TV Alert - WHR & Llangollen

Starting today (Tuesday) for the next 4 weeks at 7.30pm, BBC2 Wales will be showing 4 programs about Welsh heritage lines.


The first two, 'Full Steam Ahead', look at the reconstruction of the Welsh Highland Railway.

Full Steam Ahead tells the story of this challenging and, at times, controversial project. Volunteers, benefactors and a vast collection of friends and supporters completed the remarkable feat of turning a run-down old industrial railway into one of the modern wonders of Wales.


The second pair, 'Beating Beeching', look at the Llangollen Railway.

'The steam railways of Wales seemed lost forever with the Beeching cuts of the 1960s but this series celebrates their revival with wonderful colour archive film combined with the memories of passengers and railwaymen from the age of steam. This week we meet a schoolboy driver, station master, firemen and holidaymakers who share a passion for steam with the volunteers at Llangollen Railway.'


For those not in Wales, it will be up on the iPlayer later this evening,, or you can watch BBC2 Wales on Sky channel 991 i believe.

Chris

 

Programme 1 Beating Beeching - A Passion for Steam Tue. 6th December 2011 19:30 BBC 2 Wales (duration 30 mins.)

Programme 2 Beating Beeching - Steam's Glorious Past Tue. 13th December 2011 19:30 BBC 2 Wales (duration 30 mins.)

Llangollen Railway features extensively in both films. Here are the billings as will appear in Radio Times.

Beating Beeching – A Passion for Steam

The steam railways of Wales seemed lost forever with the Beeching cuts of the 1960s but this series celebrates their revival with wonderful colour archive film combined with the memories of passengers and railwaymen from the age of steam. This week we meet a schoolboy driver, station master, firemen and holidaymakers who share a passion for steam with the volunteers at Llangollen Railway.


Beating Beeching – Steam’s Glorious Past

Using rare colour archive and the memories of old railwaymen this series celebrates the steam railways of Wales which seemed lost forever with the Beeching cuts of the 1960s. This week we meet the last generation of Welsh steam railwaymen and visit the heritage railways that keep their glorious past alive.

 

Just to let you know that Beating Beeching is going out under a main billing in Radio Times as Welsh Railways - Beating Beeching. There is a programme called Welsh Railways - Full Steam Ahead going out half an hour before Beating Beeching. So, in case you're communicating with anyone else, it's best to tell them the programmes are Welsh Railways - Beating Beeching on BBC 2 Wales at 7:30 pm.


BEATING BEECHING

This new two part series from award winning Testimony Films for BBC Wales beginning on Tuesday December 6th is a treat for all those who love steam railways and yearn for a return to the days when almost every town and village was served by its own branch line. 50 years ago almost everyone in Wales lived in sight and sound of steam trains. They were part of the fabric of everyday life. Then in the early 1960s, chairman of British Railways Dr Richard Beeching, took an axe to the rail system of Wales. Within a few years his plans for modernisation and efficiency closed hundreds of branch lines, stations and tunnels. And steam power was scrapped in favour of diesel. But Beeching had not reckoned on the passion for steam trains amongst the people of Wales.

Jenny Griffiths was that rare breed- a girl train-spotter: ‘‘You put your head out the window and you got a face full of smoke and you come in and you’re filthy. But it was great.’’ In his spare time as a ten year old boy Mike Griffiths helped out on the footplate of passenger trains in North Wales ‘’As a small lad when you were on that train it was the power of the thing. You moved the regulator up and within a few seconds she’d respond and suddenly you’d see the countryside starting to go faster.’’

Bryan King was a fireman working out of Neath sheds. ‘’There was an art with the old steam engine, it was like a living machine, you know and it was a sad to see the demise of it. It’s nice to see the preservation boys keeping it up, you know.’’

In 1975, just 8 years after the last steam engine ran on British Rail, a group of enthusiasts started the Llangollen Railway. Other enthusiasts, like amateur cameraman Jim Clemens, kept the spirit of steam alive by filming branch lines before they closed. Much of this rare footage has never been seen on television before. By weaving it together with images from heritage railways and memories of the last heyday of steam in Wales, this is the story of a world almost lost forever to Dr Beeching.


Episode 1: A Passion For Steam BBC2 Wales 7.30 p.m. Tuesday 6th December

The steam railways of Wales seemed lost forever with the Beeching cuts of the 1960s but this series celebrates their revival with wonderful colour archive film combined with the memories of passengers and railwaymen from the age of steam. This week we meet a schoolboy driver, station master, firemen and holidaymakers who share a passion for steam with the volunteers at Llangollen Railway.


Episode 2: Steam’s Glorious Past BBC2 Wales 7.30 p.m. Tuesday 13th December

Using rare colour archive and the memories of old railwaymen this series celebrates the steam railways of Wales which seemed lost forever with the Beeching cuts of the 1960s. This week we meet the last generation of Welsh steam railwaymen and visit the heritage railways that keep their glorious past alive.

People in England can receive BBC2 Wales on Sky Channel 991 or Freesat Channel 971