On Tuesday 7 April I packed my case and walked down to Parade Street to catch the T3 bus to Barmouth. I had no idea how much it would cost - my bus pass doesn't work in Wales - but it was a reasonable £5.80. The weather was glorious and we went through Bala (home of the Bala Lake railway) and Dolgellau, where I could have caught a bus to Aber. Approaching Barmouth I glimpsed the impressive railway/foot bridge over the estuary. I bought a ticket to Aber (£8.45) and had an hour to kill so walked down to the beach (the tide was way out, like Southport) then inland for a coffee and slice of bara brith ay Murray's cafe. The train was full but I got a window seat with a sea view.
We passed the Fairbourne miniature railway and I caught a glimpse of a red loco at the Talyllyn. Approching the junction, the guard told us to look out for osprey and I thnk I saw one. There was an hours's wait at Machynlleth with nothing to do except have a cup of tea, then another full train to Aber, where the station is one big Wetherspoons Yr Hen Orsaf.
I checked in at Harry's Hotel, where I was in single room 10, a bit of a come down after Cottage 21 but perfectly adequate, even if I couldn't get the wifi to work. It was a stroll to the from, to see the ugliest pier in Britain, then aback to the station for a couple of pints of Crimson King (Butcombe) using my 50p off Camra tokens (=£1.55 a pint!) and some sweet chilli noodles.
On Wednesday 8 April, after my splendid vegetarian breakfast (two Linda McCartney sausages etc etc), I trudged to the far end of the bay to the Aberystwyth Cliff Railway where a senior return cost £3.50 to ride on Britain's longest funicular. There was not a lot to do at the top so after taking a few snaps I descended and walked back along the front to catch the 12.15 Vale of Rheidol train (£15.20 with senior and Great Little Trains of Wales discount card).
I'd already seen No 8 the day before when I arrived at Aber - the 2ft gauge steam railway is parallel to the mainline, and here it was again. I sat as near the front as I could on the left hand side of an open carriage. In front of me were a family with a dog that barked at every cow and sheep we passed. Soon we were up on the hill side with a vertical drop down the left-hand side, and a view of reservoirs and misty mountains.
We passed No 9 Prince of Wales at Aberffrwd, and spotted a pair of red kites. At Devil's Bridge, we had an hour to kill and while the driver polished his engine, i wandered down to look at the waterfalls. I didn't have time to pay £1 for a view of the triple bridge, and all those steps! So wandered back to the station and perused their second-hand books. I bought a nice couple of London, Brighton and South Coast railway books for a fiver apiece.
On the way back I sat inside, as it was a bit nippy up there, and back at Aber I patronised The Old Station and ate burritos on their free pint deal (IPA).
After a smaller veggie breakfast (just one sausage) i said goodbye to Harry's and after a look in the Oxfam bookshop, headed for the station for the 11.30 to Birmingham. We hitched up with the Barmouth train at Machynlleth (no wait this time) and carried on through fields of baby baa lambs. I spotted Jon Mills' bridge on the cycle network, but saw no trace of the Corris railway or the Welshpool & Llanfair railway. As we got into England, the scenery got grottier, despite some nice looking canals round Wolverhampton way. At Brum it was onto a big long Virgin express to Euston, then the tube and Victoria for home.
More photos on Flickr.
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