orary chronicler, failed to keep time, but who cared? There were
some piquant scenes on the beach when the ladies, essaying to bathe,
found themselves closely surrounded by "gentlemen" in anchored boats, but
that, again, was a short-coming in the ordered programme which was
readily overlooked! Anyhow, it seems, a good many people managed to miss
the return train which "started punctually" at 1-30, arriving at
Llanfyllin at half-past five, and so they also missed the dinner,
presided over by the High Sheriff of Montgomeryshire, Mr. J. Dugdale, and
the speeches, with which the official proceedings closed. The next day,
following the precedent set at the opening of the Llanidloes and Newtown
Railway, Messrs. Savin and Ward entertained the navvies to a "good
substantial dinner" of their own, after which they, too, were entertained
to a flow of oratory from the "big wigs" of the railway company and the
locality, and another series of toasts were honoured with "three times
three."

The promoters had cautiously qualified their promises as to the length of
the branch by proposing to have its terminus at Llanfyllin for "the
present." Some years later, when the Liverpool City Council, seeking
fresh water supplies for their growing community, found a rich source in
the valley of the Vyrnwy at Llanwddyn and constructed their giant works
at what is now Lake Vyrnwy, thoughts began to turn to the prospect of a
continuation of the railway in that direction, but it was not a
practicable proposition. Up the Llanfyllin branch, however, there came
the bulk of the stores, including the huge pipes, and the Portland cement
for the bed of the lake. The cement was landed in bags at Aberdovey and
from Llanfyllin a team of ninety-five horses was employed to draw it by
road to the site of the works. Half were stabled at Llanfyllin and half
at the Lake, and those in charge noted a curious fact. The horses living
at the Lake went down empty in the morning and came back loaded in the
afternoon, and in a few years were all out of condition, whereas those
who started in the morning with their heavy load from Llanfyllin and
returned empty later in the day were always in excellent fettle. To-day
the development of the motor has solved many a transport problem where
heavy loads are concerned, but Llanfyllin remains, perhaps, the most
convenient approach to Lake Vyrnwy for the increasing number of visitors
who go year by year to enjoy its scenic be