Again, a start the evening before to be in position for some trips in West Wales.
Leaving Wigan, I take the M6/M56/A49 to Prees, diverge to cut a corner through the countryside and join the A442 into Wellington. The volume of traffic from 8pm tails off almost completely when I reach Whitchurch to lorries and the odd local traffic before picking up immediately as the orange glow of the north of Telford appears.
Telford is very similar to Skelmersdale with endless roundabouts and the correct combination of these leads me almost to Ironbridge. A police car blocks the direct road to Much Wenlock.
I zig-zag and go 380 degrees around a roundabout at Ironbridge because of the very sharp bend to continue down the valley. A clever idea from the council or Highways Agency with regards to this.
I stop at Ironbridge. Time now about 11.30pm and streetlights and some late night employees drive off or await a lift. I stay, unpack a torch and walk over to the bridge (pics to be uploaded later) and I am impressed at this work of art that is the crux of this World Heritage Site. I leave a little dismayed by the fact that if I came during the day, I'd have to pay a fair chunk to explore the site according to the sign at the tollhouse. I suppose money must have to come from somewhere to keep Ironbridge in its period. Before I leave I say a little prayer for those currently in the steel industry which I hope is not at it's end in Britain now.
I aim to drive directly south-westerly via Much Wenlock, home of the Olympics, Craven Arms and stalk the Heart of Wales line apart from the bit near Builth Wells where I take the road through Newbridge-on-Wye and Beulah. Traffic becomes a slightly ajar tap with a drip every 5 or 10 minutes.
I decide to stop somewhere to stretch legs and have a drink of water as I seem to have 3 hours from Llanwrtyd Wells to reach Carmarthen. Sugar Loaf is only just missed so I quickly do a u-turn in the middle of the night and pull in at the sign. In the moments between the headlights going off and my torch coming on, I appreciate the stars above me. Wigan rarely has that opportunity. I also hear the calls of wildlife including some odd noises that can't easily be explained by me. The torch comes on until I see the PIS at the halt which makes me laugh every time. A PIS at Sugar Loaf of all places. It is undergoing a reboot but shows the correct time. A lorry passes by but I have counted about 40 minutes now since I last saw a vehicle.
I rejoin the A483 and discount the option of taking a closer look at Cynghordy and motor along to Llandeilo where I bid farewell to the Heart of Wales Line and drive directly westwardly along the A40 to Whitland. Here all three branches of the West Wales line are in unison and I await the first service of the day...
At Whitland, I stopped and consulted the timetables which are split on either platform. This meant I had to walk across the crossing three times. I only realised there was a signal box on the third turn and thought if a signaller was in his box, he'd have thought me a nutter. I am amazed that Whitland still has it's canopy as many stations have had unused buildings and canopies removed or sold.
Timetables told me I was easily an hour before a service would come through so with that, I decided to be more shrewd with my day. The main part of the lines I wanted to do was to Tenby and back and the Fishguard line. The timetables told me this was possible but I would need to leave my car at Narberth and be ready to drive to Clunderwen in under 25 minutes.
Narberth is a further straight drive which reminded me of going to Land's End. The road carries on and on further west. The station is to the east of the town, at the end of a cul-de-sac with business units close by. I arrived at 5am as did a white van. Apparently there is a dairy business which must have already done an early run. I go to the platform as I want to see how curved it is. You can see from one end to the other but beyond both platform ends are two markers for HSTs. I did wonder how a HST can safely stop at Narberth as the curve would make it hard for a driver to look back...
I decide to sleep for a short cat nap in time for the first westward service but awake 5 mins after it left >.<
I wasn't so careless for the next service an hour later because BBC Radio 2's Sara Cox was in for Chris Evans. I think I like her more than Chris to be honest. I make sure I'm on the platform for the train whose headlights strafe through the trees very quickly. I wave as soon as I see metal and the train does that thing where it carries on as though it's not seen you but does eventually stop. I now am sat on the 0707 to Tenby and the female conductor gives me a railcard discount unexpectedly. If only I was awake for the first train, I wonder if the other conductor would have been as nice. Any way, I depart 20 minutes later after curving and rising and falling up fairly punishing gradients for such a branch line. It reminds me of the Gunnislake branch.
