Llangollen Railway is a heritage railway line running for ten miles from Llangollen to Corwen, following the river Dee along its picturesque valley with meadows and trees. There are five stations along the line, all with their own special charm.

The line is within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and the River Dee is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for its entire length. The designers styled all the stations along the track in a typical Victorian design, and in the 1950s Great Western colour scheme.

The Llangollen Railway is not part of the Great Little Trains of Wales scheme. I caught the train at Corwen, a diesel service to Llangollen. The Eisteddfod was taking place in Llangollen. Parking was at a premium, and I started from the other end of the line. 

The diesel was in the BR livery I remembered from childhood, blue sides with a yellow front and back. The carriages were a mixture of red and red/cream colours. Our first stop after Corwen was Carrog with a wheeled cart of flowers, luggage, bicycle, and a Colman’s Mustard advert on the wall of the station building.

The next station was Glyndyfrdwy, which has great historical associations with Owain Glyndwr, who had a manor house here where he proclaimed himself ‘Prince of Wales’ in the year 1400. Next was Deeside Halt before we entered the Berwyn Tunnel, at 689 yards the longest single-bore tunnel on a UK preserved railway. There are no smoke ventilation shafts. The final stop before Llangollen was Berwyn station with its historic Chain Bridge nearby.

My new book is available here.

The book covers not only the Great Little Trains of Wales but also other methods of transport in the UK.

I was eight years old when my interest in steam trains began. My parents and I lived close to someone who worked at Doncaster train station. The Flying Scotsman was the most famous train of the time, and for some reason it was at Doncaster for a few days. I was asked whether I’d like to see the train and go on the footplate. Of course I did. What I remember most was the enormous size of the train and that the driver’s cab seemed as big as my bedroom. Everything about the train, the colours, the gleaming metal, the gorgeous carriages, the mountain of coal, made a lasting impression – I wanted to go to places, and I wanted to go on a train like this one.

My father wanted to travel, and the plan was for my parents to see the world when he retired. Cancer cut short his life and their plan died with him. Once I had the finances, I felt duty bound to travel to the places he wanted to go, and if possible, go by steam train. This book is what I found.