Wet and Dry

On a day when the clouds lowered and misty drizzle wrapped itself around much of the day, the effects of the long drought made themselves known.  The engines usually take water at Dolgoch where the water tower is fed by an ever-running stream .... ever-running until today that is.  Today we had to move on to the rarely used Abergynolwyn supply.  Connecting to it required an exploration of the undergrowth above the line.  Once the knotted rope had been located, the bank could be scaled and the stop tap reached.  Here the driver is peering hopefully into the tank as it fills while his fireman hangs on up-slope, waiting to turn the tap off again.

This was not the only drought related hitch today.  Down the line a cow had eaten her way through the lineside hedge in search of fodder.  While sheep usually move quickly out of the way, cattle are less agile, resulting in a long delay which rippled out along the single track line.  A little re-jigging of the timetable helped get everything back in order by the end of the afternoon.

Jamie and I are having one last night in the volunteer hostel having postponed our after work journey until tomorrow and after a grey, damp day the Welsh weather did what it so often does and threw us a lovely sunset (see extra pic.)