Thanks everybody for your kind messages, makes me feel very welcome! Yes I'm a real ale man, weaned on Shepherd Neame but it's hard to find here in remote Herefordshire. Wye Valley Brewery turns out some decent ale though. Put me down for the real ale sub-group!

I have loads of pics of the old NDSR when it was at Chatham Dockyard, having miraculously managed to hang on to my photo collection through upwards of a dozen house moves (not to mention two divorces). Just have to find them... they are around here somewhere...

I will be helping to get Kinlet Hall ready for her main line trip to Ely later this month, but I can't go with the support crew this time – I have to be in Portsmouth at the weekend to be with my daughter (it's her graduation). Goodness that makes me feel old!

Hi Boilersuit, welcome to the forum.
The beer bottles have made me thirsty.
Paul.

Great! When you get time would love to see them. My best mate and I were 14 in 1984/5 and got involved just after closure of the Yard with the NDSR and spent many an hour there cleaning Ajax, cleaning the two Tube carriages, riding around in wagons and generally revelling amongst the filth and industrial decay of that place....:D

We even had jobs on the underground stock on the couple of odd open days that where held, operating the doors, etc. I have some odd pics, one of the Fowler DM 0-4-0 (my favourite, now sadly gone loco there), the underground train with Ajax at the head, and a postcard produced by the society after the first open day and that's it! Would love to see more....