably not have got round to doing anything.
The first bits of the new layout will be at the TVG Members Day in Mickleover, Derby on the 28th of January 2023.
The next instalment will, finally, get on to the new layout.
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