Aberglaslyn Pass © Ricky Yates
As a teenager in the 1960s, I enjoyed several visits to North Wales – either on geography field trips, or walking holidays, staying overnight in youth hostels. On a number of occasions during those visits, I walked through the beautifully rugged Aberglaslyn Pass, following the line of a long defunct railway. This included walking through three short tunnels, hewn through protruding outcrops of rock.
Research using my local library back in Coventry, revealed that what I had walked along was part of the line of the narrow gauge Welsh Highland Railway, which had closed in 1937. A few years later in 1941, the track and rolling stock had been requisitioned by the Ministry of Defence, to support the ongoing war effort.
Much as I liked the idea that one day, what must have been a most wonderful scenic railway line, might be rebuilt and brought back into use, I never imagined that it would ever happen. Yet amazingly it has! Under the auspices of the neighbouring Ffestiniog Railway Co., who in 1995 gained control of the trackbed and other assets, from the Official Receiver, the Welsh Highland Railway has been progressively reopened so that it is now possible to travel 25 miles/40 km from Porthmadog to Caernarfon through the scenic delights of Snowdonia.
Therefore on the morning of Thursday 21st April, after an excellent night’s sleep and a hearty full Welsh breakfast, courtesy of Linda, my hostess at Bryn Derw B & B, I set off to drive the short journey from Talsarnau to Porthmadog, to enjoy a train journey I never thought I would ever experience. I was also blessed with a warm sunny day and clear skies, enabling me to see and photograph the rivers and mountains of this beautiful part of the world.
On my train journey north, from Porthmadog to Caernarfon, I had problems taking photographs, because of getting reflections back from the glass of the carriage windows. Below are a few least affected by this problem.
My train – ready to depart from Porthmadog © Ricky Yates
Heading towards the Aberglaslyn Pass © Ricky Yates
Aberglaslyn Pass © Ricky Yates
Heading north from Beddgelert © Ricky Yates
Mountains © Ricky Yates
Mynedd Mawr & Llyn Cwellyn © Ricky Yates
Caernarfon Castle © Ricky Yates
Caernarfon is famous for its castle, which towers above this delightful town.
Caernarfon Castle © Ricky Yates
My train ready to depart from Caernarfon Station © Ricky Yates
On the return journey to Porthmadog, I was in a carriage where it was possible to lower the windows and avoid the problem of glass reflection. Below are a selection of the many photographs I was able to take, without distortion or interference.
Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales, still with a little snow in sheltered places © Ricky Yates
Heading around a curve © Ricky Yates
Mountains © Ricky Yates
Heading around another curve. I’m not the only one leaning out of a window to get a photo 🙂 © Ricky Yates
The highest point on the route © Ricky Yates
Heading back towards Porthmadog © Ricky Yates
Beautiful photos! I would love to see Wales, someday!
Wales is beautiful! But it does help when the sun is shining 🙂 In that respect, I was most fortunate.
Excellent photos Ricky. It’s so good to see the revival of some of the old railways. We have the Colne Valley Railway in North Essex which is very popular. Glad you enjoyed your time in Wales.
Heather and Fred
Glad you enjoyed the photos, Heather. It is good to see railways being revived & stations re-opened. The Beeching closures of the 1960s were so short-sighted.
Hello Ricky
I must admit that my first emotions kept placing me in one of the compartments of the Hogwart’s express but then I pulled myself back realizing you are travelling IRL. I always had a thing for steam engines, we have a few running through the southern valleys in the summertime and one on Öland I believe. As a child I experienced the one-track railway running from city to the outskirts where the fishermen had their trade.
You have given us such a riveting story combined with breathtaking pictures. I had no idea Wales was like this! What a treat, what a brilliant idea to reopen! As for the walking in tunnels, we walked through a section of the Brennerpass in Austria. The plates on the walls told us what that tunnel had cost in money and lives. Mountains should be left alone but I admit the scenery is adorable. Going up and alongside the mountains would probably scare the wits out of me, since I’m afraid of heights, but it’s nice to look at. I covered my eyes in the ski-lift- all the way up. Thank you for sharing this magical trip!
