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 the new Glyn Valley Tramway Trust. 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 less than 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 new 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.
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