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A small group of four people made good progress with the strimming in ideal weather conditions.

First all the gear was rounding up and loaded into the van. As planned after a fuel sortie, we made a start at Rhydyronen rotating around the footprint of the road bridge NW Quadrant, SW Quadrant then the NE and SE Quadrants. We even found time for a quick mug of tea kindly provided by a local volunteer.

Strimming at Rhydyronen.
Strimming at Rhydyronen. Photo by Keith Theobald.

 

The next site to receive our attention was Abergynolwyn, the car park was not too full so we tackled the larger gaps between the cars, followed by the drive & entrance and the play area. We managed to complete the play area just in time for a group of children off one of the trains to have a picnic and a good time. We enjoyed our own well earned lunch before we used the leaf blower to tidy the drive.

Brynglas beckoned so we retraced our steps down the valley and set to and cut the car park area and the bank before moving to the north side of the land. In the memorial garden an informal circular path was cut rather than making a complete clean sweep of the whole area. 

Strimming at the Brynglas Memorial Garden.
Strimming at the Brynglas Memorial Garden. Photo by Keith Theobald.

 

Once the remaining grass was strimmed we returned to Rhydyronen to cut the hedges in the entrance and drive. We also planned to return the platform benches to their correct locations, we were pleasantly surprised to find the station ghost had already done it for us. Thanks.

Rhydyronen driveway strimmed.
Rhydyronen driveway strimmed. Photo by Keith Theobald.

 

Finally when all the gear was cleaned and put away and we returned home for a cuppa.

It really would be good to see some more new faces on the gang to help spread the load. The strimming of stations and loops is not safety critical work however it does improve the visitor experience for our passengers. Getting the weather right is never easy so advance notice of a strimming session will always be short.

Hopefully we can manage one more cut this year to make things easier at the start of 2020.

Many thanks to all those that responded to my request for assistance.

Report by Keith Theobald.

Strimming gang at Rhydyronen watching the train go by.
Strimming gang at Rhydyronen watching the train go by. Photo by Karen Willans