0:00:02 > 0:00:04ENGINE TOOTS
0:00:07 > 0:00:1150 years ago, almost everyone in Wales lived in sight
0:00:11 > 0:00:13and sound of steam trains.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16They were part of the fabric of everyday life.
0:00:19 > 0:00:23Then, in the early 1960s, chairman of British Railways
0:00:23 > 0:00:27Dr Richard Beeching took an axe to the rail system of Wales.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30Within a few years, his plans for modernisation and efficiency
0:00:30 > 0:00:35closed hundreds of branch lines, stations and tunnels.
0:00:35 > 0:00:39And steam power was scrapped in favour of diesel.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46But Beeching had not reckoned on the passion for steam trains
0:00:46 > 0:00:48amongst the people of Wales.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56Put your head out of the window and you get a face full of smoke.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58When you come in, you're filthy, but it was great!
0:01:00 > 0:01:02As a small lad, when you were on that train,
0:01:02 > 0:01:04it was the power of the thing.
0:01:04 > 0:01:08You moved the regulator up and, within a few seconds, she'd respond.
0:01:08 > 0:01:13And suddenly, you'd see the countryside starting to go faster.
0:01:13 > 0:01:16There was an art with the old steam. It was like a living machine.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19And it was sad to see the demise of it.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23It's nice to see the preservation boys keeping it up, you know.
0:01:28 > 0:01:34In 1975, just eight years after the last steam engine ran on
0:01:34 > 0:01:38British Rail, a group of enthusiasts started Llangollen Railway.
0:01:38 > 0:01:44Other enthusiasts, like amateur cameraman Jim Clemens, kept
0:01:44 > 0:01:49the spirit of steam alive by filming branch lines before they closed.
0:01:49 > 0:01:53Much of this rare footage has never been seen on television before.
0:01:54 > 0:01:59By weaving it together with images from heritage railways,
0:01:59 > 0:02:01and memories of the last heyday of steam in Wales,
0:02:01 > 0:02:05this is the story of a world almost lost forever to Dr Beeching.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25One of the main reasons for people's fond memories of steam trains
0:02:25 > 0:02:30is because of the holiday excursions that took them to the Welsh seaside.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34In South Wales, many communities that lived in the valleys
0:02:34 > 0:02:37booked day excursions to Barry Island or Porthcawl,
0:02:37 > 0:02:41both reached directly by train from their local station.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47During the miners' fortnight,
0:02:47 > 0:02:52day excursions to Aberavon remained popular amongst Rhondda families.
0:02:52 > 0:02:54Gareth Evans lived with his parents
0:02:54 > 0:02:58and younger brother in Treorchy in the 1950s.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01These trips, they were either organised by local chapels
0:03:01 > 0:03:05or local working men's clubs.
0:03:05 > 0:03:06You'd never find the two amalgamating,
0:03:06 > 0:03:10because the chapel people wouldn't get on very well with the drinkers!
0:03:10 > 0:03:13But they'd be reserved entirely as an excursion train.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16So you'd get on at Treorchy station with your parents.
0:03:16 > 0:03:18On whoever's train it was,
0:03:18 > 0:03:23you'd have the chapel deacons or the club stewards marshalling you into
0:03:23 > 0:03:25some sort of order, shouting out,
0:03:25 > 0:03:27"That's your coach, that's your coach."
0:03:27 > 0:03:29Your parents would bundle you aboard,
0:03:29 > 0:03:32sandwiches would come out straightaway, and it was a good day.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49Peter Roberts grew up near Blaengwynfi in the Afan Valley.
0:03:51 > 0:03:53We'd park up in the morning.
0:03:53 > 0:03:55Sandwiches, bathers, buckets, spades.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00And to see that train coming through, the steam
0:04:00 > 0:04:05and the kids hanging out of the windows, shouting and cheering.
0:04:05 > 0:04:11Get on the train. One compartment, basically, to four or five families.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13It would be crowded.
