Freestyle Thursday: The lovely Llangollen Railway

And now for some shameless nostalgia. I've just had a photo downloading binge and had totally forgotten I'd taken all these pictures of the restored Llangollen steam railway. 

Check out the beautifully designed 1960s British Rail interiors. Couldn't you just move in?

We took it on the nine-and-a-half mile trip from Llangollen, in north Wales, to Carrog late last year when we stayed at this sweet cosy cottage. The railway is run by volunteers and totally for tourists, but it runs all year round and in the autumn, when we were there, it was blissfully empty. 

All the easier to pretend we were in a period British detective series.

Such great little details everywhere.

And good British Rail era floury baps, too. No nonsense.

Nice rack.

Our departure point.

 

Coal!

Below the waiting room at Carrog Station, where we bought our baps.

It has a fireplace!

And its platform.

And we stayed one night at the excellently unusual Chainbridge Hottel (here, seen from the train).

It is built on the banks of the rapids of the River Dee and has a fantastic early 80s vibe, despite recent renovations.

Good font.

Part gothic chapel, part 1960s, part 1980s and a little bit of business conference centre. But check out the view from the restaurant/breakfast room.

And to get there, we drove through the Snowdonia National Park, modelled here by Reggie the dog.

Words & photos, Kate