Visited today to buy some postcards. It wasn't officially open but the building was open as one of…read morethe council offices was in the same 'room'. The lady who works behind that counter told me she was able to sell me postcards provided I had the correct money, which was fair enough. However, she wasn't particularly friendly and was obviously irritated at being disturbed. I have been there before when the tourist section was open and have had better service from the official member of staff. A good range of free leaflets available on what to see and do in the area.

Big shout out to the fabulous people at Kwik Cabs. My phone fell out of my pocket during a taxi…read moreride a few evenings ago, which I didn't notice until much later. Not only did the driver find it on the floor of his cab but he kept it safe and even brought it back to my house in person, taking a detour in his taxi to do so. So pleased and relieved to get it back. Great people.

Arthur Conan Doyle's autobiography will be known as "Arth", and I've been asked to write it, so…read moreI've agreed, in principle, to Pen Arth. So people say it's a separate town that's independent and self-sustaining, but honestly it's really just a suburb of Cardiff named Penarth which is only three miles from Cardiff Central station which kind of proves my suburb point. Anyway, it's a cute little station in the middle of the Suburban town and has regular stations going up to Cardiff. One of the problems is that the car park here is for drop off and pick up purposes only. Also the hours for the ticket office are extremely limited, closing at 2 or 3 in the afternoon, worse even at other times, but still. It makes the station pretty tricky to work with, and difficult. I give it the extra star just because it's got some cheap houses here, but it is pretty run down like the other stations.

Penarth Railway Station is, I've always thought, exceptionally small considering the area it's…read morebringing people to. Penarth is hardly a busy and bustling city station, like Cardiff. This railway station has but one platform, and is the end of the line (at least there's never any confusion). Services run to Tredegar and Bargoed only, but all trains pass through Cardiff Central and Cardiff Queen Street. Trains leave every 15 mins during the day, 30 mins at night until 11pm. Can you tell I use this station a lot? Although it is sometimes staffed (weekdays until 2.30pm), most of the time the main building is closed and passengers have to leave and enter the station platforms via a side gate. This station is small, but functional. At least you'll never be stuck waiting there for too long.

I had a sexy girlfriend in the Cardiff area, I called her by Cardiff Bae…read more This is the station that is closest to Wales Millennium Center, and it only has a single platform, so it's very much a tiny little low-key station only one mile away from Cardiff Queen Street, which is a much bigger station. It's pretty old and good for the area, but they're planning to completely remodel and redo it and in 2023 there will be a much fancier station here supposedly. Right now it's literally an old house on a platform and it's super cute, but super strange. I am sad that I may never see it again thanks to Corona and remodel plans.

Cardiff Bay Railway Station is like taking a step back in time. It's so small and quaint that you…read morecan almost imagine yourself being bungled into a train with a suitcase and a brown label with your name around you neck as you're sent away into the country before the bombs start falling. Only one train goes back and forth from this station, between here and Cardiff Queen Street. Back and forth and back and forth all day long, every 12 minutes - 6 minutes there and 6 minutes back. The train itself is even old fashioned, with its doors that you have to lean out of the window to open form the outside. None of these fancy flashing button for this leg of the journey! Although fun and something a little bit different (I'm assuming here that they're going for a traditional system, not that the train is just old and dilapidated), this service is not really suitable for people with prams, luggage or for those in a wheelchair. Fortunately there's a bus service that is just around the corner. The station is also a little out of the main hub of the Bay; although it's easy to find, yo do end up walking past a little bit of a ghost town to get there. Trees growing out of boarded up buildings and the like (although it would make a lovely photograph).

I've been using TFW Rail much more lately, and I'm pleased to report an improvement in both service…read moreand fair prices, they offer the cheapest tickets between Manchester Piccadilly and a few small towns (generally a couple stops away) including Wilmslow, I also like how their main platform at Manchester Piccadilly is so easily accessed from the car park/Metrolink compared to the other stations, so you don't always have to pass through the main station to get there. A lack of consistency between trains does make planning travel difficult, especially as you don't know what type of train you're going to get ahead of times, I find the new trains quite comfortable and the older trains quite the opposite, so it is pot luck. I have noticed less staff going up and down the trains such as with a trolley, presumably down to reduced services due to the ongoing pandemic. TFW Rail is going to have a lot of changes lately including being renationalised and taken control of again by the Welsh Government as well as funding to help improve, which I hope will improve the quality and comfort of the trains and the speed however possible, but the latter does seem to be the problem across many operators who are restricted due to having to apply for routes and meet them in some form of another. 3*

I prefer France Ferry and Holland Ferry, but this one is pretty good too, even if they did spell…read moreBritain wrong. This is a little station out in the middle of suburban Swansea, in a fairly industrial area. It's in a little village that's close to Swansea and only has a train every 2 hours, which means for 1 hour 55 minutes a day it's basically a ghost town. It used to be an old little cute station with weird towers in the middle of the track, but they got rid of the towers unfortunately. I'd rather use the Welsh name for the town if only I could figure out how to pronounce it. Because the Welsh are not Britons in my opinion, or most of theirs.

