Hugh,
One thing is for sure, this Gibbon has long since expired, and the film is
on an 8mm reel somewhere on a high shelf with lots of under lots of dust.
:o)
I hope this story has a happy ending.
Arlene
Hugh Gibbon wrote:
I wonder if I could try the seemingly never-ending patience of
listers
one more time with a request addressed to those who watch television
and have good memories.
The village with the above name is approached from one end on the
flat, then you take a sharp right turn and it goes up a steep hill
which is quite narrow and has houses either side, they're all old,
probably 19th century and mostly small but of all the shapes you can
imagine; if you meet another vehicle you both have to squeeeeze past,
in places the road gets even narrower then only one car can go at a
time; and the hill goes back almost along the same way as you would
have come in along the flat.
That's just to remind you what Pen etc looks like.
Now in addition to this tortuous road there is also a railway line, I
believe it is the Portmadoc to Ffestiniog railway, it is privately
owned now by a bunch of enthusiasts, and it is a miniature railway;
and probably one of the few such railways in the world that have links
to the main rail service, AND runs a proper passenger service AND
carries goods on contract AND does not make a loss. It was built ages
ago, somewhere I have a book on it but not immediately to hand, I
believe it was first built to carry slate ?
Anyway, this railwayline crosses the road about halfway up this hill
in Penrhyn etc. So there is a level crossing. And gates. And the
gates have to be opened and closed by hand;( usually the hand is
connected to a body which also has feet).
Now, to come to the point. I did beg your forgiveness at the start
didn't I ? For being long-winded and tedious? (Though there are worse
things than being long winded).
There was a tv program but was it BBC or ITV ? Don't know, it is
something I hope a lister can tell me. And it was some time in the
past 20 years. (Yes, I know that's a long time, which is why I'm
asking the list, the BBC memory only goes back to the last licence
date). And the program was about this railway, and it included an
interview with the man who opened and closed the level crossing gates.
Though the program was some time in the last 20 years the program
itself might have been made well before then, probably on film as
video had not been invented, could be as long ago as 1950.
Can anybody give any leads ? My interest is that that man who opened
and closed the gates; his name was GIBBON !!!!!
OKOKOK, we are a rare breed, Gibbons are as common as fried eggs in a
vegetarian delicatessen, I have some justification in being (over)
excited. Particularly as that man was doing this as a hobby having
retired; and his job had been exactly what my father had been, grammar
school headmaster.
As a further clue the program also featured Clough Ellis who was the
man who designed and built Portmeirion which is the Italianate
miniature village in North Wales.
There must be somebody on the list with the memory of an elephant. We
are only talking about 20 to 50 years of tv, all I need is the
Channel, the date it was broadcast, the name of the interviewer,
producer, director, wardrobe mistress, fourth cameraman from the left
and the tea boy. Thank you all in advance
H