Kite goes Exploring, Trip Reports

[Kite159]

Another superb report, full of interest.

Looking forward to your walk between East Linton and North Berwick - used to go to NB on holiday when I was a kid, and looking at the map I've actually walked the small bit of the John Muir Way between North Berwick Law and the town centre after going up the Law!

I'm coming more and more to your view of walking across London as well. Last week I got the tube from Bond Street to Hatton Cross, and probably walked further exchanging from the Jubilee to Piccadilly lines at Green Park through lengthy subways than I would have done just walking along pavement! And I thoroughly agree with you about cyclists - of the takeaway-delivering variety, in particular!

I seem to recall that we may have been on the same Railtour to Carlisle at some point last year (or it maybe someone else on this forum). I'm booked on a couple more this year - the Cwm Y Glo in March and Hanson Hanse in May, and if these happen to be on your radar as well it might be pleasant to meet "in the flesh"...

Edit - I also agree with @Iskra about the superb photo of the Thames at night!

I'm on the Hanson Hanse tour in may (nice to have a tour picking up at Basingstoke, which since the MK1 set got relocated from Eastleigh to Burton (and then whatever happened afterwards) doesn't get as many calls.

You never know we could end up sitting at the same table lol. It's happened before

 

[Iskra]

Mainline outside the station platforms. Been a while since I've done that on a LNER service.

I love the Thames at night for the various colours on show, one reason why I don't mind the walk between Waterloo & Euston/Kings Cross.

Yeah, that’s good going to get that on a service train!

I’ve never done that walk with me rarely connecting between those stations, but having seen that photo I will definitely consider it in the future!

 

[Kite159]

3rd & 4th February – A weekend in London

3rd February – Woolwich & Docks

I was attending my first music concert since 2016 in the Dalston area, my original idea was to head home on the Saturday night but when the overtime ban got announced I looked for options for accommodation to avoid the 23:40 service from Waterloo, just in case that got cancelled at short notice, locating a room in a shared house near Redbridge underground station which would be handy for the venue (even with the closure of the North London line).

The trip began later than usual due to needing to get 2 new tyres fitted to my little car in the morning, so it was onto the 10:37 service from Andover. This was a busy train from Exeter with 158882, 159004 & 159104 for the nonstop run to Basingstoke, I went straight for the 158 as that attached at Salisbury and would likely have available seats. At Basingstoke I popped out of the station (confusing the agency staff on the barriers who have no concept of break of journey) to grab some lunch items (good way to waste the 25-minute connection and saves a job for when I reached London). After grabbing lunch, it was onto 165106 working the next stopper to Reading.

158882 at Basingstoke Station by Kite, on Flickr

I had a tight connection at Reading to board a late running service from Swansea (800001 & 800025) where I managed to board it was standing room only as there had been a couple of cancellations prior and a XC service from Birmingham with passengers avoiding the strikes on the West Coast. Better than waiting around for the following service which was a 5-coach set from Great Malvern (which would probably have been rather cosy, even without the extra passengers). Anyhow onwards to Paddington where I headed to the Lizzy line platforms to board 345009 to Woolwich where I started my little walk.

The first section was something I was hoping to do back in November time but had to cut that Thamesmead explore back at Plumstead due to the weather turning damp. I walked along the A206 to reach the Broad Water (which I believe is an old dock from the days where barges were loaded by the military at Woolwich), these days it has a lot of new housing being built close to the channel as I followed the path towards the old entrance lock with the Thames. After this water channel it was towards Gallion's Park with a lake leading into another water channel which I followed to Battery Road where the waterway continued, passing a "cycle path to nowhere" (the cycle path just ends with a secure fence, so either it’s been future proofed for more housing or plans changed as there seems to be some sort of secure military land sandwiched between housing).

