I
once assumed that, to experience a tiny, timeless paradise, where friendly,
unhurried locals speak an incomprehensible language, an Englishman must
necessarily travel across water. Not necessarily true; as I was happy to
discover, a couple of days ago.
Llanuwchlynn
– I dare you to attempt to pronounce it – is a small, quaint Welsh village
(pop. 837). Had it not been for the construction of the Great Western Railway
in the 1860s, it might have been condemned to eternal obscurity. A century
later, though, the railway line was axed, thanks to the government’s infamous
Beeching Report, but the local population refused to accept what many British people
believed – rightly, in my view – was a monumentally short-sighted decision.
The
village lies at the southern tip of the roughly rectangular Bala Lake, which is
3.7 miles (6.0 km) long and 0.5 miles (0.8 km) wide. It is an area of breath-taking
natural beauty; and, naturally, the local population refused to accept the
destructive diktat from central government, which decreed that their railway be taken
from them.
In
1972, the tireless efforts of a local railway engineer called George Barnes
came to fruition. The Bala Lake Railway opened, by means of a new, narrow-gauge
track, a mile-and-a-half along the eastern lakeshore from Llanuwchlynn. By
1976, the line had been extended as far as the outskirts of the town of Bala
(pop. 1,974), and a tourism renaissance was underway.
We
set out from Llanuwchlynn at midday. The railway runs close to the water’s
edge, in places no more than a few metres (Figure 109.1). Hauled by the refurbished
1903-built Maid Marian steam engine, the
train’s carriages have open sides. It would be possible to hear the lapping
water, were it not for the sound of the engine wheels and puffing steam. Partway
along the line lies the semi-isolated hamlet of Llangower. Today, it is a haven
for camping and water sports enthusiasts. Multicoloured kayaks, canoes and
single-hander sailboats move smoothly on the lake surface. Across the water, on the
western shore, there is what looks like a Scout Camp, with clusters of different-sized
tents and two off-road vehicles with trailers parked in tree shade next to a pebbly
shore.
Figure 109.1: View of Bala Lake from the train
Copyright © 2017 Paul Spradbery
The
journey to Bala takes twenty-five minutes. From the station, it is a
fifteen-minute walk into the town centre, which consists of a spinal main road
packed with thriving cafés and small shops (Figure 109.2). All the pavement
terraces are busy. Most of the townsfolk converse in Welsh. At one end of town
lies the northern extremity of the lake. At the other, a grey-stone, four-arch road
bridge spans the emerging river. The clear water is shallow around the bridge’s
triangular cutwaters. Wading to the opposite bank would be a simple enough
venture.
Figure
109.2: A statue of Thomas Edward Ellis (1859-99), a prominent Welsh nationalist
politician, and son of Bala, takes pride of place on the town’s main
thoroughfare.
Copyright © 2017 Paul Spradbery
The
last train of the day leaves for Llanuwchlynn at 4:30 p.m. En route, the Llangower
campers and daytrippers show no signs of packing up. A few wet-suited
youngsters are attempting to flip a capsized kayak (Figure 109.3). Dinghies
sail nonchalantly into the watery distance (Figure 109.4).
Figure 109.3: The view from Llangower
Copyright © 2017 Paul Spradbery
Figure 109.4: Late afternoon on the lake
Copyright © 2017 Paul Spradbery
Back
at base, the woman from the station shop wishes us well as we alight and depart
(Figure 109.5). I say thank you in Welsh – diolch yn fawr – and she smiles and nods her head in return.
Figure 109.5: The Bala Lake Railway Trust has recently
submitted ambitious, and fully-costed, plans to extend the line into the centre
of town.
Copyright © 2017 Bala Lake Railway
I would not say that
time stands still in Llanuwchlynn, but there is, thankfully, no rush.
Copyright © 2017 Paul
Spradbery
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