Plas-y-Nant Guest House and Conference Centre in the Snowdonia National Park Telephone 01286 650227

The Grand Re-Opening of Plas-y-Nant Halt

A personal review of how the Halt came to be re-opened, and the various momentos incorporated into the Halt, by former Plas-y-Nant Excursion Leader Mike Worthington.

It is exactly fifty years ago this year since I first went on holiday with my parents to Plas-y-Nant.   In those days, it was a Holiday Home, one of a number, in some of the most beautiful places in the UK, owned and run by the Lancashire and Cheshire Christian Endeavour Federation.  In charge was a remarkable lady, Helena Coughlin, "Auntie Lena", who reigned supreme at Plas from 1947 until her retirement in 1975 and who had a significant impact on the lives of thousands of young people who holidayed there.  For me, 1955 was the start of a lifelong love affair with Plas-y-Nant and the mountains and coasts of this lovely part of the world, together with lifelong friendships made in those formative years in the '50s and '60s.

Growing up at Plas, I heard stories of the days when the Welsh Highland Railway used to go down the valley and, of course, saw for myself the evidence of this in embankments, track bed and bridges.  When, some few years ago, the railway reopened from Caernarfon to Dinas, there was a frisson of excitement amongst those of us who still went to Plas.   This escalated when the line was extended to Waunfawr.   Although none of us can claim to be railway buffs, when news of the further extension to Rhyd Ddu was received, we were ecstatic.  This meant the line would once again pass the entrance to Plas-y-Nant and the Halt there would be reconstructed.

Imagine our disappointment when, after some discreet enquiries, we discovered that, whilst there was a long term intention to rebuild the Halt, there was currently no funding available and it was not considered to be a priority.  We did however discover that there was interest in both the village of Betws Garmon and in the WHR Heritage Society in reconstructing the Halt.  So we did have allies.  In addition, the owners of Plas-y-Nant - now a privately run guest house and conference centre, were keen on the idea.  From this interest came the germ of an idea.  If we could attract sufficient funding to pay for the reconstruction of the Plas-y-Nant Halt, would the Festiniog and Welsh Highland Railways be prepared to go ahead with the project?

It seemed somewhat premature to ask the question of the FR Board until we knew what level of financial support we could command.  Consequently, on March 12th 2003 and with the support of my long time Plas friends, Chris Hatton and John Miller, I wrote to all those "Plasites" I had addresses for, putting the proposition, asking for donations and suggesting that they pass on my letter to other Plasites who they might be in contact with.  The response was nothing short of amazing.  Within a month of sending the letter, I had received cheques totalling £2000 from all over the UK and beyond, for the most part amounts of anything from £5 to £50.  I also received some wonderful letters, with recollections of the original Welsh Highland Railway.  I was reminded that guests coming to the opening of Plas as a Christian Endeavour Holiday Home in 1924, arrived by train at the Halt, someone told me that he had a collection of Welsh Highland Railway tickets (including a through ticket from Festiniog to Plas y Nant) and one Plasite, aged 92, actually remembered the original railway!

The widow of one of one of the Plas crowd asked if we could do something at the Halt in memory of here late husband, Bill Thompson, a much loved Plasite who had died in 1986 at the young age of 46.  As it happened, we had discovered the remains of a bench seat in the grounds at Plas, which we remember being in front of the House but photographic evidence shows clearly as the seat from the original Halt.   I suggested that, if the Thompson family agreed, they could pay for the restoration of the seat and with a suitable plaque placed on it, it could return to the Halt and be a permanent memorial to Bill.  The Gittins family asked if there could be a suitable memorial at the Halt, in memory of their son, David, a Plasite, who was killed at University in 1994, aged 20.  It was agreed that a tree be planted in his memory.

In addition to the sum I had collected, we also had promises of donations from the Heritage Society and from the owners of Plas-y-Nant.  So, feeling confident, with money coming in and a groundswell of enthusiasm from a number of sources, I wrote to Michael Whitheouse, then Chair of the Welsh Highland Light Railway Ltd, on July 14th (2003), putting our proposal to him.  At this time, we had an informal estimate that the reconstruction would cost around £2500 and we hoped that it would be completed for the reopening of the line from Waunfawr to Rhyd Ddu in the 2004 season.

