Vic Mitchell 1934-2021

We are sad to hear of the passing of Vic Mitchell today.

Vic was one of seven gentlemen who in 1951 responded to an advert placed in the Daily Telegraph by schoolboy Leonard Heath Humphreys, bringing their attention to the plight of the Ffestiniog Railway that was then in a derelict condition.

That led to the famous Bristol meeting and the development of plans for restoration.

Vic was a former Ffestiniog Railway Society director, Vice Chairman of HANSAG and founder of Middleton Press, who today issued the following statement:

It is with great sadness that we notify you that Vic passed away peacefully on Monday 18th January 2021.

We were grateful that he had to endure only a short illness and that he was able to be brought back to Midleton Lodge, his home for over 60 years, where his family were able to care for him during his final days.

Due to the present restrictions there will be a small family funeral followed by a Thanksgiving Service to be held later in the year, where we hope as many of you as possible will fill the Church to raise the roof in his honour. This, we hope, will be followed by a gathering where we can acknowledge and celebrate Vic’s many great achievements during his lifetime. We will notify you as soon as we have a date for this.

We would like to express our thanks to so many of you for your cards and kind words, it means so much at this difficult time.

Deborah (Vic’s daughter) and Ray Esher