This talk will describe the origins of the railway illustrated by rare photos of the line between Shrewsbury and Swansea going back over the years.

Speaker biography

Tony was born in Buckinghamshire in 1950, where his parents worked on a farm.  The family moved to Wales in 1955 to a dairy farm outside Lampeter.

He was educated in Aberystwyth, St Padarn’s, Abergavenny, Llanarth Court, and Hereford, Belmont Abbey and studied Chemical Engineering at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.
On returning to Wales in 1972, Tony worked for 4 years in a research capacity in Manordeilo and then in sales and administration for 6 years for the Howells Group of Garages in Carmarthen, Llanelli and Llandeilo. He worked for 5 years in an agricultural dealership, Ieuan Evans & Son and then back to the motor trade for a further 11 years, Meusydd Garage Ltd. He hase been working for the Welsh Government (or its predecessors) since January 1999 as a Field Officer with the Rural Inspectorate Wales. He took partial retirement in 2011, reducing to 4 days per week; then in 2019 down to 3 days per week.

Tony has always been interested in railways: He is a shareholder in the Gwili Railway and was a founder member of the Heart of Wales Line Travellers’ Association and is a member of the Rhondda Tunnel Society and Cambrian Heritage Railways.

He has a model railway layout in the attic at home.  He is also a volunteer with 4×4 Response, South & West Wales.  He is proud to be a holder of a bus pass and a Senior Railcard!!!

More Meetings ...