Two iconic Welsh locomotives return to steam at railway’s weekend festival

Aberystwyth’s Vale of Rheidol Railway is organising the biggest event ever held at the line with a Steam Festival Weekend on September 26 and 27.

Two locomotives will make their preservation steam debuts at the event. The Vale of Rheidol’s ex-Penrhyn slate quarry locomotive Margaret and privately owned Kerr Stuart ‘Sirdar’ class Diana. Both are in the final stages of restoration in the new railway workshop facility at Aberystwyth.

The workhop is being developed, aided by a £288,000 Coastal Communities Fund grant, as the centre of a heritage skills and development project entitled ‘Our Past is their future.’

Diana spent its early working days on the Kerry Tramway, which served a sawmill supplying timber for the war effort. Diana operated there until the line’s closure in 1922 before moving to the Oakley Slate Quarry in Blaenau Ffestiniog and then the Pen-yr-Orsedd Quarry, being withdrawn from service with boiler troubles.

It is one of 58 ‘Sirdar’ class locomotives to be built, yet only two still survive, the other, named Hope, is a national monument in Namibia.

Following quarry service, Diana underwent several changes of ownership, before being purchased by Denis Davies in 1978. Restoration progressed during the 1990s and substantial work was carried out to return the locomotive to steam. It was moved to South Wales for completion, but Mr Davies died before she reached the stage of being steamed.

Diana was purchased in 2014 by Talyllyn Railway volunteer Phil Mason. Assessment of her condition revealed that seven years of outdoor storage had taken its toll. Phil moved the locomotive to the Vale of Rheidol Railway where restoration stared from scratch. The locomotive has been restored to its original appearance re-using as many original components as possible.

Restoration work on Diana has been overseen by Vale of Rheidol’s general manager and chief engineer Llŷr ap Iolo, whose great grandfather E. R. Owen worked on Diana when it received attention at the Britannia Foundry, Porthmadog in 1945.

Margaret also last steamed in 1950, when a boiler leak spelt the end of its working career. By the mid-60s, Penrhyn Quarry considered the loco was fit only for scrap and sold to an enthusiast on that basis. The purchaser had a similar opinion, viewing Margaret as a potential source of parts for other projects when he collected it from Coed-y-Parc in 1966.

Following several changes in ownership, Margaret was moved to the Isle of Man and work progressed until 1999 when owner, Alastair Lamberton, died. Margaret was then purchased by the Vale of Rheidol Railway and moved to Aberystwyth where restoration work accelerated following the completion of the new workshop building.

The public debut of both locomotives will be at the Vale of Rheidol Railway’s Steam Festival, titled “The Forgotten Engines” and seeks to bring together a collection of locomotives which have been out of the limelight for many years.

Joining Diana and Margaret at the event will be two additional quarry locomotives from the Penrhyn Quarry Railway - Winifred, built in 1885 and normally resident at the Bala Lake Railway and Sybil Mary, built in 1906, from Statfold Barn Railway.

Both these locomotives have returned to steam in the last two years following extensive restoration. The steam festival will be the first time these locomotives have been re-united for generations. All the locomotives will be hauling passenger trains between Aberystwyth and Capel Bangor and there will be opportunities for footplate rides at Aberystwyth.

Vale of Rheidol’s resident locomotives, No 8 Llywelyn and No 9 Prince of Wale, will be hauling trains the full length of the line to Devil’s Bridge, where Kerr Stuart Wren No 3114 will be offering visitors the opportunity to try their hand at driving. This will mean no fewer than seven steam locomotives will be in operation on the line during the event.

The large restoration workshop at Aberystwyth will be open to the public for the first time. Guided tours will allow visitors the chance to look behind the scenes and see this magnificent new facility and view the progress on the overhaul of Vale of Rheidol’s locomotive No 7 Owain Glyndŵr.

Picture captions:

Locomotives Diana and Margaret will be in service at the steam festival.

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Editor’s notes

Opened in 1902, the Vale of Rheidol Railway has been operating a passenger service for tourists for more than 100 years. The line, which runs from Aberystwyth to Devil's Bridge, is well known for its scenery, sharp curves and steep gradients and is a popular choice with holidaymakers in the region.