On September 4th and following a reminder, I received a response from Michael Whithouse.  He indicated that the FR Board were supportive of the reconstruction of the Halt in principle but that it would have to be funded entirely from "external sources".  However, it was not seen as a priority.  He added that the site was a difficult one and this would have a bearing on the construction costs. Nothing daunted and with agreement in principle established, we held a site meeting with Roland Doyle on October 21st.   It was a positive meeting, from which Roland requested approval in principle for the project and that HMRI be "sounded out".  Thereafter, there was a long delay, with no response from the Board until I wrote to Michael Whitheouse again on January 8th 2004.  His response took us no further forward but he did put Andy Savage, his Deputy Chair, in touch with me.  This contact did bring about a significant change in the climate of our exchanges.  A further site meeting on February 14th was positive and on March 7th, Andy produced a clear plan for action.  The only downside to this was that it was now clear that the Halt could not be built in time for the reopening of the line to Rhyd Ddu and he suggested that it be programmed in for the autumn - after the service stopped for the year.

We then entered the tender process, which led to further delays and a further postponement of construction, to the early part of 2005.  By this stage, we were aware that construction costs were escalating way beyond the money we had collected.   However, Chris Hatton had so enthused his son-in-law about the project, that he offered to underwrite it from his family's charitable trust.  When quotes came in, the one we accepted was for £11,000 from Dave Phasey - four times what we had budgeted for.

Throughout this protracted process, I had been keeping all our donors informed through regular letters.  At Christmas, I was able to give them the good news that a quote had been accepted and that the reconstruction of the Halt would take place from February 28th to March 18th 2005.  Invitations were also sent out to the Grand Reopening, to be held on May 15th 2005.  At a further site meeting held on March 14th, Chris, John and I saw that our dream was almost realised.   The Halt was almost complete and we were, at last, on course for the Grand Reopening.  Plans were falling into place.   Terry Rendell, Environmental Consultant, planted the tree.  The seat was brought down from Plas and secured on the platform.  Brass plaques, in English and Welsh, were fixed to one of the original slate posts at the Halt, acknowledging the contributions of those who had made construction possible.   Cedric Lodge completed the station sign.

In planning the Grand Reopening, we were indebted to Alastair Wilkinson, Events Organiser for the WHR.  He arranged for a jazz band to play at the Opening, for the PA system we used at the opening ceremony, for travel for all our guests to Rhyd Ddu and return and for real ale to be available on the journey!  May 15th turned out to be a beautiful day.  Someone remarked that Auntie Lena had organised it!  Over one hundred people enjoyed a wonderful buffet lunch at Plas - thanks Ruth.  Up to one hundred and fifty people gathered for the Grand Reopening. Stan Phillips, who first worked for Auntie Lena at Plas in 1947, cut the ribbon, Ian Gittins spoke movingly about the tree planted in memory of David, his son and Denise Moorcroft unveiled the seat, in memory of her late husband, Bill Thompson.  John Ewing responded on behalf of the Festiniog Railway Board.   A commemorative group photograph was taken and then everyone boarded the "Plas y Nant Express" to Rhyd Ddu.  It was a wonderful, historic occasion, capped for me when I was invited to go up onto the footplate at Rhyd Ddu.

Thanks are due to many people - Andy Savage and Roland Doyle of the Welsh Highland Railway, John Ewing and Pauline Holloway of the Festiniog Railway, John Keylock of the WHR Heritage Society, Alastair Wilkinson of the Welsh Highland Railway Society, Andy Goodall and Tony Phillips of Plas-y-Nant.   Particular thanks to Lewis Esposito for drawing up the plans for the Halt and for restoring the seat so beautifully and to the Stubbs Family Trust for sponsoring the project.  My personal thanks to Chris Hatton and John Miller for all their help and support throughout what at times seemed like an interminable process.

So the Plas-y-Nant Halt is reopened and is being used.   Stan Phillips, who performed the Opening Ceremony, and his wife Barbara now live in the Lodge at the entrance to Plas-y-Nant, overlooking the Halt.  Sixty years ago, Stan was Auntie Lena's first "Plas Leader" and helped her establish that wonderful dynasty, which so many of us were later to be part of.  Stan and Barbara's youngest son Tony, and his wife, Diane, are now the owners of Plas-y-Nant, so it feels like full circle and so appropriate for generations of Plasites. We want the Halt to be used.   So, railway enthusiasts, why not come and stay at Plas-y-Nant, roll down the drive and board the train at the Plas-y-Nant Halt ?

Mike Worthington - June 2005