Although perhaps overshadowed by the fame of the Great Western Railway’s sea wall section of railway west of Exeter, the Chester & Holyhead Railway, opened in full by 1850, has much to offer as it wends its way west. Passing the mudflats of the Dee Estuary and onto the coast of the Irish Sea for much of the 40 miles from Mostyn to Bangor, the line bisects huge holiday parks, cuts through a walled town and medieval castle and runs the entire length of an island separate from the mainland before terminating at the famous port.

Here, author Richard Billingsley shows the reader and possible visitors to the North Wales Coast Main Line what the modern railway scene has to offer, and the scenery that it takes place in.