{"id":454,"date":"2020-11-01T18:37:44","date_gmt":"2020-11-01T18:37:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.teignrail.co.uk\/scouting\/?p=454"},"modified":"2023-05-08T19:24:41","modified_gmt":"2023-05-08T18:24:41","slug":"cambrian-and-llangollen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.teignrail.co.uk\/scouting\/cambrian-and-llangollen\/","title":{"rendered":"46 Cambrian and Llangollen"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

June, 2018<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A reason, if one were needed, to visit Oswestry, the headquarters of the former Cambrian Railways, was provided by the railway’s motor trolley having been stationed there when new from the Wickham factory in 1949.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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A likeness of the panel found beneath layers of safety yellow when the trolley was being repaired.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Two more reasons for a pilgrimage were the Drewry diesel shunter, six years younger than the one at Christow, and the 1922 G.W.R. brake van being worked on at Christow having come from Llynclys, just along the line towards Welshpool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The scout detrained at Gobowen and rode to Oswestry, quickly going on to Llynclys. Oswestry is connected to the national network but the new Llynclys Station is on an isolated section; the Cambrian Heritage line extends only as far as Llynclys Junction.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Twenty-ton brake van, 17953, being worked on at Llynclys before it was bought by the present owner.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Upon returning to Oswestry, the scout wandered around the town, took in as best he could the remains of the very large railway centre it once was and visited the C.H.R. museum, where a handsome donation was made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were no trains running but a volunteer was kind enough to escort the scout through the site and onto the platform, where the loco was standing coupled to a brake van.


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The Drewry 0-4-0, built in 1955 and now fitted with train air-braking, stands at the rebuilt platform.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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Part of the magnificent headquarters building is reflected in the cab window.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

It had been intended to reach Llangollen for a ride along to Carrog and back, but the scout was at a disadvantage, making do with scraps of satellite images instead of a trusty O.S. map; it has been known for him to get lost even with the best map in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The scout rode back past Gobowen and on towards Chirk, aiming to join the Llangollen Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal. This he did all right at a bridge, confidently setting off along the towpath beneath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After having gone some distance without encountering what he had expected, the scout groaned as it suddenly dawned on him that he had made a mistake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While chatting to a cyclist on the train around Shrewsbury, who’d given up his tour of Wales because of the heat, and who expounded on his 14-speed Rohloff <\/em>hub, the scout had said that he was going to be following the “Shroppie,” adding: “You can’t get lost on a canal.” No, but it’s possible to go the wrong way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether to go back or continue was the question; the path had become quite rough, with exposed tree roots, so a return by road may have been quicker. Some way towards Ellesmere, he later found, the scout left the canal at at main-road bridge and then had to decide which way to go. He set off to find a guide post and luckily hadn’t gone far before the destination blind of a bus gave him direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some time later, via Whittington (one of the scout’s prep school headmaster’s stock phrases was: “Turn again, Whittington.”), the scout drew up at the Gobowen level crossing where he’d started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With now too little time left to get to Llangollen, he followed the busy Wrexham road and picked up the canal towpath near Chirk. This soon brought him to Telford’s aqueduct over the Ceiriog Valley, where he crossed into Wales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He then lit his headlamp for the walk through the tunnel which follows, fortunately not meeting another cyclist. At the other end, a path leads up to Chirk Station where once was the terminus of the Glyn Valley Tramway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The scout rode into town and enjoyed a long lunch in a shady park, after which he roamed the streets and skirted the giant Kronospan factory, in part supplied for a number of years by trains from Teignbridge, thus making another Teign Valley connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n