News from the Bala Lake Railway
What a month! As the pandemic and ensuing restrictions have put a monumental spanner in the workings of most things, the BLR is proud to state that for the month of August, passenger revenues were less than 10% down on August last year! Ironically, the pandemic did actually help too…
Who would have thought it? After a tentative start on the 9th July (of which more later), passenger numbers for the first operational month since the lock-down began have proved to be distinctly healthy and, in effect, by the last week not far off those of July five years ago!…
The news for June falls neatly into two categories, namely The BLR Virtual Gala and the imminence of services restarting after our enforced pandemic break. The Virtual Gala was an unequivocal success and huge thanks should go to all who submitted film clips and information plus the Demon Trio of…
We are pleased to announce that we will be re-opening on Thursday 9th July. We have made several modifications to the way we operate so that we can keep you, our staff, and volunteers safe. These include provision for social distancing, hand sanitising and enhanced cleaning of our trains and…
NEWS RELEASE For immediate release The Bala Lake Railway has received £40,000 National Lottery support to help address the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on heritage The Bala Lake Railway has received £40,000 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to assist with essential costs during this unprecedented time. Since the…
Having experienced the longest spell of warm and dry spring weather on record, plus a cruelly-timed and debilitating virus to shut the country down, you might imagine that frustration would be to the fore, but those within the BLR are always thinking of ingenious ideas, as you will read later.…
Some might expect a blank page after the heading this month but since the beginning of the nationwide Coronavirus lockdown, BLR volunteers and members have become remarkably active. The first inkling of this was the plethora of photos appearing on the BLR Volunteers Facebook page which reminisced about wonderful times…
No more needs to be added here about the critical situation in which these islands of ours find themselves and everyone, barring the sadly inevitable idiot contingent, knows what is required of them, thus with courage, tenacity and common sense, we will win. The Bala Lake Railway, with the support…
“February is always a dead month”. So it was blandly asserted recently, which prompted the reply, “Piffle”, (or a slightly more forthright and contemporary choice), as the following will attest. Amidst of a lot of activity during the month, some of it planned and other parts not, as we will…
The first working weekend of the year took place over the weekend of the 18th/19th and was well attended. Perennial BLR stalwart, Bob Greenhalgh, takes up the story. The first working weekend of the year was a bit chilly, so the first job of the day was to defrost and…
