Vale of Rheidol Railway and Devil's Bridge

The sun was shining this morning. We decided to take the Vale of Rheidol Railway. The first train was at 10:30am so we had to have a quick breakfast and left about 09:15am. We paid £41 for the

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return trip as we paid the donation rate for which we also got a £6 voucher to spend in the gift shop.
The 23.5 gauge railway runs 11.5 miles from Aberystwyth to Devils Bridge climbing 700 feet in the process. The railway was built in 1902 by Great Western mainly for the valleys lead mines but was also used for tourism. It operated as part of the British rail network, running steam trains until 1989, 20 years after steam logos stopped operating elsewhere, when it was sold to the private group which now operate it using authentic Rheidol rolling stock.

The journey takes an hour each way as the train meanders through the ancient woodland to Devil's Bridge, a tiny settlement where three roads meet to cross the Devil's Bridge over the river Mynach. The original bridge dates from the eleventh century reputedly build by the monks from Strata Florida Abbey. Above that is another stone bridge built in 1753 and above that is the current bridge built in 1902.

On one side, at a cost of £1, we took the 10 minute walk down to the Punch Bowl, a series of rock bowls scooped out by the power of the river. You also get the best view of the three bridges. On the other side of the bridge, for £3.75 although Caravan Club members get a 50% discount, we took the Nature Trail down to the impressive Mynach Falls. We had a steady walk back to the station where unfortunately we had a two hour wait for the return journey. We spent our £6 voucher on a sandwich, crisps and drink, whilst we waited. We got back to Aberystwyth about 5:15pm. We had a ride to the sea front and had a nice stroll down to the Marina. On the way back we had a look around the Castle Ruins which were free to enter. We had burger and chips in Wetherspoons before heading back to the Caravan and the usual couple of hours in the Greenore Tavern, although we didn't leave until 1:20am.