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A view from the 50s…

June 12, 2019February 11, 2020 Chris Humphrys

Coach restoration, weed killing and Bessie Jones gathering visitors for tea at her station cottage at Tan-y-Bwlch are all on view in this amateur film footage from 1956. It can be viewed freely on the British Film Institute website.

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Festiniog Railway Heritage Group

Festiniog Railway Heritage Group

The Festiniog Railway Heritage Group aims to research, conserve and recreate many aspects of the Festiniog Railway’s heritage. It supports many projects across the railway, and publishes research conducted by members in its quarterly journal.

Festiniog Railway Heritage Group

2 weeks ago

Festiniog Railway Heritage Group
The latest Festiniog Railway Heritage Group Journal is out full of fascinating articles covering our history and projects in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. Why not join us? Our membership subscription pays for our many projects which preserve or recreate parts of the Ffestiniog Railway's history; pays for scanning the many photos, drawings, and letters in our archive to make them widely available, pays for the historically accurate embellishments that would otherwise not be included in a rebuild, and pays for the continued maintenance of our heritage assets. In return you get a quarterly Journal and you get access to our online archive with very high definition pictures, historic documents, drawings, and letters. You also get the satisfaction that you are helping the oldest surviving railway company in the world which was, and is, a world changer, tell its story and keep telling its story for generations to come. See our website for digital and paper subscriptions. ... See MoreSee Less

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Festiniog Railway Heritage Group

2 weeks ago

Festiniog Railway Heritage Group
Another weekend is coming to a close. What did you do with it? Something relaxing? Something satisfying? Or were you a bit bored once the football finished? We can help! Volunteering for the Ffestiniog Railway is one of the most satisfying things you can do. The make-a-difference feeling; the look-what-I've-done feeling; the look-what-new-skills-I've-learnt feeling; the me-and-my-new-friends feeling. Some jobs, such as rebuilding one of our locomotives, you need to go to Wales for. But not all. People do projects in workshops all over the UK; some do projects that can be done from anywhere, even as far away as Australia - research, marketing, project management, websites, social media. There is no such thing as someone who cannot help. If you feel you can't spend even 15 minutes a week helping, please consider joining the Festiniog Railway Heritage Group. Our membership subscription pays for our many projects which preserve or recreate parts of the Ffestiniog Railway's history; pays for scanning the many photos, drawings, and letters in our archive to make them widely available, pays for the historically accurate embellishments that would otherwise not be included in a rebuild, and pays for the continued maintenance of our heritage assets. In return you get a quarterly Journal full of articles and pictures about our projects and our history with new discoveries being made all the time - locos, carriages, waggons, signalling, trackwork, infrastructure, historically significant people, you get access to our online archive with very high definition pictures, and you get the very smug satisfaction that you are helping the oldest surviving railway company in the world which was, and is, a world changer, tell its story and keep telling its story for generations to come. Yes, you can help!(Photograph iBase 5271 of England locomotive No.4 Palmerston in Boston Lodge in July 1933) ... See MoreSee Less

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Festiniog Railway Heritage Group

2 weeks ago

Festiniog Railway Heritage Group
This week, a quick look at Groby Junction with iBase 1436, the only known photo of it with track laid. The Groby Granite Co. ran Cwm Bowydd Quarry between Tanygrisiau and Blaenau Ffestiniog. The branch line from Groby Junction was reputedly the most difficult to work of any FR branch, descending from the junction at about 1 in 25, turning on a left-hand curve of about two chains (40m) radius, crossing the Glan y Pwll - Tanygrisiau road, then disappearing up Oakeley Square street on an increasing gradient of up to about 1 in 20, turning sharp right on an even tighter radius curve and instantly descending at at least 1 in 20 for some 400 to 500 yards to the quarry, where a rising gradient made stopping rather easier. The route of the line from Groby Junction to Groby Granite Quarry is not frequently recorded on maps but does appear in the OS Map One Inch series from 1919-1926 though due to the scale, details are scant. The map shown here was generated based on the description above, the OS Map, along with the known photographs of the route, and the extant topography.iBase 6559 from 1982, shows Merddin Emrys with an up train and is a fine view of the overall layout with the widened formation which contained the sidings, and then the trackbed curving around and down to the remains of the bridge. iBase 6689 taken in 1968 shows the ferocity of the route with a 2 chain (44 yard) radius curve on a 1:25 gradient down from the mainline to the bridge and road below.This extract from iBase 2904 is a fantastic period photograph looking over Tanygrisiau and Blaenau Ffestiniog which captures the Groby branch heading up Oakeley Square to the right of the picture, heading away from the camera, before turning a sharp right behind a promontory. The iBase 2905 extract is taken from the hillside in the top right hand corner of the last photograph. The high ground the branch curves around is on the right with the Groby branch passing below the photographer and then passing alongside the road before turning into the quarry entrance, just out of sight to the left.Why not join the Heritage Group? You will get a quarterly Journal, access to these pictures (and others) in very high definition and help us preserve, record, and interpret our unique history. ... See MoreSee Less

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Festiniog Railway Heritage Group

3 weeks ago

Festiniog Railway Heritage Group
Another great update from the team behind KS4415. Joining the Heritage Group helps us fund projects like this one as well as giving you a quarterly journal packed with history of our railway and some sidelines of connected history. What’s stopping you?! ... See MoreSee Less
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Festiniog Railway Heritage Group

1 month ago

Festiniog Railway Heritage Group
This week’s delve shows the plaque from the official opening of the new Blaenau Ffestiniog station. The railway had restarted services on 25 May 1982, the 150th anniversary of the railway gaining its Act of Parliament. The 2nd picture, © Paul Shenton iBase 4462, shows the first passenger working into the station hauled by Earl of Merioneth. 11 months later on 30 April 1983 the official opening was held.The Ffestiniog Railway Society magazine reported, “…Blaenau Ffestiniog's new railway station was duly opened by the then Welsh Speaker of the House of Commons, the Rt. Hon. George Thomas MP. The Speaker had been entertained to dinner by the FR Co. Board on Friday evening and travelled up the line on a special train on the Saturday. The engine's headboard showed his coat of arms and stated 'Trefn! Trefn! Order! Order!' which amused him greatly and which he later autographed. On arrival at the terminus, the Speaker flagged away BR and FR trains simultaneously, neither of which, incidentally, went anywhere except out of sight and he then proceeded to a covered area where other MPs and dignitaries of local government and BR and FR representatives were seated. Curiously, in this Spring of heavy showers, this covering proved to be entirely unnecessary, as the sun shone that morning: here he made a speech, before unveiling a suitably inscribed slate tablet which will, at a later date, be incorporated into the wall of a building… The Royal Oakeley Silver Band and the Brythoniaid Male Voice Choir provided music and song…With the VIPs departed, a smallish party of ‘IPs' was taken for a trip down the line, during which lunch was provided. Prominent among these was Gerald Fox, instigator and initially Engineer of the Deviation, who had flown over from his current home in north-western USA, where he has noticeably swapped his Cambridge accent for a mid-Atlantic one!” The 3rd picture, © Norman Gurley iBase 7170, shows the train ready to depart down the line behind Merddin Emrys. The last picture shows the 1983 timetable provided with the first Society magazine of the year. ... See MoreSee Less

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