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DVD, VIDEO AND BOOK REVIEW PAGE
THIS PAGE CONTAINS MY PERSONAL VIEWS
AND COMMENTS ON DVD, VIDEO AND BOOKS
THAT INCLUDE LOCAL RAILWAY INTEREST.
This new "double programme" DVD
provides a look at Llandudno Junction station
and the three mile long Llandudno branch. The DVD recalls the stations and
branch
past history and visits three signal boxes on the line, which I found
fascinating.
I also found the now and then shots very evocative.
In part two of the programme there is a
visit to Llangollen Railway, for a look and salute
at diesel preservation - a great archive of modern image- with past gala
events
and locomotives!
This hour long programme combines the best
modern image action on the North Wales Coast main line , and on one of only two
branch lines that remain operational. With some nice
nostalgic recollections, it's a real contrast to the preserved motive power
at the Llangollen Railway.
This amazing value for money "double
bill" DVD is produced by DATON VIDEO
and is available by mail order only for £10.00 (including postage) from:
SSV / Daton Video
1 Maes Owen
Bodelwydden
Rhyl
LL18 5TN
Cheques made payable to:
D.Hunter-SSV
allow 7 working days for UK delivery.
I found the DVD provided a great
insight into the areas railway past
and present. I think the price is a real bargain and I can recommend this
product wholeheartedly.
I include below the narrator, Dave Hunter's
reasons for compiling the DVD,
as I think it gives an insight into why it has been such a success.
The
idea for this informal look at one of North Wales most important stations
came about after a happy few hours pondering over some archive photos
given to me by a rail enthusiast friend, and after spending several hours
on
the platform at Llandudno Junction, where memories of my childhood
holidays
in North Wales all came flooding back. I recalled with affection, times when my
eager
eyes scoured the shed site - the obligatory Ian Allen book clasped in my hand!
I also recalled the many trips on the now infamous "Welsh Dragon"
.....
Mother ,Father and I travelled from Rhyl to Llandudno on the "shuttle
service"
at least twice on every visit to the area.... wonderful times !
In the programme we
recall a little of the coastal lines past,
most of the branch lines have long gone, only the Llandudno branch
and the Conwy Valley branch survive today.
We spend some time
remembering better days on the Llandudno branch
and include some "then and now" reflections.
There's a great variety
of stock and liveries to be seen on the branch
and on the main line, and we call in briefly to the three signal boxes
at Llandudno Junction, Deganwy and Llandudno.
Photographs are included from the Jim Fenton archive and also from
my late friend Granville Spencer - although the actual names of
photographers in a few cases, despite my enquiries remain unknown....
..........Dave Hunter...........
I think it's obvious why Dave has made such
a success of this DVD as he
holds so much "feel" for the areas past. If you are interested in
the
railways in our area this DVD should be in your collection. (Geoff Poole)
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Derek Williams has now published his eagerly awaited book
dedicated to the men of 6G.
The book is titled:
The men of 7A and 6G loco shed
Llandudno Junction 1920s till 1966.
Gone but not forgotten.
Derek has written this book with a great
pride and feeling for his fellow workers
at the unique steam locomotive depot that boasts a website dedicated to it plus
a road in it's memory named Ffordd 6G and now a book. Derek worked in many areas
of the depot and knew all of the men who worked there and consequently this made
it a very emotional experience for him
having to recall these memories especially when he realized that many of the men
he was writing about were no longer with us. This fascinating insight into this
special depot is written with such warmth by Derek and makes the book a very
special work for anyone with an interest in local railway history. The book is
packed with stories by Derek and other workers plus hundreds of photographs some
never published before making this book tremendous value for money.
It is published by Gwasg Carreg Gwalch,
6 lard Yr Orsaf, Llanrwst, Gwynedd.
PHONE: 01492 642031.
The book is on sale at most local book
sellers at £9.00.
Signed copies can also be obtained from the author
Derek Williams on 01492 572217
at £9.00 plus £2.00 P&P.
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A VHS video by Stirling Video titled Main Line Steam Routes,
Steam in the 1960s Volume two. filmed by Richard J Willis
originated on 16mm colour film. Running time 50 minutes.This video is very professionally produced with plenty of nostalgia showing various steam routes on the Southern , Great Western and London Midland regions, with many steam engines on their everyday workings.
