Cledrau Coll: Ynys Môn Cledrau Coll

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-Robert Stevenson's majestic crossing

-on the Menai Straits...

-..built originally in 1850 for

-the passage of trains to Holyhead.

-But following the fire in 1970

-the bridge was rebuilt...

-..to carry the A5 roadway

-above the old rail tracks.

-The bridge is crossed

-by a single track today...

-..now that the line from Chester to

-Holyhead is quieter than it was...

-..but the rail service continues.

-We're on Anglesey this week to look

-at another of the island's lines...

-..the rural branch line

-from Gaerwen to Amlwch.

-The trains no longer run

-but the tracks remain in place...

-..making our task so much easier.

-Gwyn, our journey starts here.

-The line to Holyhead is to our left

-but we're on the line to Amlwch.

-I'm looking forward to this journey.

-I'm looking forward to this journey.

-

-This is a line with a future.

-So far, we've followed lost lines

-but today we have sleeping sleepers.

-From Gaerwen the line passes

-through Pentre Berw, Llangefni...

-..Llangwyllog, Llanerchymedd

-and Rhosgoch...

-..before reaching its end in Amlwch.

-Anglesey is often imagined

-to be flat...

-..but much of the line's route had

-to be cut and blasted through rock.

-Cutting and blasting

-continues on Anglesey...

-..but today

-it's because of road improvement.

-Llangefni

-is the line's biggest town.

-It's different from most towns

-we've visited so far...

-..as the station is conveniently

-located in the town centre.

-You could be forgiven for not seeing

-the tracks beneath the grass.

-Many have strong feelings

-that the line owners...

-..have completely

-forgotten about Anglesey.

-I don't think they know

-where Anglesey is.

-They're talking now of upgrading

-the line from Chester to Bangor.

-They've forgotten about Bangor

-to Holyhead - where the line starts.

-That's where transport coming in

-from Ireland picks it up.

-They have little idea of people's

-aspirations for this line...

-..and they are quite insensitive to

-what is going on here on Anglesey.

-I say that quite unequivocally.

-Looking around, it's easy to notice

-the changes to the railway.

-It's rather different

-for the line workers too.

-It's changed a lot in terms

-of the way we go about our work.

-I remember working with the old

-drivers when I was a young guard.

-Those old drivers had worked

-on the steam engines...

-..and they'd look after you

-as though you were their own sons.

-They'd make sure you were okay

-and you got to know their families.

-So there was a real community.

-They were friends you could rely on.

-Today, instead of friends

-you have workmates.

-Everyone's watching their back

-- the whole ethic has changed.

-Much of it has to do with

-privatisation - it's a business now.

-It's not a culture - it's a business

-that has to make a profit.

-There isn't more stress, because

-the work is still enjoyable...

-..but there's

-a business outlook now.

-It's not a railway - it's business,

-which is there to survive.

-It must account for itself.

-So you get on with your work

-and then go home.

-Once we're in Holyhead,

-unless the engine needs fuel...

-..I'll be in the car

-heading home past Rio Tinto.

-Years ago, we'd hang around for

-a cuppa to play cards and to chat.

-Working on the railway is clearly

-something close to your heart...

-..and so is this line - describe the

-appeal of the Bangor-Amlwch line.

-Well, think of towns like Amlwch,

-Llanerchymedd, Llangefni, Gaerwen.

-They've grown into big towns...

-..and most people travel

-to work in Bangor by car.

-Bangor is the main catchment area,

-with Holyhead a major employer too.

-They're building this new road

-at the moment...

-..which will be great

-for the Ireland traffic.

-But local traffic

-increases each year.

-During the Bangor rush hours there

-are tailbacks to cross the bridges.

-Surely, the railway must

-play a part in that somewhere.

-A Bangor service on the hour would

-at least give people a choice...

-..but the only alternative is

-packed buses every thirty minutes.

-I'm sure we could play a bigger part

-than we do at the moment.

-People should remind themselves

-that if this line is taken away...

