On Sunday 29th September the Gwili Railway held their Anything Goes gala, this was the first gala the railway had done for a number of years and a small group fancied having a go at organising one. It was planned to aim it not only at the enthusiast market but also the families who are down in South Wales on holiday, the challenge of organising the event started back in April!
The event was organised by a small group of volunteers from the railway with help from Rowan Jackson of UK Heritage Hub to which we are indebted for all his help, not only with the operational side of planning the event but also for all the advertising he did. It is hoped that this gala, which was run in conjunction with UKHH, will be the beginning of a long lasting relationship between the Hub & Railway.
As the gala drew closer lots of emails seemed to be flying between Rowan and myself with the final adjustments and the late loco change for the event due to Welsh Guardsman still being overhauled at the Llangollen Railway and therefore not ready in time for the event.
The gala prep started on the Friday with the shunt to make up the Local goods train for the event which although only small involved a fair bit of shunting as I’d chosen some wagons at the back of the sidings, at the time I didn’t know this until I arrived at the railway on the Friday night to be greeted by a very tired shunter!
The day before the gala was just as tiring, the cleaning gang set to with haste on Jennifer to make sure it was looking spotless for the event and prep it ready for the big day which was also the loco’s last running day at the Gwili, before leaving for another adventure somewhere else.
The Sunday morning was very atmospheric, especially at 0600! Low mist flowing up the valley as the locos were prepped for the days antics; I was rostered on Jennifer which was renamed for the event in memory of one of the railways founder members. Come half 8 Haulwen moved off shed to collect the coaches for the first passenger train of the day at 0930, with many volunteers watching on, I don’t think I’ve ever seen as many volunteers there as on the Sunday! We weren’t off shed until later so I took advantage and want for a wander to talk to the passengers to wish them a good day, one gentleman had driven down from Dudley to visit the railway especially, after seeing it advertised on the UKHH blog.
As the first train left it was glorious blue sky and smiles on everybody’s faces, the weather stayed perfect all day and the crowds came pouring in, and some taking advantage of the Driver for a Fiver at Bronwydd Arms whilst waiting for the next train. All the trains ran smoothly all day, my personal highlight was the two double headed runs at the end of the day with Haulwen and Jennifer. The noise of Haulwen and Jennifer echoing up and down the valley on the last run was phenomenal; all that could be seen as I looked down the train was heads and cameras out of windows.
The whole event ran smoothly, huge thanks must go to all the crews and staff who helped on the day as well as the planning team for coming up with a superb event.
I would like to say a thank you to those of you who attended the gala and hope that you enjoyed yourselves. Keep your eyes peeled for an event next year as, again, UKHH will be supporting the event and be the first ones to post any information!
Here’s to next year!
James Rodgers, Gwili Gala Organising Team
Loco Yard 