The railway is a quality assured visitor attraction as designated by Visit Wales and attracts around 50,000 visitors annually from all over the world. The estimated economic impact of visitors to the Vale of Rheidol Railway was worth just under £1.3m to the local economy in 2011. Since this assessment has been carried out, visitor numbers have increased dramatically so it is estimated that the economic value to the area is now over £3 million annually.

For many years the Vale of Rheidol Railway "Y Lein Fach" was part of the national rail network and rose to fame being the only steam on British Rail before the line was sold in 1989, becoming the first part of BR to be privatised. 

The Coastal Communities Fund is funded by the Government with income from the Crown Estate’s marine assets. It is delivered by the Big Lottery Fund on behalf of the UK Government and the Devolved Administrations in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

For more information please contact Will Smith or Sophia de Rochefort  Tel: 01970 625 819  info@rheidolrailway.co.uk

The Swan @ Hay Hotel purchased by Llangoed Hall’s owners

The new owners are planning a full refurbishment programme following the purchase of The Swan @ Hay Hotel in the book capital of Hay-on-Wye.

The 18-bedroomed hotel has been acquired by the owners of the multi-award winning Llangoed Hall at nearby Llyswen who plan a major project to re-roof and refurbish the property over the winter and early spring.

The workforce of 15 full and part-time staff is being retained as part of the deal and a new manager and head chef are in the process of being appointed.

Calum Milne, managing director of Llangoed Limited, said The Swan @ Hay Hotel was the third hotel to be acquired by the company, which has its sights set on further expansion.

The other hotels in the group are the multi-award winning Llangoed Hall and the 49-bedroomed, award winning Sudbury House in Faringdon, near Oxford.

The Swan @ Hay Hotel, popular as a location for weddings, conferences, family reunions and short breaks, was previously owned by the Mackintosh family for seven years. Able to cater for weddings and banquets of up to 120 people, the hotel’s restaurant has been awarded one AA rosette. Mr Milne now plans to update the food offering.

“The hotel will continue to run until January when we plan to close it for a full refurbishment, including a brand new roof, which will bring the property up to a more comfortable standard that will sit alongside its sister hotels, Llangoed Hall and Sudbury House,” said Mr Milne.

“We expect to complete the refurbishment by the end of April 2016 when it will be a very comfortable coaching inn offering very good food.

“The Swan @ Hay Hotel fits nicely in its locale and offers another price point for our customers and an alternative dining experience for guests at Llangoed Hall.

We will not be taking the dining experience to the same level as Llangoed Hall as there is no point in creating competition unnecessarily, but The Swan @ Hay Hotel will be serving very good food and certainly some good, old classics.

“Because of the successful growth of weddings at Llangoed Hall, we need to expand the number of bedrooms that we are able to offer to our guests and the acquisition will give us a much stronger base for the Hay Festival next year.

“Hay-on-Wye is a delightful town primarily renowned for its international book festival and book shops. It is also a tourist town popular for short breaks and is perfectly located on the edge of the Brecon Beacons and Black Mountains.”

Mr Milne has overseen a remarkable transformation in the fortunes of Llangoed Hall since rescuing the historic property from administration in July 2012. He has invested more than £3 million on refurbishing the 23-bedroomed hotel and its 15-acre estate.

A string of impressive awards culminated in the hotel’s fine dining restaurant achieving three rosettes from the AA last year and it was recently named in the Waitrose Good Food Guide’s top 50 UK restaurants for 2016.

“We are delighted with the acquisition of the Swan @ Hay Hotel and have no intention of standing still, as we wish to be leaders in raising the standard of hospitality in Wales,” he added. “The group will look at further expansion in the near future.”

Exhibition of Barrie Cook's work opens at MOMA Wales

An exhibition of artist Barrie Cook’s bold, abstract paintings of the past 45 years opens at the Museum of Modern Art, Machynlleth on Saturday (September 12) and runs until November 7.

This exhibition has been selected by Lucinda Middleton, Richard and Ann Mayou Fund curator at MOMA Wales, from the range of works that Cook holds in his studio in Cornwall.

“Selecting pieces from throughout his career was challenging as so many have been sold," she explained. "It is wonderful that his 86 years have not dimmed his enthusiasm to experiment and develop his paintings.

