Mark Walden

Mark Walden joined The Mid Hants Railway’s Watercress Line in its earliest days in 1973 and joined the locomotive restoration group. He was employed as an engineer with the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough, and very usefully was getting components made for the railway by RAE apprentices.  He later joined the building department and since his retirement from RAE in 1997, he has been at the railway three days a week doing many of the small maintenance jobs himself and using his Land-Rover to collect and ferry materials. His management style was a very democratic one and his group would vote on which tasks to tackle and in which order.  Now 78, he has decided it is time to retire.

As Buildings Manager, he has masterminded the restoration of ten miles of line from complete dereliction to complete immersion in the atmosphere of the steam era of the Southern railway.

The list of his projects includes 3 footbridge , 4 buildings, 5 water towers, 1 crane and 2 signal boxes imported, 1 signal box refurbished, 3 buildings refurbished, 4 buildings refurbished with imported features, 2 building changes of use, 4 new buildings and 4 platform extensions. 

Note:  Imported means identified, dismantled and transported from another railway and reassembled on new foundations on the Mid Hants Railway.

Whether on large projects or small operations, Mark’s attention to detail and authenticity has been instrumental in the transformation of the entire railway. The ultimate testament to his work is that the many structures imported to the line look as if they have always been there. While all the tasks have been worked on by many volunteers, Mark Walden has been the central figure which managed and co-ordinated the work of those many and has formed the rock on which much of the Watercress Line is built.

Terry Martin

Terry Martin joined the Mersey Tramway Preservation Society in 1967.  Within two years he had joined the committee, held the post of secretary and then since 1978, Chairman.  During that time he has attended more than 400 committee meetings. His contribution has been much wider than administration however; he has taken part in about 4500 working parties and contributed something like 30,000 hours of hands-on labour.

He has seen the completion of the restoration of two trams, 869 and 245.  He has edited the Society’s quarterly Newsletter since 1985, and typed out the mailing labels for longer - more than forty years.  He has introduced new fundraising ideas and introduced a calendar and Christmas cards for the Society.  He organises the Society’s annual trip to the National Tramway Museum as well as the annual Raffle, and with his wife Sue, has organised the Christmas Tram event which, among other things, involves wrapping hundreds of children’s Christmas presents. 

He is credited with raising morale at a difficult time for the Society, and successfully led negotiations with National Museums Liverpool over legal problems and with the Mersey Transport Executive to avoid the Society’s eviction from its premises.  There seems to be very little Terry cannot turn his hand to, and it is very clear that his contribution to the Mersey Tramway Preservation Society over almost 50 years has been enormous.