Endings and beginnings

Our twelve day exploration of six of the thirteen narrow gauge railways in Wales has come to and end. The last two days of the trip saw us visit the Vale of Rheidol Railway, which has the distinction of being the last steam-operated line under British Rail from 1968 until its privitisation in 1989.

The Vale of Rheidol Railway is based in Aberystwyth. The line runs for just shy of 12 miles, including a 1 in 40 gradient, to the terminus at Devil’s Bridge. The final stretch is particularly photogenic with a hillside position offering spectacular views of the line into the distance. Unfortunately, the weather was far from conducive to photography – a flat grey sky and heavy rain. This didn’t deter the group, but whatever we could conjure up it was pretty clear that these would be photos the world doesn’t need!

On the last day we were treated to the first photo charter for Hanomag Garratt No.60 “Drakensberg” (1927) hauling an SAR-style freight train after the completion of its commissioning in October/November. It was a spectacular sight even in the misty and murky conditions, so I imagine it will be a massive draw as the railway resumes operations in 2022.

Hanomag Garratt No.60 “Drakensberg” on the Vale of Rheidol Railway

Over the course of the tour we have enjoyed runpasts with 18 locomotives, but we saw a few more in action on service and rescue trains. In total, we were able to see 21 locomotives in action on the six Welsh narrow gauge lines we visited which is a good deal more than the one steam loco I saw in action in 2020! Thank you to everyone who made this possible under the challenging circumstances of the pandemic.

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A few last shots from the Vale of Rheidol Railway, Brecon Mountain Railway and Talyllyn Railway to round off.

Slate quarry railway magic at Bala Lake

I have rarely enjoyed a photo charter quite as much as our day at the Bala Lake Railway, which delivered a marvelous day of running on a stretch of the line between Llanuwchllyn Station and the passing loop just beyond Llangower. The combination of a super line and can do attitude made this a pleasure from start to finish.

Quarry Hunslet “George B” passes the Bentley that once belonged to the famous railway photographer Ivo Peters

The Bala Lake Railway operates on a four and a half mile long line, running alongside Bala Lake, through the Snowdonia National Park on the trackbed of the former standard gauge GWR line from Ruabon to Barmouth Junction. The standard gauge line closed in 1965 and that should have been the end of the story but for the foresight of local engineer George Barnes, who saw the potential of the line alongside the lake for tourism.

The first stretch of the narrow gauge line opened in 1972 and reached Llangower a year later. The current terminus of the line at Pen y Bont is a ten minute walk from the centre of Bala but the railway is trying to raise £3.5 million to construct an extension to Bala Town Station.

On our visit there were two Quarry Hunslets in steam hauling restored slate wagons. These were Winifred, built in 1885 to work at Port Penrhyn; and George B, built in 1898 to work at Dinorwic Slate Quarry. The history of “Winifred” is fascinating, including a rather surprising stay for just shy of 50 years at the grounds of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In addition to these two marvelous locos, we were able to make a visit to the Llanuwchllyn Heritage Centre during a break in the action to see their wonderful collection of exhibits and locos (including “Nesta”, “Holy War” and “Triassic”).

Winifred (1885) and George B (1898)

The cherry on the cake was the staged appearance of the 1951 Mark VI Bentley that once belonged to the famous railway photographer Ivo Peters (1915-1989) at what must be the busiest gravel road crossing anywhere in the country from all the traffic passing through between runpasts! It was a joy to photograph the Bentley in combination with the Quarry Hunslets.

Thanks to everyone on the railway for making our visit such a delight.

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Mud and mountains

After three days on the Ffestiniog we turned our attention to the Welsh Highland Railway. It was fascinating to see just how different the landscapes were on the ride up to the peak at Rhyd Ddu, with a completely different set of photographic opportunities. The weather was still erratic, but it had been alot wetter in the build up to our arrival…

A slow moving low pressure system last week dumped a heck of a lot of water on Snowdonia, resulting in heavy flooding at Plas Y Nant, with photos in the local press showing the track submerged. Thankfully, the damage was fully repaired in just a few days and we could enjoy three days of photo charters on the line followed by a chill-out day riding the line to Waunfawr for a pub lunch.

NGG 16 No.130 with a SAR freight train at Porthmadog

Although the most serious outcomes of the heavy rainfall had been addressed, the ground was completely saturated. Water was still running off the mountains in freshly formed streams when we arrived for our first shots. Inevitably, this meant that the terrain was quite treacherous with gloopy mud on the most heavily trod sections of the footpath we followed. Some effort had been made to shore up the path, but its effectiveness was limited.

