Trustees’ annual report and accounts 1[st] February 2020 – 31[st] January 2021
Contents
| Page | |
|---|---|
| Administrativeinformation | 3 |
| TheNarrowGaugeRailwayMuseum | 3 |
| The collection | 4 |
| Risk management | 4 |
| Reviewof the year | 4 |
| The Covid-19 pandemic | 4 |
| Wideraccess | 7 |
| Temporary exhibition and writing competition |
7 |
| Otherdevelopments | 8 |
| Governance | 8 |
| Recognition | 9 |
| People | 9 |
| Thefuture | 9 |
| Financial report | 10 |
| Appendix 1 – Independentexaminer’sreport | 13 |
| Appendix 2 – Accessionstothe collection | 14 |
2 | P a g e
Administrative information
The Trust is a charitable unincorporated association registered as a charity in England & Wales, number 1040128. It is governed by its Trust Deed dated 11[th] July 1994 with its principal object being:
“the collection, conservation and display of narrow-gauge railway relics and material for the education of the public in an enjoyable way”.
Accredited Museum No 1433
Registered office: Wharf Station Tywyn Gwynedd LL36 9EY
Personnel
| Trustees appointed by | Ian Evans | Minutes secretary |
|---|---|---|
| the Talyllyn Railway | John D Olsen PhD, MRSB, CIBiol | |
| Preservation Society | Malcolm Phillips | Collections manager |
| Wendy Pink | ||
| C Keith Theobald | Chairman | |
| Co-opted trustees | Diane K Drummond PhD FHEA | |
| C Russell Hatt CEng MICE | ||
| Officers | Charles Fleming | Legal adviser |
| Robert Gwynne BA, PGCE, DipM, AMA | Museum mentor | |
| Andrew Nock | Secretary | |
| Stephen Powell | Treasurer |
All personnel served throughout the reporting year.
The Trustees met 12 times during the reporting year. In order to comply with official guidance regarding Covid-19 security all meetings were held remotely by audio-video conference. At all their meetings the Trustees kept in mind their duty to provide public benefit.
Bank: CAF Bank Ltd 25 Kings Hill Avenue Kings Hill West Malling Kent ME19 4JQ
The Narrow Gauge Railway Museum (“the Museum”)
The Trust’s aim is to record and interpret the history of narrow-gauge railways in the British Isles and beyond. While a number of passenger-carrying railways have been preserved and still operate, primarily now to serve the tourist market, many other passenger-carrying lines, as well as numerous industrial and military ones, ceased to exist in the mid-20[th] century. The pioneering enthusiasts and collectors of those times laid the basis of the collection while it was still possible, so that today the story of these railways can be told, most of which never achieved the widespread following enjoyed by the main lines, but were in their own way important contributors to economic and social history.
3 | P a g e
The Trust’s main activity is managing the Museum to ensure its current operation and secure its long-term sustainability.
The Museum occupies a purpose-made building, opened in 2005 as part of the major redevelopment of the Talyllyn Railway’s Wharf station in Tywyn. Its location alongside a working narrow-gauge railway gives the Museum’s story a living context, and adds a significant attraction to the pleasure and interest of a journey on the Railway. Elsewhere on the Wharf site the Museum also has use of the historic Gunpowder Store and new building featuring the original Talyllyn Railway weighbridge.
The Collection
The main collection consists of items relating to narrow gauge railways of the British Isles, and to the Talyllyn Railway in particular.
The Trustees continue to review selectively items offered for sale at auction, and make a reasonable bid for any item which they consider would enhance the collection. Items are also offered to the Museum from time to time, with any accession decision being taken by the Trustees. Most recent accessions have been small, mostly paper, items, reflecting the reality of new material availability, and the pressures on the Museum’s space. Accessions during the reporting year are listed in Appendix 2.
Some items in the collection – mainly wagons – are displayed outdoors on the Wharf site. Some large items – locomotives and a wagon – which cannot be accommodated at Tywyn for lack of space are on loan to appropriate institutions elsewhere in the UK.