0:04:13 > 0:04:20Go down through Cymmer, down through Duffryn and off into Aberavon.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25It was a brilliant day down there.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29And in those days, that was our holiday.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33Every day, going down the beach in the miners' fortnight.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37In North Wales too,
0:04:37 > 0:04:41steam railways were at the heart of the holiday experience.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45The Llangollen Railway likes to revive the appeal
0:04:45 > 0:04:48of the North Wales Radio Land Cruise that was
0:04:48 > 0:04:52part of a trend for steam train specials, made popular in the 1950s.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58These cruises took holidaymakers on a tour around North Wales,
0:04:58 > 0:05:00sightseeing and stopping at resorts,
0:05:00 > 0:05:03all accompanied by commentary and refreshments.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10The routes varied, sometimes going via Corwen and Dolgellau to the
0:05:10 > 0:05:14Cambrian Coast, and up to Harlech, before returning to Llandudno.
0:05:15 > 0:05:17These excursions ceased
0:05:17 > 0:05:21when the circular route was broken by the Beeching cuts.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24Jenny Griffiths remembers tours to Rhyl and Barmouth
0:05:24 > 0:05:27from her childhood home in Mold, Denbighshire.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32We used to go to Rhyl, because my uncle lived in Rhyl.
0:05:32 > 0:05:33He was also on the railways.
0:05:33 > 0:05:35And then we used to go and stay with him.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40We used to watch for Uncle Gaius in the signal box.
0:05:40 > 0:05:45And, quite often, we used to go past the signal box and he'd be there,
0:05:45 > 0:05:48looking through the window, and you'd have a little wave.
0:05:48 > 0:05:52And then you'd pull into the station and get off the train.
0:05:58 > 0:06:00There were quite a few trains there,
0:06:00 > 0:06:03because they'd have all sorts of trips and things going on.
0:06:03 > 0:06:05And when we were there,
0:06:05 > 0:06:08we used to go on what we used to call a mystery tour.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11And you'd go to the station and Mum would go and buy the tickets
0:06:11 > 0:06:13and you'd get on the train.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16You hadn't got a clue where you were going until you got there.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19Very often, it used to be Barmouth, we used to go a lot.
0:06:19 > 0:06:20But it used to be fun.
0:06:28 > 0:06:33I think it was the noise of the train because,
0:06:33 > 0:06:35if you sat there,
0:06:35 > 0:06:38you could hear the train going, "Got to go back, got to go back,
0:06:38 > 0:06:41"got to go back, got to go back," all the way along.
0:06:46 > 0:06:51The love of steam is rooted in childhood memories.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58Many a Welsh schoolboy was drawn to trainspotting.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01But it was not unknown for girls to take up the hobby as well.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06Jenny Griffiths lived half a mile from Mold station.
0:07:06 > 0:07:11My friend and I used to go there a lot, trainspotting, as you do.
0:07:11 > 0:07:15So we had an exercise book each, and a pencil, and a rubber.
0:07:15 > 0:07:19And off we used to go to the station in Mold.
0:07:19 > 0:07:23And we'd sit and watch all the goods and things coming in.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26Watch the porters working and the station master.
0:07:26 > 0:07:30And we used to go over the bridge to the other side
0:07:30 > 0:07:33and watch trains coming in the other way.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35And we used to sit on this wall for hours,
0:07:35 > 0:07:37fascinated by all these trains.
0:07:40 > 0:07:41It was the noise of it.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44It'd let off all the steam and then when he filled it up with
0:07:44 > 0:07:48the water, we used to find that quite fascinating because,
0:07:48 > 0:07:51Very often, the fella that was filling it used to get wet as well!
0:07:51 > 0:07:53So it was great fun, actually.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01For many children, the best chance of getting a ride on a steam engine
0:08:01 > 0:08:04was at one of the coalfield sidings near where they lived.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11Scenes like this had been common in North and South Wales
0:08:11 > 0:08:13in the 1940s, when Harry Loundes was growing up,
0:08:13 > 0:08:17a few miles from the Caerall colliery near Wrexham.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23This is the engine that I remember. The Welshman.
0:08:23 > 0:08:27The driver would be slowing down for you to get on the engine
0:08:27 > 0:08:29and have a ride up
0:08:29 > 0:08:31and come back down.
0:08:31 > 0:08:32It was great.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35You'd stand, one of you would be that end
0:08:35 > 0:08:37and one would be this end.
