The Four Platforms of Llangower

Llangower today is the site of the Bala Lake Railway's intermediate station and passing loop. However, in the sites 122 year (so far) history as a railway station it has had 4 platforms, on 3 separate sites! To tell the tale of the station we first must tell the tale of the place.

Llangower (Llangywair in the Welsh language) and pronounced Llan - Gower, is an ancient tiny hamlet on the south-eastern side of Llyn Tegid, and just 3 miles South by West from Bala town.

Within a quarter of mile the hamlet (to the north east) lies the Well of Ffynnon Gwyr, which it is claimed was a source of magical waters. The Well was administered by St. Cywair or Gwawr, the mother of Llywarch Hen (whose home was in the neighbouring parish of Llanfor). Many miracles were said to have been performed at the Well including cures for Rickets.

Around the Well grew the hamlet that became Llangower and within the hamlet boundary a fine, stone built church was erected and dedicated to St. Gwyr, or Cywair, whose festival is held on July 11^th. The church is decribed as being in the early style of English architecture, beautifully situated, with the small village around it, on the side of the lake. In the churchyard (which lies beside the railway) is an old yew-tree of remarkable growth.

The parish is in in the union of Bala within the hundred of Penllyn, is 5 miles long and 3 miles wide and encompasses some beautiful countryside including Llangower Forest, which rises from the hamlet up the slopes of the Berwyn range of mountains.

Llangower sits astride the old turnpike road leading from Dinas-Mowddwy to Bala and Corwen and features a fine stone bridge over the Nant Thyd Wen.

The church of St. Gwyr, or Cywair was adnministered by the Bishop of St. Asaph and in 2004 it was announced by The Church in Wales diocese of St Asaph that the parishes of Llanycil with Christ Church Bala, Llangower, and Llanuwchllyn were to amalgamate making the church at Llangower redundant.

The standard gauge railway between Bala and Dolgellau was built by the Bala & Dolgelley Railway Company (which used the English spelling for the latter place), and opened in 1868.

The Bala & Dolgelley Railway Company joined the Corwen & Bala Railway at Bala with the Cambrian Railways at Dolgellau. The line was worked by the Great Western Railway, which absorbed the B&DR in 1877.

Although originally earmarked for dieselisation by the Western Region of British Railways in the early 1960s, the Ruabon to Bala/Barmouth line was eventually included in the infamous Beeching Report in 1963, and thereafter the line was gradually run down. Goods traffic finally ceased running on 1st January 1968, when the Pontcysyllte branch was closed.

At Llangower a small Halt was established, on the small straight between the road over bridge and the Nant Thyd Wen under bridge to serve the hamlet and particularly the church of the saint (and presumably the Well). The halt had no road access and was served by a footpath across the fields to the village.

Llangower Halt was made of an earth bank held by a wooden sleeperwall (with wrought iron supporting frames) and covered with a surface of ash. It featured a corrugated clad, iron framed waiting shelter that contained a simple wooden bench and a nameboard that proudly proclaimed it to be Llangowert Halt.

This platform served the village well until closure (of the standard gauge) to passenger traffic on the 15th of January 1965.

The GWR/BR platform site slowly disappeared as the new narrow-gauge Bala Lake Railway expanded. Starting in 1976 when its waiting shelter went to Bala Pen-y-Bont when the BLR got there. The ash covering the platform was used as infill all over the new railway (mixed with cement this forms a good infill for embankments and car-park surfaces). The wrought iron and other metal supports went to the scrap man for cash and the wooden sleepers went on the bonfire. Today there is little evidence of its existenance.

In 1971, the Bala Lake Railway was created to rebuild a tourist narrow gauge line alongside the lake from Llanuwchllyn to Bala via Llangower.

The head of steel arrived at Llangower (from Llanuwchllyn) on 15th September 1972 when a small platform, with supporting walls partially made from precast concrete sections embedded into the ballast and wooden sleepers and other timbers and a decking of platform edging paver stones recovered from derelict stations, was erected. This platform was sited short of the pedestrian crossing that gave access from the newly created Snowdonia National Park owned car-park to the lake shore.

This platform was the terminus of the line from 1972 to Whitsun 1975 when the line was extended to Pany-yr-Hen-Felin.

In 1979, Llangower was expanded by the installation of a passing loop, inter-locking signals and points, a ground-level Signal Cabin and a second platform (Llangower's third).

The new loop was built the other side (to the east) of the pedestrian crossing and the Signal Cabin was erected on a flat space on the car-park side of the site between the original platform and the new passing loop.

The second (sic) platform was then built on the lakeside embankment alongside the passing loop. All Bala Lake Railway platforms have to be on the lakeside because the passenger carriages only have doors on that side! Due to constraints of the site, the new platform was built using components bought second-hand off BR on the closure and dismantling of Penmaenpool station on the Dolgellau to Morfa Mawdach section of the old GWR/BR standard gauge line.

The new platform was christened Llangower East and the orginal BLR one was called Llangower West to help differentiate the two. At this time the original GWR/BR platform was slowly crumbling away at the other end of the Llangower station site).

Llangower East served the Bala Lake Railway and the visitors to Llangower well until the winter of 2000/2001 when excessive rain caused the lake to once again breach its banks and flood the Llangower peninsula.

This had been happening with increased frequency in the years prior. However, on this occassion the water caused damage to the embankment the line ran on and particularly to Llangower East platform. The resultant damage was such that the platform was too dangerous to be used and plans were put in hand to rebuild Llangower West to replace Llangower East. And for the eventual demolition of Llangower East.

Sticking out of the embankment at the remodelled Llangower station site are some of the precast concrete supports - the only reminders now of Llangollen West.

During the Autumn of 2001 and Spring of 2002, Llangower East and West were demolished and a new, concrete block built, longer Llangower West was erected. The passing loop has been retained along with the Signal Cabin.

Traffic operations now require that the West-East train stops in the platform then after receiving the tablet or token departs forward onto the main Llangower-Bala section while the second East-West train waits in the passing loop.

When the West-East train has departed the East-West train can leave the loop and enter the platform, before continuing onto Llanuwchllyn.

However, the BLR mainly operates a one train service, with the loop locked out - allowing through running via the mainline.

Thanks must go to Geoff Plumb for the photograph of Penmaenpool station being demolished, showing the componenets resused at Llangower. All lovers of steam railways and particularly the Cambrian Coast and Ruabon - Morfa Mawdach line should visit Geoff's excellent Fotopic photo gallery.