Risk management
The Trustees maintain, apply and review policies relating to:
-
Emergencies
-
Safeguarding
-
Health and safety
-
Environment
-
Data protection
The Trustees maintain a Designated Insurance Reserve fund as cover against loss or damage to items in the Collection. Many such items being historical relics are unique and hence ‘priceless’; they regard this as better value for money than cover in the commercial insurance market, which is unavailable at a reasonable premium.
The Trustees also earmark a proportion of the Trust’s cash balance (held in a high-interest account, £36k at the end of the reporting year) as a hedge against higher running costs. The Trust occupies its premises on very beneficial terms from its landlord the Talyllyn Railway, and could face substantially higher costs if changing circumstances caused the Railway to alter its terms.
Review of the year
The Covid-19 pandemic
As had been customary, the Museum was open to the public the during schools’ half-term holiday week in February 2020; normally it would have re-opened for the main season at Easter, but was prevented from doing so by official restrictions imposed to control the
4 | P a g e
spread of Covid-19 infection. These restrictions, at varying levels, persisted throughout the reporting year.
In addition to the general effect of restrictions, two factors had a particular impact on the Museum:
-
The Museum is run entirely by volunteers, mostly in the older age groups that were identified as at especial risk from Covid-19 infection, and therefore unable to work even when museum opening was officially permitted;
-
Differing levels and scopes of restrictions in Wales and England; for example, at a time when the Railway and the Museum could have opened, restrictions meant that no-one could visit from England, rendering any activity commercially pointless.
Positively, public financial support for the museums sector was quickly organised and distributed, and the Museum has benefitted from several grants which have sustained it during the year, replacing lost income and funding additional costs:
| during the year, replacing lost income and funding additional costs: | |
|---|---|
| Awarding body | Value ofgrant |
| National LotteryHeritage Fund – Heritage EmergencyGrant | £9700 |
| Gwynedd Council – Businessgrant | £10000 |
| Wales Cultural RecoveryFund – Welsh Government | £26920 |
| Gwynedd Council – Firebreakgrant | £1000 |
| Gwynedd Council – Firebreakgrant | £2000 |
| Gwynedd Council – Grant Nadolig | £3000 |
The Welsh Government allowed museums to re-open as from 27th July 2020, but most found the process of re-opening difficult and complex, with the Narrow Gauge Railway Museum being no exception. In addition to meeting enhanced hygiene and safety requirements, it faced two particular challenges; its volunteer attendants were mostly in “at-risk” categories and so could not staff the Museum, and the ventilation needed improving in order to provide adequate air circulation within the building, especially the upper floor.
The emergency grants from the Welsh Government (via Gwynedd Council) and the Lottery Heritage Fund allowed the Museum to make the changes and obtain the materials needed for safe public access, and crucially to take on two paid employees (Museum Assistants), Luke Ryan and Frank Nolan, initially for four months, allowing a phased re-opening.
Phase 1 on 5th September saw public access to the entrance area with a large screen monitor to illustrate the collection inside (and the large door open when weather conditions allowed).
Phase 2 followed very quickly, on 7th September, allowing visitors who had booked online to visit the Museum’s ground floor, where most of the larger exhibits are displayed.
Under Phase 3 on 18[th] November, following provision of improved ventilation, visitors were also able to enjoy prebooked but restricted access to the first-floor displays, including many of the smaller exhibits and the re-created Awdry Study. Regrettably a new Welsh ‘lockdown’ forced the Museum to close its doors again on 5[th] December, and it remained closed at the end of the reporting year.
5 | P a g e
New Museum Assistants Luke Ryan and Frank Nolan welcome visitors to the Museum on re-opening day, 5th September 2020
Inevitably, visitor numbers at 1442 in 2020 were much lower than normal (16,671in the previous year):
| From | To | Days | Adult visitors | Child visitors | Total visitors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February half term | 9 | 165 | 102 | 267 | |
| 05.09.20 | 23.10.20 | 49 | 734 | 67 | 801 |
| 09.11.20 | 04.12.20 | 26 | 349 | 35 | 374 |
| 1442 |
Further grants were received later in the year – a Welsh Government Cultural Recovery Fund Grant of £26,920, and several support grants from Gwynedd Council amounting to £6,000. Among other things the Welsh Government grant financed further work to improve ventilation with the provision of a large window topped with 3 top light opening windows giving an excellent view from the adjacent Neptune Road into the Museum’s upper floor, and creating interest among passers-by. It has also allowed the Museum to extend the employment of the Museum Assistants to the end of March 2021.
