From Devizes to Llangollen for Lunch

The River Dee tumbles down from the mountains of North Wales through Llangollen.

We left Devizes at 07.50 for an easy coach journey up to Llangollen, via Cirencester, Birmingham, Telford and into North Wales for a lunch stop in lovely Llangollen.  This town sit in the picturesque valley of the River Dee, and is the scene of the annual  "Llangollen  International Music Festival."  Every year musicians, singers and dancers gather together of a week of music making, around the town, and in an especially erected pavilion and music centre.   The town was quiet for our visit, and we made our way to the railway station, to the right of the above photo, for a lunch in the station's "Victorian Tea Room."   Queen Victoria visited Wales on many occasions, and in 1868, paid a visit to the station for a ride on one of the little steam trains that still chug their way up the valley.   An extension to the line is being restored at the present time, and soon it will be possible to travel twelve miles up the valley from Llangollen.

     The Victoria Tea Room.

A warm fire awaited us here, so we sat in a cosy corner and drank good cups of tea, ate egg sandwiches and packets of cheese and onion crisps.  All naughty but nice!

There's no chance of a train until Easter, I'm afraid.

This line is run entirely by volunteers, who drive the trains, man the station, issue tickets and generally make this little steam line a great attraction for the thousands of visitors who come to the town every year.

Here an trolley carries old suitcases.  A full history of the line can be read on the following website: 

Llangollen Railway - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedi
The Llangollen Railway (Welsh: Rheilffordd Llangollen) is a volunteer-run 

   preserved railway in Denbighshire, Wales, which currently operates between ...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llangollen_Railway