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kevin_standleeOur plans for today were rained out, but the photos and video I took yesterday have finally all uploaded and I had enough time to label them, so here's the longer report of yesterday's trip out the Heart of Wales line. As always, you can click through any of these photos to see the rest of them, in particular today the 70 items in the Heart of Wales album.
Today's trip started at Pantyffynnon Station. According to Wikipedia, it was built by the Great Western Railway, the station is Grade II-listed and dates from 1857.
The station is unstaffed and has no services. It is located at the junction of a freight-only branch line to a now-closed coal mine. The platform on this side of the station has been out of service since 1966.
The only remaining Heart of Wales line signal box is here, controlling access to the sidings and to the single-track section of the line.
The level crossing is manually operated, with a staff member closing the gates a few minutes before the train arrives.
Here's a video of our train, consisting of DMU 155312, approaching the station. Note how the train halts and the signal box operator hands the driver the token authorizing the train to operate on the single-track section to Llandeilo before proceeding to the station to collect us.
The one-car train had a fair number of passengers, but was not over-crowded, allowing us enough room to get four seats around a table.
Unlike the trains to and from Swindon when Lisa and I went out to see the STEAM Museum there, the toilet worked.
The scenery is lovely.
Llandovery was the only intermediate station where I could get a clear shot. Many of the stations on this route by by request only, and more than once, we just rolled through the station because there were no passengers requesting the stop, either on board or by "making their intent clear" from the station platform. In US terms, we "highballed" those stations.
On time, we reached Cynghordy, our jumping-off point for a hike to see a remarkable piece of railway construction, with some fantastic views along the way.
Pedestrians do not need to contact the signaler to cross the line on foot, but it is an active line and one should always be careful.
The first part of the trail was well marked. Unfortunately, this would not always be the case.
The land here is beautiful. I'm glad my feet and legs had recovered enough from Glasgow and the week before to be able to hike it.
Around this point, we reached a place where there was a choice of routes but no markers, and ended up making a wrong turn. We had to backtrack, but the views were great no matter where we looked.
Reaching this ford was good news, because it's on the route map and meant we were going the right way again. There is also a small footbridge here. We did get our feet muddy in some spots, though.
Around here a group of other hikers that showed some sign that they also had wandered off the trail caught up to us. I waved them by, saying, "You're younger, fitter, and faster than us." They continued on as did we, at our own pace. I hate holding up traffic, even on a hiking trail.
Soon enough, there were posted signs to reassure us that we were not lost.
The trail took us through Glandwr Forest.
This is an forest planted for carbon sequestration. It reminds me of the Challenge Experimental Forest near my home town in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California.
We reached the high point of our hike with amazing view of the Cynghordy Viaduct. You can read the fuller details on the link, and click through to see the other pictures and video that I took. It's an amazing achievement, and a lovely view.
The trail crosses private land here, so we were careful not to walk elsewhere. There are numerous gates along the way, and we were careful to keep them closed.
It may not be obvious, but there is a trail down through here. There was even as sign for it, although I did not take a picture. This section of trail turned out to be a little steep, albeit not as bad as Devil's Bridge, and only for around 50 meters.
At the bottom of the hill things did get a bit tricky. Tree branches had fallen across the trail. We could have retreated back up the hill and down a private road, but instead we clambered over the branches, which did work, but did end up with us getting whacked with loose tree branches.
Emerging from the forest, we crossed the Afon Bran.
We were near the bottom the valley now and the Viaduct was visible in the distance.
Capel Gosen (no longer used as a place of worship) sits at the foot of the viaduct.
I shot this video panning up an arch of the viaduct. I had to stop where I did as I was risking falling over from vertigo.
This is a Grade II* listed structure, and I was very impressed.
We crossed the river again and continued through the village back to the train station. This is definitely the correct direction to take this walk, with the difficult sections first, a reward of great views, and a gentle walk back to the station.
The Station House (the only structure near the station proper) happens to be for sale. It's a lovely place, but I'm not in the market right now.
We arrived back at the station with plenty of time to eat our lunches (ham sandwiches, Scotch eggs, and Welsh cakes) before our train arrived. The hikers who overtook us boarded this train to Shrewsbury.
Our return train arrived on time. While I was recording this with one hand, I also "made my intent clear" by waving my hat, and you can hear the driver acknowledging the signal.
I took fewer pictures on the way back because the lighting conditions were not as good, but also because I was pretty tired after that roughly 5 km hike thought the Welsh hills. I should warn anyone taking this trip that while there are great views, taking pictures along this stretch of line can be difficult due to the amount of growth around the line.
The Heart of Wales line (pink on this map) is a lovely trip, with great views and great opportunities for getting out. We were the only people clearly using the train as a way to access walking paths. We were lucky with the weather, too. While I started with my rain jacket out and we did get rained on for a bit, not long after the rain cleared and the day was only partly cloudy. It was not hot, but there was enough sun that I wish I'd used some sunscreen.
