A BID by the Gwendraeth Railway Society to improve the local environment and develop a Community Heritage Railway has been given a boost thanks to a cash injection by environmental organisation Keep Wales Tidy.

Thanks to a grant for just over £1,000, the voluntary group has been able to make a start on the ground, clearing overgrown vegetation, litter and fly-tipped material from the mothballed Network Rail-owned freight branch which runs through the heart of the Gwendraeth Valley.

Since the late 1990s when the last freight trains operated along the railway corridor, sections of the route have been blighted by littering and fly-tipping and has become generally overgrown. As a result the area in general and sections of the route has been highlighted as a priority for action under the Tidy Towns partnership and wider Pride in our Communities initiatives for immediate clean-up action. Gwendraeth Railway Society chairman Stuart Thomas said: “This grant is most welcome in this historic centenary year of the official opening of passenger services in the Gwendraeth Valley as it has enabled us to finally make a start on the ground with our revival plans and in the process help tidy up visible features along the route.”