Glyn Valley Tramway Trust News

August 2008

FURTHER SUPPORT FOR THE GLYN VALLEY TRAMWAY TRUST

The Board of the Glyn Valley Tramway Trust is pleased to announce that it has received a grant of £400.00 from the BE INFORMED FUND, a small grant scheme managed and administered by WCVA (the Wales Council for Voluntary Action) and funded by the Big Lottery Fund (BIG) in Wales.

The grant is to be used by the Glyn Valley Tramway Trust to fund a visit to the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway where the Trust’s representatives will spend two days with officers of the L & B Railway learning of their reasons for converting the L & B Railway into a Community Interest Company, so taking advantage of the recent Government legislation that has brought about this new dimension in charitable management. What is learned from the visit will, it is hoped, enable the representatives to place before the Board a recommendation that the Glyn Valley Tramway Trust, based as it is in a rural community in North East Wales, should also seek to become a Community Interest Company and in so doing be the first Welsh Heritage Railway to convert to this new system of management.

The visit is expected to take place before the end of September with the outcomes being presented to the Trust’s Annual General Meeting in October. At the same time a copy of the their report will be made available to the Wales Council for Voluntary Action, the funders of the visit for their information, to whom the Trustees are greatly indebted for the financial support which has enabled this information seeking visit to take place.

July 2008

Chairman’s Statement

The revival of the GVT is something that has been strongly advocated by the people of Chirk and the Ceiriog Valley through the democratic process. In the Chirk Visioning exercise that was conducted in 200x by Northern Marches Cymru, the people of Chirk strongly supported the revival of the GVT as a major priority. In November 2006 when Northern Marches Cymru conducted a similar exercise in the Ceiriog Valley, the support again was overwhelming.

The Trustees have themselves conducted a survey of the route and though there have been changes and developments through the years, they are of the opinion that with negotiation it is still possible to restore the tramway as an operating reality between Chirk and Glyn Ceiriog. The restored line being not only a major tourist feature that will significantly improve the tourist economy of the area, but having the potential to become an alternative source of public transport. The High Level Study now being financed by the Welsh Assembly Government and Wrexham County Borough Council through the offices of Northern Marches Cymru will we are sure, confirm our own findings that reinstatement is a reality.

The Trustees are now anxious to press ahead as quickly a possible with the survey, so there is a fairly tight timetable within which interested parties must work. We are allowing three weeks for interested parties to register their interest and draw down the tender documents, then a further three weeks in which to deposit their tender with our solicitors Ben Williams and McColl of Chirk. Bids will be opened in the afternoon of the closing date and an announcement made. If the Trustees feel that no clear winner has emerged, the Trustees will delay their decision by a further seven days, during which time interviews with those tendering will take place. Then an announcement will be made and the contract or contracts awarded.

As funding is already in place, the named contractor will be expected to commence work as quickly as possible, for the Trustees are committed to delivering the outcomes to the Welsh Assembly Government by 30 October next (2008).

If the outcomes are (as we believe they will be) satisfactory, initial work could commence on Phase One, as early as late February or early March 2009, with line clearance between Chirk Station and Matchbox Bridge, a distance of some 500 metres and operating on the line, even if it be only works transport. By the Spring of 2010 the line should be extending to our first terminal which would be in Baddy’s Wood, in the trees above Pontfaen so completing the first phase. The second phase will see the line extending from Baddy’s Wood to the Chirk Trout Farm, with work commencing in 2012 and operational the following year. Thereafter, if the High Level Study confirms the Trust’s own findings, all the way back (in stages) to Glyn Ceiriog.

David Cooper 03 July 2008

Project Manager’s Statement

The combined grant of £38,500 from the Welsh Assembly Government and Wrexham County Borough Council is a tribute to dynamism of the Trust. Formed only in October of 2007, the Trust now firmly based in Chirk, the original headquarters of the GVT, has come a long way in a very short time, as was demonstrated by our presence at the Chirk Fun Day and now this fantastic piece of news.

The Trust’s plans to reinstate the GVT, will help to create in Chirk a formidable tourist hub, with Chirk Castle and the potential World Heritage Site of the Chirk aqueduct, all literally within walking distance of each other. The Trust’s rebuilding plans see a restored line of 2ft 6in gauge and for the initial period of operation running with a suitable hired in steam locomotive. In due course an appeal will be launched to fund the construction of replacement tram locomotives based on the original Beyer-Peacock design.

The Trust has been very well received by the people of Chirk, its Town Council, Wrexham County Borough Council, the Welsh Assembly Government and Martyn Jones the local MP, who at the Chirk Fun Day said “I fully support the efforts of the Trustees to protect this piece of railway heritage and congratulate the Chairman and all the committee members for their dynamism and commitment’.

At the Fun Day which was our first engagement with the people of Chirk we were inundated with enquiries and offers of help, signing up six new members on the spot! Looking to the future the Trust will benefit by being close to the English border and so accessible by road and rail, for as fuel prices escalate, it has been a noticeable trend that volunteers are staying closer to home, which is to the detriment of many heritage railway schemes based in the more remote parts of Wales. Chirk itself is blessed with having an industrial workforce right on its doorstep and supplemented by the industrial centre of Wrexham and Deeside, should be able to attract volunteers from very close to the centre of activities.

At the moment the emphasis is mainly on behind the scenes preparatory work often of an administrative nature, but by the Spring of 2009 we should be in a position to offer a wider range of opportunities as the actual development gets under way. So for those who are interested, now is the time to register your interest by registering with the Trust, either through their website www.glynvalleytramway.co.uk or directly with me on or david.dilnot@glynvalleytramway.co.uk.

The success of the GVT’s revival is down to the various landowners across whose land we shall be working. All have been extremely supportive seeing the redevelopment as an important economic advantage for Chirk, fitting in with the tourist economy of the area, whilst bringing back into existence an important piece of the town’s industrial heritage.

I would encourage all who support the Trust’s aims to visit our on –line shop, where we have a range of items for sale, including just a small number of John Milner’s new book ‘Slates from Glyn Ceiriog, signed by the author himself. Visit the Chirk Trout Farm where you will see our first piece of rolling stock GVT ‘style’ wagon No.5 on static display. In the short time that the shop has been open, sales have been made to many destinations in Britain, but also to New Zealand and Thailand!

We need to build more rolling stock, purchase rail and prepare for the big push next year, so please look at our website and view our Revival Appeal, where donors are not only recognised with a Bronze, Silver or Gold Certificate, but each attracts with it a range of travel and other benefits.

Then for the future it is the intention of the Trust to set up a separate trading and operations company in the form of a Community Interest Company, which with all its legal protections gives better protection to all those who are involved with the Trust, either as volunteers or as donors, making the Trust the first heritage railway in Wales to adopt this new structure and will put it at the forefront of heritage enterprises in Britain.

David Dilnot 03/07/08