0:08:37 > 0:08:41And riding up and down and looking out, seeing where you're going.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44It was the engine, getting on the engine,
0:08:44 > 0:08:46riding the engine. That was great.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52Children who rode the footplates
0:08:52 > 0:08:54dreamt of one day being a train driver.
0:08:54 > 0:08:56For Mike Griffiths, who grew up in Mold,
0:08:56 > 0:08:59this dream came true while he was still a boy.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03At the age of ten, he befriended engine driver Bill Lewis,
0:09:03 > 0:09:06who taught him how to drive an engine.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09I got to know Mad Bill, as he was called,
0:09:09 > 0:09:12and he took me on the footplate and he taught me
0:09:12 > 0:09:15what the levers and the rest of it was for,
0:09:15 > 0:09:17and how to drive a steam train.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23You get drawn to this massive metal beast.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26There was steam coming, there was a pressure valve going.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28It was just magnificent.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35The boy driver took trains as far as Bodfari, a few miles from Denbigh.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41Although engines of various sizes worked the line,
0:09:41 > 0:09:45like this pannier tank, commonly used in many parts of Wales,
0:09:45 > 0:09:47for a ten-year-old boy,
0:09:47 > 0:09:50all the controls on the footplate seemed massive.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54The one Mike Griffiths liked best increased the speed of the engine.
0:09:54 > 0:09:55This was the regulator.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02I thought it was fantastic, because we had the regulator open
0:10:02 > 0:10:05and I was pushing up under the regulator.
0:10:05 > 0:10:07It was a huge thing.
0:10:07 > 0:10:09I wasn't that strong, but we managed to get it going.
0:10:09 > 0:10:13And the gauge said 40 mile an hour, and Bill said,
0:10:13 > 0:10:17"That is as fast as you'll go. She won't go any faster."
0:10:20 > 0:10:23When you were on that train, it was the power of the thing.
0:10:23 > 0:10:27You moved the regulator up and, within a few seconds, she'd respond.
0:10:27 > 0:10:31And suddenly, you'd see the countryside starting to go faster.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38Despite the often friendly relations between crews and the public,
0:10:38 > 0:10:42the presence of children on a moving engine was strictly forbidden
0:10:42 > 0:10:46by British Railways regulations and, in 1956,
0:10:46 > 0:10:49the station master at Mold was determined to put a stop to
0:10:49 > 0:10:53the boyhood driving career of Mike Griffiths.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56There were several times, I can remember quite clearly,
0:10:56 > 0:10:58I was in a hell of a state.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02Because the station master came up the platform and he used to say...
0:11:02 > 0:11:04AFFECTS NASAL DRONE: "Hello, how are you?"
0:11:04 > 0:11:06He used to talk like this.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09And he asked the engineer had he seen me?
0:11:09 > 0:11:12"No, I haven't seen him today," Bill Lewis said. "Is he about?"
0:11:12 > 0:11:15He said, "He's about somewhere." "Oh, I haven't seen him."
0:11:15 > 0:11:18And I was on me knees, underneath the brakes,
0:11:18 > 0:11:20underneath the engineer's seat.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22I was in a hell of a state.
0:11:22 > 0:11:24Because if he'd have stuck his head through the window,
0:11:24 > 0:11:26he'd have seen me.
0:11:26 > 0:11:28"No, I haven't seen him at all," Bill Lewis said.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31And he said, "Right, we're away. We've got the signal."
0:11:31 > 0:11:33He took the brake off, pulled the regulator
0:11:33 > 0:11:35and we all had a good laugh about it.
0:11:41 > 0:11:43At Llangollen Railway,
0:11:43 > 0:11:46volunteer crews worked the footplates of the passenger trains.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50Drivers have qualified at the heritage railway after gaining
0:11:50 > 0:11:53experience and taking examinations.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00In the 1950s, passion for steam often did lead
0:12:00 > 0:12:02to a career on the railways.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07But a young fireman could expect to be kept in his place by the driver,
0:12:07 > 0:12:10very much boss on the footplate.
0:12:19 > 0:12:23In 1955, Bryan King worked at Neath yard,
0:12:23 > 0:12:26when he first fired a passenger train to Brecon,
0:12:26 > 0:12:29on what was commonly known as the N&B line.
