There doesn’t seem to be much information about celebrating our railway’s 150th anniversary. Here is some very useful information from Paul Salveson (look here):

More celebrations: Heart of Wales Line

The Heart of Wales Line (Swansea to Shrewsbury) celebrates its 150^th birthday this year. As part of the celebrations there will be a wide range of events taking place up and down the line, co-ordinated by the Heart of Wales Line Development Company. This will include a special train, a Cynghordy Viaduct Walk and a range of arts activities along the line. Arriva Trains Wales has kindly sponsored a number of events over the next few months.

The celebrations kick off on Friday March 23^rd, with the 10.09 from Shrewsbury to Swansea acting as a mobile reception for local councils and community groups. There will be a trolley service and some entertainment. A commemorative booklet for the line’s 150^th will be launched on the day.

On Sunday April 22^nd there will be a guided walk over Cynghordy Viaduct, courtesy of Network Rail. Places are limited and further details will be announced (see Heart of Wales website). A shuttle bus will operate from Llandovery station so there’s no need to take the car down the very narrow lanes to the railway. Further events will take place later in the year.

A big theme of the 150 celebrations will be arts along the line. which we’re hoping will lead to some permanent displays, adding up to a line-long art gallery, with art work at stations, galleries accessible from stations and links to other arts activities.

Local artists along the line are getting together and planning events at different locations. Between Friday June 1^st and Monday June 4^th artists in the Knighton, Bucknell and Knucklas area will be organising special events which will include open studios, film shows and walks linking the railway with studios.

Bishops Castle Open Studios and Shropshire Hills Art Weekend takes place at the Bank House on 8, 9, 10 & 11 June. Although it’s a long time since Bishops Castle had a railway there is great enthusiasm for the railway and it is only a 20 minutes’ drive from Craven Arms, or Broome, or Hopton Heath or Bucknell. Direct buses run from Shrewsbury. At Craven Arms, Art Cafe Artists will hold their annual exhibition at the Shropshire Hill Discovery Centre on the 15, 16, 17 and 18 June 2018. Llandovery’s big day is Sunday July 1^st when the station will be at the centre of several events including an art exhibition. Llangamarch and Garth will be holding events on the same weekend as Llandovery, June 30^th and July 1^st, with an exhibition at the Institute, Llangamarch Wells.

Further events are being planned at other locations including Llandrindod, Llandeilo, Llangadog and Llanelli. We hope to support events at other locations including Church Stretton, Ammanford, Pontarddulais and Builth Road but we need local people to take the lead on these. We’re also planning events on some trains including music, poetry and story-telling. And there may be something a bit special coming down the line, in July. For further details take a look at the Heart of Wales Line Development Co. website http://heart-of-wales.co.uk/

The Development Company is still looking for more offers of help from local artists and musicians. All enquiries to Moira Davidson at moira@bluekite.org.uk