VITAL ROLE FOR DONKEYS DURING COVID-19

Tallylyn Railway was opened in 1865 and after the death of its owner Sir Haydn Jones, in 1951, a preservation society was formed to take over the line’s management. General manager Stuart Williams said this is the first spring the railway has not run trains since its preservation.

The lines closure and the fact that most employees at Tallyllyn Railway have been furloughed during the coronavirus lockdown, caused concern for the tracks being overtaken by vegetation.

Usually a combination of regular steam trains and our army of outdoor volunteers who strim, flail and tend to the line side keeps the vegetation under control,” he added. “Without these people, the line side was reversing quickly to nature and becoming akin to a closed railway.

“We were pleased to be asked about the possibility of allowing a couple of local donkeys to graze the lineside at Rhydyronen, so Hamish and Lady Maude moved in and have been given their own part of the railway to maintain.”

The new and dedicated equine recruits are carrying out vital horticultural management work alongside the seven-mile track and at stations – grazing grass that might otherwise grow out of control and keeping other growth in its place.

If left untended the line quickly reverts to nature.