6 | P a g e
New windows on Neptune Road frontage, providing the required ventilation, and an enticing glimpse into the Museum, with star locomotive exhibit ‘Dot’ in full view
Wider access
In order to involve a wider range of people in heritage, and to compensate for the very limited access to the Museum, the Museum Assistants have expanded its social media presence, and started providing on-line 'virtual' tours. Every week an item from the collection is featured on the website. For the first time, learning materials for children have been placed on the Museum website – for parents to use during enforced periods of home-schooling for example.
Temporary exhibition and writing competition
The Museum regularly mounts temporary exhibitions, often to celebrate a significant anniversary or to focus on a special area of interest. The 2020 exhibition – ‘narrow-gauge railways in literature’ - was set up in January 2020, featuring some literary greats from the past including D.H. Lawrence, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Henry Williamson, along with more recent authors, some still living, and the work of some children’s writers including the Rev W Awdry whose fictional ‘Skarloey Railway’ was inspired by his experience as a volunteer on the Talyllyn Railway in early preservation days. Because the Museum was closed for much of the year restricting the number of people able to see the exhibition, it has been made available on the Museum website.
7 | P a g e
The "Narrow-Gauge Railways in Literature" temporary exhibition
Complementing the exhibition was a writing competition, an innovation for the Museum. Pandemic restrictions inevitably depressed interest, but some good entries were received and first prize was awarded to Declan J O’Dare for an original and engaging love story centred on one of the Museum’s earliest and most distinctive exhibits, the steam locomotive from the Guinness brewery in Dublin. Winner of the Junior prize was 10 yearold Ziyad Abdelaal-Wait, with "The tiny, red steam locomotive". He said "The locomotive is loosely based upon William Finlay, who now resides at the NGRM, and my hopes for it in the future."
Other developments
Over the year the Trustees have continued to work on two important projects, although inevitably the Covid-19 pandemic has slowed progress:
-
The oral history project, to record personal memories of narrow-gauge railways and the slate industry;
-
Digitising and cataloguing the Museum’s extensive photographic collection, including the significant Casserley collection acquired the previous year, to ensure their preservation and to give better access.
Governance
The Trustees continued their participation in the ‘Prospering Boards’ programme run by AIM (Association of Independent Museums) and have made significance progress in defining the Trust’s aims and purpose, and establishing a new Forward Plan. They will soon
8 | P a g e
be ready to seek Charity Commission registration of the Trust as a CIO (Charitable Incorporated Organisation), allowing the number of trustees to be increased to bring in a wider range of skills.
Recognition
In January the Trustees were delighted to hear that the Museum was to receive the 2021 Heritage Railway Association’s Interpretation Award , sponsored by Heritage Railway Magazine and Mortons Media. Across the UK, heritage rail operators of every kind regard the HRA awards as the industry’s most prestigious form of recognition. This award recognises the hard work, creativity and dedication of the volunteers who have supported the independent, accredited museum over many years.
People
The same Trustees and Museum officers served throughout the reporting year. The two trustees who live locally to Tywyn have been able to oversee the Museum during the period of restrictions and closure, but most Trustee business has been conducted remotely, taking advantage of modern audio-visual technology.
Museum working parties, which generally meet on Thursday mornings, outside during the summer and indoors in the winter, and do work vital to maintain the Museum, have regrettably been suspended for much of year, but were able to meet from late August until mid-December.
The year has been a trying one generally and personally for all the Museum’s volunteers, and the Trustees thank them for their loyal support.
The future
At the end of the reporting year, it appeared likely that the Museum, along with the Talyllyn Railway, would be allowed to re-open in the second quarter of 2021, although the extent of any remaining restrictions was unknown. This is clearly good news, but the Trustees are acutely conscious that a return to ‘business as it used to be’ may not be possible. The Museum’s business model, with no admission charge and reliance on donation income to balance the relatively low running costs resulting from a 100% volunteer workforce, may no longer be tenable if volunteers, who came predominantly from older age groups, are unable or unwilling to return in previous numbers. The cost of continuing to employ staff to compensate would significantly exceed previous income levels, and the Trustees are urgently investigating additional income sources.
