Souvenirs of Blaenau Ffestiniog

Tens of thousands of people will visit Blaenau this year and I’m confident that they will be amazed at what they see.  Slate sculptures and poetry reconnecting the town centre with its industrial heritage; dramatic and stylish. But there’s even more beyond to be discovered. Apart from hiring a local guide you may like to consider two classic books.

The first is titled ‘Worktown: The Drawings of Falcon Hildred’ and provides a designer’s perspective on the various buildings around the town. Falcon states ‘I believe that Blaenau Ffestiniog and its landscape are the best and most complete surviving industrial landscape in Britain’.

Another book I would recommend is simply titled ‘Blaenau Ffestiniog’. Fantastic photos by landscape photographer Jeremy Moore and words by Gwyn Thomas, the one time national poet of Wales, whose poetry is in the sculptures, on the pavement and either side of the slate river. 

You could probably buy both books and get free supersaver delivery from an online retailer but, for the authentic experience, why not go to Siop Yr Hen Bost.  The bookshop is about a 3 minute walk from the station (south) along the main street and you’ll find lots of other treasure inside. 

Worktown – The Drawings of Falcon Hildred

I’m biased: I like Falcon, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting him in his home, of witnessing his uncluttered way of life and hearing him describe his hopes and disappointments. I also live next to Blaenau Ffestiniog, so any comments about his book (written by Peter Wakelin) are not wholly objective.

The book contains 200 of Falcon’s drawings, now in the hands of public bodies for posterity, and the bulk of them record the industrial heritage of Blaenau Ffestiniog, Falcon’s home for over forty years. 

In the course of the book I learnt a lot about his life: how he got the impressive name of Falcon; how he came to move from Grimsby to Coventry, to London and eventually to Blaenau Ffestiniog; his bold decision to give up job security to follow his calling. I loved the drawing he sent to his mother depicting the layout of his bedsit in Putney during the times when he designed, amongst other things, first class bars and cabins for cruise liners.

Within the book there are many favourite drawings for me including the series depicting Tŷ Uncorn, the one chimney house with four tiny cottages sharing a central chimney. Was this a pioneering attempt at central heating? I like knowing what it looks like inside as I walk past it near the police station.

The final chapter is written by Falcon and titled ‘My Working Process’. On the last page he talks about the drawings made in other industrial towns in which the buildings have long since been demolished or renovated. ....’After half a century of recording, I believe that Blaenau Ffestiniog and its landscape are the best and most complete surviving industrial landscape in Britain’ .... ‘I feel we should save one example of a nineteenth-century industrial town as a complete cultural and historic entity. So my final message is: if you like my pictures, then please take care of the subject that inspired them.’  

And so we should. As for the book, not only do I recommend it, I suggest you get three copies. One for cutting out and framing images on left hand pages, another for the right hand pages and the third for a good read.

Ffestiniog on the tube map

Before

An old London underground railway carriage, built in 1892, was in use as a garden shed until recently renovated at the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railway’s workshops in Porthmadog. Spick and span after 15 months TLC, and twelve coats of varnish, the carriage will undergo trials at Loughborough before returning to London. In January 2013 it / she will be pulled by Metropolitan Railway steam locomotive No. 1 on a journey through the old Metropolitan Line tunnels of Paddington, Euston, King's Cross and Farringdon to Moorgate to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the world's first underground railway.

After

Princess dragged out of Porthmadog pub

Don’t worry, it’s not Kate Middleton on a night out with the lads, but the world’s oldest, narrow gauge steam engine. She was delivered to the Ffestiniog Railway in 1863 and was retired from service in 1946 as the last working loco when the railway ran out of steam. For some years she sat on a plinth at Blaeanu Ffestiniog, a symbol of the epic reconstruction of the line. In the last 31 years she has been in the museum and latterly the expanded bar at harbour station.

On 10^th November she was dragged out of her corner, having first been jacked up and then jacked across on a pair of metal sheets lubricated with Fairy Liquid. Shifting ten tonnes of loco within the confines of a pub is no easy task – the first ten metres took about three hours. With the help of a tractor with forklift she was eventually dumped onto the railway track and towed across The Cob for a bit of restoration.

Next year she will travel by road to Paddington where she will be on display for the six weeks beginning St David’s Day (1^st March). Thereafter she has several other ambassadorial appearances to make including a beer festival at Olympia in conjunction with The Purple Moose Brewery. 

This is how she was dragged out and her corner in the pub taken by a steam (horse drawn) fire engine.

River of Slate

Howard Bowcott invited me to his workshop to see the final touches to the giant jigsaw, the River of Slate. River  - because that’s how all the sediment gets washed down to create the mudstone which morphs into slate. River - because the Dwyryd was where the slate used to be boated out to the waiting ships.

This stunning work will soon be in the centre of town for people to walk on. What sacrilege! I hope they take off their shoes.

Here’s Howard busy with the slate:

Princess dragged out of Porthmadog pub

The world’s first narrow gauge steam engine Princess is to be pulled out of the pub at Porthmadog’s harbour station and taken to the workshops for a 150 year service. In the new year she will travel to Paddington where she will be on display for 6 weeks from St David’s Day. The back wall of the pub will be removed on Saturday 10^th November but customers have been reassured it will be back to normal by 1pm with a replacement to look at while they drink their beer – a steam powered, horse drawn fire engine from Anglesey.

Pengwern Food, Casque Mark and Events

Lots of changes at Y Pengwern. The kitchens are now open serving great food at the weekends. Details of opening times and menus can be found on the Pengwern website. Bookings are now being taken for Christmas lunches. Groups and societies have been booking the ‘committee room’ for small meetings with refreshments. The Function Room is open for larger events and between this and the Dining Room the kitchen can cater for up to 80 people.

I always thought the bar was good but there’s now an independent hallmark of goodness – the Casque Mark was recently awarded by one of the 45 assessors who called in unannounced and sampled the various cask beers for temperature, aroma, appearance and taste. It’s one thing getting good beer from the brewery but the final step of getting it to the customers’ lips is equally important  and this is what the Casque Mark recognises. Da iawn! 

There has been a steady stream of events organised by Y Pengwern since it re-opened and one of those was last weekend’s nature walk led by Twm Elias from the pub to the Plas (Tan y Bwlch). Next events are Halloween and Fireworks. Publicising a programme of events can be a challenge but to make things easier we have installed an events listing page on the pub’s website. Organisers of events are going to be trained to use this system and pretty soon there will be a long list of things to choose from and put into your diary. Here is the events page.

Onwards and upwards.