“His trademark use of the airbrush has been occasionally interrupted by the use of a normal brush but still with an emphasis on his intention to ‘break the habit of the brushstroke mentality’."

When explaining his work, Cook says: “Painting is a way of thinking. Each picture requires its own special logic. I use paintings to hint at, or make manifest, the unseen and the intangible. I see them as an aid to contemplation and meditation.”

Born in Birmingham, Cook graduated from Birmingham College of Art in 1954. He initially taught in schools and then art colleges, moving his family to Wales in 1974 to become senior fellow in fine art, painting at Cardiff College of Art, setting up a studio in the docklands.

In 1977, he was Gregynog Fellow and continued to live in Wales even when his work took him to become head of fine art at Birmingham Polytechnic. However, Cornwall was his great love since childhood holidays spent there and, finding kindred spirits in the likes of Sir Terry Frost, he moved to the Lizard in 1992 and has lived there ever since.

Cook has exhibited his work regularly since the 1960s. He has been a prize winner twice at the John Moores Painting Exhibition in Liverpool, artist in residence at the Fishguard Art Festival and the National Museum & Art Gallery, Wales and won first prize in the Mid Wales Open in 1982.

He has had solo exhibitions throughout the UK as well as shows across Europe and in the USA.

His works are held in many public collections including Tate, National Museum of Wales, Contemporary Art Society of Wales, Arts Council of Great Britain, Bangor University, Newport Museum and Art Gallery, City of Birmingham Art Gallery and Museum, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

MOMA Wales is open from Monday to Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm.

Picture captions:

Barrie Cook and two examples of his work.

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Notes for the Editor.

The Museum of Modern Art, Wales (MOMA, WALES) was established in 1991 alongside The Tabernacle in Machynlleth, Powys. It is owned and run by Machynlleth Tabernacle Trust which is funded by grants and public donations. Throughout the year the galleries show contemporary art, featuring leading artists from Wales, works from the growing Tabernacle Collection, and in August selected entries from the Tabernacle Art Competition. Many of the works of art are for sale. The current exhibition programme is supported by the Arts Council of Wales.

In May 2015 "The Tannery" was opened after many years of fundraising and restoration of this historic industrial building. This contains two galleries, connected to the main building by a bridge, one of which is specifically for sculpture. This brings the number of exhibition spaces up to seven.

For more information please contact Lucinda Middleton, Richard and Ann Mayou Fund Curator lucinda@momawales.org.uk 01654 703355 or Barrie Cook on 01326 240599.

A Fairytale Welsh Christmas at Lake Vyrnwy Hotel

Wales’ most spectacularly-set country house hotel, the four-star Lake Vyrnwy Hotel & Spa, has finalised its Christmas house-party arrangements for 2015.

“The heart of the hotel dates to 1890 and is Arts and Crafts in style.  We’re unashamedly traditional, with a huge Christmas tree in the lofty entrance hall, swags of evergreens and log fires in all the public areas,” says general manager Anthony Rosser.

“We have only 52 rooms and are always full for Christmas, so I do urge visitors to book early!”

The three-night package comprises:

Christmas Eve (Tuesday)

* Arrive and enjoy the hotel’s facilities (including the spa*), with afternoon tea from 3.30pm. Watch the sun set over the Lake, where the ‘gothic’ tower adds a fairytale note to a beautiful scene.
* Cocktails, canapés at 6.30pm in the drawing room before a superb five-course dinner in the hotel’s Tower Restaurant.  Towards the end of the meal, guests will be joined by local carol singers collecting for charity.
* A quiet evening in the lounge or bar before bed is one option, while guests are also invited to attend ‘midnight mass’ at St Wddyn just a few minutes’ walk away: the service is conducted in both Welsh and English!
* On return to the hotel, Christmas is welcomed in with a hot toddy and mince pie.

Christmas Day (Wednesday)

* After breakfast, explore the estate using the local map provided, with a choice of way-marked trails. * Alternatively, coffee and biscuits are ‘on tap’ in the lounges all morning.
* From midday, champagne cocktails are served in the drawing room, with a magnificent traditional festive lunch to follow.  The Queen’s speech is always shown at Lake Vyrnwy, though is not compulsory!  
*A light tea, with Christmas cake, is served in the lounge and this evening’s dinner is what the Victorian’s might describe as ‘a cold collation’ being a traditional buffet.  After dinner, the adjoining Tavern Bar, which serves as the village pub, is open.