Lake within Gallions Park, Thamesmead, London by Kite, on Flickr

Anyhow back to the walk, as I headed towards Gallions Reach Park, climbing a man-made hill (with the path spiralling around to make the climb less challenging) which gave good views, although would have been better if the sky was blue rather than 50 shades of grey. I headed down that hill and onto another smaller hill (labelled as “Lookout hill”) before heading out of the park and onto Thames Path, staying on the higher path which is shared with cyclists. I followed the path next to the Thames (with some good views of the water), reaching the Woolwich Foot tunnel to end the first section of my walk as I headed underground via the spiral staircase (as the lifts at both ends were broken) to go underneath the Thames to reach North Woolwich.

Woolwich Foot Tunnel (3) by Kite, on Flickr

The second part of my walk followed the Capital Ring, a walking route which circles London, parts which I’ve already done as part of other walking trips creating some gaps in the coverage. Completing the Capital Ring is one of my goals for 2024 (as well as making a start with completing more of the London Loop). This section follows a path alongside the river Thames, giving a view of where I was earlier. I passed Royal Victoria Gardens and into housing leading towards crossing the entrance lock into the King George V dock. This area of the path was a bit overgrown and quite industrial as it crossed the lock of the Royal Albert dock before reaching new buildings (with more being constructed as I needed to head away from the Capital Ring at one point due to the path being blocked by a fence. I left the new buildings behind heading onto the road going underneath the DLR near Gallions Reach station and again a few minutes later to head to a path alongside the Royal Albert dock.

Entrance lock to Royal Albert Dock, London by Kite, on Flickr

This path ran close to the buildings of the University of East London before heading away from the dockside towards Cyprus DLR station and into New Beckton Park. The Capital ring continued going into Beckton Park, where it met up with the Beckton Corridor Walk (along an old railway line) for a short section before heading north towards the Beckton District Park, an area on my list to return as it was quite scenic.

The parks came to an end with a footbridge over the A13 (Newham Way) dual carriageway and a short distance until it reached the Greenway the end of my section of walk as I headed towards Brampton Park on Lonsdale Avenue, jumping onto a route 104 bus (a Wright Eclipse Gemini WHV55) for the short journey to Beckton bus station, where I transferred to the DLR for sets 143/131 for the short trip to Cyprus to start a second walk, although due to the time of day I had cut out a section.

I headed away from Cyprus back towards the Royal Albert dock, walking the path which gave some nice views of London City Airport. I continued towards the Connaught Bridge where Albert gave way to Victoria for a short section before running into a path closure for an extension to the Excel centre (which is what I was expecting from my research). My original plan was to head south towards the Thames Barrier Park, but I suspected it would have been closed due to the times so headed towards the DLR stop at Prince Regent to end my exploring for the day.

Royal Albert Dock (near City Airport), London (3) by Kite, on Flickr

Due to engineering works, there was no Jubilee line so I decided to take DLR sets 23 & 09 to Poplar, crossing over for a Stratford bound service (my theory is Poplar - Stratford would have been quieter than Canning Town - Stratford). That idea went into the bin when a sub mile set rolled in with 13 & 89 which I took to Canning Town (13 being the one). The older DLR stock is on borrowed time with the replacements due to enter service soon. I headed towards the Stratford International platforms and onto a very busy set made up of 15/66 to Stratford. In my eyes TfL could have either tried to make the Stratford - Woolwich services triple sets or at least extended the Canning Town - Beckton trains to Stratford to ease overcrowding due to having no Jubilee line running.

At Stratford I headed towards the Central line platform, jumping onto a set which had arrived taking it to Leytonstone (as by the time the announcement played at Leyton about it being an Epping train it was too late due to a large crowd boarding from the Leyton kickball, hard enough to fight my way out at Leytonstone and ID the service as formed of 91205, 92458, 92254 & 91069 (with 91069 being needed for a mile as a nice little bonus). The train behind was for Hainault which did nicely as it was formed of 91137, 92442, 92166 & 91047 to take me to Redbridge, where I located my accommodation and relaxed for a short while giving my phone a charge.

