TRAVEL FILE

The Heart of Wales Line Travellers’ Association needs help to fund infrastructure, such as way markers, gates and footbridges, as well as upkeep.

See heart- of-wales.co.uk, shropshiretourism. co.uk, visitwales.com

stations just off the main route. Experienced walkers along the route helped us design the trail.”

The result has a unique appeal for walkers, traversing the Heart of Wales line, and using the regular trains to access two or three-day segments of the route without the need for a car. I’ve travelled the Heart of Wales several times in recent years. It is the railway experience like no other in Britain.

It feels like being back in the 1950s, with a slow train stopping at improbably rural stations with even

There are four trains a day each way along the single-track route, taking roughly three hours for the 121 miles between Craven Arms – where the Discovery Centre is a must – and Llanelli.

The line has two summits, at 915ft above sea level in the Black Mountains and even higher at 980ft by Llangynllo.

Dr Salveson said: “The huge support for phase one shows the enormous potential of the trail. It should become one of the premier walking routes in the UK – and all accessible by train!

“We’re sounding out rail operators about ‘walker pods’ at stations and halts along the line, not just as gateways between rail and path, but providing everything from blister repair kit to safe cycle storage and wi-fi points.

“We’ve actually built one pod at Llandeilo”.

The Heart of Wales Line – HOWL, I should style it – is calling. Lace up those boots and get tempted!