John Sowerby
John Sowerby Obituary 1953:2025
John joined the PW gang for a year in 1972-3.[1] He was temporary staff from June 1972 but got a permanent post by the autumn magazine.[2] He lodged with Norman Gurley at Llan Ffestiniog and travelled to the FR on an old motorbike. He later volunteered as a fireman on Linda & Blanche but was sorry not to get to fire a double engine. FRM mentioned that John and Norman were both off sick from the PW gang at the end of February 1973.[3] FRM 62 tells us that he moved to Portsmouth Polytechnic in September after 15 months with PW.[4] After his time on the FR he moved away from Wales but got to be involved with other heritage railways including Brockham/Amberley Museum and the Watercress Line.
In the 1990s he returned to volunteering on the FR sometimes accompanied by his son. He was active on the Leighton Buzzard and Welshpool and Llanfair railways. With retirement in his fifties he moved to Penrhyndeudraeth where he learnt Welsh and was a happy member of the community.
References
[edit]- ^ "John Sowerby 1953-2025", Ffestiniog Railway Magazine, Issue 271:520, page(s): 520
- ^ "Staff News", Ffestiniog Railway Magazine, Issue 58, page(s): 9
- ^ "Staff News", Ffestiniog Railway Magazine, Issue 60, page(s): 10
- ^ "Staff News", Ffestiniog Railway Magazine, Issue 62, page(s): 10