Whose slides are they anyway? Wales Home Last updated: 05 January - PDF document

This document is a snapshot of content from a discontinued BBC website, originally published between 2002-2011. It has been made available for archival & research purposes only. Please see the foot of this document for Archive Terms of Use. 28 February 2012 Accessibility help Text only BBC Homepage Whose slides are they anyway? Wales Home Last updated: 05 January 2007 The Rev Michael W alker from Porthmadog is searching for more from this section the railway enthusiast behind the lens. History BBC Local Maritime memories North West Wales Broadcasting Family history Things to do Celtic heritage People & Places Castles Nature & Outdoors People in History History Industrial heritage Telford's legacy Religion & Ethics The Romans Arts & Culture Black History Music World War II Abolition of slavery TV & Radio Restoration More treasures Local BBC Sites News Useful links Sport related www links Weather Ffestiniog Railway Travel 'Taliesin', and Mrs Jones dressed in Welsh costume at Neighbouring Sites more from North West Tan y Bwlch station Mid Wales 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Wales North East Wales Related BBC Sites I was given these slides by a dustbin man when I was a vicar Wales Arts in Halifax. Be inspired Cymru Release your creativity with Gogledd Orllewin He knew I was interested in trains because he'd seen a photo a look at local art and artists. of me in the local paper with a smokebox door which I had on display in the garden. Your Say Talking points It's the large, circular thing on hinges on the front of an Share your views, gripes engine. I've taken it from vicarage to vicarage as we moved, and passions and make your voice heard. though unfortunately there's no room for it here at our home in Porthmadog. Activities Head for adventure He brought me a collection of slides he'd found in a house Your guide to pursuits on clearance - they were going to be thrown out otherwise. mountains, rivers and at sea. I've no idea who took them, only that the house was cleared in 1969 and that the photographer was very meticulous as all the slides have the location, date and other information on them. I think he must have taken his bicycle by train from Halifax to North Wales and gone round the steam railways, Tai Hanesyddol taking photos. They date back to 1958. O blastai crand i ffermydd gwledig, camwch dros drothwy rhai o dai mwyaf I'm a long-time member of the Tal-y-Llyn Railway and in hanesyddol yr ardal 1958 I came as a volunteer to camp out at Dolgoch Falls to help paint the railings. I remember taking a trip on the Ffestiniog railway from Minffordd to Tan-y-Bwlch. We walked on from there and were literally the last people to walk through the tunnel - we'd got halfway through and the workmen from the hydro-electric plant were blocking it off

behind us! your comments Peter Johnson from Leicester The woman in Welsh dress is Bessie Jones. She lived at the station house with her husband Will, who also worked for the railway, looking after the track. During the 1930s Bessie sold refreshments from the station house and turned out to meet the trains in the summer, a practice she resumed when the railway reopened in 1958. She features in many pictures postcards, some of which she sold herself. Mon Jan 15 09:39:16 2007 Tony Coultiss from W iltshire Dear Michael, I am afraid I cannot shed any light on these, but having visited the FR in roughly the same period, I must say that they are wonderful! Good luck in your search! Tony Mon Jan 15 09:38:51 2007 John Dobson, Garndolbenm aen The lady in the Welsh costume in many of these photographs is Bessie (Elisabeth) Jones, who had been Station Mistress at Tan y Bwlch in the 1930s and resumed her duties when the Festiniog Railway reopened to Tan y Bwlch in 1958. She continued as Station Mistress until the 1970s when she retired with her husband Will (who was the permanent way ganger for the FR) and moved to Betws Garmon near Waunfawr. I think that most of the photographs show the official reopening train, run for the FR Society AGM in April 1958. If this is the case I was a passenger on the train - aged 16. Unfortunately I% have no idea who took the photos. However, as the current editor of the Ffestiniog Railway Magazine, I can say that they are of considerable historical interest, particularly as colour film was by no means common in 1958. They would therefore be a welcome addition to the Festiniog Railway archive, held at the Gwynedd County Archives in Caernarfon, if that can be arranged. Mon Jan 15 09:38:14 2007

