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Month of Community Rail: January 2024

This update covers two months as the last week of Christmas was a blur with the activities that dominate that time of year. I spent a few hours at Llandrindod Station giving out mince pies and spreading seasonal cheer, and it was great to see some packed carriages taking people on shopping trips to Shrewsbury.

We also held the grant panel meeting to discuss the applications received for the Community Grant fund. This has awarded £9000 to groups based along the Heart of Wales Line and the panel was composed of representatives from Swansea CVS, PAVO, Shropshire’s Community Resource and CAVS from Carmarthenshire. We received nearly 60 applications and over 20 of them were successful with some amazing projects receiving funding. It was a great way for me to find out what is happening and what is needed in communities up and down the line and we will be announcing all the beneficiaries soon.


I also went to Warrington for a community rail conference facilitated by Avanti West Coast. Because the Heart of Wales Line terminates at Shrewsbury we are eligible for support from Avanti West Coast, and they have funded the Walking Connections Project which will be continuing in March. 

Finally January is over. The longest month of the year with what feels like 2 weekends and 10 Monday mornings to get through.  I continued to settle into my role and attended a networking event in Leicester hosted by the Community Rail Network. This was aimed at new Community Rail Officers (CROs)  who, like me, had started work in the last year. It was great to meet other CROs and hear what they had been doing, or planned to do in their partnerships. We also heard from more experienced officers and had a crash course in the history of community rail from the staff at the CRN. 

On my way to Leicester I took a detour to Crewe with Mike Watson and Les Lumsdon from the Friends of the Heart of Wales Line Trail to meet up with Sarah and Simon from South East Manchester CRP. They are currently looking at setting up a walking trail in their area and wanted some advice from Les and Mike on how they set up the trail on the Heart of Wales line.

I have also had a quarterly meeting with Transport For Wales and other Wales and Borders Community Rail Partnerships, met some potential station adopters for Llandrindod Wells and have been on numerous line familiarisation trips to different stations, meeting people on the trains including a hen party going from Swansea to Shrewsbury.

The rest of the month has been spent preparing for 3 events, ‘ALL CHANGE/POB NEWID’,  that we are holding to promote the opportunity to join the Community Rail Partnership. We are looking for new members from a variety of different sectors to bring their experience and knowledge to the partnership. If you would like to find out more information about Community Rail and how you could get involved click here or e-mail me directly owen.griffkin@pavo.org.uk.

Carmarthenshire community celebrate Cynghordy viaduct blue plaque

18 Apr, 2024
Members of the local community at Cynghordy near Llandovery came together earlier this month to celebrate the unveiling of a blue plaque at the iconic Cynghordy viaduct, which forms part of the acclaimed Heart of Wales railway line. The plaque was funded by Llanfair-ar-y-Bryn community council, and unveiled at the event by Cefin Campbell MS, Plaid Cymru Member of the Senedd for Mid & West Wales. The unveiling was chaired by Handel Davies, County Councillor for Llandovery with fellow members of Llanfair-ar-y-bryn community council as well as representatives from Network Rail and Heart of Wales Line Development Company also present.

Catch up with your Community Rail Officer

18 Apr, 2024
So much for me writing monthly missives detailing what I have been up to in my role as Community Rail Officer. This is my first one since the end of January as it has been a very busy period over the last few months. This has been due to two projects that were finishing off, and also some end of financial year reporting to enable us gain accreditation from the Community Rail Network. I am pleased to announce we passed the accreditation process, with some very positive comments on our future plans from Transport for Wales, Community Rail Network, Network Rail and Avanti West Coast, who provide our funding. February started with 3 meetings in 3 days in Llanwrtyd Wells, Llanelli and Shrewsbury to promote the opportunity to join the Community Rail Partnership. These were very well attended and there was a lot of enthusiasm from the communities we met to engage with the railway positively on future projects. There were lots of ideas coming out at the meetings and we will have a strong partnership meeting for the first time at the end of April, with representation from all over the geographical area of the line, and from many different sectors.

TfW Future Timetable Review: Have Your Say!

14 Apr, 2024
Transport For Wales have announced changes for the new train timetables that will come into force in December 2024. Amongst the proposed changes are adjustments to the Heart of Wales Line service. This includes a reduction from 5 to 4 services a day from Monday to Saturday, there will be no change to the Sunday service . There is also a planned removal of the shorter evening services from Shrewsbury to Llandrindod and from Swansea to Llandovery. The timings have also changed and the trains will pass at Llandrindod Wells railway station to allow for a better passenger service. If you would like to have a say in these changes please fill in the feedback form before May 13th . Click the link below. HAVE YOUR SAY on the TfW Future Timetable Review

Online 'All Change' | 'Pob Newid' Ar-lein

23 Feb, 2024
Online meeting to find out more about the Community Rail Partnership and how you can get involved.

Shropshire Walking Connections

15 Feb, 2024
We're back with another series of Walking Connections taking place in the county of Shropshire throughout March 2024.

Dydd Miwsig Cymru | Welsh Language Music Day

07 Feb, 2024
I ddathlu Dydd Miwsig Cymru rydym wedi gofyn i 5 person sydd ag angerdd am Gerddoriaeth Gymreig restru 3 cân Gymraeg yr hoffent eu rhannu gyda ni. To celebrate Welsh Language Music Day we have asked 5 people with a passion for Welsh Music to list 3 Welsh language songs that they wanted to share with us.

'All Change' Event | Digwyddiad 'Pob Newid'

22 Jan, 2024
The Heart of Wales Line Community Rail Partnership are holding a series of events, looking for new members to help shape the focus of our work in communities.

National Crossword Puzzle Day

20 Dec, 2023
Today (21st December) is National Crossword Puzzle Day and to celebrate we have created our very own Heart of Wales Line Crossword. So grab a cuppa and take 5 minutes out of your day for a bit of fun puzzling. I wonder if you know any other facts about the Heart of Wales Line.
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