Questions

Nineteen minutes each way, twenty-five with the fog clause. The cabins run at 2.1 metres per second because the founding engineer timed his pipe and refused to be hurried. We have kept his speed out of respect for his arithmetic.

You are in good company and in a good cabin. Board with a crew member, take the west benches, and tell us at any point to slow down. Plenty of first-timers spend the return trip at the window.

It is not, and the rope log proves it: the rope is replaced on measured wear, roughly every nine years, 54 volumes and eleven ropes so far. The drum, however, is the original 1927 haulage engine, rebuilt twice, repaired often, replaced never.

Assistance dogs ride free and get a clip bowl in the brass cabin. Other dogs ride the 15:20 cabin on midweek days, on a lead, at the crew's discretion and the ducks' objection.

The founder called them 'an admission of doubt'. The maths never needed one: the anchor blocks and the rope's sag profile carry the span. He was right, and the company has kept his opinion out of sentiment and engineering in equal parts.

The span closes before the storm decides anything. Gusts over 70 km/h at the top mast, or lightning in the valley, and the cabins come home. The longest closure on record is nine days, after the Great Glenford Storm felled three beeches across the line.

On request, yes, and for the crew's own inspections always. The pause is exactly as calm as it sounds: the drum stops, the brake holds, the valley holds still with it.

The top station's tea is made by Carys Lloyd, who has read all 54 volumes of the rope log and therefore has strong opinions about patience. The scones are at Lock... wrong fictional universe. The scones are excellent. Come at eleven.