A small station with few facilities. It's usually unstaffed, there are no waiting rooms or ticket…read moremachines, refreshments or toilets, but there is an area where one can sit to wait. At Neath Station (the next on the line) there are more facilities.

As the name implies, this serves the well-known Somerset holiday resort of Weston-super-Mare…read more The station itself is on a loop off the main Bristol-Taunton-Exeter main line, thanks to the backward nature of its residents in the 1840s, who resisted proposals for the route of the original main line to run closer to the town. Instead, on 14 June 1841, Weston was connected to the main line by a branch, just over a mile long, and worked initially by horse-drawn carriages. Horse traction remained until 1851, by which time the town had begun to regret being on the end of a branch. This was rectified in 1884 with the construction of the present loop and a handsome station built in the local stone, with large glass canopies over two through platforms and a bay platform. A separate station for summer excursion trains was built just to the north, but closed in 1964. The loop line was singled in 1972, which has since become something of a bottleneck. The station now has a regular service of trains from Weston to Bristol Parkway and from Taunton to Cardiff, providing a half-hourly service to Bristol and an hourly service south to Taunton. This is supplemented by a handful of trains to and from London, and a small number of Cross-Country trains from Plymouth or Paignton to Newcastle. Cross-Country would like to operate more services to Weston, but the timetable is constrained by the single track. The station buffet has been turned into a pub, named 'Off the Rails', known for its changing selection of real ales and cider, and it also does food. There are entrances both to the station approach and the platform, so it's easy to pop in for a pint while you are waiting! The station has level access throughout, a taxi rank, cycle storage and a large car park. Regular buses call here for other parts of the town and surrounding villages: details on http://www.travelinesw.com .

The staff are always helpful, which is painfully necessary when you have a pushchair, need to cross…read morethe bridge to the second platform and there are stairs and no lift. The station is clean and has a decent sized waiting room. Both platforms are covered so no waiting in the rain.

I wanted to come here, but it was a ruse. I wasn't even invited. Oh wait, no, it was a Rhoose. So…read morethat's okay then. For a second I thought my Rhoose was cooked. This looks like a little old rural station but with a bunch of houses on one side of the track, but from here you get a bus into Cardiff Airport, so it works pretty well as an airport station, even though it's not right at the airport or anything. It's sort of in a residential neighborhood of Cardiff, so it works really well for those that live around here as well. It's a pretty standard bland station though, but not many actual buildings are here at all. It's about 12 miles to the west of the city center of Cardiff.

Rhoose Cardiff International Airport station serves the large village of Rhoose, west of Cardiff…read more It is linked by a connecting bus to Cardiff International Airport. The first station on this site opened in 1897 on the Barry Railway's extension from Barry to Bridgend, and continued when the line passed first to the Great Western Railway and then to British Railways. Passenger services were withdrawn in 1964 between Barry and Bridgend and all the intermediate stations, including Rhoose, were closed. The line however remained open for freight and as a diversionary route. Services from Cardiff to Bridgend via Barry started again in 2005, and Rhoose and Llantwit Major stations were reopened albeit as simple unstaffed halts. Rhoose was given the name "Rhoose Cardiff International Airport", the longest official station name in the U.K. It's Welsh version "Maes Awyr Rhyngwladol Caerdydd Y Rhws" is the longest official name in Welsh as well (as the longer version of the famous Llanfairpwllgwyngyll is not officially used). The station has very basic facilities. There are two platforms, staggered either side of the level crossing, each with simple shelters and ticket machines (card only). There is a small car park and a bus stop for the connecting airport bus service. Both platforms have level access. The station is unstaffed. The normal service is hourly on weekdays to or from Bridgend: to the east, services Call at all stations between Barry and Cardiff Central. Some continue to Aberdare, via Pontypridd. On Sundays there is a service every two hours, between Cardiff Central and Bridgend.