Great Train robber 'relives' crime

Bruce Reynolds masterminded the robbery

One of the gang involved in the Great Train Robbery is to visit north Wales later this month to give an insight into one of Britain's most notorious crimes.

Bruce Reynolds, one of the last remaining ex-robbers, is to visit a Denbighshire museum, where, among the exhibits, is one of the lorries used by the robbers.

The former villain was part of a 20-strong team, including Buster Edwards and Ronnie Biggs who stole £2.3 million after robbing a Glasgow-to-London mail train in 1963.

He was jailed for 25-years for his part in the crime and Biggs, 74, has been held in the hospital wing of Belmarsh prison, south-east London, since he returned to the UK two years ago.

Reynolds was on the run for five years in Mexico and Canada after the robbery before his £150,000 share ran out and he was eventually caught penniless in Torquay.

On the 40th anniversary of the crime Bruce Reynolds will visit the Cae Dai Trust Community Hall in Denbigh on 29 November to speak about the robbery, his part in it and how his life has changed since.

The gang robbed a Glasgow-to-London mail train in 1963

Trust director, Sparrow Harrison said the museum had leased out various Great Train Robbery exhibits over the last couple of years and it was during these that he met Reynolds.

"He has been one of the speakers at various events and I have got to know him quite well," explained Mr Harrison.

"He is a fascinating speaker. He has served his time, he has changed his life. He had to choose either to stay in crime or get out and he decided to get out.

"It is a fascinating story. He was the mastermind of it. He tells the story and all the things that happened. He gives the inside story and also talks about his personal life and how it all affected him and those around him."

'Fascinating talker'

Mr Harrison said that he had found Reynolds to be a very decent man.

"He was a villain and is the first one to say so, but he has been able to change his life and is a fascinating talker."

Cae Dai is a charitable trust, which aims to help people take responsibility for their lives following various problems, including getting into trouble with the police.

The 50's museum housed at Cae Dai has, as one of its exhibits, a lorry used by the gang during the robbery, later recovered during a police raid on the team's safe house, Leatherslade Farm in Oxfordshire.