Greetings to the wobbly runner my name is Kev. I live in Melbourne Australia, and you were saying that the talyllyn railway was the first. The second was the Ffestiniog And the third Railway in the world was the Puffingbilly Railway in Melbourne Australia. I worked on the Railway as a volunteer for approximately eight years so it is worth a visit. Might be a bit far for you but it’s worth a visit and can tell you this.
Hi Kev, great to hear from you. Interesting info. If I ever make in down under I will keep that in mind. As it happens, one of the things on my all time bucket list is the go and watch the motorcycle racing at Philip Island.
@@WobblyRunner Take the wife to Summerland beach on Phillip Island and watch the fairy penguin parade as they come in every night in huge numbers after spending all day at sea fishing. They're the smallest penguins at only about 300mm tall.
Great video, I stayed in Abergynolwyn during a very wet early February this year. I walked from the main station around to Nant Gwernol via the incline. Due to subsidence I was unable to continue down to the main road and had to climb up again and return via the forest track. There was a lot of flooding, it was a good thing that I had decided to put on a pair of good wellies. No slipping or wet feet. 😊
I live nearby in Tywyn and explore up here quite often! I can confirm you can still see the incline going down to the village from the railway track if you go behind the cafe towards the public toilets. I also know lots more places to explore and discover if you are ever back in the area!
Thank you for filming this; my last visit, to this location, was about 40 years ago. The Forestry Commission had just taken over the site and were levelling buildings; it was like a sea of slate waste. The only way, I could navigate the site, was by using a 1950's map of the area.
@@WobblyRunner If you are ever up that way again and in the Corris area; there is a quarry walk, that is off the beaten track, with a fantastic reward in the quarry
Great. I was a volunteer on the TR in the 1960s and took time more than once to explore Bryn Eglwys then. Buildings were still standing and inside what seemed to be the manager's house (I think), on the whitewashed wall someone had drawn an enormous female nude. Funny what you remember. Great times. I'd like to re-visit but that's not likely now. Thanks for sharing.
Great stuff. That must have been great to see when some of the buildings were still standing. Even though its mostly demolished and overgrown these days, I still loved my time there and it holds such great childhood memories of riding on the TR.👍😊
Despite the wet weather you obviously had a great time, the solitude on that walk was excellent, it gave you the time to have a good old nose around. Nice to see some track, and those old buildings were something else too. The place was teeming with history - a terrific video.
I loved this Paul! Recently I've been watching a few YT videos on the Welsh slate quarries & the people that explore the shafts & caves & portals its fascinating & stunning to see, a couple I've seen are what you filmed in this video. Well done for climbing those inclines but it's so worth it. Beautiful place even when raining. ❤😊👍
Cheers Carol. The old slate quarries fascinate me, especially the railway part of them. I'm no way as brave as those chaps that go inside some of those abandoned shafts and tunnels 😁. I had a few quarry trips planned in Wales this year before I ended up in the back of an ambulance.... so set for next year.
Thanks for that Paul. Been on that line a couple of times. Big fan of L.T.C Rolt one of the saviours of the line along with the canal restoration he did in the 50's. Your walk looked great never ventured that far. Thanks
It really has changed since I last went up there in the early 1980s the building were all still there then but in ruins shame they felt the need to destroy the remains
My father began his interest in narrow gauge railways up at the Tal y Llyn in the early 50s.I have been interested and volunteered on the Ffestiniog since 1957 and have walked many of the quarries in North and Central Wales looking at the remains of the railways. Sad to see that there is less and less left of the tracks that once went all over the area. I'm now 75 and can't walk like I did so it's good to watch videos like this. You might like to look at the nearby Corris line next time you are there. The quarries at Aberllefeni were very interesting to explore though I have no idea what's left there nowadays. They were the same gauge as Tal y Llyn and the Corris locos were bought by T. R. in its early days of preservation, but much of the track in the quarries was used to move slate long after the line closed and so remained in situ for a long time. What may still be there today? I often wonder as I've found rails still left in place and rusting quietly away in many quarries I suppose that I was very lucky to have been able to see slate trains in the Dinorwic Quarries and to watch the little locos chuffing around the galleries on that side of the Llanberis valley whilst climbing Snowdon in the late 50s and early 60s before the closure and building of the electric pump storage system. When I was at college in Bangor I lodged with a Penrhyn Quarry manager and had access to quarry maps which enabled me to draw a lot of the removed lines onto my 1 inch O. S. map of Snowdonia which is now rather tattered from walking many miles of dismantled lines. Please keep up your explorations and keep folk informed of what is still there. I can see that you have been bitten by the same exploration bug that got me in my youth. Enjoy exploring, the world is full of great places to look at and it's great fun. All the best with the quest for new places to look at. I look forward to seeing the results!
