Llan Ffestiniog Our General Funds

Issue 5 Newsletter June 2020

Newsletter of the Bala & Ffestiniog Railway Heritage Trust

With permission of John Huxley A view of Tan-Y-Manod, the turntable is long gone From the collection of the Late John K Norbury but some of the interchange platforms are still visible. Chairman's Report CONTENTS

elcome to our fifth newsletter This Wnewsletter comes at a time of great challenge for many of our members with 12 Rob Bradley week enforced isolation for some and being furloughed from work for others. It has also resulted in some aspects of the Trusts work being delayed with other organisations having their resources and priorities diverted PAGE 2 Chairman's Report towards dealing with Coronavirus plans and issues in their local teams. PAGE 3 Network Rail We have been working away in the background and have identified Timber for a Tenner two sites of importance to the project that have no current owners. Our Trust Headboard plans for these two sites are referred to in this newsletter. To the right you can see a chart outlining the position of our timber for a tenner PAGE 4 appeal. Each sleeper represents £2,000 raised (and received) towards Llan Ffestiniog our general funds. Please do give generously to this appeal as it will provide us with funds for any legal fees during discussions with PAGE 5 Network Rail as well as funds for acquiring tools and equipment for Tan-Y-Manod forthcoming work at Llan Ffestiniog and Tan-Y-Manod.

PAGE 6 Please note this does not include funds already collected for other Timber for a Tenner appeals or transferred from the old Society.

Happy reading.

Shane Barry Chairman (2020 - 2023)

2 Network Rail

Due to Network Rail Concentrating on Coronavirus issues we have not had any further progress to report at this point in time. Once things settle down we hope to be able to report more in the future.

Timber for a Tenner appeal

In an effort to boost the Trusts general funds the treasurer has launched an appeal called the Timber for a Tenner appeal. We have worked out that there is approximately 14,00 sleepers on the line and should every one be taken up by the members and non members this would give the trust £140,000 in general funds to enable it to cover any costs for negotiations with Network Rail as well as any costs related to works carried out at llan Ffestiniog, Tan-Y-Manod and in time other locations.

We strongly encourage our members to assist with this fundraising effort and to share the information with non members that would be interested in supporting the appeal.

Trust Headboard

I had hoped to show this headboard to the members at the AGM but unfortunately circumstances prevented that from happening. It is the hope that the Trust will be able to use the headboard for promotional opportunities in the future and any fundraising charter trains that the trust may arrange in the distant future.

Llan Ffestiniog Station site as a whole was in private ownership until the owner at the time passed away. We as a trust have been able to identify the current owners through the Land Registry and other sources and to date have opened communications with them

We will be continuing our communication with the owners of the site with a view to safeguarding the site for the future should the current owners and ourselves come to a suitable agreement. Should the current owners agree to allow us to recreate a station on the site this would be our intention. The initial artist impressions below include a goods shed in the design however it may not be possible to do so on the site due to size constraints. The site at Llan Ffestiniog (subject to the current owners agreement) has the potential to enable us to recreate the station area itself (without goods and carriage sheds) with a view to becoming an additional focal point for members of the local community through the creation of cafe facilities on site. This station is likely to become a key part of the line due to the ability to have a crossing point for trains at busy times as well as a significant local population of its own for volunteers and other support.

4 Tan-Y-Manod

Tan-Y-Manod is another historically significant site on the line where there was a small motive power depot on the line which included a small turntable and engine shed for a while. It was also the site for transhipment sidings between the narrow gauge quarries and the standard gauge line. Currently there are no known current owners for the site according to the land registry and we have been working towards attempting to identify the owners of the site involved.

It is the trusts intention to look at surveying the site with a view to recording any historically interesting elements found on the site and potentially finding the turntable that used to be present.

A long term view would be to restore the area to its original condition with a representation of the narrow gauge trans-shipment sidings that used to operate in the area. It is known that the original platforms remain in place and we would look to restoring these and telling the history of the quarries that served Tan-Y-Manod

The diagram to the right is the infographic that we will be using to illustrate the progress of our timber for a tenner appeal. Our Treasurer Steve Richards launched the appeal in the last few weeks and prior to launch we already have received several donations and regular donations to the appeal.

This appeal is quite important to the trust as it gives the trust sufficient general funds to meet its needs over the next 12 months including covering any legal fees and costs while negotiating a lease for the line with Network Rail and any other negotiations necessary.

The Trust needs to be in a position where when Network Rail says yes that they can within a very short space of time cover any invoices for legal fees (both Network Rails and the Trusts) to ensure minimal delays to any sign offs with the view of starting work on the track as soon as feasible after the confirmation of exchange of contracts.

As per any appeal any donation made to the appeal no matter how small or big is most welcome. Anyone wishing to make small regular donations is encouraged to do so, do not forget to fill in a gift aid form for your donation.

FOI Requests

The trust currently is awaiting results of two Freedom Of Information requests which have been delayed due to Coronavirus redeployments of staff by the councils involved.

One was to help us establish the circumstances surrounding ownership of Llan Ffestiniog Station. The information in this is no longer necessary having been established from other sources.

The second request is to Gwynedd Council for a document that the Trust has became aware of that centered around the restoration of the mothballed section of line between Blaenau Ffestiniog and Trawsfynydd Lake Halt.