Close the Lid After Use!

Friday was the delayed-by-weather train day.
Delayed, because we had intended to visit the railway the previous day,
but had made a last-minute decision to travel 41 miles to Aberystwyth instead,
in pursuit of sunshine!

Having purchased our tickets, we climbed aboard, ready for our trip up the valley.
Off we chugged up the line to Dolgoth
(which incidentally the spellchecker wishes to change to Golgotha).
We had a picnic lunch with us, so I thought I ought to pop in and use the facilities before we went off up the hill to admire the waterfalls.
One cubicle was in use, so I popped my head around the door,
no ceramic pan, just a low-level camping toilet, which I thought was rather odd.
There must be a proper toilet in the other cubicle, I thought.
A cry of anguish told me otherwise.
I opened the lid and looked down into an abyss....
A notice on the inside of the lid instructed the user to close the lid after use.
The toilet was reminiscent of the dreaded cubicle trench toilets at Greenbelt in the 1980's.
"This is not a place to drop a phone," I thought to myself,
before I quickly did that which I had come to do and speedily closed the lid before disaster struck.
In contrast, there was a ceramic hand basin with running water - though admittedly it could have been fed from a rainwater tank, given the abundant supply in the area...

Off up the valley, we went - trying to avoid the noisier family groups.
The water tumbles down the valley over a succession of falls, so you are never far from the roar of descending water.

We discovered a bench and settled down to our picnic.
No sooner had we begun to eat
than we became aware of raindrops descending
dampening our spirits.
How rude!
It was forecast to be grey and overcast, but to remain dry.
I put a raincoat over my fleece and wished I had worn my jumper as well.
"It is not June until tomorrow, " I kept reminding myself. "It is still spring!"

We climbed up to the upper reaches of the falls, the rain was now persistent.
We checked the timetable and decided that the descent would be doable in 30 minutes.
It was accomplished in twelve - considerably quicker than our laboured ascent!


On returning to Dolgoth station I examined the timetable and was somewhat perplexed


"It says that the last return train is 1.24 and we are catching the 2:32pm train"
The station master magically appeared out of her office,
like a genie summoned out of a lamp
" I am confused.." 
"I know. I heard. That is why I appeared." she announced,
"Are you going back to Tywyn?"
"Yes"
"Then you will be fine, but you won't be able to get back to here."
I thought to myself, I don't want to get back to here.
The waterfalls are very nice, but the facilities leave a lot to be desired!

The train arrived.
We found a single carriage and enjoyed the relative pieace and quiet for the rest of the journey up to Nant Gwernol, and back to Tywyn,
as the KHT waved royally to anyone who paused to wave at the train.

For those planning future trips on this railway, I can report that the facilities in Tywyn station were much less scary!