I had a fine day out hiking around, and I'm glad I got to see this piece of Wales.
Today's trip started at Pantyffynnon Station. According to Wikipedia, it was built by the Great Western Railway, the station is Grade II-listed and dates from 1857.
The station is unstaffed and has no services. It is located at the junction of a freight-only branch line to a now-closed coal mine. The platform on this side of the station has been out of service since 1966.
The only remaining Heart of Wales line signal box is here, controlling access to the sidings and to the single-track section of the line.
The level crossing is manually operated, with a staff member closing the gates a few minutes before the train arrives.
Here's a video of our train, consisting of DMU 155312, approaching the station. Note how the train halts and the signal box operator hands the driver the token authorizing the train to operate on the single-track section to Llandeilo before proceeding to the station to collect us.
The one-car train had a fair number of passengers, but was not over-crowded, allowing us enough room to get four seats around a table.
Unlike the trains to and from Swindon when Lisa and I went out to see the STEAM Museum there, the toilet worked.
The scenery is lovely.
Llandovery was the only intermediate station where I could get a clear shot. Many of the stations on this route by by request only, and more than once, we just rolled through the station because there were no passengers requesting the stop, either on board or by "making their intent clear" from the station platform. In US terms, we "highballed" those stations.
On time, we reached Cynghordy, our jumping-off point for a hike to see a remarkable piece of railway construction, with some fantastic views along the way.
Pedestrians do not need to contact the signaler to cross the line on foot, but it is an active line and one should always be careful.
The first part of the trail was well marked. Unfortunately, this would not always be the case.
The land here is beautiful. I'm glad my feet and legs had recovered enough from Glasgow and the week before to be able to hike it.
Around this point, we reached a place where there was a choice of routes but no markers, and ended up making a wrong turn. We had to backtrack, but the views were great no matter where we looked.
Reaching this ford was good news, because it's on the route map and meant we were going the right way again. There is also a small footbridge here. We did get our feet muddy in some spots, though.
Around here a group of other hikers that showed some sign that they also had wandered off the trail caught up to us. I waved them by, saying, "You're younger, fitter, and faster than us." They continued on as did we, at our own pace. I hate holding up traffic, even on a hiking trail.
Soon enough, there were posted signs to reassure us that we were not lost.
The trail took us through Glandwr Forest.
This is an forest planted for carbon sequestration. It reminds me of the Challenge Experimental Forest near my home town in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California.
We reached the high point of our hike with amazing view of the Cynghordy Viaduct. You can read the fuller details on the link, and click through to see the other pictures and video that I took. It's an amazing achievement, and a lovely view.
The trail crosses private land here, so we were careful not to walk elsewhere. There are numerous gates along the way, and we were careful to keep them closed.
It may not be obvious, but there is a trail down through here. There was even as sign for it, although I did not take a picture. This section of trail turned out to be a little steep, albeit not as bad as Devil's Bridge, and only for around 50 meters.
At the bottom of the hill things did get a bit tricky. Tree branches had fallen across the trail. We could have retreated back up the hill and down a private road, but instead we clambered over the branches, which did work, but did end up with us getting whacked with loose tree branches.
Emerging from the forest, we crossed the Afon Bran.
We were near the bottom the valley now and the Viaduct was visible in the distance.
Capel Gosen (no longer used as a place of worship) sits at the foot of the viaduct.
I shot this video panning up an arch of the viaduct. I had to stop where I did as I was risking falling over from vertigo.
This is a Grade II* listed structure, and I was very impressed.
We crossed the river again and continued through the village back to the train station. This is definitely the correct direction to take this walk, with the difficult sections first, a reward of great views, and a gentle walk back to the station.
The Station House (the only structure near the station proper) happens to be for sale. It's a lovely place, but I'm not in the market right now.
We arrived back at the station with plenty of time to eat our lunches (ham sandwiches, Scotch eggs, and Welsh cakes) before our train arrived. The hikers who overtook us boarded this train to Shrewsbury.
Our return train arrived on time. While I was recording this with one hand, I also "made my intent clear" by waving my hat, and you can hear the driver acknowledging the signal.
I took fewer pictures on the way back because the lighting conditions were not as good, but also because I was pretty tired after that roughly 5 km hike thought the Welsh hills. I should warn anyone taking this trip that while there are great views, taking pictures along this stretch of line can be difficult due to the amount of growth around the line.
The Heart of Wales line (pink on this map) is a lovely trip, with great views and great opportunities for getting out. We were the only people clearly using the train as a way to access walking paths. We were lucky with the weather, too. While I started with my rain jacket out and we did get rained on for a bit, not long after the rain cleared and the day was only partly cloudy. It was not hot, but there was enough sun that I wish I'd used some sunscreen.
I had a fine day out hiking around, and I'm glad I got to see this piece of Wales.
