A railway volunteer and photographer has given a “glimpse” into the world of Talyllyn Railway in time for its 70th anniversary on Friday.

On 14 May 1951, the Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society ran its first train, making it the world’s first preserved railway.

Sixty-eight-year-old Barbara Fuller combined her volunteering and her photography to mount an exhibition about it.

‘Return to Nant Gwernol’ was due to take place in March 2020 but had to be postponed due to Covid-19. The exhibition, which documents the behind the scenes of the railway, is now on display at Pen’rallt Gallery Bookshop, in Machynlleth, until 31 July.

Barbara moved to Tywyn in 2007 but has volunteered with the railway in some capacity since 1972, when her then boyfriend started volunteering. The couple’s eldest son also joined the railway and is now a driver.

“I’ve been a volunteer all that time, apart from the odd year or two,” Barbara said. “I used to do some of the work behind the scenes and I’ve been on one or two committees. I lived in Scotland at the time, but some of our volunteers come for a week or two. A lot of them come from abroad.”

Barbara initially trained as a guard but has gone on to become a loco crew roster clerk, volunteer co-ordinator, and gardener. She has now taken on some of the responsibility of photographing the railway.

“It was only when I moved to Tywyn that I bought my first digital camera,” said Barbara.

“My friends in Tywyn encouraged me to take it a bit further and so I did. One generous friend lent me quite a lot of his camera equipment, lenses and so on, so I could try them all out.

“I gradually progressed with my camera until I got one that I really wanted. I’ve been on one or two photography workshops but I haven’t had any formal training as such. It’s my hobby. If the world gets too much then I will just pick up my camera and go outside. I look at my camera as a sort of friend.”

As her photography developed, Barbara’s work started appearing in railway magazines. And after getting to know Geoff Young and Diane Bailey, co-owners of Pen’rallt Gallery Bookshop, Barbara has been a regular contributor to their annual open submission photography exhibition.

“Geoff and Diane are really good at encouraging people and giving them confidence,” Barbara added. “So, in terms of the exhibition, they said ‘see what you come up with’. I initially I came up with something that wasn’t railway-related, because I wanted to do something different, but became stuck. Diane said do what you’re most familiar with – you’ve got this huge advantage that you have privileged access behind the scenes, so that’s what I did.”

Diane said: “We have been aware of Barbara’s photography skills since 2011, the first year of both Pen’rallt Gallery Bookshop and of its annual open submission photography exhibition, to which she has been a regular contributor. Over the years we have discussed visual ideas and themes with Barbara as her confidence in her photography work has steadily grown, to the point when, in 2019, we suggested she might have a solo exhibition here and, thinking about it, wasn’t there one very obvious subject?

“It always helps a photographer if they have privileged access to an unusual subject and Barbara’s having volunteered at Talyllyn Railway since 1972 and moving to Tywyn in 2007, allowed her to spend more hours there each week, as a loco crew roster clerk, volunteer co-ordinator, gardener, and to be a more than occasional photographer.”