Thanks Rod. Great to here from you, I enjoyed reading that. Dinorwic is one that's on my radar. I'm really trying to convince my wife to go back next year to Wales for our holiday again. I remember going to Corris as a child and seeing the little railway.i don't think it was running at the time, but I'd been looking through maps there too. Love the old quarries.i don't know what it is, but they just fire up my imagination.
@@WobblyRunner If you get to Dinorwic do try to find the last traces of the Padarn Railway which was 4 ft gauge and carried the 2 ft gauge quarry wagons piggybacked in two rows on transporter wagons to the Dock at Port Dinorwic (now known again by it's Welsh name of Y Velinheli between Caernarfon and Bangor. I know that upto a few years ago the 4 ft tracks were still in tarmac at some of the level crossings on minor roads as I actually measured the gauge! There is still plenty to explore on the route of the Penrhyn line between Bethesda and Port Penrhyn which is just East of Bangor. That's the line that Linda and Blanche on the Ffestiniog came from. Their brother Charles is in the museum at Penrhyn Castle in its original form. They were still running when I was on holiday in Penmaenmawr in the late 50s. Enjoy exploring the lines and quarries before the last remains disappear. Penrhyn Quarry is now a huge zip wire attraction and much has now gone from there. Regards Rod. (rodsmith@talk21.com) feel free to ask me for any info I can give you.
Been on that walk at least 20 times and spot something different on every occasion. Beautiful views that change with every type of condition weather wise. I wish someone could tell me what the bench looking things 18” high 18”thick and 5 ft long built in slate are that are situated along the lines where the pony’s pulled the trucks
Good stuff Paul. Something about them Narrow Guage railways isnt there, specially as pretty much all of them have industrial begginings. If my Uncle watches (he is from The Rhonnda) he will be taking you to the Pronounciation Complaints Department ! A difficult trace at the top due to the all familiar Foilage issue, plus summer growth but these new grow plantation/forestry areas are very widespread, even in S Wales that used to hinder some of my explores back in the 90s. The rain was a decent addition as it would have pretty much been common for the workforce in the olden days, being fairly high up.
Read Tom Rolt's description of the quarry in the early 1950s before the scrap metal people got to it. And I have never been able to spend 24 hours in Machynlleth without it raining at least for an hour.
Greetings to the wobbly runner my name is Kev. I live in Melbourne Australia, and you were saying that the talyllyn railway was the first. The second was the Ffestiniog And the third Railway in the world was the Puffingbilly Railway in Melbourne Australia. I worked on the Railway as a volunteer for approximately eight years so it is worth a visit. Might be a bit far for you but it’s worth a visit and can tell you this.
Hi Kev, great to hear from you.
Interesting info. If I ever make in down under I will keep that in mind. As it happens, one of the things on my all time bucket list is the go and watch the motorcycle racing at Philip Island.
@@WobblyRunner Take the wife to Summerland beach on Phillip Island and watch the fairy penguin parade as they come in every night in huge numbers after spending all day at sea fishing. They're the smallest penguins at only about 300mm tall.
@AussiePom one day :)
Nice one. Been on the railway many times but never got up to the quarry. Amazed what's still there.
