Col Andrew Henry Knight Campbell retired from the Black Watch having served as a lawyer in many places, including Palestine in the build-up to the creation of Israel.

In his day he was the youngest serving colonel in the Army. But where could he go next? Without retraining and re-qualifying, Scotland was not an option. North Wales, with its rugged landscape, Celtic traditions and legal jurisdiction was a good alternative.

His epitaph is Campbell's Platform, a private halt on the Ffestiniog Steam Railway. It's a great place to start or end a journey and exclusive to the residents and guests of Plas y Dduallt, the manor house he bought at auction in 1962. He had no intention of buying it, he put in a bid and was surprised that it was accepted and that the bank lent the necessary money!

At that time there was no vehicle access to the house, not even a tractor could make it up the precipitous cliffs. As such the platform was much more than a tourist attraction, it was the colonel's lifeline and he had his own engine to drive up and down the line.

His daily commute began with checking all was clear before moving the engine off the siding and onto the line. He had a 'running powers agreement' with the railway which was a right to use the track so long as he did not interfere with the rest of the railway.

He would then travel down the line to the next station where his car was parked and thence by road to the old market town of Dolgellau. It was here that he worked as solicitor for the county council.

I suspect he preferred the return journey, home to freedom and his mountain kingdom. In the early days he would wheel his provisions down from the platform in a wheelbarrow, but later on he installed an electric winch to hoist the goods through the trees down to the house below.

The relationship with the railway was two-way with the colonel putting his explosives expertise and licence to productive use helping blast through the new route to Blaenau Ffestiniog. People who knew him from these days remember him keeping the explosives under his bed for safe-keeping!

He also made the old barns available to the railway volunteers working on the line and these became known as Dduallt Mess, sleeping (officially) 14 in bunk bed accommodation. Many a relationship began or blossomed during volunteer weekends at Dduallt and the hospitality of the Campbells is fondly remembered.

When the Campbells eventually moved in, after much re-roofing and rebuilding the stone spiral staircase, they did so with a furniture train. This job was a bit too specialised for Pickfords.

His epitaph might be the platform, but his greatest achievement must be the restoration of the medieval house which had been home to the Llwyds for several hundred years, a noble family descended from Llewelyn the Great.

The history of Plas y Dduallt.