The ‘Preserving our Past, Building Our Future’ Project is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Thanks to National Lottery players, we will be able to meet the challenges of the coming years, by enabling us to engage with new and larger audiences coupled with improved engineering and commercial facilities that will generate income and allow us to train the next generation of experts. There are a number of interlinked elements which form part of the currently approved development plan.
The 75 Appeal was officially launched in March 2024, aiming to raise £500,000 over five years (£100,000 a year) to support this major redevelopment project. You can donate to the project by donating to the 75 Appeal.
We are currently at the Development Stage of the project, which is all the paper work-y behind the scenes stuff. We’ll be providing updates here to show off concepts, different options and the progress of the project as we progress down the line.
In Christmas of 2022, my sister brought an interesting job posting to my attention: The Talyllyn Railway was looking for a Heritage Project Manager to support the recently successful Development Phase Grant Application from the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF). At the time, I was working as a project coordinator for Metrolinx in Toronto, Canada. Metrolinx is a government organization that funds and builds transit across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). My partner and I had been thinking about moving to Wales to be closer to family for quite some time, so I decided to send in my resume and let the railway gods do their work.
Fast forward to May 2023! I am currently sitting in my office at Wharf Station composing this introduction for you all. I am still not sure if this is a dream, but either way I am very happy to be working as The Talyllyn Railway’s Heritage Project Manager.
For the next 18 months, I will be managing the Development Phase of the NLHF Grant, which will involve hiring and coordinating the work of professional consultants to complete a variety of studies and reports to support The Talyllyn’s Delivery Phase Application in 2024. If successful, the Delivery Phase will support the construction and restoration of many Talyllyn Railway facilities, most notably a new purpose-built engineering workshop at Pendre. I am looking forward to meeting all of the dedicated staff and volunteers and to do my part in keeping this wonderful railway steaming ahead far into the future.
To end off, a few things to know about me: I am a Canadian/British citizen with a strong Canadian accent (so don’t be too alarmed if I tell you to ‘have a good day, eh!’); I love folk music and playing guitar, so you may see me performing at one of the many open mic nights in the area; my professional background is in conservation and environmental project management; lastly, I enjoy coffee in the morning and tea in the afternoon.
If you see me around the Railway, please feel free to say hi and have a chat!