👍 I wish u could turn the clock back for a few hours and visit before the buildings and inclines were removed 🙂
I really enjoyed watching this I have a fascination about the slate quarries
Thank you 👍. I wish I could have seen these quarries years ago
Superb video, thanks a lot.
brilliant video pal. the workings underground are mad too
Great video, I stayed in Abergynolwyn during a very wet early February this year. I walked from the main station around to Nant Gwernol via the incline. Due to subsidence I was unable to continue down to the main road and had to climb up again and return via the forest track. There was a lot of flooding, it was a good thing that I had decided to put on a pair of good wellies. No slipping or wet feet. 😊
I’ve been up there a few times. Lovely part of the world. I moved to Tywyn in 2017, all this in my doorstep
Beautiful part of the world 👍 you're so lucky
I live nearby in Tywyn and explore up here quite often! I can confirm you can still see the incline going down to the village from the railway track if you go behind the cafe towards the public toilets. I also know lots more places to explore and discover if you are ever back in the area!
Thanks very much Lee👍🙂
Very wet . Stunning sceneries.
Great video. Thanks for sharing us more lovely places in Wales.
Have a good day
You're doing a great service to history which is vital in this day and age.
Thanks Colin.
I enjoyed this trip very much. Great memories and history.
Thank you for filming this; my last visit, to this location, was about 40 years ago. The Forestry Commission had just taken over the site and were levelling buildings; it was like a sea of slate waste. The only way, I could navigate the site, was by using a 1950's map of the area.
Cheers Geoff 👍👍🙂.
I would love to have seen what it was before the trees, as pretty as it is these days.
@@WobblyRunner If you are ever up that way again and in the Corris area; there is a quarry walk, that is off the beaten track, with a fantastic reward in the quarry
Great. I was a volunteer on the TR in the 1960s and took time more than once to explore Bryn Eglwys then. Buildings were still standing and inside what seemed to be the manager's house (I think), on the whitewashed wall someone had drawn an enormous female nude. Funny what you remember. Great times. I'd like to re-visit but that's not likely now. Thanks for sharing.
Great stuff. That must have been great to see when some of the buildings were still standing. Even though its mostly demolished and overgrown these days, I still loved my time there and it holds such great childhood memories of riding on the TR.👍😊
Despite the wet weather you obviously had a great time, the solitude on that walk was excellent, it gave you the time to have a good old nose around. Nice to see some track, and those old buildings were something else too. The place was teeming with history - a terrific video.
Cheers Seamus.
This was one of my most enjoyable videos to make so far.
I visited the railway back in 2017 with my Dad. sadly missed the entrance sign for their railway museum
I loved this Paul! Recently I've been watching a few YT videos on the Welsh slate quarries & the people that explore the shafts & caves & portals its fascinating & stunning to see, a couple I've seen are what you filmed in this video. Well done for climbing those inclines but it's so worth it. Beautiful place even when raining. ❤😊👍
Cheers Carol. The old slate quarries fascinate me, especially the railway part of them. I'm no way as brave as those chaps that go inside some of those abandoned shafts and tunnels 😁.
I had a few quarry trips planned in Wales this year before I ended up in the back of an ambulance.... so set for next year.
@@WobblyRunner better luck next year ! 😱🥰🤞
Thanks for that Paul. Been on that line a couple of times. Big fan of L.T.C Rolt one of the saviours of the line along with the canal restoration he did in the 50's.
Your walk looked great never ventured that far. Thanks
Cheers Paul. It's a great little railway isn't it. Such a great history.
Lovery looking sceenary thanks for braving the rain great video we could do with some of that rain here in London
Cheers Steven.
You're right. I could happily sit in that rain today with my shorts on 😀
Looks refreshing that rain on a day like today 30c...
Cheers 🍻 Paul 👍
You know when I was putting the finishing touches today it felt so refreshing 😄
So many more trees now than when I went up there more than 40 years ago. It really looks a lot more scenic up there now.
👍 it certainly looks different from the old photos. You're right though, it is very scenic.
It really has changed since I last went up there in the early 1980s the building were all still there then but in ruins shame they felt the need to destroy the remains
Fantastic, would have been good to see that working in its hey day, brilliant to see what we had in the past👍
It sure would. This one really got my imagination going.
Thank you - this is brillant! I love lost places and I am searching a little bit in Austria about forest raiways. Please continue!
👍🙂 thank you. All the best with the Austrian forest railways.
My father began his interest in narrow gauge railways up at the Tal y Llyn in the early 50s.I have been interested and volunteered on the Ffestiniog since 1957 and have walked many of the quarries in North and Central Wales looking at the remains of the railways. Sad to see that there is less and less left of the tracks that once went all over the area. I'm now 75 and can't walk like I did so it's good to watch videos like this.
