Historic railways named best attraction in Wales as £5m revamp is completed
Hugely popular and historic railways in North Wales have been honoured by tourism bosses. The Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways (FFWHR) have recently been awarded for "Best Attraction" in Wales for 2025 by Visit Wales.
The Railway is also celebrating the completion of a £5m project thanks to funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Building on the inscription of The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales World Heritage Site, of which the railway is part, the Heritage Fund project set out to refresh this anchor attraction in North Wales, which celebrates its 70th anniversary this summer. Join the North Wales Live Whatsapp community now
The project included major works to revive the historic buildings at the railways works at Boston Lodge. These are the oldest railway works in the world still fulfilling their original function and have built locomotives in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.
A multi-faceted project, the Heritage Fund support enabled the railway to completely refresh the way it is interpreted for the 200,000 visitors that come in to contact with the railway each year.
Skills training featured strongly in the program, for current employees, volunteers and the local community. An outreach program has given the opportunity for work experience to over 200 young people and more than 250 young people have been engaged with a schools' programme.
Nearly 600 individual volunteers have contributed their time to the project, amassing almost 40k hours and more than 100 of those volunteers are new to the railway. Overall volunteer contribution over the whole of the FFWHR is more than 90k hours per year.
Building work with a value of £3.3m has been led by local contractors using local subcontractors. Specialists from elsewhere were only brought in when local contractors were not available.
Celebrations took place on May 1 when the completion of the project was marked by a visit from the Heritage Fund team and leaders from the heritage and tourism industries.
Andrew White, Director of The National Lottery Heritage Fund in Wales said: 'We are delighted to celebrate the completion of this project with the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways that has centered on the Boston Lodge Works. Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, over £3.7 million has helped to restore and revitalise Boston Lodge, creating opportunities for more people to volunteer, learn new skills, and understand how this industry has shaped the landscape and community over 200 years."
He added: "We know that heritage can play a huge role in bringing people together and creating a sense of pride in people's hometowns and cities, and in turn boosting the local economy. The realisation of this ambitious project is a huge achievement and means this truly world-class heritage attraction will be enjoyed by visitors and its local community for many years to come.'
Paul Lewin, Director and General Manager of Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways, said: 'After 70 consistent years as a leading attraction and caring for a large collection of rolling stock, buildings and infrastructure of national historic importance, the railway really needed help to refresh the offer to visitors and to make the original workshops at Boston Lodge fit for the next seventy years.
"The National Lottery Heritage Fund listened carefully to the complex needs of our organisation and worked with us to develop a plan that has brought significant benefits for visitors, staff and the local community.'
For those who wish to find out more, a new visitor experience in the shape of a behind the scenes, guided tour of Boston Lodge is now available.
The three-hour tour, with its professionally trained hosts, brings visitors in to contact with the railway, its history and operations in a new way.
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