0:12:29 > 0:12:33The first Brecon turn I had was literally weeks after
0:12:33 > 0:12:36I got to Neath and Brecon.
0:12:36 > 0:12:38A cleaner came over and he said,
0:12:38 > 0:12:41"You've got to go on the 4:10 passenger to Brecon."
0:12:41 > 0:12:44So I'd never been through to Brecon at all by that time
0:12:44 > 0:12:47and I was a bit uncertain about the whole thing, you know.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50But I had to do it. There was no getting out of it.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53You were a fireman and you was expected to go, you know.
0:12:53 > 0:12:55So the driver was Ben Matthias.
0:12:55 > 0:12:59A typical grumpy type of driver.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02Had kind of a white line around the middle of the footplate
0:13:02 > 0:13:04and that was your half and this was his.
0:13:04 > 0:13:05That was the type of man he was.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10It was quite a nice run, actually.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13It was firing all the way to Onllwyn.
0:13:13 > 0:13:15You wouldn't see much of the scenery.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17You were firing all the way.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32When you was shovelling, obviously up to Onllwyn,
0:13:32 > 0:13:35when you got to Onllwyn, it evened out a bit, you know,
0:13:35 > 0:13:37you were down to your T-shirt.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41We used to have a famous red scarf around the neck.
0:13:41 > 0:13:43Well, of course, that wasn't there for decoration.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45That was to wipe the sweat away.
0:13:45 > 0:13:49And, going through tunnels, you would have to put it over your mouth
0:13:49 > 0:13:51to stop the smoke and sulphur going in.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54So there was that little red scarf we used to wear.
0:13:54 > 0:13:56And then we used to tie knots in the four corners of it
0:13:56 > 0:13:59and put it on your head, you know, to keep your hair clean,
0:13:59 > 0:14:04because you didn't want to get your hair dirty when you was a youngster.
0:14:22 > 0:14:24Here in the Dee Valley,
0:14:24 > 0:14:27a train approaches the Berwyn tunnel on the Llangollen Railway.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33The frequency of tunnels in Wales have often been
0:14:33 > 0:14:36a test of endurance for passengers and crew alike.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57Being brought up to it as a young fireman, I remember it, being a
0:14:57 > 0:14:59young fireman going it through it the first couple of times,
0:14:59 > 0:15:04it was quite frightening. That was until you realised you was
0:15:04 > 0:15:07in the hands of an older driver.
0:15:07 > 0:15:09And it was quite safe then, really.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14It was very, very smoky.
0:15:14 > 0:15:16Very horrible.
0:15:16 > 0:15:18Very narrow. You had to careful.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21You wouldn't look out of the engine or anything because, in some parts,
0:15:21 > 0:15:26the side of the tunnel was only about that much from the engine, like.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36It was reputed that the fumes in the tunnel were
0:15:36 > 0:15:38very good for bad chests,
0:15:38 > 0:15:41and I was, and still am, an asthmatic.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44So my parents would force
0:15:44 > 0:15:48my head, physically force my head, out of the carriage window.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51You had one of these big leather straps and the window dropped down completely.
0:15:51 > 0:15:53"Go on, get your head out. Breathe!"
0:15:53 > 0:15:54"I don't like it."
0:15:54 > 0:15:55"Breathe some more."
0:16:00 > 0:16:02The sound of the engine would magnify.
0:16:02 > 0:16:04It would be echoing all around you.
0:16:04 > 0:16:07And clanging, banging, couplings back and forth,
0:16:07 > 0:16:10they were vibrating and you had a sense of being confined.
0:16:10 > 0:16:12Some people were almost terrified of the experience,
0:16:12 > 0:16:14going through the tunnel, but we used to enjoy it.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30In the age of steam, hundreds of branch stations served
0:16:30 > 0:16:33the industrial and rural communties throughout Wales.
0:16:36 > 0:16:40Here, a train bound for Brecon arrives at Talyllyn junction.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46Such scenes, captured by amateur enthusiasts
0:16:46 > 0:16:49in the last days of this historic rail network,
0:16:49 > 0:16:51are rare and remarkably valuable.
