A Lovely Way To Travel

Gillian Thornton enjoys a trip on a steam train and horse-drawn barge.

NO matter how many times I watched “Ivor The Engine” as a child or read “Thomas The Tank Engine” to my children, I’d never have put myself down as a steam buff.

But 30 years on, here I am, standing on the footplate of a steam engine, oil can in hand and driver’s cap perched temporarily on my head. And I have to admit, it’s a real treat.

I’m in Ivor country, the “top left-hand corner of Wales” as brought to life in the Postgate-firmin cartoon of the 1960s. And I’m sampling the view from the cab of Merddin Emrys, a gleaming red steam engine on the Ffestiniog Railway.

One of several heritage railways in North Wales, the line was built in the 1830s to carry slate from the quarries at Blaenau Ffestiniog to Porthmadog on the coast.

I first rode the Ffestiniog in my early twenties, a romantic first holiday with the then special man. Ten years later, I was back with my husband and our young children. Now our children have grown and flown but the Ffestiniog is just as magical as I remember.

As we chug steadily up the narrow track, I watch the valley fall away outside the carriage. We pass trackside cottages, catch a glimpse of country houses below, and around every bend, see a new vista opening up.

Every steam line in North Wales offers something different, as I’m finding out on my short break. I’ve already sampled the sharp curves and steep gradients of the Welsh Highland Railway which runs coast-tocoast from Caernarfon to Porthmadog.

And I have been blessed with a fabulous clear day for my trip to the top of Wales’s highest mountain on the Snowdon Mountain Railway. I even watched a classic episode of “Ivor The Engine” as I waited for departure – a happy reunion with Jones the Steam, Owen the Signal, and Dai Station!

Next day, I trundle along the Llangollen Railway on its seven-mile journey to Corwen. The only standard gauge heritage line in North Wales, this scenic track runs beside the River Dee through an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and was restored by enthusiasts after the original line closed to traffic in 1968.

And as I tuck into coffee and scones in my 1950s carriage, I can’t help thinking it was a good use of their time. The landscape is glorious but so, too, are the bright little stations with leather luggage, traditional milk churns and painted trolleys strategically placed on the neat platforms.

But there’s a different kind of treat waiting for me at Llangollen Wharf, a relaxing canal cruise in a horse-drawn barge.

Pleasure boat rides began here in 1884 when a certain Captain Jones used his pension from the White Star Line – of Titanic fame – to buy two wooden lifeboats from a liner in Liverpool docks, a couple of horses, and an old storage barn by the canal.

I’ve loved – and owned – horses all my life, so I can’t resist the chance to make friends with Harley, who’s pulling our barge.

Then I sit back and relax to the rhythm of hooves on towpath as we glide between sunshine and shadow on a summer’s afternoon. Horse power or steam power? Let’s just say the jury’s still out! n