Tenby in the sunshine really can only be best described by seeing it. A feast of waves, pastel coloured houses and boat paraphernalia. No tourists though as it's 7.30am now. No food outlets either apart from an open Gregg's. I can't believe I succumb to Greggs after coming all the way from Wigan. I make sure I treat myself later and have something more wholesome.
I walk around the harbour and then fester for 30 minutes at Tenby, enough to be shocked at the lack of a ticket office. Barmouth has one but Tenby hasn't????? I do a lap around the station making use of the two barrow crossings and footbridge. I then see the people filtering through the station ready for the 0930 ish service back to Narberth but destined for Swansea. The headcount is 16 including myself.
Unlike in the morning, now we do also pick up at Kilgetty and Saundersfoot. Kilgetty gives about a dozen and Saundersfoot two. Narberth has another dozen but just me coming off.
I get in the car and consult my map. The time is now 10am and I would like to be home before 9pm. I make quick time to Clunderwen and consult the time for a return to Fishguard and opt to come back to this lovely part of the world another time.
I now set my sights for New Quay - The Welsh one. The roads are surprisingly straight in many areas and progress is made very well until a very slow driver really takes the biscuit on the final road off the A487 down into New Quay. Again, it's another Welsh highlight. Ever so slightly overcast as the sun came through now and then. It had a reasonable amount of tourists for a Thursday in the second week after Easter. The eateries looked good as I walked around and down to the beach. After 40 minutes and a coffee, I spot Llandewi-Breifi on the same page in my atlas and it isn't miles away so I turn the ignition on.
Whilst Welsh roads are direct from village to village, they can be twisty in segments and narrow so I judiciously used the horn as I drove through unpronounceable hamlets and an array of highway orangemen keeping the road maintained. There were also Network Rail men out and about during my journey, 2 near Tenby, then several on the Cambrian later.
One of these hamlets was called Olmarch. It was a halt on the Carmarthen - Aberystwyth line. When you google this line you realise why it is going to be hard to reinstate. Half of the line is very direct, following plains and gentle curves, but inbetween the two main stations, there are at least two corkscrew like sections that make the straight sections seem lost in the wind.
Olmach Halt served Llandewi-Breifi at the edge. You should know one fact about Llandewi-Breifi and yes that's why I went. :P
Beyond Llandewi-Breifi is another road that for a Welsh B road is well-kept and is not single track for the entirety. I use it go to Devil's Bridge for a break and to see the fantastic falls. I park at the terminus of the Vale of Rheidol railway. Sadly, the last train of the day set off 20 minutes ago now. So I make do with the local amenities. The station cafe seems to charge you £5.20 for anything but only £1 for the car park. I take the ticket and walk down to the falls. Opposite an exit turnstile, I spot a hotel and cafe. I enter the cafe which is a bit unkempt but the food is good and good value for money so I'm happy. I walk around to the falls and pay £3.75 for a somewhat-more placid experience than Bear Grylls would be into but the nature of the path and steps are fairly challenging, especially Jacob's Ladder! The views from the bottom of the valley back up are unparalleled as is the noise that if the force of water surging down this section into Aberystwyth. I thoroughly recommend coming here, and if I had a more regimented plan, to also come here by the VoR steam train. The prices are fair for such a route.
I depart at 2.30pm from Devil's Bridge and take the nearby A44/A470 to Newtown for petrol as I have been playing petrol light bingo since the Elvis Rock. (Wikipedia it) Newtown is a pinch point for traffic, especially when it's school time apparently. Beyond Newtown, traffic is good all the way to Oswestry where I pause to take a phonecall and check my routing further north. I dog leg through Ellesmere and Whitchurch to get back to the A49 and avoid any residuals from Chester-Wrexham rush hour. I don't avoid the M6 at Warrington though which is particular painful on my last 10 miles back home.
I can't recommend Tenby, New Quay and Devil's Bridge any more in words so the following pictures should do it justice.