0:16:53 > 0:16:58Every line that snaked through every valley provided frequent access
0:16:58 > 0:17:03points for families and workers to travel to destinations near and far.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06The Beeching cuts destroyed the way of life that had grown up
0:17:06 > 0:17:08around these stations,
0:17:08 > 0:17:10places of dependability,
0:17:10 > 0:17:12held together by the people who ran them.
0:17:14 > 0:17:16The booking clerk provided a whole range of services,
0:17:16 > 0:17:18available at each station.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23Glyn Jones remembers the process of issuing tickets at Prestatyn.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26Draw tickets out of the rack.
0:17:26 > 0:17:28Cardboard tickets out the rack.
0:17:28 > 0:17:32Had it inbetween your thumb and finger and...
0:17:34 > 0:17:38But twice. That meant both ends had been dated.
0:17:38 > 0:17:39So it was...
0:17:41 > 0:17:44It was a flick of the thumb and finger.
0:17:44 > 0:17:46Turned it round, you see.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55At Prestatyn, we had a row of ticket racks there
0:17:55 > 0:17:58and another row around there.
0:17:58 > 0:18:00Some were in geographiocal order
0:18:00 > 0:18:03and some were in alphabetical order, you see.
0:18:03 > 0:18:08And the prices were on but, of course, your float,
0:18:08 > 0:18:12the money, you had pound notes, ten shilling notes, crowns,
0:18:12 > 0:18:16florins, shillings, six-pences,
0:18:16 > 0:18:19pennies and ha'pennies, all in rows.
0:18:22 > 0:18:24At many stations, like here at Llanarthney
0:18:24 > 0:18:27on the line to Carmarthen, signalmen did the job of
0:18:27 > 0:18:31crossing-keeper, booking clerk and porter, all rolled into one.
0:18:31 > 0:18:36Points and singalling levers were sited outside on the platform
0:18:36 > 0:18:40to make it possible to carry out all these jobs single-handed.
0:18:44 > 0:18:49On the line from Chester to Denbigh, closed in 1962,
0:18:49 > 0:18:53relief signalman Harry Loundes worked at most of the stations
0:18:53 > 0:18:56in the lates 1950s, including Llong in Flintshire.
0:18:59 > 0:19:04We used to cover signal boxes and platform staff.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07So we used to issue tickets at all different stations.
0:19:09 > 0:19:10At Llong, it was a station.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13In the office, you used to be selling tickets
0:19:13 > 0:19:17to the passengers for the passengers to go on the trains.
0:19:17 > 0:19:22And you was also a signalman working the levers,
0:19:22 > 0:19:24and they were on the platform.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30The station house at Llong has survived to the present day.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32After being abandoned for many years,
0:19:32 > 0:19:35it is now being slowly restored as a private dwelling.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42Harry Loundes is visiting Llong Station with Jenny Griffiths,
0:19:42 > 0:19:45whose grandfather, George Parry,
0:19:45 > 0:19:49worked as a signalman there from the 1920s.
0:19:49 > 0:19:52Harry kept a piece of wood from the station after it closed.
0:19:52 > 0:19:57- Oh, what's that?- This piece of wood, if you look on it, and you'll see...
0:19:57 > 0:19:59My grandfather's name on it!
0:19:59 > 0:20:04- Yeah!- And the year? - 1929. January '29.
0:20:04 > 0:20:06And all the names are on it.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09- Yeah, Llong Station 1854.- Yep.
0:20:11 > 0:20:13As with all signalmen who worked the line,
0:20:13 > 0:20:17Jenny Griffiths' grandfather George Parry had many responsiblities,
0:20:17 > 0:20:20but he always had time for family visits.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25When I was little, I used to get
0:20:25 > 0:20:26the train here with my mum
0:20:26 > 0:20:27and my sister, but my sister is
0:20:27 > 0:20:29three years younger than me,
0:20:29 > 0:20:30so she'd only be a tot.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33And we used to come here and get off the train.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36And then if my grandfather was working, we used to stay
0:20:36 > 0:20:38and watch what he was doing.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41He used to close the gates, the gates used to go over the road.
0:20:41 > 0:20:43And he used to close those down.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46And then he'd come up and he'd be pulling the levers on here.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49We used to think he was fantastic.