Boxing Day (Thursday)

* Breakfast is served until 10am, followed by a morning of country pursuits for all guests to enjoy: activities include clay pigeon shooting, a guided walk, a falconry demonstration and archery, while the spa is also open* for those who prefer pampering.  
* An informal lunch of local specialities from home-made soup and casserole to welsh cheeses is followed by a ‘one man and his dog’ style demonstration put on by the estate’s shepherd Cyril Roberts.
* Tea is served from 3.30pm and the house-party ends with a formal (Black Tie traditional) dinner in the Tower Restaurant with five courses showcasing superb ingredients sourced from local producers.
* Guests depart after breakfast on 27 December.

This special Christmas house-party costs from £585 per person based on two sharing a country view room, or from £660 per person when sharing a room with a view of Lake Vyrnwy.

01691 870692, www.lakevyrnwy.com

Wintry scene - Lake Vyrnwy in the snow.

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* The Spa is open on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day, with complimentary use of the Thermal Suite: please pre-book treatments, which are extra.

Further press information and images from Jane Williams at Beacon PR (01572) 748800
Lake Vyrnwy’s press contact is General Manager Anthony Rosser 01691 870692

Editors Notes on Lake Vyrnwy Hotel & Spa

Lake Vyrnwy is in Mid Wales, a stone’s throw from the Snowdonia National Park
Scenic drive times: 45 minutes from Oswestry; one hour from Shrewsbury or Newtown; 90 minutes from Chester or Aberystwyth.
The 4-star country house hotel dates to 1890 and has 52 rooms, most with a view of the lake.
The Spa – which is an ESPA partner – is rated 4 Bubbles by the Good Spa Guide.
Set within a 24,000 acre estate which offers 58 miles of footpaths and an RSPB reserve to enjoy.

Judge’s house invites everyone to spend the day exploring for free!

The multi award-winning Judge’s Lodging museum in Presteigne will be throwing its doors open for everyone completely free of charge on Sunday (September 13) as part of the Heritage Open Days national scheme.

Visitors who have not been before or just fancy another wander around the stunning Victorian rooms, can turn up any time from 10am to 5pm. Not only will there be all of the judge’s apartments and court to explore, but staff will be laying on additional activities to have a go at as visitors venture around, including a special challenge to find the ‘odd objects out’, where non-Victorian items have been cunningly placed throughout the house.

Early visitors can also take advantage of a coffee morning with yummy cakes, a book sale and chance to sit and chat with friends.

This is also the perfect opportunity to make the excuse to visit the revelatory Napoleon & Powys exhibition in the building, now in its final few weeks. Displaying objects from six museums throughout the county and items from private collections, the exhibition gives a fascinating glimpse into how the Napoleonic Wars affected the people of the area, from those who fought and French prisoners held here to those at home affected by the conflict.

There are weapons, uniform, battlefield souvenirs and prisoner mementoes to marvel at...there is even a piece of wallpaper from Napoleon’s bedroom and a lock of Wellington’s hair on display!

There is a special focus on Presteigne soldier Sergeant Thomas Burch, with his almost unbelievable story of lying about his age to enlist when not even 13 years old, his joining the ferocious Cameron Highlanders, his wounding in the Waterloo Campaign and subsequent return home to become the larger than life figure of landlord of the Bull Hotel, Presteigne.

His gravestone lies just down the road from the museum, in the churchyard of St Andrew’s, proudly displaying stone carvings of his medals and the inscription that he ‘served in Egypt, Peninsula and Waterloo and was engaged in upwards of thirty battles, sieges and skirmishes’.

More information about the Heritage Open Days weekend running through England and the borders can be found at http://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/

Picture captions:

A painting of the Cameron Highlanders fighting at Waterloo.

Image of the gravestone of Waterloo sergeant, Thomas Burch.

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For further information please contact Gabrielle Rivers, senior museum curator, on info@judgeslodging.org.uk or call 01544 260650 to ask for any further details.