Saturday 16th September 2023 ko 14:30

Aberystwyth & District League

CORRIS UNITED 4 (Vaughan 2 Kohler 42 Roberts 51 Jellett 78)

LLANILAR RESERVES 1 (Ashton 75)

Att 60

Entry & Programme by donation

I’ll admit to have been feeling jaded. I was more than aware that I should have been leading a group of 100 or so groundhoppers around 5 grounds in the Witney & District League. That didn’t happen due to us not being able to find a club willing to host in the Saturday morning slot. The irony therefore of getting up at 6:30am for this one was not lost on me! As my regular reader knows, I have a bucket list of places I’d like to visit that are a little unusual. Or putting it another way, if the fixture is the kind that pops up on an App when you’re near it, then it’s not on the list! More than anything else I wanted to head somewhere far away from football admin.

So Robyn, Chris Garner and I made for the top-left hand corner of Wales, to a little railway. It isn’t a very long railway, or a very important railway, but it is called the Rheilffordd Corris Railway and it was all there was.

Corris lies on the Gwynedd side of the border with Meironethshire, in my opinion putting the village in North Wales by the width of the Afon Dulas that flows on one side of King George’s Field. You are in the foothills of Snowdonia and slate mining in Corris, and that’s why a narrow-gauge railway was built to run from the quarries here to Machynlleth to take the slate to the nearest navigable river. That railway closed in 1948 but enthusiasts have re-laid just under a mile’s track to Maespoeth and reintroduced steam traction. That hasn’t been easy given the terrain and the highly unusual 2 foot 3-inch gauge of the line. It’s meant the engines and rolling stock have been built from scratch for the railway. Our loco had only been in use for around a week!

It is a wonderful experience to spend an hour and £8 and take the train, that really does evoke “Ivor the Engine” and yes, the train does run above and to the corner of the ground tucked away behind the station. There’s a little row of Council Houses in perfect position for a shot of both train and ground. Stood there as I was for the 13:30 train I wondered whether the residents have got used to groundhoppers stood outside their houses waiting for “That shot?”

It is worth noting that the railway is seasonal so do check the railway’s website if you want to double up. I have to say Robyn, Chris and I loved it, and after an unfortunate encounter with a dog with a weak bladder Chris was afforded the honour of riding the footplate back to Corris. He used the opportunity to take a quite wonderful video, and here are my efforts with my more normal stills!

King George’s Field is easy enough to find, just park up in the school just beyond the station car park and walk down- chances are you’ll follow the teams down. And if you thought the train was evocative then wait til you see the ground. The views are spectacular, and yes, I made sure I got the other train shot.

The Quarrymen of today were reformed in 2019 after the old club folded some 8 years earlier. The club play in the Aberystwyth & District, the fifth tier of Welsh club football, and the bottom of the footballing food chain in the area.

But let’s not worry too much as to where Corris are in the firmament, frankly it didn’t matter. What did was this is a club run beautifully by real enthusiasts. That’s why there are benches both for spectators and for who is manning the gate, and why they’re doing a programme. Because someone clearly sat down and thought about what they were doing, and the result is a friendly, outgoing and thoughtful club that was a real pleasure to spend a couple of hours with.

To give you some idea of just how friendly, when I went for my usual walk around the pitch just about everyone stopped for a chat, even the away manager. That was symptomatic of the spirit in which the game was played. Llanilar turned up with just 12 players and were unfortunate to lose Evan Jones to injury after only half-an-hour. Morgan Vaughan danced through the visiting defence to open the scoring and try as they might Llanilar never could find a foothold in the game. But as frustrating as that must have been, they contributed to a game that clubs far higher in terms of skillset could learn much from. I was genuinely sad to see it end. Suffice it to say you haven’t see the last of us in this league.

There was though one little bonus to visit and I have ace blogger Chris Powell to thank for it.

If you turn right after leaving the station then left at the Slater’s Arms (where both sides were enjoying a beer as we left) on to Griandy and follow the road up for around half a mile, you’ll see a public footpath up and to the right. Pick your way up that and just at the edge of the woods you’ll spot the former home of Mark Bourne. He was inspired to turn his gardens into a model village based around his travels to Italy and Renaissance architecture in general.

Sadly, Bourne died in 2009 and nature slowly has retaken what is hers, but slowly the “Little Italy Trust” is uncovering more and more of Bourne’s masterpiece. Unfortunately, you aren’t allowed to explore the garden; all that can be seen is what’s visible from the path, but there is a quite ethereal quality to it. And come to think of it that went for most of we experienced on what was a magical day.