Blackadder star Tony Robinson has hailed a picturesque Shropshire and Mid Wales railway line as one of the best in the country.
The Time Team presenter has listed the Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth route in his Top 10 Great British Rail Journeys.
The journey made the list, which he compiled for Network Rail, because of some of the beauty spots it takes in along the way, including a stretch alongside the River Severn and Shropshire Union Canal.
The line was built in the 1860s and the present route is mostly part of the main line of the old Cambrian Railways, where the line from Shrewsbury joined the line from Oswestry on the Shrewsbury side of Welshpool.
It serves stations at Shrewsbury, Welshpool, Newtown, Caersws, Machynlleth, Borth and Aberystwyth.
Mr Robinson said: “This 80-mile long railway was built at the turn of the 20th century to serve the Welsh mining industry and to provide access to the budding resort of Aberystwyth.
“For the first part of its journey it runs parallel with the River Severn and the Shropshire Union Canal, until at the old Roman town of Caersws it begins to climb steadily, winding its way through the spectacular Talerddig Cutting, the deepest railway cutting in the world.
“If you’re a railway nut there are two further treats, Aberystwyth’s cliff railway, and the old Vale of Rheidol Steam Railway which potters along to Devils Bridge and the dizzying high Mynach Falls.”
By John Kirk
8 Comments
What about the Heart of Wales line from Craven Arms to Swansea?! Surely better than the Aber line..?
next time tony try the coast line to pwllheli it is breath taking.last october i bought a cheap day return from salop to barmouth for only £13, the scenery was brilliant especially around the dovey and mawddach esturies. fast comfortable super sprinter trains, well done arriva trains and well done tony robinson
He’s right. It is a fantastic line.
He’s a bit off beam on his railway history though! What has the Cambrian Coast Line got to do with the Welsh mining industry? He’s thinking of the Heart of Wales Line referred to by David Jones in the first comment. The only collieries anywhere near the Cambrian Coast Line weren’t even in Wales, but around Hanwood and Meole Brace outside Shrewsbury.
sorry rob the cambrian has a lot to do with the welsh coal industry. david davies who with shropshire haberdasher thomas savin built the cambrian lines and went on to own most of the collieries of the rhondda and when he could not export his coal he built barry docks. he founded the ocean mining and colliery business’s and was one of wales most prominent victorians, living in llandinam near caersws, and never leaving the area apart from visits to his business interests down south
it is quite right that the nearest collieries to the cambrian were near the gwr/lnwr line at hanwood. my late great uncle samuel atherton owned thes collieries until they closed in about 1940
Tony Robinson is surely spot on with his comment about the Mid Wales railway line being one of the best in the country.
The sideline comment about serving the mining industry is perhaps really referring to the slate quarrying industry - rather than coal mining.
Arriva Trains Wales - you’ve got the commendation, but please now try to overcome the holiday crowding issues, by moving surplus multiple-units up from the S.Wales valleys at holiday times to cover this tourist peak traffic. You’ve now got the excellent mtce. depot at Mach, so no excusses now!! John. (proudly, son of ex B.R.W.R. Paddington based, Oswestry District employee).
he is right , its great line!!!good line indeed