My April 2016 visit to the UK – a trip on the Welsh Highland Railway

By Ricky, on May 18th, 2016

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 . . . → Read More: My April 2016 visit to the UK – a trip on the Welsh Highland Railway

12 comments - (Comments are closed)   UK Visits   , , , ,  

My April 2016 visit to the UK – Brownsea Island & St Tecwyn’s Church, Llandecwyn

By Ricky, on May 12th, 2016

The castle on Brownsea Island, as seen from the ferry from Sandbanks © Ricky Yates

Following worship at St. Clement’s on the morning of Sunday 17th April, when I and the congregation bid farewell to Rev’d Dr Karen Moritz, I was away from the Czech Republic for the rest of the month, only returning to Prague on the afternoon of Saturday 30th April, ready to lead worship the following day. It was first a week of annual leave, which was then followed by attending my final ICS Chaplains Conference.

I drove from Prague to the UK over a period of two days, following the almost identical route I described two years ago, when I last made this journey. The only difference this time was that I spent the night of Sunday 17th, staying with the York family in Luxembourg. . . . → Read More: My April 2016 visit to the UK – Brownsea Island & St Tecwyn’s Church, Llandecwyn

8 comments - (Comments are closed)   UK Visits   , , , , ,