merlodlliw
Established Member
copy with permission of http://www.nwrail.org.uk/nwnews.htm use link for pictures.
Cutting the First Sod for Corwen - report by George Jones
The Deputy Minister for Housing and Regeneration, Jocelyn Davies AM, attended Llangollen station on 17 March when she visited the exhibition coach to see the displays for the Corwen Extension Project and the 'before and after' displays for the Railways initial years of restoration from 1975. Ms Davies was accompanied by Mr. Wyn Roberts, Programme Director North Wales Coast Regeneration and was meet at Llangollen station by Mr Jim Ritchie, chairman Llangollen Railway Trust and Cllr Hugh Evans, Leader Denbighshire County Council and members of the Llangollen Railway Trust Ltd.
The party travelled by special steam train service to Glyndyfrdwy for onward road transport to Corwen where the Deputy Minister visited the site of the new temporary station for the Phase 1 of the Railways extension. In a short ceremony the Deputy Minister was invited by Mr. Jim Ritchie to initiate the project to bring the trains back to Corwen by digging the first sod, ably assisted by Vice-President of the Llangollen Railway Trust, Bill Shakespeare, MBE. The spade used for the occasion is to be suitably etched to commemorate the start of the Corwen project and will be displayed at Llangollen station.
The Deputy Minister said: 'It is a pleasure to see the plans that the Trust has for the railway. Regeneration is all about making the most of what an area has to offer and the railway is certainly one of the jewels in Llangollens crown. The funding we have awarded will mean that the tourists who currently visit Llangollen will in future also be drawn to Corwen and the wider Dee Valley area will benefit from the railway. Im delighted that the project is running ahead of schedule and that work can begin earlier than originally planned so that businesses and tourists alike can reap the benefits sooner rather than later.'
Leader of Denbighshire, Councillor Hugh Evans, said: 'We are fully supportive of the project and we have been involved in assisting the Railway with their Transport and Works Act Order and funding applications. The Council has also supported the project both financially and with officer time in dealing with the planning process. The council will also assist the Railway during the construction phase. The arrival of the railway back into Corwen will provide a huge economic opportunity for the town, as well as the Dee Valley and surrounding area.'
Chairman of Llangollen Railway, Jim Ritchie said, 'We are really delighted that the Deputy Minister for Housing and Regeneration has been able to visit Llangollen Railway and participate in the start of the final lap of a project that began some 35 years ago. The provision of grant aid funding from the Welsh Assembly Government has allowed Phase 1 of the project to commence and it is appropriate that the Deputy Minister should cut the first sod at the site of the Corwen temporary station. A first train can be expected in Corwen during 2012, bringing some of the 110,000 passengers a year that travel on the Llangollen Railway into our new western terminus. The Railway looks forward to growing our passenger revenues from the tourist sector to the west of Corwen. Plans are already under way to expand the Railways catchment area to attract additional passengers from the important road network which brings traffic through from Snowdonia and the North Wales coast into the locality of Corwen.
'Most of the work involved in laying the track will be undertaken by volunteer staff at the Railway.
John Briggs, Project Manager said, 'Extending a railway alongside an SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) i.e the River Dee, requires careful management. The key to this has been the agreement of Countryside Commission for Wales to our conservation management plan. As a consequence of that plan we will work closely with ecologists to maintain the biodiversity of the site which places some restriction on the timing of engineering activities within the project Plan.'
The comments by John Briggs are significant as regards the conditions applied to working on the extension in the area of the SSSI. In particular, those who wish to help must abide by specific conditions and just 'turning up to join in' is not an option for insurance, HSE and environmental awareness requirements. Volunteers working on the site must be paid up members of Llangollen Railway Trust and have the appropriate documentation to verify their access to the site. It sounds all very complicated compared with previous extension project work but this is the world we are now working in.
Cutting the First Sod for Corwen - report by George Jones
The Deputy Minister for Housing and Regeneration, Jocelyn Davies AM, attended Llangollen station on 17 March when she visited the exhibition coach to see the displays for the Corwen Extension Project and the 'before and after' displays for the Railways initial years of restoration from 1975. Ms Davies was accompanied by Mr. Wyn Roberts, Programme Director North Wales Coast Regeneration and was meet at Llangollen station by Mr Jim Ritchie, chairman Llangollen Railway Trust and Cllr Hugh Evans, Leader Denbighshire County Council and members of the Llangollen Railway Trust Ltd.
The party travelled by special steam train service to Glyndyfrdwy for onward road transport to Corwen where the Deputy Minister visited the site of the new temporary station for the Phase 1 of the Railways extension. In a short ceremony the Deputy Minister was invited by Mr. Jim Ritchie to initiate the project to bring the trains back to Corwen by digging the first sod, ably assisted by Vice-President of the Llangollen Railway Trust, Bill Shakespeare, MBE. The spade used for the occasion is to be suitably etched to commemorate the start of the Corwen project and will be displayed at Llangollen station.
The Deputy Minister said: 'It is a pleasure to see the plans that the Trust has for the railway. Regeneration is all about making the most of what an area has to offer and the railway is certainly one of the jewels in Llangollens crown. The funding we have awarded will mean that the tourists who currently visit Llangollen will in future also be drawn to Corwen and the wider Dee Valley area will benefit from the railway. Im delighted that the project is running ahead of schedule and that work can begin earlier than originally planned so that businesses and tourists alike can reap the benefits sooner rather than later.'
Leader of Denbighshire, Councillor Hugh Evans, said: 'We are fully supportive of the project and we have been involved in assisting the Railway with their Transport and Works Act Order and funding applications. The Council has also supported the project both financially and with officer time in dealing with the planning process. The council will also assist the Railway during the construction phase. The arrival of the railway back into Corwen will provide a huge economic opportunity for the town, as well as the Dee Valley and surrounding area.'
Chairman of Llangollen Railway, Jim Ritchie said, 'We are really delighted that the Deputy Minister for Housing and Regeneration has been able to visit Llangollen Railway and participate in the start of the final lap of a project that began some 35 years ago. The provision of grant aid funding from the Welsh Assembly Government has allowed Phase 1 of the project to commence and it is appropriate that the Deputy Minister should cut the first sod at the site of the Corwen temporary station. A first train can be expected in Corwen during 2012, bringing some of the 110,000 passengers a year that travel on the Llangollen Railway into our new western terminus. The Railway looks forward to growing our passenger revenues from the tourist sector to the west of Corwen. Plans are already under way to expand the Railways catchment area to attract additional passengers from the important road network which brings traffic through from Snowdonia and the North Wales coast into the locality of Corwen.
'Most of the work involved in laying the track will be undertaken by volunteer staff at the Railway.
John Briggs, Project Manager said, 'Extending a railway alongside an SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) i.e the River Dee, requires careful management. The key to this has been the agreement of Countryside Commission for Wales to our conservation management plan. As a consequence of that plan we will work closely with ecologists to maintain the biodiversity of the site which places some restriction on the timing of engineering activities within the project Plan.'
The comments by John Briggs are significant as regards the conditions applied to working on the extension in the area of the SSSI. In particular, those who wish to help must abide by specific conditions and just 'turning up to join in' is not an option for insurance, HSE and environmental awareness requirements. Volunteers working on the site must be paid up members of Llangollen Railway Trust and have the appropriate documentation to verify their access to the site. It sounds all very complicated compared with previous extension project work but this is the world we are now working in.
