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Bishop's Visit to Talyllyn Railway
The Rt. Rev. Antony Crockett, Bishop of Bangor, visited the Talyllyn Railway on 4th April. The link between the Church and railways is famous, the late Talyllyn Society Vice-president, the Rev. Wilbert Awdry declaring "both church and railways believe that they have the best way to get people to their destination!"
It was Bishop Anthony's first visit to the Talyllyn and, for the occasion, virtually all the volunteers on duty held roles in their own churches. The first train of the day saw Bishop Anthony on the footplate of locomotive No. 3 "Sir Haydn", which was driven by organ scholar Jonathan Mann, and the guard of the train was the Rev. Nigel Adams.
Following luncheon in the new café at Wharf Station, Bishop Anthony traveled on the other train in use on the day. The locomotive was No 4 "Edward Thomas", who was himself a noted churchman in his day, and the train was driven by Rev. Malcolm Brown, with the Rev. Christopher White as the guard. Stationmaster at Abergynolwyn was Rev. Celia Adams, and Parish Church treasurer, Roger Whitehouse, was duty controller for the day.
During the layover at Abergynolwyn, Bishop Anthony mingled with the crowd as a member of the train crew, and a comment on the customary passenger questionnaire was that the passengers thoroughly enjoyed their conversations with the Bishop. Bishop Anthony himself remarked that he could see why so many people volunteer on the railway, as the camaraderie and friendship that exists are quite extraordinary.
Bishop Anthony took a reluctant farewell at the end of his very enjoyable visit, having further cemented the relationship between railway and Church, and he is now a paid up member of the Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society.