Yahoo News The incredible transformation of an old railway carriage perched on top of a Welsh cliff
If you're strolling along the coastal path, meandering next to one of the most incredible landscape through Pembrokeshire and into Ceredigion it's unlikely you are expecting to happen upon an old railway carriage nestled into a field with no train track in sight.
But in this beautiful corner of Wales it's a sight that is replicated a few times as a number of surviving GWR train carriages are dotted around the coastline, moved decades ago from the mainline to their final sea view resting place to offer cheap holiday accommodation for visiting tourists.
Only a number of these carriages remain from the time they were relocated to the area during the 1920s and 1930s so to own one is rare, a privilege, but also a responsibility to preserve what is left to be enjoyed by future generations. For more property stories sent to your inbox twice a week sign up to the property newsletter here.
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When Janet Lamb was in the area visiting her mum she didn't in her wildest dreams think that one day one of these unique slices of train history would be in her ownership, but it appears she was destined to own 'Wendy', The Aberporth Express.
Janet says: "My mum used to live in the area and when we took her along the easy access stretch of the Pembrokeshire coastal path and we were literally just going for a walk and we noticed these railway carriages along the route and thought 'oh that’s interesting' but didn’t think twice about it."
A few years later Janet did the risky thing of ideally scrolling through property for sale websites and there was Wendy, The Aberporth Express for sale, and calling out to her. Janet, a 60-year-old flute teacher originally from Hertfordshire, remembers: "My dad had recently died and left me a little bit of money so, combined with savings, we had enough to be able to afford to buy Wendy.
"We came down for a viewing and were instantly captivated, we 'whooped' our way up and down the carriage as soon as we saw it. Our friends and family thought we were bonkers, well, it's not normal really is it, buying an old train carriage on the cliff?"
The couple were smitten, Janet says: "We loved her because of the obvious quirk appeal. Even when we’d seen the particulars on the internet I was half way there to buying her to be honest, knowing where she is, in such a special location, being a really quirky property, it was a no-brainer; we had to have her.
"The setting is just incredible, right by the sea, it’s just wonderful. There is no vehicle access but it is an easy access coastal pathway so it’s flat and tarmacked and there’s a car park at the end but everything has to come down the coast path on a trolley! It all adds to the feeling of remoteness even though you’re really not that far from other houses, Aberporth, and two gorgeous beaches."
Luckily for Janet and Chris the majority of the hard work to bring Wendy back to life has been done by expert restorers Under The Thatch, who say that Wendy has been their most expensive and challenging renovation to date.
It was not just years of being battered by coastal, sea winds and rain that had taken its toll on Wendy but Greg Stevenson from Under The Thatch had to tackle the challenge of the challenging access plus the fact that the carriage was a 'going concern' holiday let so soon guests would be arriving.
Greg says: "'It was a painfully expensive renovation because of the remarkable location - Wendy really is away from all roads, accessed only by the coastal footpath. Also we were dealing with curved train walls and expensive materials like quartersawn oak - still - I think she was worth it!'
Another challenge for the upgrade was timescale, with Greg thinking it would take about 3-4 months and allowing a full year as a contingency but even that became a tight and looming deadline. It was hit, but only just.
Greg remembers: "When I finished I simply wanted a holiday! But I am most pleased by the fact it inspired other carriage owners to restore theirs because at the time most were getting replaced or horribly modernised, but that pendulum has swung now to care and conservation."
Work to Wendy to bring her up to standard as a happy holiday let while being mindful of not losing the essence of her history included sorting out a mains drainage and adding a septic tank for the toilet facilities, a new shower, and solar panels as Wendy runs on electric.
Janet adds: "We bought 1930s-style chairs, added a new wood burning stove and chimney and new fridge and oven, and that was 'fun' because the doors to the kitchen were too narrow. The delivery men had to remove various bits of the door in order to get it in, I had to leave because it was all a bit too stressful, but they managed it somehow. And, of course, everything has to come down the coast path because there’s no road access so even simple improvements have their challenges."
Janet says that the day they picked up the keys to Wendy she will never forget, "It was the start of a new adventure but quite daunting too because we’ve never run a holiday let. It’s too isolated to ever be a home, to live in it full-time would just be too difficult especially with no road access, so we don’t feel like we have taken stock out of the local housing market and that was important to us."
Due to the coastal location Janet says there is endless painting and a constant fight against rust to keep Wendy in good condition but she wouldn't have it any other way, and when the family visit the evenings spent on the veranda sharing a meal make wonderful lifelong memories for everyone that include fun comments from passers by that regularly feature 'is that a train carriage' and 'when's the next train departing?'.
Janet says: "I don’t think Edwardian railway carriages come up on the market very often even though in the past there were 20 along this particular stretch of coast but I think many have gone to ruin. We wanted Wendy because you’ve got to do something with money really haven’t you, you can put it in a bank but this was a really fun thing to do. Plus it was already an operating holiday let, and so as an investment as well so it made a lot of sense, it fulfilled the emotional appeal, the quirk appeal doing something mad, as well as the something a bit more hard headed too.
"I really do love being part of the history of Wendy, she’s now been on that cliff-side far longer than she was ever in service, which was about from 1905 or 1908, we’re not sure which, until the 1930s - she’s an old girl and she’s been there a very long while."
Janet thinks that Wendy got to this incredible location, of course, by train, arriving at Newcastle Emlyn station and then on the back of a truck pulled by some sort of steam engine. She says, "Wendy was towed across the field to get here - that’s my understanding - I’m not sure how accurate I am, stories tend to bend over the years, don't they?!"
Janet's connection to Wales goes back to her childhood, when she used to visit her grandmother in north Wales, so owning a tiny part of the country fills her with total joy. She says: "To walk down that path towards Wendy always lifts our spirits, it doesn’t matter what the weather is doing. I’d like to think my dad would be really pleased that I used my little bit of his mother’s and his money to buy a little bit of Welsh heritage."
Wendy is now happy to host you as a holidaymaker, check out more details about price and booking via Under The Thatch here.
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