The Gwili Railway thread

Because running REGULAR tea trains/special trains such as Lights in the Valley, etc. are not something that interests ME personally. BUT, and it's a BIG "but" I FULLY accept that in this day and age the Gwili and most railways NEED to do these things to survive. It's just not what I liked to do. For the record, I am STILL a Member of the Gwili RPS (Adult 035 to show how long ago I joined). Regarding the additional GWR loco, I'm weird in that I'm not actually interested in locos. On the OTHER hand I AM into historic coaches - indeed I was one of the two staff who ran the Brynteg School Railway Preservation Group when we purchased TVR Brake 3rd. 220 and then spent nearly every lunchtime for a few years with the boys restoring it back into passenger service at the Gwili.

 

Quite Right Matt. The Gwili has made MAGNIFICENT improvements in the last 20 years and I am in AWE of everyone who has made this possible. I'm certainly NOT criticising the Gwili in any way because I know that the Gwili has had to change as customer requirements have changed and wish it every continued success and I will continue to support it. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK EVERYONE.

 

With due respect, Carmarthen and it's environs are very different from the Pembrokeshire National park. I agree there are things to do near Carmarthen such as Dinefwr Park, Pembrey country park, Llansteffan, Kidwelly and Laugharne castles etc but within the immediate vicinity of the railway there is very little unlike the aforementioned Blaenavon or Dean Forest railways. An extra 0.75 miles to a roadside station won't change that, so from my perspective, I'm still unlikely to visit.

 

Not really sure I understand your point, if you are already travelling an hour by car, what's another 15 - 20 minutes drive to access another attraction in the area? Its the same with the Brecon Mountain Railway, both its stations are isolated, but you are happy to visit as it's near the National Park? The Gwili is exactly the same. Carmarthen itself is quite a nice town, much better than Merthyr!
We'll have to agree to disagree here.

 

i am slightly curious about this this point. Is it necessary for a railway to be surrounded by other attractions, or is it enough that the railway is an attraction in itself? I appreciate there is an element of each to their own.

 

Yes and no I think.

As a local, if I want to visit the Museum of Army Flying (about 20 minutes from me) than basically it just needs to stand or fall on its own merits, and it is irrelevant that, e.g. the similar Boscombe Down Aviation Museum is nearby.

But if I am travelling, probably on the context of a long weekend or week away, then other attractions count. Would I visit West Wales for a family holiday? The Gwili on its own is probably insufficient to make that decision, but if there are seven or eight interesting attractions, then the area comes onto the radar and, once there, the Gwili would certainly be on the shortlist for a visit.

The difficulty of course is knowing what those "other" attractions might be to make it an attractive proposition! I might quite fancy a week in north Wales and knock off Talyllyn, Festiniog, Welsh Highlands, Bala Lake etc all in one week. But the family may have other ideas about preferences! All you can probably say is that a line in an area that has a broad-range of attractions is probably more fortunate than a line which, however great it is as a standalone attraction, is in an area otherwise unlikely to attract people for a visit.

Tom

 

Absolutely, we have done exactly the same, its a couple of hours drive for us. But Folly Farm, National Botanic Gardens and Tenby are all great family attractions which can keep you occupied for a weekend in the area - the Gwili is an awesome stop off on way down or back up.
Can also highly recommend a trip out to Skomer for the puffins too!

 

I think each to their own is key here - what I get from @jamesd is a very clear sense of priorities that Gwili doesn't meet despite, to me, doesn't make sense. At the same radius, I'd seriously consider a day trip on its own merits but chacun a son gout...

Now to engineer the trip to Carmarthenshire that will get me to the Gwili in the first place!

 

In hindsight, I'm probably taking my rather skewed view of the World and the things I like to do on a day out and not explaining them very well! Jamessquared has summed it up best, the Gwili isn't a whole day attraction. I generally try and think of things I can do from the railway itself to spread the day out. So at the DFR we might get off at Parkend and have lunch at the Fountain pub and get a later train back. At Blaenavon we might get off at Big Pit and have a look around the museum. Brecon Mountain, walk from Torpantau to the nearby tearooms or waterfalls - basically things I can do without having to get in my car and drive somewhere else. The Gwili doesn't have this but I fully accept that my criteria might not be acceptable to others!

 

What I would say is you have to do the new abergwili to llandeilo walk/cycle. It really is something very special. Also there is a bus from the abergwili station into the town centre, but there is also tanerdy lodge pub a short walk away too!