Days Out: The Ffestiniog Railway, Wales

We recently visited Wales for a lovely autumnal break. One of the reasons we chose to holiday in the Snowdonia National Park was because as well as being beautiful, it is also the home of the Ffestiniog Railway.

The Ffestiniog Railway is a heritage narrow gauge railway located in Gwynedd. It is the world’s oldest narrow gauge railway with almost 200 years of history under its belt. It’s famous for its outstanding scenery, comfortable carriages and historic steam trains.

There are several different steam train routes you can choose from, but we opted for the Mountain Spirit, which takes you from harbour town, Porthmadog to Blaenau Ffestiniog, famous for its slate mines. The round-trip journey takes around 3 and a half hours and includes a 40 minute stop at Blaenau Ffestiniog.

We’d booked our tickets online the day before our journey. On the day, we arrived in Porthmadog a little early, so we spent a happy hour exploring the town and having excellent fish and chips. Checking in for our train journey was easy, we just presented ourselves at the ticket desk and we were soon stood on the platform admiring the engines.

Days Out: The Ffestiniog Railway, Wales

We were asked to find seats to our liking, but to remember where they were so we could sit in them again on the return journey. I think this is a covid safety thing, which I don’t mind at all.

The Mountain Spirit route is a stunning 13 and a half mile journey through the Snowdonia National park. Departing from Porthmadog, the historic Ffestiniog steam trains climb over 700 feet from sea level into the mountains, through magnificent forests, and past glassy lakes and rugged waterfalls. It really is an incredible journey, especially when the autumn leaves are turning all shades of orange, brown and crimson.

Days Out: The Ffestiniog Railway, Wales

Our comfortable carriage was hauled by the David Lloyd George locomotive. This one of their unique Double Fairlie locomotives designed over 150 years ago to haul large trains on the steep gradients and sharp curves of the Ffestiniog line. All the Ffestiniog Railway Fairlies have been built in the workshops at Boston Lodge. The workshops there are just a short chug up the line from Porthmadog Station. Our loco for the day, the David Lloyd George was built there in 1992.

The three and a half hour round trip takes you on a stunning journey across the estuary along the Cob embankment, before climbing up the valley. Moving at a sedate pace through tiny Welsh villages before we entered the ancient wooded slopes of the valley side. Once the train passes through the picturesque Tan-y-Bwlch station, it leaves the woodlands behind and begins to climb the mountain. After rounding the famous spiral at Dduallt, you pass through a tunnel, and the train emerges beside the Llyn Ystradau reservoir and then the slate mines of Blaenau Ffestiniog are just a short chug away.

Days Out: The Ffestiniog Railway, Wales

It was a beautiful afternoon, which was enhanced by the helpful conductress who kept us informed about what to look for on our journey. Lakes, special buildings, waterfalls and interesting local stories really helped flesh out the afternoon. There was a guide book you can buy too, which we did as it was packed with information about the route and the Ffestiniog Railway itself.

Once you arrive in Blaenau Ffestiniog, there’s around 40 minutes to explore this slate town. There are a number of cafes nearby, so many decamped to enjoy a cup of tea. We grabbed a quick drink, admired the slate sculpture near the station, and then watched the David Lloyd George turn around at the station ready to pull the train home.

Watch double Fairlie locomotive David Lloyd George turning at Blaenau Ffestiniog Station.

Days Out: The Ffestiniog Railway, Wales

The journey home seemed much quicker, although it wasn’t. As we’d already enjoyed the views in one direction, we were able to anticipate them on the way back.

It was such a beautiful afternoon, and a great way to enjoy the Welsh scenery, especially at this time of the year. I’ve been on a lot of steam trains over the years, but this is probably my favourite. It was such a restful experience. It was an afternoon of scenery and serenity that will stay with me for a long time.

Tickets cost around £40 per person (at the time of writing). For more information or to buy tickets, visit the Ffestiniog Railway website.

Note: we paid for our tickets in full, I’ve just written about it because we loved it!

Saying goodbye to Brookside Miniature Railway

Over the past six years or so we’ve been making regular visits to Brookside Miniature Railway with our son. Several months ago we read their announcement on Facebook that after 38 years of service they would be closing.

Brookside Miniature Railway was located at Brookside Garden Centre in Poynton and it seems the new owners of the garden centre gave the railway notice to quit. The last day trains ran on the line was Sunday 2nd September 2018. We visited for one last time to ride the rails and say goodbye to this wonderful little railway.

Saying goodbye to Brookside Miniature Railway

Brookside Miniature Railway opened in 1980 and was a great place to visit if we wanted to do something fun, which needed next to no planning and could be done pretty cheaply. You could buy a ten ride ticket for £12 and the whole family could have a few rides for not much money.

The great thing about Brookside Miniature Railway was that the route was pretty interesting. It went through lots of tunnels, over bridges, alongside streams, around a vintage fun fair and through the grounds of the garden centre itself. There was always something new to look at, and each season through up new and interesting things to admire. The Santa Specials were also legendary, though we never managed to book on one – they really were that popular!

Saying goodbye to Brookside Miniature Railway

We did have my son’s fourth birthday party there, which was probably my favourite of all his birthday parties. Everyone had two rides of the train, party games and table heaving with party food. The kids loved it almost as much as the parents.

We were very lucky on the last day that we arrived later on in the afternoon. There were queues to get on the platform and queues to get on the trains. We had two last rides on the last two remaining trains. Ben and I stopped to watch the very last ride and wave them off; then we were given the chance to ride half way around the track on the Union Pacific Locomotive. We climbed aboard for its final journey to the shed for the night, before it finds a home at another miniature railway.

We got off and my son sobbed “I’m going to miss this place” and he’s not wrong. We’re going to miss it too. It’s been a regular part of our family fun times together. I bet thousands and thousands of people have enjoyed spending time on the greatest little railway in Cheshire these last 38 years.

Saying goodbye to Brookside Miniature Railway

Goodbye Brookside Miniature Railway, we’re missing you already! Thanks for all the wonderful memories.

Watch this video of one of the last trains to run at Brookside Miniature Railway –

Big fun at the Brookside Miniature Railway, Poynton

Having a small boy who loves steam trains means that we get to spend a lot of time around them. As wonderful and majestic as they are, generally they’re not cheap. One of our favourite and budget local days out is to visit Brookside Miniature Railway in Poynton, Cheshire.

The Brookside Miniature Railway is about 20 minutes drive from our house, and a ten ride ticket costs £12; meaning our family of three can have two journeys together, then Mummy and the boy, then Daddy and the boy get a ride. I think that’s pretty good value.

Big fun at the Brookside Miniature Railway, Poynton

Each ride is 5 minutes of chugging around the track on a steam train (or sometimes the Diesel engine). The track winds around the garden centre grounds, over bridges, through tunnels and past a traditional fairground (it stops here if the fair is open, but you don’t have to get off). The line is decorated with railway memorabilia including station signs from all over the UK and other engines and trucks.

Big fun at the Brookside Miniature Railway, Poynton

It’s a very pleasant and pocket-friendly way to while away a few hours with a junior train enthusiast. There’s a cafe nearby and as it was very, very hot we had some ice creams. There’s a train themed playground too, complete with a real steam engine to explore.

We go there quite a lot and it never seems to get old. Brookside Miniature Railway is a day out we all enjoy and it won’t break the bank either.

UPDATE: September 2018. Sadly the Brookside Miniature Railway in Poynton has now closed and their engines have found homes at other miniature railways across the UK. The last day was very sad, we went along for one last ride which you can read about here. I also filmed our last journey which you can watch on YouTube here.