I found this out at first hand, sinking to well above boot level on my first attempt. I feared I would lose both boots but somehow managed to extricate myself, thickly coated in mud but otherwise fine. Others sank even further, going knee deep into the mud while the lucky few seemed to glide across. It was a lottery whether there was anything solid below the mud you stepped on!

None of this mattered. The spectacle was worth any of the modest difficulties we faced and appreciated all the more in the knowledge of all the work that the railway had put in to get the track sorted and to provide such an incredible feast for our eyes.

Over the four days we spent on the line we were treated to the spectacle of Ex South African Railways NGG 16 Class Garratt No. 87 (2-6-2+2-6-2); Ex Tasmanian Government Railways K class Garratt K1 (0-4-0+0-4-0); and Ex South African Railways NGG16 Class Garratt No. 130 (2-6-2+2-6-2) hauling freight and passenger consists over the summit. And that’s before we get on to the Double Fairlies and the veteran Welsh Pony (1867), the first of the Large England class locos, which only returned to steam in June 2020.

The sight of these magnificent locos working trains on the horse shoe curves at Rhyd Ddu was quite something with the incredible backdrop of the Llyn Cwellyn reservoir, the mountains beyond and those distinctive blue-grey slate heaps. The view from the old sea wall at the other end of the day was equally arresting, with the mountains looming large and some pretty vibrant rainbows on top of that.

Ex South African Railways NGG 16 Class Garratt No. 87 hauls a freight train towards Rhyd Dhu

On the wettest of our days on the Welsh Highland Railway we enjoyed a series of runpasts on the old incline and cutting before Nantmor station, as well as around the Bryn-Y-Felin bridge. The riverbanks here proved another treacherous spot, with one chap emerging sopping wet from the river. Thank goodness loco cabs are great places to dry clothes!

I thoroughly enjoyed my time on the Welsh Highland Railway, so thank you to all the volunteers who keep this impressive operation going and for making our visit to the railway such a pleasure.

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Finding the light on the Ffestiniog

Our first day on the Ffestiniog Railway provided a bit of everything, from the delights of a first introduction to the extraordinary Double Fairlie locomotives (double ended articulated locomotives with two fireboxes) to the stunning beauty of the Snowdonia National Park in autumn. I began to understand why some of my fellow photographers have been coming here year after year.

Small England class loco “Prince” hauls a passenger service over the Dduallt spiral

At the first location, a private halt known as Campbell’s Platform, a rainbow capped an already stunning shot of our train coming round the curve with a mountain backdrop. Although this was only the first shot of the charter, many of the photographers thought this was destined to be the shot of the trip, having never seen anything like this in many years of coming here. An instantaneous round of applause for the charter organiser followed and I can tell you that I have never seen a reaction quite like that.

Now, I’d like to show you the shot but the truth is I simply failed to notice the rainbow grow in intensity and go wide enough to capture it in its full glory. It’s the photographic equivalent of firing a shot far over the bar rather than knocking in the ball for an easy penalty. I tend to remember the shots I miss more than the ones I took successfully, so this one will be haunting me for years!

The price exacted from the weather gods for such photographic gold was an afternoon of utterly dismal weather as the heavy rain that had dropped on us intermittently through the morning now swept in for a more prolonged stay. Nevertheless, no-one walked away without at least one shot they could be happy with. I hope I managed to redeem myself by the end of the day.

I guess we must have cut a mad sight, standing on the hillside getting drenched and waiting for that break in the clouds that would deliver the light we needed. It takes some skill to judge when to call the train for a runpast in such tricky conditions, but today it worked out every time – though sometimes only by the finest of margins.

Our journey continued, though initially only at a sheep’s trot. A trio of plucky lambs had managed to find their way onto the lineside and our train had to chase them up the hillside for a little way until we reached a point where they could escape. Finally, we made it to the end of the line at Blaenau Ffestiniog, where one of the unexpected delights would have to be the spicy Kurdish pasties on offer from Model Bakery, an extraordinary enterprise established by a former rocket scientist!

Timing was once again spot on. The rain was unrelenting and as we made our way back down the line we saw the raging streams and waterfalls that the surfeit of water had created. It is no wonder that there have been further reports of flooding in Wales. Although that seemed like a lot of water we soon discovered that our second day consisted of rain, rain and more rain.