28 February 2012 Accessibility help Text only BBC Homepage Whose slides are they anyway? Wales Home Last updated: 05 January 2007 The Rev Michael W alker from Porthmadog is searching for more from this section the railway enthusiast behind the lens. History BBC Local Maritime memories North West Wales Broadcasting Family history Things to do Celtic heritage People & Places Castles Nature & Outdoors People in History History Industrial heritage Telford's legacy Religion & Ethics The Romans Arts & Culture Black History Music World War II Abolition of slavery TV & Radio Restoration More treasures Local BBC Sites News Useful links Sport related www links Weather Ffestiniog Railway Travel Neighbouring Sites 'Taliesin' at Tan y Bwlch station: 7.4.1958 more from North West Mid Wales 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Wales North East Wales Related BBC Sites I was given these slides by a dustbin man when I was a vicar Wales Arts in Halifax. Be inspired Cymru Release your creativity with Gogledd Orllewin He knew I was interested in trains because he'd seen a photo a look at local art and artists. of me in the local paper with a smokebox door which I had on display in the garden. Your Say Talking points It's the large, circular thing on hinges on the front of an Share your views, gripes engine. I've taken it from vicarage to vicarage as we moved, and passions and make your voice heard. though unfortunately there's no room for it here at our home in Porthmadog. Activities Head for adventure He brought me a collection of slides he'd found in a house Your guide to pursuits on clearance - they were going to be thrown out otherwise. mountains, rivers and at sea. I've no idea who took them, only that the house was cleared in 1969 and that the photographer was very meticulous as all the slides have the location, date and other information on them. I think he must have taken his bicycle by train from Halifax to North Wales and gone round the steam railways, Tai Hanesyddol taking photos. They date back to 1958. O blastai crand i ffermydd gwledig, camwch dros drothwy rhai o dai mwyaf I'm a long-time member of the Tal-y-Llyn Railway and in hanesyddol yr ardal 1958 I came as a volunteer to camp out at Dolgoch Falls to help paint the railings. I remember taking a trip on the Ffestiniog railway from Minffordd to Tan-y-Bwlch. We walked on from there and were literally the last people to walk through the tunnel - we'd got halfway through and the workmen from the hydro-electric plant were blocking it off

28 February 2012 Accessibility help Text only BBC Homepage Whose slides are they anyway? Wales Home Last updated: 05 January 2007 The Rev Michael W alker from Porthmadog is searching for more from this section the railway enthusiast behind the lens. History BBC Local Maritime memories North West Wales Broadcasting Family history Things to do Celtic heritage People & Places Castles Nature & Outdoors People in History History Industrial heritage Telford's legacy Religion & Ethics The Romans Arts & Culture Black History Music World War II Abolition of slavery TV & Radio Restoration More treasures Local BBC Sites News Useful links Sport related www links Weather Ffestiniog Railway Travel The Ffestiniog Railway train arriving at Tan y Bwlch Neighbouring Sites more from North West station: 7.4.1958 Mid Wales 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Wales North East Wales Related BBC Sites I was given these slides by a dustbin man when I was a vicar Wales Arts in Halifax. Be inspired Cymru Release your creativity with Gogledd Orllewin He knew I was interested in trains because he'd seen a photo a look at local art and artists. of me in the local paper with a smokebox door which I had on display in the garden. Your Say Talking points It's the large, circular thing on hinges on the front of an Share your views, gripes engine. I've taken it from vicarage to vicarage as we moved, and passions and make your voice heard. though unfortunately there's no room for it here at our home in Porthmadog. Activities Head for adventure He brought me a collection of slides he'd found in a house Your guide to pursuits on clearance - they were going to be thrown out otherwise. mountains, rivers and at sea. I've no idea who took them, only that the house was cleared in 1969 and that the photographer was very meticulous as all the slides have the location, date and other information on them. I think he must have taken his bicycle by train from Halifax to North Wales and gone round the steam railways, Tai Hanesyddol taking photos. They date back to 1958. O blastai crand i ffermydd gwledig, camwch dros drothwy rhai o dai mwyaf I'm a long-time member of the Tal-y-Llyn Railway and in hanesyddol yr ardal 1958 I came as a volunteer to camp out at Dolgoch Falls to help paint the railings. I remember taking a trip on the Ffestiniog railway from Minffordd to Tan-y-Bwlch. We walked on from there and were literally the last people to walk through the tunnel - we'd got halfway through and the workmen from the hydro-electric plant were blocking it off