0:20:49 > 0:20:50We used to think he was big,
0:20:50 > 0:20:52big muscles, you know, to pull those levers.
0:20:52 > 0:20:56And that's when he used to help people on and off the trains.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59But the one thing I do remember was, to get on the train,
0:20:59 > 0:21:01we used to have to go up the steps.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04- Steps! The steps. - Yeah, there was two, yes.
0:21:04 > 0:21:05Was it two?
0:21:05 > 0:21:08Well, if anybody was getting on or off the train,
0:21:08 > 0:21:11you had to carry them from there to each carriage,
0:21:11 > 0:21:13for people to get in and out of.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17And put the steps there and put your foot on them, save them moving,
0:21:17 > 0:21:20so the people could climb down or climb up into the carriage.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23And then you'd move the steps away.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27The station house at Llong had been built in 1849 as part of
0:21:27 > 0:21:30the Saltney to Mold branch line.
0:21:30 > 0:21:34Victorian railway companies tended to favour a similar
0:21:34 > 0:21:36design of house for each station.
0:21:37 > 0:21:42Down the line from Llong was Hope and Penyffordd.
0:21:42 > 0:21:47In 1959, Glyn Jones applied for the stationmaster's vacancy here.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50Such was the standing of the job in the age of steam,
0:21:50 > 0:21:54the local newspaper reported Glyn's success.
0:21:54 > 0:21:55And with the job
0:21:55 > 0:21:57came the stationmaster's house.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01But when Glyn arrived from Prestatyn with his young family,
0:22:01 > 0:22:06he found his idea of the rural idyll was not matched by British Rail.
0:22:06 > 0:22:08The house wasn't bad, really.
0:22:08 > 0:22:10There was a nice open view from one side
0:22:10 > 0:22:13and there was a shop on the other side.
0:22:13 > 0:22:17But we'd got two little children then and there was no toilet.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21And we'd got two little children.
0:22:21 > 0:22:27So we write and ask to see if we can have the toilet put in.
0:22:27 > 0:22:32We got a very, to my mind, rude reply from the head office.
0:22:34 > 0:22:39"You must remember that Penyffordd is a place in rural Wales
0:22:39 > 0:22:43"and not every rural place in Wales has an indoor toilet,
0:22:43 > 0:22:45"so why should you have one?"
0:22:45 > 0:22:47You know? Oh, dear!
0:22:47 > 0:22:51But, eventually, we did get one put in.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04I enjoyed the work and I enjoyed the staff and the company.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07I was lucky, I had good staff.
0:23:07 > 0:23:12They didn't treat me as a boss, like. "You're one of us," you know.
0:23:13 > 0:23:18Harry Jones, who also looked after the station gardens in Penyffordd,
0:23:18 > 0:23:23which, incidentally, got first prize twice for station gardens,
0:23:23 > 0:23:28he had a terrific whole length of one platform was
0:23:28 > 0:23:31different coloured geraniums, all the way along.
0:23:31 > 0:23:32It was marvellous.
0:23:32 > 0:23:37And, of course, the white platform edges, which Fred Foster used to do.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40He was keener on the brush and shovel
0:23:40 > 0:23:42and keeping the place tidy, you know.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46Glyn Jones and his family had to move out of their station house
0:23:46 > 0:23:48at Hope and Penyffordd
0:23:48 > 0:23:52when the Denbigh line closed to passenger traffic in April 1962.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01But one member of staff was able to continue.
0:24:01 > 0:24:06Relief signalman Harry Loundes frequently worked at the signal box
0:24:06 > 0:24:10during the five years the line stayed open to carry goods trains.
0:24:11 > 0:24:15Unlike most station houses along the line, Glyn Jones' old family home
0:24:15 > 0:24:19still stands, amongst a modern housing estate.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23Harry Loundes got to know the new owner, Ray Ankers,
0:24:23 > 0:24:27while working at the signal box, but has not been back for many years.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32By God, Harry, how are you doing, lad?
0:24:32 > 0:24:33All right, Ray.
0:24:33 > 0:24:35- How are yourself? - Hey, you're looking well.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37You're not looking too bad, either.
