Press Release - Richard Hope OBE Stands Down As President of the Talyllyn Railway Preservation...

End of an era


The Annual General Meeting of the Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society on Saturday 27 September 2014 marked the end of an era as Richard Hope OBE stood down as President of the Society. Richard, formerly editor of the Railway Gazette, has been involved with the railway for well over 50 years. He held the post of Society Secretary for thirty years between 1966 and 1996, before becoming President in 2006 a post he had held ever since.

However, Richard has not just been involved in the administration of the Society, but continues to play an active role in the track gang and other activities. He also spent many hours working on the extension from Abergynolwyn to Nant Gwernol in the 1970s. In addition he and his wife Audrey also starred in the Talyllyn Railway publicity film Talyllyn Holiday.

To commemorate his time in office Richard was presented with an especially commissioned painting by Nick Harling. This showed Richard helping install a siding in 1964 for the old Tea Van that used to serve refreshments at Abergynolwyn station, along with his trademark sledgehammer and dog.

His successor as President is David Mitchell, who also has been involved with the Society for over fifty years, and has served the railway in a number of roles including Managing Director.

David commented:

‘Richard is going to be a tough act to follow, and we are enormously grateful for all the work he has put in through the years. We hope that he will continue to be involved for many years to come. Thanks must also be due to his wife, Audrey, for all the support she has given Richard during these years, and also for the contribution she has made in her own right’.

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For further information about this press release please e-mail: pressoffice [at] talyllyn [dot] co [dot] uk (subject: Web%20newspage%20enquiry) or phone either 0113 281 8235 or 01654 710472.