Joanne Ormesher – The Llangollen Firecracker

As a young girl Joanne loved spending time with her grandfather in his model workshop. He called her his “firecracker”. He died when Joanne was 13 and her love for the railway went on hold until one day when she was commuting to work and saw a steam engine heading for Preston. That was a sliding doors moment in Joanne’s life, the fire in her for steam engines had just been relit. Joanne went on to be the first women fireman on two heritage rail groups and today as a volunteer at Llangollen Railway she is training the next generation of firemen. Her story caught the eye of BBC Radio 2’s 21st Century folk series and as part of the Railway 200 celebrations was turned into song, written by singer songwriter Findlay Napier. The song, Firecracker, tells Joanne’s love story for steam and her grandfather. Listen to Firecracker on BBC Radio 2’s 21st Century Folk Listen to Findlay Napier’s Great Rail Tale