-..it will never come back because

-the cost will just be prohibitive.

-It's there now and it's important

-not to let it go.

-Owen Parry has fond memories of

-working on the line as a signalman.

-I worked at Llangwyllog

-for ten years...

-..and it was an important station.

-It was the only point on the trans

-Amlwch line where trains crossed.

-Behind me here, you would often

-see freight trains breaking up...

-..because they'd get this

-far pulling too many wagons.

-They'd go on to Llangwyllog

-pulling part of the train...

-..and then come back

-to get the rest.

-It doesn't look too steep.

-Well, they needed plenty of speed

-from Llangefni to get up here.

-You'd get different drivers -

-some were cautious, others less so.

-I remember they had a hymn book

-at Llangwyllog station...

-..for the drivers or the guards.

-If freight trains from Llangefni

-had passengers from Llanerchymedd...

-..they'd pop in to see

-the signalman for a sing-song.

-I remember once they were

-enjoying the singing so much...

-..another train had to wait fifteen

-minutes before it could continue!

-They'd forgotten all about it. There

-was a vibrant culture on the line.

-I then moved from here

-to the main line...

-..where they had Bibles and so on

-in the signal boxes.

-In one signal box, I remember a

-Bible that was heavily annotated...

-..and it was clearly a copy

-that had been vigorously debated.

-Llangwyllog is roughly

-halfway along our journey.

-The station has changed

-considerably over the years.

-Today, the only sound here

-is of the deafening jets overhead...

-..and the magical whistle of the

-steam engine is a distant memory.

-From Llangwyllog the line

-continues towards Llanerchymedd.

-Here we can enjoy Anglesey's

-characteristic open countryside.

-We're approaching the old, small

-and rural station at Llanerchymedd.

-There's talk of how busy

-these stations were...

-..but if they were that busy,

-why close them?

-They were extremely busy at times.

-Naturally, there were other periods

-when it was quieter.

-The site of this old station

-is wonderful and compact...

-..and the bridge

-is still visible today.

-I can well imagine this sleepy town

-in between trains passing through.

-That'll do for me.

-Some of my best friends

-lived in Llanerchymedd...

-..so I used to ride on the train

-from Llangefni to Llanerchymedd.

-I remember a teacher

-who had to come to the station.

-There was no corridor on the train.

-The teacher made sure the boys and

-girls were segregated on the train.

-Once past the first stop

-at Llangwyllog, it was all change!

-Tell us about you stealing coal.

-That's a secret

-but seeing as you asked nicely.

-As children, we grew up on

-the Pencraig estate in Llangefni.

-Four children - and my father

-only brought home a small wage.

-In winter, we'd be out collecting

-whatever we could for the fire...

-..and things got really hard once

-when money was short.

-So we went looking along the line...

-..and there was a coal yard a few

-miles up the line at Pentre Berw.

-There was plenty of steam coal

-up there.

-So we borrowed some.

-We didn't steal it - we borrowed it!

-As with most railway lines

-in Wales...

-..initially there was a shortage

-of money to build this line.

-Spending was limited to expansion

-in line with the budget.

-The stretch from Gaerwen to the

-first wooden station in Llangefni...

-..opened in 1865 as a result.

-The stretch from Llanerchymedd

-to Llangwyllog opened in 1866...

-..and work on the line

-was completed by 1867.

-The principal aim was to reach as

-far as the Parys Mountain mineworks.

-There hasn't been a train

-near this line in years.

-Railtrack, the owners, insisted

-that we wore these orange jackets.

-Just in case.

-Rhosgoch station, like many other

-rural stations around Wales...

-..has been adapted

-into a dwelling.

-Many of them continue to evoke the

-character and feel of the original.

-The Amlwch line wasn't

-the only branch line on Anglesey.

-Until the '50s a line ran from

-Pentre Berw to Llanbedr Goch...

-..and to Traeth Coch, although it

-had long closed as a passenger line.

-For once, Dr Beeching

-had nothing to do with it.