Hello Solveig,
Yes – I certainly was travelling in real life! Though I’m sure that, sooner or later, the restored Welsh Highland Railway will be used as a film set too.
Wales is a beautiful country and well worth visiting. It is somewhere for which I have a particular soft spot, both from my visits as a teenager in the 1960s, and from spending three years living in West Wales, whilst an undergraduate student at a small University College. I’m very proud to have BA Hons. (Wales) after my name 🙂
Wow! That really is a spectacular route. I must make the effort to go north and take a trip on the Welsh Highland Railway, having already enjoyed travelling on several of the Great Little Trains of Wales, including the Ffestiniog Railway which initiated this massive restoration. Our local Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway was a great favourite with our grandsons.
It is spectacular, Perpetua and I’m so glad I planned this visit into my schedule. I’m a fan of the ‘Great Little Trains of Wales’ and have previously travelled the Vale of Rheidol Railway, the Talyllyn Railway & the aforementioned Ffestiniog Railway. So I was very pleased to add the relatively recently restored Welsh Highland Railway to this list. However, whilst I also know of the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway, I’ve not got there yet.
PS Whilst not mentioned in the post, my thanks for your overnight hospitality following this trip.
Hi Ricky,
What an adventure you had and how wonderful it is that Wales has restored and re-opened so many of her narrow gauge railways. There have been a small number of partially successful restorations here in Ireland but nothing on this scale. Sadly there aren’t sufficient numbers of interested ‘train fans’ in Ireland to sustain such a project over any long period of time. The Irish Narrow Gauge railways and their personnel were most unfairly and mercilessly lampooned in (William) Percy French’s well known ballad ‘Are ye right there Michael, are ye right?’. The song alleges that West Clare Railway trains were never on time or would be stopped at any station for any length of time for the most trivial reasons; however these claims are not borne out by investigation and in many of the ‘wilder’ rural areas of Ireland these small railways were a blessing for the local population, a source of employment and a means of getting produce to distant markets quickly. I’m sure the Welsh and other UK narrow gauge lines were equally important for the communities they served. Thanks for this post on a subject dear to my heart – I think a holiday in Wales is on the cards in the years ahead.
Hi Sean,
I think it is a wonderful achievement that the Welsh Highland Railway has been completely restored. As I say in my post, I never thought that it would happen. Travelling on it is a delightful way to see & enjoy this most scenic part of Wales. As you rightly infer, like those Irish narrow gauge railways you mention, it was built to take freight to market and benefited the communities it served. If you enjoy narrow gauge railways, Wales is the place to visit 🙂
This is the land of my childhood dreams. The names of my childhood dreams. Father, having worked for the Czech Railways, went on several trips to Northern Wales with his friends from work, equipped with the employees’ free railway passes, which, sadly, for the UK did not apply to family members (but we made good use of the ones for the Baltic countries and Austria). They’ve been to other places around the UK, but kept returning to this particular area, visiting I think up to four or five times in the end?, so I was familiar with these place names and the landscape from an early age.
I know they’ve been to the Ffestiniog Railway. Probably not this one yet at that time? Still, it feels familiar, which is funny when I’ve never been there myself. 🙂
P.S. Okay, maybe they did go at least part of the route back then already; apparently it was opening in stages since 1997. I was beginning to wonder – it all felt all too familiar! Of course, father’s photos cover a lot more of the railway technicalities than yours do. 😀
Hi Hana – lovely to have you commenting here again. You will see that I’ve combined your two comments so I can reply to them together.
If your father is a railway buff, then North and Mid Wales is the place to visit. He obviously enjoyed doing so if he’s visited four or five times 🙂 He certainly would enjoy the restored Welsh Highland Railway, now restoration is complete. Yes – my photos are mainly scenic rather than technical, but I do appreciate all the technical skill that has gone into the reconstruction of bridges and level crossings as well the maintenance of the locomotives & rolling stock.