Welsh Marches Line for the Long Mynd

Switzerland is famed for its train rides (see p47) and this journey to Little Switzerland, aka Church Stretton, is mighty pretty too. The Shropshire town nestles at the foot of the Long Mynd – one of the hills that put Victorians in mind of the Alps – and within minutes you can be winding your way up a hollow (Carding Mill is a favourite) to the long mountain’s highest point at Pole Bank, 1693 feet up with views that stretch over 60 miles to Snowdon. It’s not the only great walk on a line which also calls at Craven Arms, Ludlow and Abergavenny; it’s not even the only great walk from this station with Caer Caradoc and Ragleth Hill over the road, or you can tackle them all on a 20mile route around the Stretton Skyline*.