13 May 2023, Merseyside & SW Lancs 009 Group Meeting, Rainford . 2 events in a Day – Part 2

I departed from Longbridge (see the previous Report) and Satnav informed me that it was a 90 minute drive up the rest of the M5 and then the M6 to my next intended stop at Rainford, near St Helens, before I completed my scheduled journey for a non-model railway commitment in Liverpool itself. 11am depart from the Bournville MRC event, should be there in time for lunch then!

Well, nearly 3 hours later after crawling 100 miles along the M6 4 lane stop-start traffic tail-back, I made it to Rainford and made my entry to the Merseyside Group meeting at Corpus Christi church hall.

This is a small hall, but Stan Williams who organises this bi-monthly meeting had managed to round up 8 layouts, a demo stand from Paul Titmuss of the Oldham NGM Group, a local model shop stand offering discounts and around 60 like-minded enthusiasts, with a constant supply of tea from David Hennessey! Having arrived late, I missed out on cake but never mind, it was a great afternoon, good to meet up with old friends and new ones, and enjoy the excellent range of layouts that attended.

Some refer to these meet-ups as NG Stan, others call it Stan’s Tea Party. Whatever it is called, it is certainly a popular Saturday afternoon and I understand that in addition to the occasional long distance guest pop-ins like myself, each meeting is attended by regulars from all over the north and north west as well as North Wales

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