Finally, the third day offered up some superb weather (and a bit more rain) that allowed us to really take advantage of the incredible scenery around the Tanygrisiau reservoir. At the end of three days of sometimes challenging photography it felt like it was only right to celebrate with a pint of the superb local Welsh Steam Ale from Purple Moose Brewery. Maybe with a pint or two more to follow that…

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Steam in Snowdonia

It has been a while since I have had a fix of live steam action but that should be well and truly addressed over the next twelve days as I join a tour of some of the amazing narrow gauge railways in Wales. At the heart of the trip will be a seven day spell on the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways.

I have long wanted to visit the Ffestiniog Railway having marveled at the astonishing pictures published in Steam Railway magazine but somehow never managed to squeeze a trip into my schedule until now. I jumped at the chance to join a photo charter on these inter-connected lines and find out exactly what I had been missing out on.

Small England class loco “Prince” (1863) hauls a passenger train towards Tanygrisiau on the Ffestiniog Railway

A bit of background first, the 13.5 mile long line used by the Ffestiniog Railway today was built to serve industry, connecting the slate quarries in the mountains at Blaenau Ffestiniog with the harbour at Porthmadog. For an industrial line it is blessed with an incredible array of natural beauty spots. You have it all from lush forests to striking mountains. It’s not hard to see how it gained its second life as a tourist railway.

To avoid having to double the line (providing track in both directions) the engineers settled on an ingenious solution: a double ended articulated steam locomotive with two fireboxes. The Double Fairlies must have made quite an impression when they were first introduced and still have that wow factor today.

The Welsh Highland Railway between Porthmadog and Caernarfon is a more remarkable revival still, with the persistent efforts of supporters bringing back to life a line that closed to passengers in 1936. The efforts to restore the 25-mile line finally paid off with the re-opening of the first section in 1997. The line was extended section-by-section until it was completed in 2011, linking up with the Ffestiniog Railway with a neat connection that runs along the streets of Porthmadog.

As is often the case with photo charters our tour falls outside the main tourist season to give us the full extent of the line to play with, without the worry of having to dodge service trains. The conditions are highly likely to be challenging, but with some super autumnal colours and a bit of luck with the weather, this could be spectacular…

Conwy Castle, Plaw Mawr and the Conwy Suspension Bridge

The last day of our short break in North Wales brought us to Conwy, primarily to see Edward I’s grand castle of 1287 but also to lap up the many other historic sights in the town – a 14th-century merchant’s house, a remarkable Elizabethan townhouse and Telford’s suspension bridge.

Conwy Castle is an impressive sight from every angle, sitting on a rocky outcrop that overlooks the river and the surrounding countryside. It is all the more remarkable to consider that it took just four years to complete construction. Work started in the immediate aftermath of Edward I’s victory over the Welsh forces at Aberconwy in 1283 – quite a contrast to the protracted building works at Caernarfon.

Conwy Castle

You can better appreciate the way that Conwy Castle dominates the landscape from the vantage point of the town wall walk and from across the river, though the best views are apparently to be found from Benarth Hill. The weather was a little too unpredictable for us to contemplate this, starting with torrential rain but progressing through to brilliant blue skies by early afternoon. As we headed back to Bangor the clouds rolled back in, delivering thunder, lightning and hail in abundance!

The castle probably feels more brutal to modern eyes, stripped of its lavish interiors and with just the bare walls to give you a feel for its layout, but in its time it was fit for kings – both Edward I and Edward II spent time at the castle. After this, conditions deterioriated to such an extent that it was said that no castle in North Wales was fit for Edward III to stay.

It has to be said that Conwy Castle was not exactly a destination of choice. Edward I only spent a miserable Christmas here when he was cut off from his army by flooding and Richard II’s stay here ended in his capture and eventual abdication (it was in the royal chapel, which survives to this day, that Richard II was assured of Bolingbroke’s good intentions by a treacherously sworn oath from the Earl of Northumberland).

Plas Mawr

Although the castle was the big draw, we found the other sights in town to be much more satisfying. Plas Mawr, an Elizabethan townhouse, was a particular delight with its abundance of bold design, beautiful plasterwork and remarkable furniture. A short walk away is Aberconwy House, a medieval merchant’s house and sometime temperance hotel, which is worth a look if you have National Trust membership.

Another delight in Conwy was Thomas Telford’s impressive chain suspension bridge (1826) which formed an essential link in the highway between Chester and Holyhead until it closed in November 1958. We made a short visit to the castellated tollhouse at one end and wondered how the tollkeepers, David and Maria Williams, ever managed to bring up four children in this tiny space!

The Toll House

Our day out in Conwy served up plenty of history in a concentrated space, a tasty meal at The Castle Hotel and plenty of variation in the weather! The visit also completed our short weekend break in North Wales and left us with a quiet evening in Bangor before a half-day journey home.

