Jump to content
 

Memories of Railway Journeys in Wales 1961-1964


Not Jeremy
 Share

Recommended Posts

  • RMweb Gold

Available now, Peter Barnfield's memories of travelling around South and Mid Wales on mostly lost railway lines. Illustrated with his own superb photographs, routes covered include the Central and Mid Wales lines, the Brecon and Merthyr, Welshpool and Llanfair and others.

 

post-19301-0-57174700-1516977458.jpg

 

ISBN 9781912038695 112 pages softback £14.95

 

There is no poetry in this book(!) but the text includes a charming introduction from Peter's wife Ginny, who many of you will have met, together with Peter's evocative writing which includes some amusing stories.

 

Available direct

 

http://titfield.co.uk/Wild-Swan/Reference.htm

 

or from any good bookseller.

 

Simon Castens

  • Like 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

Sounds interesting, definitely an 'I need to make some space on the shelves' volume.  

 

 

However in a sort of 'r-t-r product comment manner' if it's about lines in South and Mid Wales why is the cover picture of a train in North Wales?  :O  :jester:  :angel:

 

Well quite, although I'm considering Barmouth North Mid Wales myself :jester:

 

The text does stretch out to Bala Junction, and Peter did "do" Barmouth but not in this book. A second more northern Wales volume perhaps - we could put a nice picture of Severn Tunnel Junction on the front!!

 

Simon

  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

I have had had an initial scan through this book, (having obtained my copy by becoming possibly the very first ever customer of Wild Swan to use a contactless credit card with His Simonness at the Bristol 'O' Gauge show yesterday), I can say that this really is something special. Apart from the absolutely superb photos, the text and description of Peter Barnfield's journeys in the early 1960s are very readable and extremely interesting and atmospheric.

 

Anyone with the merest, tiniest slightest soupçon of interest in Welsh railways ought to have a copy of this book.

 

Or even if you don't like Welsh railways, get it anyway, it's fab!

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

Please can someone summarise which lines are covered?

 

many thanks.

 

regards

Mid Wales, Central Wales, Brecon & Merthyr, Hereford, Hay & Brecon, Western Valley from Aberbeeg, more or less.

Edited by Captain Kernow
Link to post
Share on other sites

Mid Wales, Central Wales, Brecon & Merthyr, Hereford, Hay & Brecon, Western Valley from Aberbeeg, more or less.

 

 

Thanks very much.  Maybe a bit too much GWR except for the HHB :-)

 

Jintyman should love it, with his Tallylyn at the heart of a few of those lines.

 

regards

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

Not a comment on this particular book this time, as I've already said how superb it is, but just to say that I had another couple of volumes arrive in the post this morning (the new Mid-Wales book and the second volume of the John Hodge 'Western Valleys' book) and I cannot rate the quality of the service highly enough. The books arrived very well packaged indeed (probably a measure of how well they were packed is the time taken to unpack them and properly recycle the cardboard, removing the parcel tape etc.!) and they also arrived exactly when Mr Simon said they would. They were posted yesterday afternoon and arrived this morning.

 

Very good service indeed.

 

No connection to the retailer other than being a very satisfied customer, a chum for well over 40 years and the temporary custodian of his model S&DJR signalbox.

  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

Not a comment on this particular book this time, as I've already said how superb it is, but just to say that I had another couple of volumes arrive in the post this morning (the new Mid-Wales book and the second volume of the John Hodge 'Western Valleys' book) and I cannot rate the quality of the service highly enough. The books arrived very well packaged indeed (probably a measure of how well they were packed is the time taken to unpack them and properly recycle the cardboard, removing the parcel tape etc.!) and they also arrived exactly when Mr Simon said they would. They were posted yesterday afternoon and arrived this morning.

 

Very good service indeed.

 

No connection to the retailer other than being a very satisfied customer, a chum for well over 40 years and the temporary custodian of his model S&DJR signalbox.

 

New Mid Wales book?  Any more detail than that please?

 

And yes, the second volume of the Western Valleys book is top notch I agree.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

Sounds interesting, definitely an 'I need to make some space on the shelves' volume.

 

 

However in a sort of 'r-t-r product comment manner' if it's about lines in South and Mid Wales why is the cover picture of a train in North Wales? :O :jester: :angel:

To me Barmouth is mid wales, my ‘border’ starts north of portmadog, goes south of Blaenau and betws y coed over to corwen then across the mountains towards Oswestry!

