Coronavirus update – March 19th – Dates for 2021
Following on from yesterday’s brief announcement that we have cancelled our train services, we have more information that will help you understand what our plans are for the next few weeks.
At this moment in time, we plan to suspend train services until the end of April. We are as yet unable to comment on what will happen after that. The developing situation will be kept under constant review, with a further announcement being made by the third week of April.
The well-being of our visitors, staff and volunteers is our absolute priority and matters of health and safety are at the forefront of our discussions. Government advice is to avoid any unnecessary travel and, as we are located in the ‘Top Left Corner’ of Wales, visiting us for pleasure or as a volunteer invariably means travelling for relatively long distances. By cancelling our train service we are doing our best to minimise the risks to all involved.
Due to the uncertainty of the current situation, we are also going to have to make alterations to our planned programme of events. Some of these have already been posted on our website or Facebook – but, for the sake of clarity, the current list of changes is as follows:
• ‘The Snowdonian’ – Postponed till later in the year, to be combined with the ‘Snowdonian Limited’.
• ‘Join the FR Volunteers’ weekend – Cancelled.
• ‘Rail-Ale Festival’ – Cancelled, but will be back next year from 4th to 6th June 2021.
• ‘1870: Fairlie Eventful’ – Rescheduled, bigger and better, to next year from 18th to 20th June 2021.
• NEW EVENT – ‘Welsh Pony Launch’ – 20th to 21st June – details to be finalised.
Further changes to our events programme may be required, depending on how matters develop over the coming months.
Although we are not running trains, there are other ways in which you can support the railway, as (until advised otherwise) our main cafés and shops are still open to local residents and visitors.
• Spooner’s Café-Bar, Porthmadog – open as normal, serving hearty breakfasts, tasty treats and evening meals, along with the usual range of drinks and refreshments from the café counter or the bar. Extra space has been created between tables to provide enhanced social distancing, both indoors and out in the beer garden.
• Caffi De Winton, Caernarfon – open as normal, serving a range of homemade snacks, light bites and drinks.
• PLEASE NOTE: The Tea Room at Tan-y-Bwlch Station is currently closed, but will re-open for Easter weekend and the following week.
• The shops at our stations in Porthmadog and Caernarfon are also open daily, selling their usual range of gifts, souvenirs, models, books and DVD/Blu-ray discs.
• SHOP ONLINE at www.festshop.co.uk – the range of items available from our online shop is being added to all the time, so why not shop at your leisure from the comfort of your own home..!
Our Booking Office staff are contacting people who have pre-booked tickets over the next few weeks, so that they can help reschedule your visit.
If you have a ticket but have not yet been contacted, you could give them a call on 01766 516024 (09:00-16:30) to re-arrange your visit, or we can refund your booking by Gift Card to use at a later date.
Please bear with us through this difficult time. We completely understand the disappointment that these alterations to our plans may cause, but the situation is beyond our immediate control.
We will closely monitor developments and, to keep you fully informed, will post updates or changes to our plans online via our website and social media channels as soon as they become available.