Abergynolwyn

The village is closer than this wide angle shot makes it look!   The Talyllyn Railway is part of the reason this village is more than the hamlet it was before 1865.  The extraction of slate from the hills above needed labour, lots of manual labour.  The quarry owners built houses for some of the quarrymen down in the valley and even installed an incline down from the railway so that coal and other goods could be delivered by rail from the line ... and the night soil taken away up the incline.   Today I was guarding the last train of the day, mostly returning folk who had started their journey here.   On the return trip to Tywyn we had just one paying passenger, six society members and four volunteer staff who had been working along the line.  A nice quiet trip.  
 
My day started with an unsettling experience which took on a sombre tone when the full details became known.  Heading out for a walk with C and the Megs I came across a road traffic accident, I was one of the first on the scene, waved down by another driver.  A motorbike apparently having slid into the front of a car coming the other way, just after a bend between two straight bits of a fast road.  At the time I had no idea the rider was still with bike and seeing others on hand and the road blocked, I turned around.  Some hours later I found out that the biker was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.  

The Megs had their run, C and I our walk, a gentle one on a warm morning.  Aware of traffic detouring through the narrow lanes I went inland, away from the accident, taking a longer but scenic route home which included a stop at Aber cafe for a cuppa.  Housework took up most of the time before I donned my railway uniform and arriving at the station, found out the sad news.

A meal on my own, an hour in the greenhouse before sunset, a trip to Jamie's to feed the gecko.  He's home tomorrow evening from a weekend with Clara having spent a night at Ruth's on the way back.