Wales’ most westerly semaphores 

There have been a few changes to the railway scene on island of Anglesey since my last visit two and a half years ago (May 2021), but happily the final ten miles to Holyhead from remote Ty Croes remains an interesting outpost of mechanical signalling, with no imminent plans for any re-signalling.

While the TfW fleet of Alstom Class 175 units have been displaced by the CAF Class 197 units that will eventually cover the whole of Wales, and regular loco-hauled interest is now confined to a once-daily Holyhead-Cardiff return, control of the route remains with the trio of signal and gate boxes at Holyhead, Valley and Ty Croes.

Paying a return visit to Holyhead on 4/5 December 2023, my aim was to capture the new order of rolling stock as it passed the area’s remaining semaphores, most notably the Ty Croes down distant signal (TC1), which has the distinction of being one of only two surviving semaphore distant signals in the Principality. 

Once on Anglesey, trains bound for Holyhead will pass a couple of semaphores at remote Gaerwen (GN4 and GN5) then the only other semaphores they pass will be distant signal TC1 at Ty Croes and down home signal TC2, which stands opposite the up platform and in front of a level crossing close to the signal box.

In the up direction trains departing from Holyhead station will be signalled by HD35 (platform 1), HD38 (platform 2) or HD23 (platform 3) before passing the large signal box and then up section signal HD39. They will then pass another pair of signals at Valley (VY24 then VY23) before the Ty Croes up home TC5, and finally a further pair at Gaerwen (GN19 then GN17).

Getting to Holyhead in the dismal weather conditions of Monday, 4 December 2023 proved a pretty big challenge. The 09.02 from Euston to Holyhead was cancelled between Euston and Crewe, but catching the 08.33 Manchester Piccadilly service was no help, when a major signal failure near Rugeley (Trent Valley) meant it arrived 88 minutes late at Crewe.

That meant missing both the curtailed Avanti service and the next connection from Chester, which had departed before the first available TfW train from Crewe had arrived. Taking a Llandudno-bound service from Chester as far as Llandudno Junction meant escaping chronic over-crowding on the following Holyhead service, but joining it after a half hour wait at Llandudno Junction meant getting to Holyhead at 15.20, almost seven hours after leaving Euston.

Dire weather and descending gloom meant 4 December was a write-off in terms of photos, so after a welcome pint of JW Lees’ Plum Pudding Ale (4.8% / £3.70) in the convivial Holland Inn outside Holyhead station, and a bargain-priced night (£24.99) in the nearby Travelodge, my hopes rested on Tuesday, 5 December being a rather better day.

Happily, on a day of flooding in many parts of England, the weather picture in North Wales was rather different, so after a 15-minute trip to the request stop of Ty Croes (mind the huge step down to the platform!) and a brisk 15 minute walk to Pen-Henilys over-bridge, I was able to get shots of both Class 197s and a pair of Colas Rail Class 56 locos powering Railhead Treatment Train (RHTT) 3S71 passing down distant signal TC1.

Being keen to get another shot of the Class 56s as they returned from Holyhead on their lengthy RHTT circuit back to Coleham Yard at Shrewsbury, I headed back to Ty Croes station in time to catch them there, along with a pair of Class 153s as they passed non-stop with a service from Cardiff Central.

Next up was a return from one request stop to another, and back to Valley, where there is the near constant noise of RAF fighters from the nearby air-base and where the delightful and Listed signal box makes a marked contrast to the Listed, but neglected, station building, which looks badly in need of some TLC.

An hour here only produced one up train passing the signal box after the lunchtime Avanti service to Euston had been cancelled, so I then headed back to Holyhead, where the fine winter sunshine meant an opportunity to photograph the station scene, where 175006/105 are the last of these units to be parked here, pending their move into storage.

Holyhead station has a rather desolate feel about it, and what I have seen of the town is not much better, but from a railway point of view this north-west corner of Anglesey has much to recommend it on a fine day, with two listed signal boxes, a listed station building, and one of the only two surviving semaphore distant signals in the whole of Wales.