-Former station master Gwilym Owen

-recalls working on the line.

-It was the line from Pentre Berw

-as far as Benllech, or Traeth Coch.

-It actually stopped in a field

-and didn't quite reach Benllech.

-They used to say that London

-North Western who built the line...

-..ran out of money and had to end

-the line in that field.

-Today, you can still see

-the gate to the old station.

-When did the line close?

-It closed to passengers

-in September 1930...

-..and later closed

-to freight in 1950.

-Tell us about

-the appeal of the line.

-You had a great deal of visitors

-using the line to go to Benllech...

-..and to Pentraeth as well.

-The train also carried freight to

-the little station at Traeth Coch...

-..which was a busy little station

-with a crane to lift heavy goods.

-The visitors continue to come...

-..some of whom unwittingly settle

-down on the site of the old line.

-Back on the line to Amlwch,

-we're nearly at our journey's end.

-Waiting for us at the site

-of the old Amlwch station...

-..were Richard and Olwen Jones.

-They were ready to reminisce

-about the old railway.

-She heard she'd passed

-the 'scholarship'.

-How did you get the news?

-Well, I'm indebted

-to the old railway to be honest.

-The scholarship results reached

-Llangefni a day before us in Amlwch.

-My friends didn't like it that I got

-the list before them...

-..because I lived close

-to the second bridge, Pont Joseff.

-The back garden looked out

-onto the line.

-The line ran

-through the garden really!

-The train passengers

-threw the results into the garden...

-..and that's how she found out

-she was going to the county school.

-We were waiting for the train

-to come at ten to five.

-Mam was on one side of the garden,

-me on the other, waiting anxiously.

-We had been waiting

-a long time for it.

-The train finally appeared with

-children hanging out of the windows.

-They threw the results envelopes

-out to all of us who were waiting.

-So a copy landed in our garden...

-..but who was going to

-open the envelope - Mam or me?

-We decided that Mam should do it.

-So she did, then turned to me

-and said, "You've done alright".

-That's all she said

-until we got to the house...

-..where she told my father who said

-I'd done better than he'd expected!

-The passenger service ceased

-in December 1964.

-But the chemicals industry

-established in Amlwch...

-..kept the line open

-for freight transport.

-The transport

-was added to in 1974...

-..with the opening of the oil line

-from the port to Cheshire.

-In the same year, Anglesey council

-investigated the possibility...

-..of reopening the line

-for passengers.

-How did Anglesey residents respond

-when the line closed in the '60s?

-There was a lukewarm response.

-So many railway lines

-were closing at that time...

-..and people felt quite helpless.

-I don't recall much opposition.

-I was in college in Bangor

-at the time...

-..and the most you'd hear was people

-expressing their disappointment.

-But few people felt

-they could oppose it.

-Does this line have a future?

-Does this line have a future?

-

-I'm pleased to say it has.

-I think there's a general consensus

-that it will reopen.

-The sooner the better, to inject

-money back into the economy...

-..especially in Llangefni at first,

-where we will be based.

-Then, over time, we hope to work our

-way to Llanerchymedd and to Amlwch.

-It will be a tourist attraction

-and they will come in droves...

-..if the evidence of other

-branch lines is anything to go by.

-The society clearly

-has plenty of work ahead...

-..and there are plenty of people

-enthusiastic about the project.

-But what makes it so unique?

-Its location on an island

-makes it unique for me.

-There's no other line like it.

-It's also standard gauge whereas

-other lines are often smaller.

-There's nothing like this

-in Ireland...

-..and we have existing links

-to connect with this line.

-The line runs through a part of

-Anglesey where there are no roads.

-As someone once said, it runs

-through uncontaminated land.

-With the clear air of Amlwch we're

-literally at the end of the line.

-Few lines that have closed

-can boast a track as good as this.

-It's been an interesting line

-to walk along and learn its history.

-I'm sure we both hope

-that when we next come here...

-..we'll be riding the line

-on board the train.

-S4C subtitles by

-Testun Cyf