Alastair Wilkinson
We were saddened to hear last week that Alastair Wilkinson had passed away. Alastair sadly lost his battle with motor neurone disease and died peacefully on 25th July.
His family asked if we could pass this message on to those who knew him. He very much wanted them to share this sad news with his friends on the railway.
Alastair was a guard on both railways and a member of the Black Hand Gang as well as helping out in many other areas of the Welsh Highland Railway. He was and enthusiastic member of our events team including working at the annual Cwrw ar y Cledrau beer festival. For many years, Alastair was also the secretary of Cymdeithas Rheilffordd Eryri. He was one of the team who worked tirelessly to finish off the last bit of track into Harbour Station in February 2009 and, together with Chris Jones and David Firth, installed the final fishplate to join the two railways.
Having lived in the area for many years, Alastair had moved back to England to be with his family but was still a regular visitor. Sadly, following his diagnosis, he had to give up much of his volunteering but continued as secretary to CRhE until last year.
Alastair’s funeral will take place at Oakley Wood Crematorium, Leamington Spa on Monday 9th August at 14:30. The numbers are still limited in the chapel, so the family needs to know who would like to attend so that they can make arrangements. Anyone wishing to attend can let Dafydd Thomas know and he will pass the message on to Tricia Wilkinson.
