ON THURSDAY (May) 5, Traws Link Cymru (TLC), the group campaigning to reopen the Carmarthen to Aberystwyth railway line, chartered a plane to film the entire length of the closed line.
Fly Wales, based at Haverfordwest, supplied a light aircraft, Tony Drane, a professional cameraman living near Lampeter, did the filming, and Nigel Bird, Vice Chair of TLC joined him in the plane to advise on locations.
Although it is over 50 years since regular passenger trains travelled along this scenic route, when seen from the air it is clear that a very high proportion of the 56mile trackbed is still unaffected by development and would be available for track re-laying in the near future.
Almost three hours of footage was recorded from three cameras mounted on the plane. When edited this will provide a valuable record of the line. DVD copies of the edited film will be available for sale later in the year.
A Scoping Study into the reopening of the line was completed in December 2015 and TLC are now pressing the Welsh Government to undertake a full Feasibility Study. The film will form a valuable additional source of information once the Feasibility Study is underway.
Nigel Bird told The Herald: “We are very grateful for the financial support of Aberystwyth Town Council who have just announced that they have given us a £2,500 grant which has paid for the recently completed ‘Flying the Line’ project.
“This will enable us to cover the flight and editing costs as well as DVD production and marketing etc. Great to see such foresight by the council, they can clearly see the huge advantages to Aberystwyth and Ceredigion when this line reopens.”
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