 

819B7386-C4FA-4791-82AE-6B42316B788D.jpg

 

Having gone to school In Bala i always classed that as mid wales, similarly when I visit my mum in llwyngwril were ‘off to mid wales’ even Welshpool to me is mid wales despite being practically Shropshire!

 

Quite where i’d class Llandrindod wells as being is a bit of a dark area, mid wales maybe?

 

Might have a look at the book for a pressie for my dad

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

To me Barmouth is mid wales, my ‘border’ starts north of portmadog, goes south of Blaenau and betws y coed over to corwen then across the mountains towards Oswestry!

 

819B7386-C4FA-4791-82AE-6B42316B788D.jpg

 

Having gone to school In Bala i always classed that as mid wales, similarly when I visit my mum in llwyngwril were ‘off to mid wales’ even Welshpool to me is mid wales despite being practically Shropshire!

 

Quite where i’d class Llandrindod wells as being is a bit of a dark area, mid wales maybe?

 

Might have a look at the book for a pressie for my dad

 

The commonly understood, and indeed seemingly official, southern boundary of North Wales' is the Afon Dyfi (Rover Dovey) which places Barmouth well within North Wales.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

up until you mentioned it ive never heard anyone describe 'barmouth' as north wales!

 

i suppose if the current geography of the railway was different then i may think of it more as being in 'the north' , for example if going to barmouth you could still access the cambrian line via the north wales coast, caernarfon and pen-y-chain or via the dee valley route from ruabon to morfa mawddach (which i'd loved to have done) then it may feel more like north wales but as the current route takes you through 'the middle of wales' it feels like your in mid wales, almost in the back of beyond but in reality you are only just over an hour or so by road from the cheshire/shropshire border (at the right time of day of course!)

 

certainly as someone born in north wales (wrexham) and raised in llwyngwril, mold and bala they all feel like 3 separate distinct 'regions' not all 'north wales'

 

it amazes me when you see holiday makers on the train going to butlins at pwllheli who have travelled from the likes of liverpool and have been travelling for 5 hours plus liverpool, crewe, shrewsbury, machynlleth, pwllheli etc, its a lot easier to go via bangor and get a bus, similarly by road the one time we stayed in portmadog our sat nav sent me crewe to there via the A55, caernarfon, dinas etc rather than via 'mid wales' (corwen, bala, ffestiniog etc)

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

up until you mentioned it ive never heard anyone describe 'barmouth' as north wales!

 

i suppose if the current geography of the railway was different then i may think of it more as being in 'the north' , for example if going to barmouth you could still access the cambrian line via the north wales coast, caernarfon and pen-y-chain or via the dee valley route from ruabon to morfa mawddach (which i'd loved to have done) then it may feel more like north wales but as the current route takes you through 'the middle of wales' it feels like your in mid wales, almost in the back of beyond but in reality you are only just over an hour or so by road from the cheshire/shropshire border (at the right time of day of course!)

 

certainly as someone born in north wales (wrexham) and raised in llwyngwril, mold and bala they all feel like 3 separate distinct 'regions' not all 'north wales'

 

it amazes me when you see holiday makers on the train going to butlins at pwllheli who have travelled from the likes of liverpool and have been travelling for 5 hours plus liverpool, crewe, shrewsbury, machynlleth, pwllheli etc, its a lot easier to go via bangor and get a bus, similarly by road the one time we stayed in portmadog our sat nav sent me crewe to there via the A55, caernarfon, dinas etc rather than via 'mid wales' (corwen, bala, ffestiniog etc)

 

Don't forget the northernmost extent of the Mid Wales Railway was Moat Lane Junction - a good distance south of the Dyfi.

 

I suppose it all depends where you start from because as you say North Wales splits into several very distinct areas some of which are considerably more 'Welsh' in nature than others - but they're all 'North Wales' as opposed to 'Mid Wales' or 'South Wales'.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...
  • RMweb Gold

Copy of this excellent tome was duly obtained yesterday at Railex (from the 'correct' book seller of course although he was seemingly busy glad-handing various show visitors - all female on the occasions I saw him in that role ;) ).  Anyway I duly visited the contents last night and found it an excellent and well illustrated read, so I will add my recommendation of this book to that of others who have mentioned it in this thread.

Link to post
Share on other sites

When I read 'sixties' I see danger. But seeing as the author visited lines that were closed before 'the end' when the LMR crapped from a great height on the Western, this book has got to be worth a look. When it comes to borders in North Wales, we evidently all see things differently. When I 'go over the mountain', I call it going over to the Cambrian as distinct from where I live on the north Wales Coast. Shropshire is 'the borders'. 

Edited by coachmann
  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...