Star hails rail line as country's best

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