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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

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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

6 days ago

Festiniog Railway Heritage Group
Animation to accompany the last post. ...

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Festiniog Railway Heritage Group

6 days ago

Festiniog Railway Heritage Group
Another great update from one of our projects. The skill and dedication of the team doing this is perhaps best demonstrated in this post. This project is not for the faint hearted. ...
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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. ...

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Festiniog Railway Heritage Group

3 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) ...

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Festiniog Railway Heritage Group

3 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. ...

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