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Playing castles at Penrhyn

A horrible weather forecast for the day (heavy rain from sunrise to sunset c/o storm katie) saw us look indoors for our day’s sightseeing, picking out the nineteenth century fantasy that is Penrhyn Castle. To be perfectly honest, we didn’t know all that much about the castle before our visit and assumed that we were visiting a traditional stately home. How wrong could we be!?

Although Penrhyn Castle is built on an ancient site, this building is an elaborate confection with pseudo Norman styling built in 1820-32 with funds of dubious origins (the wealth of the family owed a lot to the slave plantations of the West Indies). It has been a tourist attraction for its entire life, with a tourist route established by Lord Penrhyn and visitors shown around the building before the work was complete. It’s not hard to appreciate the draw when you step inside to see the truly exquisite interiors and craftsmanship on display (interestingly, most of the elements that you can see are the work of local stonemasons and carpenters).

Penrhyn Castle in the gloom of an Easter downpour

It took us only five minutes to reach the gate to the property by bus from Bangor (stop: Castell Llandegai) but a further 15 minutes to walk down the driveway, by which point we were thoroughly soaked. A courtesy bus took us up to the property, sparing us a further drenching, and from this point on we moved between buildings at a dash!

The postcards and guidebooks show a remarkable building set in beautiful parkland but we couldn’t appreciate any of that in the gloomy conditions of the day which served only to accentuate the slightly forbidding nature of the exterior. It is an astonishing vision for a home, though perhaps not the easiest place to live in!

Our first stop was the industrial railway museum in the stables block, which opens an hour before the main house. It tells the story of industrial railways such as the system that grew up to serve Lord Penrhyn’s slate quarries at Bethesda and transport the raw material to Port Penrhyn, Bangor. The museum holds a small collection of steam locomotives, including a couple that worked on the Penrhryn Quarry Railway itself.

The main house opened at midday and we made a dash around the building to reach the entrance (passing through a wonderful doorway with an arch of carved heads and two wolves staring at each other). Once I made it inside I was struck by a series of bronzed iron lamps, each with a set of four snarling wolf heads, that line the narrow entrance gallery. Nothing quite prepares you for the surprise of the vast empty grand hall that lies beyond this with the most incredible stone carving and stained glass, illuminated by lamps hanging from the mouths of three headed stone beasts.

It soon became clear that the interior deserves the slowest of wanders to truly appreciate the detail, whether that be a small carved head on the walls or a medieval style archway. The fusion of medieval and Nordic design with colourful wallpaper and fabrics makes for some of the most vibrant interiors that I have seen in a long while. In one sense the gloom outside helped to intensify the romantic allure of spaces like the drawing room with the only light coming from elaborate tall bronze candelabras. Besides the great hall, highlights of the building include the library, chapel and the grand staircase. The latter features what the guidebook aptly describes as ‘an orgy of fantastic carving’ and a ‘riot of plaster’ yet only goes part way towards describing how mad it is!

The curves of the jaw-dropping grand hall

Penrhyn Castle has to be seen to be believed, with all attempt at illustration or explanation insufficient to capture the absolutely bonkers opulence of the place. One early visitor had it spot-on when he said that what could once only have been accomplished by a monarch is today executed as a plaything, with increased magnificence, by a country gentleman!

Admission to Penrhyn Castle is not cheap, coming in at £12.50 for an adult if you are not a member of the National Trust. It’s a price worth paying as this is a remarkable building – it had been an itinerary filler and a response to the poor weather forecast but actually turned out to be the unexpected highlight of our trip to North Wales. It was a shame that we couldn’t fully appreciate the exterior but the rain was hammering down so hard that it would have been quite unwise to wander too far from cover!

The Easter weekend saw a number of family friendly events, including an Easter bunny hunt in the main house. So often these sorts of events can detract from anyone trying to appreciate the beauty of the buildings but the hunt was so tastefully staged that it would have taken a curmudgeon not to smile at a bunny seated at the dining table with a plateful of carrots or the bunny taking a soak in a bathtub. It was a delight to see and you couldn’t help joining in the amusement at spotting bunnies making themselves at home!

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Might and majesty – Caernarfon’s fortress-palace

The magnificent castles of Edward I in Wales have long been on a list of home attractions that I have wanted to explore, but for one reason or another it has taken me a while to get around to climbing aboard a train to North Wales. First on the list was Caernarfon Castle, a supremely expensive fortress designed to impose itself on the landscape and signify the power of English rule.

