Penrhyn Railway Society dispute with Felin Fawr Cyf

There appears to be an ongoing dispute with Felin Fawr Cyf (owners of the railway etc) and the Penrhyn Railway Society.
I am currently wondering whether it's worth renewing membership with the Society if they are no longer able to work with the owners.

Can anyone enlighten us on the current status of relations between the two bodies?

 

I'm not sure how airing what is currently a private dispute in a public forum would help. I think this is something that has to be resolved locally.

 

Meirion Gwril was asking for clarification over whether the dispute had been resolved or not, so as not to waste money on renewing a subscription to the society. Sounds like a reasonable request to me.

 

Apologies. RTFQ !!

 

I don't agree that this is "a private dispute", as it's been on the Penrhyn Railway news page on their website for weeks - a site that is accessible to anyone. Further, I didn't think it worth emailing the society as they would be bound to say all was well....
I have however tracked down an email contact for the Company, so maybe I'll email them and the society together and ask for an update!

 

I emailed Felin Fawr Cyf just before Christmas with a similar question and I received the following reply -

We have not as yet received a response from the Society board and until we do, it is unwise to comment.

Rest assured that work is continuing at the PQR and we hope to make an announcement regarding phase two in the New Year. Hopefully, this will be regarded as good news by those genuinely interested in the restoration of the railway.

Sion Roberts

 

I have received replies from both the Society and the Company.
The Society told me: "We are trying to resolve the dispute which is largely due to some misunderstandings. The society is most definitely still supporting the railway and are carefully noting and segregating donations generously
made by members when they renew. These, along with other funds, will be donated to the railway as soon as appropriate.

We continue - and will continue - to be a society for those interested in the history of the railway and who support the railway and want to see the restoration continue."

On the other hand, the Company says: "While we understand your concerns, we are not in a position to advise you as to whether or not you should renew your Society membership. We can state that we have not as yet received a response from the Society board regarding the issues raised last year."

As the Company posted details of the dispute in September 2012, it seems to me a LONG time for this dispute to be dragging on. The Society says it is trying to resolve it, but the Company says it has heard nothing....

Of course the Society is more than just a support group for the railway, and their journal does contain interesting historical articles. However, my membership was mainly to support the restoration, and I think I'll wait to renew until these organizations have got their act together! Note: I'm not assigning blame here, it would seem to be mixture of being too quick to take offense on one side and over-reliance on hearsay on the other!

 

Not in Penrhyn terms, their dispute of 1900 lasted three years and made the record books! :wink:

 

Of course!!

 

Not the happiest lesson from history as, according to Wikipedia,

"In the longer term the dispute cast the shadow of unreliability on the North Welsh slate industry, causing orders to drop sharply and thousands of workers to be laid off."

 

Well, it seems the two bodies didn't resolve their dispute, as the Railway site announces a new Supporters group run by the Railway and they say: "The group known as the Penrhyn Railway Supporters is now the official and only group supporting the Penrhyn Railway project at Bethesda and is directed at those genuinely interested supporting the efforts currently underway." One wonders what the society is now going to do ....?

 

This has a vaguely Stalinist ring to it...I love railway politics!

 

Seems the PQR website has been attacked/hacked yet again....

 

Indeed, I cannot imagine where they get it from...

 

Can you be more specific... responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths? Setting up Gulag like labour camps? Sorry to disappoint you but our railway is now politics free again so you can go back to sleep!

 

Politics free - really?

 

yes 100% politics free! It's the best way to be, because now our team can focus wholly on the project.

 

I have no links with the Penrhyn Railway and have no knowledge of the problems alluded to on this thread, however it should be noted that 'PenrhynWorker' is the Managing Director of the Penrhyn Railway and therefore I'm not sure that the above statement can be seen as impartial


Keith

 

I don't think he is stating his opinion here, more like stating a fact and after all he is in a better position than most to know what's going on.

Lets not kid ourselves, the society held their AGM a couple of weeks back and just over half of the 16 present voted against supporting the project so the cord is cut so to speak, good riddance I say and best of luck to those currently working hard on this project.