A thank you from Paul Lewin

In golden Autumn Sunshine Palmerston has just pulled the heritage freight train in to the down line at Minffordd ready to stable it in the waggon tracks shed. It is in more way than one way the beginning of the end for 2020.

The Bygones weekend reflects very strongly the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland spirit that has been such a feature of this year. Against the most difficult of backdrops our railways and our people have stood out.  Welsh Pony not only represents a link to times gone by and the high regard in which we hold our railway heritage, but  very importantly, our determination to win through against adversity.  The images of this loco rolling through the Aberglasyn pass and standing proud for it works photo at Pen Cob should always serve to remind us of this.

We would of course like to say thank you to everyone who has helped both with this weekend and throughout the year. It is very pleasing to see that we have done things in a professional and safe way. It has been wonderful to see all our friends here and knowing that we will all go away with some very special images and moments imprinted on our minds. I hope that you will all share your photos and videos of the weekend too so that fellow members who could not be here can share in the enjoyment.

We now face the challenge of getting through what promises to be a long winter. We have some difficult decisions to make and we will continue to need everyone’s support for the railway to survive and come through the pandemic. It is likely that the government measures to be announced in the coming days will mean that only the smallest level of public services, if indeed any at all, will be possible during the winter. So we will busy ourselves with essential maintenance, as much our finances allow, and engineering projects that can earn income for the railway. 

Thank you all for your efforts and support in 2020 and in particular to everyone in the team that put this weekend together. We can all be proud of a job well done. 

Paul Lewin

Director and General Manager