You might like to look at the nearby Corris line next time you are there. The quarries at Aberllefeni were very interesting to explore though I have no idea what's left there nowadays. They were the same gauge as Tal y Llyn and the Corris locos were bought by T. R. in its early days of preservation, but much of the track in the quarries was used to move slate long after the line closed and so remained in situ for a long time. What may still be there today? I often wonder as I've found rails still left in place and rusting quietly away in many quarries
I suppose that I was very lucky to have been able to see slate trains in the Dinorwic Quarries and to watch the little locos chuffing around the galleries on that side of the Llanberis valley whilst climbing Snowdon in the late 50s and early 60s before the closure and building of the electric pump storage system. When I was at college in Bangor I lodged with a Penrhyn Quarry manager and had access to quarry maps which enabled me to draw a lot of the removed lines onto my 1 inch O. S. map of Snowdonia which is now rather tattered from walking many miles of dismantled lines. Please keep up your explorations and keep folk informed of what is still there. I can see that you have been bitten by the same exploration bug that got me in my youth. Enjoy exploring, the world is full of great places to look at and it's great fun. All the best with the quest for new places to look at. I look forward to seeing the results!
Thanks Rod. Great to here from you, I enjoyed reading that. Dinorwic is one that's on my radar. I'm really trying to convince my wife to go back next year to Wales for our holiday again.
I remember going to Corris as a child and seeing the little railway.i don't think it was running at the time, but I'd been looking through maps there too.
Love the old quarries.i don't know what it is, but they just fire up my imagination.
@@WobblyRunner If you get to Dinorwic do try to find the last traces of the Padarn Railway which was 4 ft gauge and carried the 2 ft gauge quarry wagons piggybacked in two rows on transporter wagons to the Dock at Port Dinorwic (now known again by it's Welsh name of Y Velinheli between Caernarfon and Bangor. I know that upto a few years ago the 4 ft tracks were still in tarmac at some of the level crossings on minor roads as I actually measured the gauge!
There is still plenty to explore on the route of the Penrhyn line between Bethesda and Port Penrhyn which is just East of Bangor. That's the line that Linda and Blanche on the Ffestiniog came from. Their brother Charles is in the museum at Penrhyn Castle in its original form. They were still running when I was on holiday in Penmaenmawr in the late 50s.
Enjoy exploring the lines and quarries before the last remains disappear. Penrhyn Quarry is now a huge zip wire attraction and much has now gone from there.
Regards Rod. (rodsmith@talk21.com) feel free to ask me for any info I can give you.
@@rodsmith3911 thanks Rod. I've made a note of that 👍🙂
If you look for 'Bryneglwys Quarry' on You Tube there are some caving vids of the quarry and the remaining equipment that's in it.
Cheers Jim.
Came across them after I'd been. Some fascinating stuff down there.
Been on that walk at least 20 times and spot something different on every occasion. Beautiful views that change with every type of condition weather wise. I wish someone could tell me what the bench looking things 18” high 18”thick and 5 ft long built in slate are that are situated along the lines where the pony’s pulled the trucks
Thanks Mike.
I wondered that too. Make great seats these days though 🙂
@@WobblyRunner If ever I find out then I will let you know but been trying for 8 years now
The yellow rods leading from the winding house are the brakes lever
Good stuff Paul. Something about them Narrow Guage railways isnt there, specially as pretty much all of them have industrial begginings. If my Uncle watches (he is from The Rhonnda) he will be taking you to the Pronounciation Complaints Department ! A difficult trace at the top due to the all familiar Foilage issue, plus summer growth but these new grow plantation/forestry areas are very widespread, even in S Wales that used to hinder some of my explores back in the 90s. The rain was a decent addition as it would have pretty much been common for the workforce in the olden days, being fairly high up.
Normally my pronounciation is bang on the money too. 🤔
Read Tom Rolt's description of the quarry in the early 1950s before the scrap metal people got to it. And I have never been able to spend 24 hours in Machynlleth without it raining at least for an hour.
😄 I think we got lucky with the weather overall the week we were there
croyso is how you say it mate.