Leaving Wigan, I take the M6/M56/A49 to Prees, diverge to cut a corner through the countryside and join the A442 into Wellington. The volume of traffic from 8pm tails off almost completely when I reach Whitchurch to lorries and the odd local traffic before picking up immediately as the orange glow of the north of Telford appears.
Telford is very similar to Skelmersdale with endless roundabouts and the correct combination of these leads me almost to Ironbridge. A police car blocks the direct road to Much Wenlock.
I zig-zag and go 380 degrees around a roundabout at Ironbridge because of the very sharp bend to continue down the valley. A clever idea from the council or Highways Agency with regards to this.
I stop at Ironbridge. Time now about 11.30pm and streetlights and some late night employees drive off or await a lift. I stay, unpack a torch and walk over to the bridge (pics to be uploaded later) and I am impressed at this work of art that is the crux of this World Heritage Site. I leave a little dismayed by the fact that if I came during the day, I'd have to pay a fair chunk to explore the site according to the sign at the tollhouse. I suppose money must have to come from somewhere to keep Ironbridge in its period. Before I leave I say a little prayer for those currently in the steel industry which I hope is not at it's end in Britain now.
I aim to drive directly south-westerly via Much Wenlock, home of the Olympics, Craven Arms and stalk the Heart of Wales line apart from the bit near Builth Wells where I take the road through Newbridge-on-Wye and Beulah. Traffic becomes a slightly ajar tap with a drip every 5 or 10 minutes.
I decide to stop somewhere to stretch legs and have a drink of water as I seem to have 3 hours from Llanwrtyd Wells to reach Carmarthen. Sugar Loaf is only just missed so I quickly do a u-turn in the middle of the night and pull in at the sign. In the moments between the headlights going off and my torch coming on, I appreciate the stars above me. Wigan rarely has that opportunity. I also hear the calls of wildlife including some odd noises that can't easily be explained by me. The torch comes on until I see the PIS at the halt which makes me laugh every time. A PIS at Sugar Loaf of all places. It is undergoing a reboot but shows the correct time. A lorry passes by but I have counted about 40 minutes now since I last saw a vehicle.
I rejoin the A483 and discount the option of taking a closer look at Cynghordy and motor along to Llandeilo where I bid farewell to the Heart of Wales Line and drive directly westwardly along the A40 to Whitland. Here all three branches of the West Wales line are in unison and I await the first service of the day...
At Whitland, I stopped and consulted the timetables which are split on either platform. This meant I had to walk across the crossing three times. I only realised there was a signal box on the third turn and thought if a signaller was in his box, he'd have thought me a nutter. I am amazed that Whitland still has it's canopy as many stations have had unused buildings and canopies removed or sold.
Timetables told me I was easily an hour before a service would come through so with that, I decided to be more shrewd with my day. The main part of the lines I wanted to do was to Tenby and back and the Fishguard line. The timetables told me this was possible but I would need to leave my car at Narberth and be ready to drive to Clunderwen in under 25 minutes.
Narberth is a further straight drive which reminded me of going to Land's End. The road carries on and on further west. The station is to the east of the town, at the end of a cul-de-sac with business units close by. I arrived at 5am as did a white van. Apparently there is a dairy business which must have already done an early run. I go to the platform as I want to see how curved it is. You can see from one end to the other but beyond both platform ends are two markers for HSTs. I did wonder how a HST can safely stop at Narberth as the curve would make it hard for a driver to look back...
I decide to sleep for a short cat nap in time for the first westward service but awake 5 mins after it left >.<
I wasn't so careless for the next service an hour later because BBC Radio 2's Sara Cox was in for Chris Evans. I think I like her more than Chris to be honest. I make sure I'm on the platform for the train whose headlights strafe through the trees very quickly. I wave as soon as I see metal and the train does that thing where it carries on as though it's not seen you but does eventually stop. I now am sat on the 0707 to Tenby and the female conductor gives me a railcard discount unexpectedly. If only I was awake for the first train, I wonder if the other conductor would have been as nice. Any way, I depart 20 minutes later after curving and rising and falling up fairly punishing gradients for such a branch line. It reminds me of the Gunnislake branch.
Tenby in the sunshine really can only be best described by seeing it. A feast of waves, pastel coloured houses and boat paraphernalia. No tourists though as it's 7.30am now. No food outlets either apart from an open Gregg's. I can't believe I succumb to Greggs after coming all the way from Wigan. I make sure I treat myself later and have something more wholesome.
I walk around the harbour and then fester for 30 minutes at Tenby, enough to be shocked at the lack of a ticket office. Barmouth has one but Tenby hasn't????? I do a lap around the station making use of the two barrow crossings and footbridge. I then see the people filtering through the station ready for the 0930 ish service back to Narberth but destined for Swansea. The headcount is 16 including myself.
Unlike in the morning, now we do also pick up at Kilgetty and Saundersfoot. Kilgetty gives about a dozen and Saundersfoot two. Narberth has another dozen but just me coming off.
I get in the car and consult my map. The time is now 10am and I would like to be home before 9pm. I make quick time to Clunderwen and consult the time for a return to Fishguard and opt to come back to this lovely part of the world another time.
I now set my sights for New Quay - The Welsh one. The roads are surprisingly straight in many areas and progress is made very well until a very slow driver really takes the biscuit on the final road off the A487 down into New Quay. Again, it's another Welsh highlight. Ever so slightly overcast as the sun came through now and then. It had a reasonable amount of tourists for a Thursday in the second week after Easter. The eateries looked good as I walked around and down to the beach. After 40 minutes and a coffee, I spot Llandewi-Breifi on the same page in my atlas and it isn't miles away so I turn the ignition on.
Whilst Welsh roads are direct from village to village, they can be twisty in segments and narrow so I judiciously used the horn as I drove through unpronounceable hamlets and an array of highway orangemen keeping the road maintained. There were also Network Rail men out and about during my journey, 2 near Tenby, then several on the Cambrian later.
One of these hamlets was called Olmarch. It was a halt on the Carmarthen - Aberystwyth line. When you google this line you realise why it is going to be hard to reinstate. Half of the line is very direct, following plains and gentle curves, but inbetween the two main stations, there are at least two corkscrew like sections that make the straight sections seem lost in the wind.
Olmach Halt served Llandewi-Breifi at the edge. You should know one fact about Llandewi-Breifi and yes that's why I went. :P
Beyond Llandewi-Breifi is another road that for a Welsh B road is well-kept and is not single track for the entirety. I use it go to Devil's Bridge for a break and to see the fantastic falls. I park at the terminus of the Vale of Rheidol railway. Sadly, the last train of the day set off 20 minutes ago now. So I make do with the local amenities. The station cafe seems to charge you £5.20 for anything but only £1 for the car park. I take the ticket and walk down to the falls. Opposite an exit turnstile, I spot a hotel and cafe. I enter the cafe which is a bit unkempt but the food is good and good value for money so I'm happy. I walk around to the falls and pay £3.75 for a somewhat-more placid experience than Bear Grylls would be into but the nature of the path and steps are fairly challenging, especially Jacob's Ladder! The views from the bottom of the valley back up are unparalleled as is the noise that if the force of water surging down this section into Aberystwyth. I thoroughly recommend coming here, and if I had a more regimented plan, to also come here by the VoR steam train. The prices are fair for such a route.
I depart at 2.30pm from Devil's Bridge and take the nearby A44/A470 to Newtown for petrol as I have been playing petrol light bingo since the Elvis Rock. (Wikipedia it) Newtown is a pinch point for traffic, especially when it's school time apparently. Beyond Newtown, traffic is good all the way to Oswestry where I pause to take a phonecall and check my routing further north. I dog leg through Ellesmere and Whitchurch to get back to the A49 and avoid any residuals from Chester-Wrexham rush hour. I don't avoid the M6 at Warrington though which is particular painful on my last 10 miles back home.
I can't recommend Tenby, New Quay and Devil's Bridge any more in words so the following pictures should do it justice.
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