Bala lake Railway.

It is perfectly normal for placenames from one language to be rendered differently in another. I refer to Rome, not Roma; Cologne, not Köln, etc. Different English speakers also have different accents -despite living here 20+ years, my father still pronounces Grantham as Granth-arm. That reflects his accent and upbringing, rather than being a deliberate insult.

On the principle of “when in Rome…”, I do try to pronounce names correctly when aware, but know that I don’t always get it right. Some tolerance goes a long way

 

Don't you mean "when in Roma..."? ;-)

 

As I believe the phrase goes back to St Augustine, I'll not translate into Latin, but leave the whole thing in English

 

I did not think the pronunciation was that bad generally. I would not have any issue with how Llangollen, Dolgellau and Llanuwchllyn ere pronounced as I appreciate that some can find some Welsh names hard to pronounce but so as long as they appear to be at least trying I am fine with. The pronunciation of Bala and Ruabon stood out to be more to me due to the inflection on the a and because I would think they are pretty straight forward words. Maybe they just stood out to me as it is an area I know well. How accurate a company wants to be is up to them but where they are seeking to raise money and presumably create a good impression it is something I would have thought you would want to take care over.

What annoyed me was not the video but NathanP comments. They came across to me as saying the English will decide how we want to pronounce these funny sounding Welsh names and you little Welsh chaps should jolly well just put up with. I appreciate that might not be the impression that he wanted to give but Welsh pronunciations are NOT really just for Welsh citizens speaking to each other. They are how those names are pronounced. Use the English or Welsh versions of the name. I don't care which but don't just dismiss as if it does not matter.

 

Green Signals is a podcast - it's not trying to raise any money.
Personally (as a non Welsh speaker), I thought the names sounded about right and not something that screamed as a mistake, or that had been deliberately treated with disrespect.

 

Not sure there was much difference with the pronunciation of Bala, as there is between 'BARTH' & 'BAATH', both deemed acceptable for Bath depending what part of the world you come from. I suspect the narrator would use the former if that is her dialect - which is fine with me.
As stated above there was a good attempt at many of the other names. I am not sure we can expect people from the other side of the country to get every last syllable correct in just 24 hours in a language that is completely unfamiliar to them. Providing they make an effort that is good enough and shows an element of respect for the language.
I watched a DVD recently about the West Highland line recently where the narrator made zero attempt to pronounce the Gaelic place names correctly, you did wonder if he had ever visited the area. That isn't acceptable.
What annoys me is that this debate is overshadowing what was an excellent film overall.

 

Just reading through the latest Trackside ‘Running Lines’ roundup section and I see that the BLR have commissioned a new study showing the benefits of the 0.75 mile extension into the town.
I thought this was all signed and sealed, just needed constructing, with much of the formation already provided on the new flood defence wall?

 

Perhaps the study is needed to apply for a funding grant?

 

Good point. If so then they might have helpfully included that in article.

Edit : feeling guilty now for not doing my own research, after drawing a blank on the website I found plenty of information on the BLR FB page, which also has links to the planning conditions…. all 33 pages of them …..
https://www.balalakerailwaytrust.or...U0Z_q2Kz2P99zxu5Ng_aem_ggAumuBK1W1g6piTCNcD5A

 

Good Grief, what happened to the days when you almost turn up and build a railway without too much interference from the local Council

 

At first scan, that is an enormous list of what are, effectively, "Thou Shalt Not" requirements ...

 

Things that never happened, part 432

 

The Air Quality / Emissions to Air conditions placed in this by the local authority are really interesting. I don't think I've ever seen air quality restrictions placed in any other heritage railway development before (but if this statement is wrong, I'd love to know other examples).

I'm fairly certain they couldn't apply such criteria if it wasn't for the fact that this is a piece of development on (brownfield land) never previously used for railway purposes.

As an Env Scientist for a day job, it's relatively easy to pin blame on a permanent factory (with emissions monitoring equipment) for any deterioration in local air quality but much harder to pin blame on moving railway locomotives. It might also result in the railway having to really consider / plan the operating patterns of layover locomotives / those waiting in the station for extended periods of time.