After a couple of days of very hot weather (around thirty degrees) and more on the horizon, we thought that a ride on a modern train, with air con and all the other mod cons, would keep us cool or at least cooler than outside.
Checking on Trainline I discovered that we could travel along the coast, past Barmouth to Tywyn and back for around a tenner. I booked tickets for the 12:01 out and 15:29 back which would give us about an hour in Tywyn which from the memories I have of my last visit would be ample.
Before sitting off, we nipped back into B&M and exchanged the wobbly fan. While in the area, I nipped into the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railway offices to pick up tickets for tomorrow’s gala.
A quick visit to Tesco for provisions then the car was parked at Porthmadog’s mainliner station.
Our train arrived on time and just as importantly left on time.
We travelled through many unpronounceable places (at least to our English vocabulary) before arriving at Tywyn.
En route, just after Barmouth, we had to cross the famous Barmouth Bridge which at eight hundred and twenty metres long is the longest timber viaduct in the United Kingdom. It is also one of the oldest still in use.
There is a virtual geocache at the mid point of the bridge and to claim the find you need to provide a photo of you, or something unique to you at that point. It doesn’t say that you have to be on foot.
With me tracking our position on the bridge and Sue ready with the camera, we waited until the mid point and – Snap – photo as evidence captured.
Looking at past logs, others have done this cache from the train but most don’t show exactly where the photo was taken – ours does.
After the excitement of the virtual cache (virtual as in there is no physical cache) we settled into the rest of our journey passing more unpronounceable places before arriving at Tywyn.
We did have one earthcache and an AdLab location pencilled in to do in Tywyn so we dutifully trundled off to knock off the AdLab which was at the terminus of the Talyllyn Railway.
The Talyllyn was a the first preservation railway in the world (1951) as well as the first narrow gauge railway authorised to carry passengers (1866).
Strangely, Sue suggested that if the railway was running, perhaps we could go for a ride. As we approached the station, we heard a train whistle so it looked as though it was running.
At the station proper, a check of the timetable showed that we had time to ride to the far end at Nant Gwernol and back. We would miss our planned return to Porthmadog but there was later trains and the fares very reasonable.
We managed to bag the coach directly behind the engine (Edward Thomas, number four).
The adventure lab that we had started at Tywyn continued up the line with further locations with questions to answer so we had something to keep us busy, as if the scenery wasn’t enough.
Almost at the end of the line, the train waited at Abergynolwyn for around thirty minutes before continuing to the end where there were no facilities.
After a quick run around we headed off back down to the harbour station where we had started.
Being on a slope was handy when the line was first constructed as it allowed easy transportation from the nearby slate quarries to the sea.
After this unplanned excursion it was a short walk back to the ‘proper’ railway. After checking the Ts a& Cs of our original return tickets, I found that they were only valid for the times on the ticket, namely 15:26 which we had missed – it was now around five. I bought new returns for about a tenner and we were all set for the 17:29.
The next item on the agenda was evening meal but a look on the Good Beer Guide app revealed The Union Inn in Tremadog just ten minutes or so from base camp. A quick phone call had us a table booked for eight giving us time to freshen up.
The Union was one of only a handful of hostelries in the area to feature in the Good Beer Guide and as they also did food it seemed like a good idea.
The staff were friendly and the food was good pub grub – Pâté and Sea Bass for Sue whilst I tucked into battered mushrooms followed with more mushies in the form of a stroganoff.
After the meal, we grabbed a quick cache just outside of the pub before returning to base, where I sit writing this blog entry as the sun sets and I finish in darkness but for the glow of the screen.