0:24:37 > 0:24:39- Well, still here. And that's the main thing, lad, innit?- Aye. Aye.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42Former fireman Ray Ankers has spent nearly 50 years adapting his
0:24:42 > 0:24:46stationmaster's house into a unique home.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49Wouldn't recognise the old place now.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52Well, no, not all this. You've put all this on.
0:24:52 > 0:24:54Aye, me and my mate across the road done that.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57It wasn't all that much different, really, like.
0:24:57 > 0:24:59The only thing, we had to have new windows.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01And I had it rendered because...
0:25:01 > 0:25:05I've got a photograph there of the house exactly as it was.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07With the brick?
0:25:07 > 0:25:09It's in the conservatory. With the brick.
0:25:09 > 0:25:11It was all just the brick, like.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14Oh, you've still got Hope & Penyffordd off the platform.
0:25:14 > 0:25:16Well, look after the signs, aye.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19Well, trying to make it look as original as possible, you know.
0:25:19 > 0:25:21I think you've got the signal in the...
0:25:21 > 0:25:23The right place or the wrong place?
0:25:23 > 0:25:24In the wrong place.
0:25:24 > 0:25:26- I had an awful job of putting it up there.- Is it distant?
0:25:26 > 0:25:29No, it's a western signal.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34There was a school there and the box was, well...
0:25:34 > 0:25:36Near about where that lamp is there, more or less.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39Yeah, the school was about 20 yards away from the signal box.
0:25:39 > 0:25:41That's it, yeah.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52Here in the Afan Valley, signs of the old railway lines
0:25:52 > 0:25:54and stations are difficult to find.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03Before the Beeching cuts, the trains that travelled to and from
0:26:03 > 0:26:08Abergwynfi and Blaengwynfi were vital to local communities.
0:26:09 > 0:26:13The Valley has changed greatly since Peter Roberts was a boy.
0:26:14 > 0:26:21We're in Blaengwynfi, just across the dividing line from Abergwynfi.
0:26:23 > 0:26:27And the river just there, that's the dividing line.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30The Abergwynfi station.
0:26:30 > 0:26:34The station was just to the left of the river,
0:26:34 > 0:26:36just in amongst the trees there.
0:26:38 > 0:26:43Actually, there's nothing left of the station now,
0:26:43 > 0:26:48but that was the terminus for the Maesteg to Bridgend and Cardiff line.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56Life in the Afan Valley is much quieter than in the age of steam.
0:26:56 > 0:26:58The stations have long gone
0:26:58 > 0:27:01and the tracks have been replaced with footpaths, or left to nature.
0:27:03 > 0:27:07Much of the landscaping created as the lines criss-crossed the river
0:27:07 > 0:27:10can still be found, if sometimes a little hidden.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13But like many valleys that once reverberated to
0:27:13 > 0:27:15the sounds of steam power,
0:27:15 > 0:27:20the Afan holds mixed emotions for people who remember the railways.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23It ruined this valley when they closed the lines.
0:27:23 > 0:27:28The tourism that this valley could have now, with this line and with
0:27:28 > 0:27:32Afan Argoed, and all the cycle tracks here, it would be unbelievable.
0:27:34 > 0:27:39Richard Burton called this valley Little Switzerland in Wales.
0:27:39 > 0:27:43And, well, they come from all over the world now,
0:27:43 > 0:27:45just to go on the cycle tracks here.
0:28:00 > 0:28:04Every year, thousands of visitors beat Beeching at Llangollen Railway.
0:28:04 > 0:28:06It is as if time stood still,
0:28:06 > 0:28:08as they relive the joys of steam railways
0:28:08 > 0:28:13in the setting of the picturesque Dee Valley.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24Today, there is a new commitment to restore some of Wales'
0:28:24 > 0:28:27historic branch railway lines.
0:28:27 > 0:28:31Steam is now regarded as an important part of the Welsh tourist industry,
0:28:31 > 0:28:34to be preserved and cherished.
0:28:34 > 0:28:39On heritage railways, steam-hauled passenger trains continue to
0:28:39 > 0:28:42attract many visitors to the joys of a bygone age.
0:28:42 > 0:28:46They are a reminder of how much steam power
0:28:46 > 0:28:48lay at the heart of Welsh communities.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:29:00 > 0:29:03E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk