Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland seeking local community’s railway stories

The Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways have launched an interpretation project in which people living between Blaenau Ffestiniog and Caernarfon, and beyond, are being asked to come forward with their railway stories.

As part of the project, Britain’s longest preserved steam railway is looking for railway stories which may include the family history of people whose ancestors worked on the railways, or how the railways impacted communities or lives.

The appeal is part of a National Lottery Heritage Fund project that will see a focus on new interpretation across both railways. This includes new buildings at the Ffestiniog’s works Boston Lodge where the railway’s locomotives and carriages have been built and maintained for almost 200 years. The ultimate objective of the project is to open Boston Lodge for guided tours in 2024.

This is an interesting departure for the railways as they have not tried this approach before. Considering that railway development started in the 1830s and has continued to the present day, and with the preservation era beginning in the 1950s, there must be many stories waiting to be told that the railways are keen to hear.

As for whether these stories can help the railway? Jim Embrey, the project’s Interpretation Officer, is convinced of this and said “We know that many people locally have had grandparents and great grandparents who worked on the railway. Our aim is to capture their stories and to use them to enhance our visitors’ experience by telling them these tales and hopefully encourage them to make return visits”.

Jim Embrey is very keen to hear from people with interesting stories to tell, as well as those wanting to do more detailed research. Anyone who wishes to have a deeper involvement in the project, such as further researching the stories that come forward using the railway’s considerable archives, is invited to volunteer and will be given training to help in this work. Jim’s email address is [email protected]