GROUP OR TRUST - WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
There is a measure of understandable confusion in the minds of many regarding the Glyn Valley Tramway Group and another organisation calling itself the Glyn Valley Tramway Trust. The situation has not been helped by the Trust claiming a number of the Group’s objectives as its own. You may therefore find it useful to have clarified the many differences between the two organisations, as they are very definitely not the same and do not have the same objectives. We hope you will find the following explanation helpful.
There’s been a Tramway Group around for a long time. Which one is it?
The Glyn Valley Tramway Group has been in existence for well over 30 years, while the new GVT Trust has existed for just over a year. The Trust is a breakaway organisation from the Group that no longer supports the Group’s aims and ideals. An attempt was made by the Trust in February 2008 to take control of the Group’s assets and membership, but the attempt was successfully blocked. The two organisations are now entirely separate and are pursuing entirely different objectives.
So, what are the GVT Group’s objectives?
The Glyn Valley Tramway Group is, and always has been, a heritage-based conservation organisation with clear educational and interpretive aims. Initially, the aim was simply to ensure that the Glyn Valley Tramway was not forgotten. That has now changed and developed considerably. In the intervening years, the Group has acquired various former Tramway properties including the former Waiting Room at Pontfadog and a sizeable tract of land at Glyn Ceiriog, the former Coal Wharf. Most recently, the Group has secured from Wrexham Borough Council a lease over the former Locomotive Shed and Yard at Glyn Ceiriog on which work has already started to restore and convert to a Tramway & Industrial Heritage Centre for the Ceiriog Valley. These properties are held for the Group by The Glyn Valley Tramway Company Ltd, a registered company that is wholly-owned by the Group.
The Group also holds in its care many historic artefacts from the Tramway, some of which are on show at two locations in the Valley, and has a growing archive of Tramway material including recordings from an earlier Oral History project featuring former employees of the Tramway.
What is the difference between the GVT Group and the GVT Trust?
It is important to appreciate that the Glyn Valley Tramway Group is the only organisation dedicated to conserving the true heritage of the Glyn Valley Tramway. Its objectives embrace not only the Tramway itself, but also the wider Industrial Heritage of the Ceiriog Valley. The Group has built up a substantial membership throughout the UK and abroad and enjoys widespread support within the Ceiriog Valley and among the local residents of Glyn in particular.
By contrast, the Trust’s aim is believed to be to build a basic tourist railway from Chirk to a point some one-and-a-half miles up the Valley, constructed to a non-authentic gauge of 2ft 6in, with the intention of operating trains using a steam and a diesel locomotive hauling hired vehicles, none of which will have any relevance to the GVT.
The President of the Glyn Valley Tramway Group is His Honour Geoffrey Kilfoil, a local historian and prominent resident of the Valley who is also President of the Ceiriog Memorial Institute. Our Vice President is Gwilym Hughes, a retired solicitor whose grandfather was a Driver on the GVT. Our Archivist is the noted local writer and historian, John Milner, whose books on the Tramway and local Industries are definitive.
The Group has a worldwide membership of over 200 supporters and is a full member of the Heritage Railways Association, the Association of Independent Museums, the Chirk & Ceiriog Valley Partnership and an Affiliate Member of the Transport Trust. By contrast, the Trust’s membership base is uncertain and, so far as is known, is not significant in national terms.
What has the GVT Group done towards delivering its Aims?
The Glyn Valley Tramway Group commissioned from consultants, Capita Symonds, a detailed Scoping Study as the basis for our future development strategy. [NB: We are aware that the Trust has publicly claimed this Scoping Study as its own initiative – that is simply not the case.] The Study was presented to Group members in 2006 and was unanimously endorsed as a firm way forward. Thus, the Group’s priorities can be summarised as:
· as a first priority, to restore and convert the old Tramway Locomotive Shed at Glyn Ceiriog as a comprehensive Heritage & Interpretation Centre for the Ceiriog Valley;
· to create a Tramway & Industrial Heritage Trail down the Valley, designed to highlight and interpret the tangible evidence which remains of the old Tramway and of the industries that it served.
· in the medium term, to create an authentic and historically accurate operational replication of part of the old Glyn Valley Tramway on the Loco shed and Coal Wharf sites at Glyn, with all trackwork to the authentic and unique 2ft 4½in gauge. The Group already has the first of a range of accurate replica GVT vehicles - a slate wagon - and we intend to commission further replica passenger and freight vehicles, together with a replica steam tram locomotive.
· in parallel with the foregoing, to continue with research into the Tramway, publication of information and the development of an educational resource.
The Group is currently working on a full Business Plan for its Heritage & Interpretation Centre together with detailed plans and costings, as a basis for securing grant funding to underwrite the costs involved. Preparatory restoration work is also actively in hand on the Locomotive Shed building – the largest of the former Tramway structures to survive.
The Group is prepared to work alongside the new Trust. The Group has always been – and continues to be - the only organisation that is preserving the true heritage of the Glyn Valley Tramway, and already has a substantial track record of achievement.
The Group welcomes new members who support its aims and wish to help forward the conservation work. For Membership details and an application form, CLICK HERE.
