Redevelopment work at a heritage railway in Gwynedd has won an award.

The Boston Lodge Works redevelopment has won a National Railway Heritage Award.

The Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways are delighted to be named winners of the National Rail Heritage

Awards ‘Network Rail Award for best overall entry’. This is for the long-term redevelopment of Boston Lodge Works near Porthmadog in North Wales.

The historic works was reconstructed and redeveloped to support the railways needs for the coming decades.

With a history stretching back almost 200 years, the redevelopment represented a major challenge.

The most recent £5m phase of works was supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, The Ffestiniog Railway Society and the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railway Trust. This support has made it possible to conserve and recreate many of the historic buildings on site in addition to creating new facilities.

Paul Lewin is the Director and General Manager of the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways. He notes that one of the great wins from the project was finding current day uses for the historic buildings whilst maintaining their historic fabric, in addition to opening the workshop to visitors through an innovative hosted tour program.

Nigel Burbidge, recently appointed as Chair of the railway, paid tribute to the outgoing Chair, Dr John Prideaux, for his vision and leadership of the Boston Lodge Project over the last decade. Attention to detail, persistence and the selection of strong partners to form the project teams has resulted in a very positive outcome for the project.

During 2026 it will be possible for members of the public to visit the historic workshops and see the results for themselves as part of the Boston Lodge Tour program, tickets for which are available from the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways website.