Other exciting challenges face the Museum too, in particular to work with the Talyllyn Railway to enhance the way the Tywyn area’s unique narrow-gauge heritage is interpreted and presented to visitors, and to play its part if, as is hoped, the Welsh Slate Landscape receives World Heritage Site designation.
9 | P a g e
Financial Report
| Financial Report | Financial Report | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Narrow Gauge Railway Museum Trust | ||||||
| Accounts foryear ended31st January 2021 | ||||||
| Fund Type | Unrestricted | Designated | All | Previousyear | ||
Fund Name |
General | Insurance Reserve |
||||
| RECEIPTS | ||||||
| Donations in Museum | £495.00 | £495.00 | 2,053.02 £ |
|||
| Other Donations | £4,734.74 | £4,734.74 | 1,078.22 £ |
|||
| Friends Subscriptions | £887.00 | £887.00 | 1,722.75 £ |
|||
| Legacies | £0.00 | £0.00 | 79.32 £ |
|||
| Grants | £52,620.00 | £52,620.00 | 1,511.00 £ |
|||
| Gift Aid Tax Reclaim | £3,698.69 | £3,698.69 | - £ |
|||
| Sales | £0.00 | £0.00 | - £ |
|||
| Fees | £0.00 | £0.00 | - £ |
|||
| Miscellaneous | £0.00 | £0.00 | - £ |
|||
| Bank Interest | £20.98 | £580.72 | £601.70 | 8.35 £ |
||
| Total Receipts | £62,456.41 | £580.72 | £63,037.13 | 7,012.66 £ |
||
| EXPENDITURE | ||||||
| Collection | ||||||
| Acquisition | £78.68 | £78.68 | 2,901.79 £ |
|||
| Repair & Maintenance | £0.00 | £0.00 | 43.57 £ |
|||
| Presentation | £1,164.73 | £1,164.73 | 742.46 £ |
|||
| Subscriptions | £277.80 | £277.80 | 279.80 £ |
|||
| Grants | £0.00 | £0.00 | - £ |
|||
| Payroll | £10,783.14 | £10,783.14 | - £ |
|||
| Covidprecautions | £11,540.40 | £11,540.40 | - £ |
|||
| Miscellaneous | £455.23 | £455.23 | 1,931.54 £ |
|||
| Total Payments | £24,299.98 | £24,299.98 | 5,899.16 £ |
|||
| Net Receipts | £38,156.43 | £580.72 | £38,737.15 | 1,038.37 -£ |
||
| Balances b/f 01/02/20 | £26,333.64 | £41,366.96 | £67,700.60 | 25,653.69 £ |
||
| Balances c/f 01/02/21 | £64,490.07 | £41,947.68 | £106,437.75 | 26,233.64 £ |
10 | P a g e
----- Start of picture text -----
Fund Balances at 31/01/2020
General £26,333.64 Insurance Reserve £41,947.68
Represented by
NWB A/C gross £436.20
CAF Cash A/C 31/01/20 £27,122.30
less unpresented cheques etc.
£0.00 £27,122.30
plus unstatemented credits
£0.00 £27,122.30
CAF Cash A/C net £27,122.30
CAF Gold A/C 31/01/20 £36,931.57
plus unstatemented credits
£0.00 £36,931.57
CAF Gold A/C net £36,931.57
Fund balances at 31/01/2021
£64,490.07 1-year Bond £41,947.68
----- End of picture text -----
Financial commentary
The Trust’s accounts for the reporting year illustrate almost better than words the unprecedented changes caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
-
Income from visitors’ donations was down by 75%, reflecting the very limited opening the Museum was able to achieve, and reduced tourist numbers;
-
Grant income, gratefully received and essential to the Museum’s survival, increased vastly by a factor of 35 to £52k, as reported earlier;
-
The Trustees, concentrating on the Museum’s survival, suspended all expenditure on acquisitions[1] and other developments not related to Covid-19 security and Museum sustainability.
