Bangor University MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY Serious Leisure And Railway Volunteering: A Study Of The Welsh Highland, Ffestiniog And Talyllyn Railways Jones, Stephanie Award date: 2021 Awarding institution: Bangor University Link to publication General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 27. Sep. 2021 Serious Leisure And Railway Volunteering: A Study Of The Welsh Highland, Ffestiniog And Talyllyn Railways STEPHANIE OLIVIA PENNEY JONES Supervisors Dr. Robin Mann & Professor Howard Davis School of History, Philosophy and Social Sciences A thesis submitted in fulfilment of a Master of Philosophy Degree Funded by the Wales Institute of Social & Economic Research, Data & Methods (WISERD) as part of the Civil Society Work Package University Banner ID Number: 500235160 Declaration Yr wyf drwy hyn yn datgan mai canlyniad fy ymchwil fy hun yw’r thesis hwn, ac eithrio lle nodir yn wahanol. Caiff ffynonellau eraill eu cydnabod gan droednodiadau yn rhoi cyfeiriadau eglur. Nid yw sylwedd y gwaith hwn wedi cael ei dderbyn o’r blaen ar gyfer unrhyw radd, ac nid yw’n cael ei gyflwyno ar yr un pryd mewn ymgeisiaeth am unrhyw radd oni bai ei fod, fel y cytunwyd gan y Brifysgol, am gymwysterau deuol cymeradwy. I hereby declare that this thesis is the results of my own investigations, except where otherwise stated. All other sources are acknowledged by bibliographic references. This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not being concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree unless, as agreed by the University, for approved dual awards. ii Acknowledgments Firstly, would first like to say a big thank you to my supervisor’s Dr R. Mann and Professor H. Davis, for their continued advice, guidance, feedback and direction throughout my studies. Also a sincere thank you to Professor S. Machura and Dr R.Hodges for their valuable input at my annual reviews, and for their constructive evaluation when reading my draft chapters. I gratefully acknowledge the funding I received from WISERD (Welsh Institute of Social, Economic Research, Data and Methods), without which, this study would not have been possible. The support which I have received from the WISERD community has been invaluable, and through which I have made many life long friends. I want to take this opportunity to express my sincere appreciation to all the volunteers at the Ffestiniog, Welsh Highland and Talyllyn Railways, who give up their time to provide me with their valuable personal stories and experiences, and for welcoming me so hospitably to their events. Mr.T. McLlwrick, your knowledge of the railways was invaluable, as was your collection of documents, photographs and articles. Finally, I would like to thank my parents for all their encouragement and support during my PhD, for helping me to achieve whatever I set out to do. Thank you. iii ABSTRACT This thesis explores volunteering at three heritage railways in Gwynedd, North Wales, during the period of 2016-2017. The decision to focus on heritage railways in Wales was taken as it offers an insight into a specific type of volunteering, in a unique setting which is often overlooked in the literature. Unlike many other forms of volunteering, railway participation is generally intense, seasonal, and highly gendered, which challenges many previously held perceptions. The data was collected by way of structured interviews and participant observations with volunteers and members of management at each of the three railways. This methodology was utilised due to the nature of the organisations themselves, the way in which the volunteers generally lived considerable distances away from the railways, engaged on an intensive basis, and worked long hours. Due to these challenges, interviewing the volunteers in a more structured way, frequently whilst they were working and on their individual tasks, allowed for rich data to be collected. Through conducting an analysis of interview data and field notes (both analysed through the use of NVIVO), this research seeks to understand the personal stories, histories, and motives of those who participate. Specifically, this research examines how and why individuals came to be involved with the railways. The findings of this thesis have shown that for the vast majority of the participants, being a volunteer on the railways was a serious leisure based activity, which often went beyond the traditionally held views of volunteering being an ad hoc activity which is engaged upon by the middle classes. Volunteers generally considered their engagement to be a form of ‘serious leisure’ as a result of their significant commitment. The paricipants often referred to iv the six elements of serious leisure ascribed by Stebbins (2006), these being 1) need to persevere at the activity, 2) availability of a leisure career, 3) need to put in effort to gain skill and knowledge, 4) realization of various special benefits, 5) unique ethos and social world, and 6) an attractive personal and social identity. Participants also reflected wider demographics within the industrial heritage industry and following the data analysis, retirement, belonging, identity, community (the railway community), the influence of family, tradition, demographics emerged as key themes. Furthermore, the research found that particularly post retirement, volunteering provides many benefits including improving mental health, making new friends, feeling useful after ceasing employment, and being able to pursue a lifelong interest. Family was a significant aspect identified, with many indicating a connection either through previous membership, or by visiting as children with their family. Therefore, illustrating that railway volunteering can be considered a form of inheritance which is passed down through generations, particularly amongst the males. The initial part of this thesis will focus primarily upon participant demographics, connections to family histories, and the motives behind individual engagement. The second part of the study examines the ‘serious’ nature of railway volunteering, including the dedication and commitment involved, both in terms of time and financial resources, along with how the volunteers develop a sense of belonging and community in this unique form of volunteering. For the purposes of this study, the term community will be used to defined both the local and volunteer communities. The final section of the research will further explore how the participants attempted to differentiate themselves from 'other' groups of volunteers, and how they responded to the stereotypical views held by the general public and perpetuated by the media, thereby helping them to shape their identities. v Overall, this thesis is positioned as a sociological inquiry, theoretically informed by the serious leisure perspective of Robert Stebbins and the field of heritage volunteering. List of figures Figure 1. Gwynedd county showing major settlements, Snowdonia National Park and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty ............................................................................................ 14 Figure 2. Organisational structure of the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railway, adapted from McLlwrick (2017) ........................................................................................................ 32 Figure 3. Organisation structure of the Talyllyn Railway. ..................................................... 40 Figure 4. Service delivery model .......................................................................................... 41 Figure 5. Heat map of heritage railways in the UK ............................................................. 133 Figure 6. Example of the Facebook study recruitment posts shared. ................................. 143 Figure 7. Twitter pages for the FFR & WHR. ...................................................................... 144 Figure 8. The research design process flow chart illustrating the procedure followed from the early phases, to the final stages of the data collection. ............................................... 149 Figure 9. Developed coding tree for the study................................................................... 164 Figure 10. Female volunteers at the Ffestiniog Railway. .................................................... 240 Figure 11. Volunteers on the Welsh Highland Railway....................................................... 249 Figure 12. Number of volunteers per category. ................................................................. 260 Figure 13. Schematic of the serious leisure perspective. ................................................... 262 vi List of tables Table 1. Total numbers of volunteers, paid staff and members across the three case study organisations.