Day 35 24/7/19 West Wales.

Day 35 24/7/19 West Wales.

Thought we would do a steam train ride today, only question was which one, there are so many of them in the area. The ride from Porthmadog to Blaenau Ffestiniog seemed to have the most appeal  so we headed out.

Another cute Welsh village.

Rail crossing just before the Osprey cntre

 Not quite sure what happened but we didn’t take the direct route to Porthmadog which turned out to be a lucky choice. Maritta spied a steam train off to one side and we made a detour. The train had moved on but we found ourselves at the Osprey preservation centre. This very enthusiastic group have set up a viewing site for the migratory Osprey and also the many other birds that inhabit the area. They have a number of video cameras looking at the nest and show both live and recorded views. Also, several high quality spotting scopes are available for you to enjoy the birds from a distance without disturbing them. All for a donation to their cause. The site is a historic breading ground for the Osprey and although they were hunted and poisoned to near extinction in the UK in the early 1900’s they now have the highest protection possible. In 2004 a breading pair began to return to this site and has successfully raised a number of chicks, returning every year.

Rather elaborate insect farm, we think

That grey smudge in the centre is the Osprey nest (we are a long way away, a lot more than my camera can manage), they had some 60x spotting scopes set up for visitors to use.

Another visitor we spied at the centre.

No, this isn't my photo (not directly), its a photo of their video feed.

Example Osprey nest.

Interesting meeting place

 From here we first visited the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway, this is a short steam train ride from North Porthmadog to Pen-y Mount with a number of stops along the way, but we were looking for something a bit longer. At the other end of the station is the National Rail just to confuse everyone even more.

Engine at the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway.

  

Pothamadog harbour

After a bit of a search we found somewhere to park at the south end of town and made our way to the station. Two trains leave from this station, one into the mountains to Blaenau Ffestiniog, the other to Caernarvon. We took the one to BF.

T

Welsh Highland Railway

Drivers compartment

 his is a very historic line being run by the oldest surviving railway company in the world. The company was established by an act of Parliament in 1932 and the line began operation in 1936. The line was built as a gradient line to transport slate from the various mines around Blaenau Ffestiniog to the port in Porthmadog. The gradient means that trains operated by gravity when full of slate on the way to port and then could be hauled back up the track by a horse team when empty. The first steam locomotives were introduced in 1863. The route takes you through some very picturesque valleys to reach the village of Blaenau Ffestiniog.

View across the estuary

 There is a very active workshop which both maintains the fleet and build new rolling stock including carriages and steam locomotives.

Railway workshops

Rail line snakes its way along some very narrow bankings

Huge rick causeway

The line follows a Roman road for a while

The building of the Hydro scheme dam meant the rail line had to be diverted

Other end of the Hydro Dam

Double Loco'd train on the return journey

Huge pile of rock in the background is Slate waste

There is that much slate watse lying around they use it to build walls.

More slate waste

Rock walls get pretty close sometimes

There are some very pretty waterfalls

Rail crossong

Rock walls are everywhere

We'll be on that track soon, hydro dam required an alteration to the route

Now we are on the track in picture above

There are some incredible views down the valleys

A train coming up having a drink before continuing

Some very nice wildflowers

Ohh, What can I say, Maritta's phone may never be the same.

Another view of the workshops

and a third

Almost back to Porthamadog

Swans enjoy the estuary

Another unpronounceable Welsh village