-
Payments were substantially (by a factor of 4) higher than in the previous year, mostly related to expenditure on employment, equipment and materials building modifications to enable the Museum to operate during the pandemic; these amounted to more than £22,000, showing the high cost of sustaining the Museum and ensuring that, as far as restrictions allowed, it was able to continue to provide public benefit.
Some grant-funded expenditure related to periods after the reporting year end, and remained to be disbursed in the following year.
1 The accessions reported in Appendix 2 were gifts to the Museum.
11 | P a g e
NGRiW ned: Trustee (Chairman) C Keith Theobald Date: 1.1121 Trustee TOts) J)c)wiwic oL5j Date: 121Page
Appendix 1
Independent examiner’s report
13 | P a g e
Accessions to the Collection, 2020-2021
Appendix 2
MAIN
| TYWRM:ALR009 | timetable | Ashover Light Railway pocket timetable for 20 August 1925 onwards |
|---|---|---|
| TYWRM:CU013 | label | Instrument labels for Chattenden and Upnor Hard |
| TYWRM:DQ126 | ticket | Ticket for travel on the Padarn Railway |
| TYWRM:FR056 | report | Festiniog Railway Directors report and accounts for December 1909 |
| TYWRM:FR057 | plaque | Festiniog Railway plaque mounted crest |
| TYWRM:LLS013 | timetable | Londonderry & Lough Swilly Railway Company Working Timetable for 13th April 1947 |
| TYWRM:PQ071 | works plate | Replica works plate for Manning Wardle locomotive No.1382 'Jubilee 1897' |
| TYWRM:TR359 | pattern | Talyllyn Railway nameplate foundry pattern for Merseysider (letter M missing) |
| TYWRM:TR360 | headboard | Talyllyn Railway cast aluminium headboard for "Rolt Explorer" |
| TYWRM:ZZ008 | photograph | Casserley collection photographs / negatives |
| TYWRM:ZZ009 | photograph | Collection of slides of railways from Philip Sayers |
| TYWRM:ZZ010 | photograph | Collection of photographs from David Mitchell (used in museum from 2004) |
| TYWRM:FR058 | book | Festiniog Railway Guide Book c1972 |
| TYWRM:FR059 | book | Festiniog Railway Pictorial Series 2 1971 |
| TYWRM:FR060 | postcard | Limited edition of six art-drawn postcards featuring 150 years of the Festiniog Railway |
| TYWRM:RHD003 | book | Guide book for the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway |
| TYWRM:TR361 | timetable | Talyllyn Railway card pocket timetable for 1973 |
| TYWRM:TVR001 | ticket | Official Opening Day ticket 9th April 1986 |
| TYWRM:WLR015 | book | Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway Guide 1973 |
14 | P a g e
SUPPORT
| TYWRM:SUP273 | book | The Railways of Sir Arthur Percival Heywood Volume 1 by James Waterfield |
|---|---|---|
| TYWRM:SUP274 | book | Narrow Gauge Railways in South Caernarvonshire by J.I.C.Boyd |
| TYWRM:SUP275 | book | Snowdon Mountain Railway by P. Ransome-Wallis |
| TYWRM:SUP276 | book | The Manifold Valley and its Light Railway by R. Keys and L. Porter |
| TYWRM:SUP277 | book | The Welsh Highland Railway by Charles E. Lee |
| TYWRM:SUP278 | book | Slates to Velinheli by D.C.Carrington and T.F.Rushworth |
| TYWRM:SUP279 | book | Bowater's Sittingbourne Railway by Arthur G. Wells |
| TYWRM:SUP280 | book | Vale of Rheidol Light Railway by W.J.K.Davies |
| TYWRM:SUP281 | book | The Glyn Valley Tramway by David Llewellyn Davies |
| TYWRM:SUP282 | book | How Ffestiniog got its Railway by M.J.T.Lewis |
| TYWRM:SUP283 | book | Campbeltown & Machrihanish Light Railway by Nigel S.C. Macmillan |
| TYWRM:SUP284 | postcard | Booklet of postcards of Welsh narrow gauge railways |
AWDRY
None
15 | P a g e