Local interest starts at Chester. We are now firmly in London Midland country. This was the start of the principle branch of the West Coast Main Line. The Chester and Holyhead Railway was fully opened by 1850 and formed a major artery for Anglo-Irish traffic, particularly the Irish Mail.
The video proceeds to Holyhead station with it's unique layout - the up and down platforms being separated by the harbour used by Irish ferries. The berthing of such a ferry holds your attention as you move with the passengers to the railway station, noting the "London-Holyhead" and "Irish Mail" carriage boards borne by
immaculate maroon stock.The Chester and Holyhead possessed amongst it's many assets a station with the longest name in the country, commonly abbreviated by the railway "Llanfair P.G."
The video shows the incredible station name-board as a Black Five
45307 pulls into the station.The castellated portals of Robert Stephenson's Conway tubular bridge
are seen to effect as we watch the passage
of two Black Fives from below,
and after an energetic
climb, high up from the castle battlements.Stanier Class 3, 2-6-2 Ts were rarely captured on film and we have to move back
to the 1950s to catch 40133 running along the banks of the River Conway on it's way from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Llandudno Junction.
Llandudno itself was, as we know, served by a short branch ending in a characteristic LNWR terminus. Our visit coincides with a "grimy" Britannia 70051 "Firth of Forth" backing empty coaches out after her arrival from Crewe.Back on the main line between Colwyn Bay and Llandudno Junction,
Black Five 45380 races by before we move to a vantage point
above the line at Colwyn Bay.Once relocated we watch a Stanier 8F slogging uphill towards
Llysfaen with a heavy freight.Although the local shots are relatively short on this video it is still a very interesting piece of nostalgia that sadly is very rare. Although we have many stills of our area to view,
film of working steam is very much in short supply. For this reason I feel that this video
even at the published price of £22.95 is still a worthwhile acquisition.**********************************************************************************************************
A very professionally produced DVD from Daton Video.
Prepare yourself for some memorable steam
action on the superb Llangollen Railway.
The ex Dee Valley route is today the only standard gauge preserved line in North
Wales,
and what a superb line it is!
Once running East to West across North Wales and 54 miles long, it was
a main "secondary route" stretching from Ruabon to Barmouth
Junction.
Today the reopened seven mile length is home to a fabulous fleet
of steam and diesel locomotives.
This programme is a unique archive of steam power seen on the line
over many years of preservation.
The line provides many locations for superb photographic vantage points
mostly accessible to the general public.
This DVD gives a comprehensive guide to the railway and shows many
preserved steam engines at work on the spectacular line and is highly
recommended.
The DVD is available by Mail Order only at
£10.00 including P&P, from:
SSV / Daton Video
1 Maes Owen
Bodelwydden
Rhyl
LL18 5TN
Cheques made payable to:
D.Hunter-SSV
allow 7 working days for UK delivery.
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North Wales Steam (1927-1968) by E.N.Kneale.
North Wales Steam Volume Two. by E.N.Kneale.
The two books by Norman Kneale are a superb
photographic record
of the railways of North Wales.
Norman has provided many photo's for this website but in the pages of these
two books are many photographs of our region by himself and other
photographers including H.A.Coulter, Harry Rodgers Jones and Norman's friend
and colleague B.A.Wynne.
The intention of these two volumes is to
portray, in a pictorial manner
the atmosphere and character of this main line in North Wales, and some
of it's branches during the golden days of steam.
The period covered is from the late twenties
to what is now generally considered
the premature demise of the steam engine in the late sixties.
Few of us will deny the dignity of the most
human-like of machines, whether it be a
humble L&Y 0-6-0 coming to rest on Rhyl shed after a days work, or the
stirring sight of a "Scot" leaning to the curve as it passes through
the arch of the castle walls at Conway heading an up "Irish Mail".
All these once familiar sights, so much taken for granted, are alas no longer with us.
Today the Journey between Chester and
Holyhead is so much less interesting
since the disappearance of the steam engine, which to sympathetic eyes
seemed to enhance the natural beauty of the sea coast
mountains and valleys
Norman's sincere hope is that those who turn the pages of his books will
pleasurably recall memories of a more colourful and less hurried era.
The two books are packed with superb memories of when steam ruled the lines.
NORTH WALES STEAM 1927-1968 £12.95
NORTH WALES STEAM Volume Two. £ 12.95
Published by:
Oxford Publishing Company
Link House, West Street, Poole, Dorset.
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