The Eagle Tower

Stepping through the threshold of Caernarfon Castle for the first time you can’t help but be struck by the bold statement of strength infused with grandeur that James of St George, the military architect of his age, conjured up here.

It really is quite unrivalled in Wales and in a select group of the most impressive fortress castles in the UK, though there are no palatial interiors to wow here – only the foundations survive of what must once have been a splendid Great Hall. Although intended to accommodate the great medieval household of the king’s eldest son the castle actually ended up as little more than an arnament and building maintenance depot in the fourteenth century.

The overall look of the castle was intended to tap into the legend of the usurper Roman emperor, Magnus Maximus (Macsen Wledig), who ruled Gaul, Britain and Spain from 383 until his capture and execution in 388. This might have been the moment he faded from history but instead he turned into a figure of celtic legend in the Mabinogion. The dreams of Macsen include sight of a great castle on the coast, a vision cleverly adopted by Edward I in the construction of a castle with curtain walls with coloured bands that evoke the walls of Roman Constantinople.

On top of the mythological associations, the status of Caernarfon was further cemented upon the birth of the future Edward II at the castle on 25th January 1284 and the subsequent bestowal of the title of Prince of Wales upon him in 1301. Later histories say that Edward I presented his son as a prince ‘borne in Wales and could speake never a word of English’ which seems a little unlikely, though he certainly gave his son the rule and revenue of the Crown’s Welsh territory.

Since 1301 it has become tradition for the eldest son of the reigning monarch to be given the title of Prince of Wales. A display in the Eagle Tower includes the original thrones used in the investiture ceremonies at Caernarfon for the Prince of Wales in 1911 and 1969. In a corner of the ground floor space a TV set plays the footage of Prince Charles at Caernarfon on an endless loop.

The upper and lower wards from the Eagle Tower

Construction work on the Caernarfon Castle we know today began in the summer of 1283, in the immediate aftermath of Edward’s victory in the second war of Welsh independence (1282-83), but came under attack during a rebellion led by Madog ap Llywelyn in September 1294.

If nothing else, the revolt had illustrated the need for the fortresses in North Wales to secure Edward’s newly conquered territories and this now drove the project forward with an increased sense of insecurity. The heavy damage prompted a redoubling of building works with more elaborate defensive measures, though many of the plans still remained unrealised by the time works effectively finished in 1330.

Caernarfon Castle from across the Seiont

It is a pleasure to wander the walls, though the place is something of a labyrinth. At one point I got separated from my travelling companion and when we finally emerged we found ourselves on the same stretch of wall but on different levels. On a number of occasions we found ourselves encountering other families that had tried going in every direction but couldn’t find the route that took them forward on the wall walk. Inevitably, it was easy to find the dead end passageways though! A bit of a head scratcher at times given how simple it seems from ground level.

If you have the energy you can climb up any number of towers on your wall walk, though a couple was quite enough for me. The most impressive of the towers is the triple turreted Eagle Tower, which most probably contained the chambers of Edward I’s lieutenant in North Wales. The name comes from the heavily weathered eagle that can be seen on the western turret, along with a selection of equally weathered helmeted heads.

Caernarfon Castle kept us entertained for around two and a half hours. Besides wandering around the walls there is a dramatic audio-visual presentation on a loop, an exhibition about the players in Edward I’s world and a fascinating museum about the history of the Royal Welch Fusiliers (keep an eye out for the displays about the post of Goat Major and the tattered remnants of the much shot through colours that the regiment carried in the Crimean war). I think that is pretty good value for an adult admission fee of £7.95 (a cost covered for us by our English Heritage cards).

There is more to see in Caernarfon, including the town walls and the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways but for us the visit to the castle filled a half day perfectly. We rounded off our day with a lovely taste of Welsh hospitality at the wonderful Bell Tower Cafe (a family run business established in 1958) in Hole in the Wall Street before setting off on our journey to our base at Bangor.

Bangor is not the most obvious place to stay, not being remotely touristy, but it has the benefit of being roughly equidistant between three of Edward’s castles that we had hoped to visit – Beaumaris, Caernarfon and Conwy. All of these are easily reached by bus. Our accommodation, at The Management Centre, within Bangor University is a little quirky but perfect for our needs.

The next stop on our medieval castle trail will be Conwy Castle, although the forecast does not look all that promising. The very real threat of torrential rain and storms has already forced us to drop plans to visit Edward’s unfinished last castle at Beaumaris (with its demonstration of perfect concentric symmetry) but I am determined to see Conwy Castle whatever comes our way…

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