Machynlleth is a small market town, remote from motorways in the pastoral and afforested hill country of Mid Wales, with a thriving culture in Welsh and English. It has a modern indoor sports centre, challenging and scenic on and off-road bike trails, and its popular vegetarian café is, oddly, a near neighbour of Will Lloyd Williams, award-winning local butcher. Sellers of art and craft of various degree proliferate, and there is local interest in renewable energy sources. The rail link from Shrewsbury diverges here, northwards by the Cambrian Coast Line to Pwllheli and southwards to the coastal university town of Aberystwyth. The road bridge over the River Dyfi is a gateway northwards into the southern reaches of the Snowdonia National Park (Eryri).