Go Ahead London Bus SEe218 (LB23 PFK) outside Redbridge station on a route 366 by Kite, on Flickr

I headed out of the shared house, feeling strange not having my rucksack on me returning to Redbridge underground station, jumping onto the first available service towards Leytonstone with 91073, 92262, 92416 & 91203 (with 92262 being needed for a mile). I hung back at Leytonstone for a couple of services keeping my eyes for anything else I needed for a mile, linear hopping to Leyton with a service formed of 91195, 92052, 92020 & 91173 (with 91173 being needed for a mile). Sadly, my luck wasn’t with me this evening as I cut my losses jumping onto a service formed of 91139, 92434, 92464 & 91169 to Stratford, transferring to platform 8 for the next Elizabeth line service towards Paddington. Due to engineering works, there was no services running between Stratford & Shenfield with the Elizabeth line trains terminating at Stratford, normally platform 8 is the platform for Shenfield bound trains so a bit unusual departing towards central London for a random crossover (BLS hat time).

I alighted at Whitechapel, popping out to Sainsburys for something to munch before taking 378140 to Dalston Junction for a short walk to the venue for my concert. A couple of hours later when the concert had finished, I headed back towards Dalston Junction with 378154 to Shoreditch High Street, where unusually it departed from platform 1 at Dalston Junction (normally the platform for northbound trains to Highbury but engineering works meant everything was terminating at Dalston today), just for another random crossover. I exited the station at Shoreditch High Street walking to Liverpool Street via a Tesco Express for breakfast (making use of the fridge in the shared kitchen) before taking 345012 to Stratford (arriving at platform 5 to do the other crossover to the west of Stratford, because why not?)

Crossing over to the eastbound Central line platform saw me jumping onto an unknown Epping service (91037, 92420, 92124 & 91213) to Leyton for a short hunt before calling it a night with a service formed of 91239, 92422, 92036 & 91053 to Redbridge, walking back to the shared house to relax for the remainder of the evening, mainly looking at Google Maps and coming up with yet more ideas.

345069 at Stratford on a Paddington Service by Kite, on Flickr

4th February – Roding Valley & Wapping

My rough plan for this Sunday changed a few times over the week (London has so much to offer, sometimes it’s hard to actually make a decision), with the option I picked being a late notice discovery based on looking at Google maps in the Redbridge area. I checked out of the shared house, it was reasonable enough, bit of outside noise due to the location but certainly somewhere I would use again if the need ever arose. Heading towards Redbridge station I carried on via a subway underneath the A12, then one underneath the North Circular (A406) where a path which would head towards Ilford branches off before another subway underneath the A12 again for a short section of walking along the pavement of this busy road over the river Roding before I turned away from the A12 onto a path into the Roding Valley Park.

I followed a path which varied in quality (but nothing that bad) as it followed the river Roding heading north splitting up (a cycle path within woods and two footpaths on either side of the river). I took the cycle path before crossing over to one of the river footpaths for better views of the river (and to try and reduce the road noise from the North Circular which was close-by, turning into the M11 in the South Woodford area. The path following the Roding continued passing a recycling centre still with the changing path quality with a section being a bit muddy (I suspect mainly caused by flooding). I went underneath the Central Line (near Roding Valley Underground) and towards Buckhurst Hill, the path becoming more urban. The first section of the path came to an end near Buckhurst Hill Underground with what seems to be a missing part, forcing a walk onto the roads to head into another park leading towards the Roding Valley Meadows.

Central Line viaduct over River Roding in the Buckhurst Hill area (Roding Valley Park) by Kite, on Flickr

I reached the Roding Valley Lake, circling around it with the river on my right hand side and continued my walk into the meadows, which was a scenic area (other than the noise of traffic from the motorway) and it was a shame when the path ended in the Debden area as I returned to the road network following the A1168 underneath the Central line tracks and towards a Sainsburys for lunch items. I was toying with doing one of the bus routes which start from Debden but decided against it and headed to the station and jumping onto a London bound service formed of 91249, 92078, 92196 & 91091 (with a bonus of 91091 being needed for a mile). I took this to Leytonstone where I was hoping to use the toilets, but they seem to be locked up. I had a short wait before jumping onto a set formed of 91161, 91193, 92044, 91115 to Stratford transferring to the DLR for a very busy set formed of 34 & 70 to Canning Town where I had another little walk,

This is a walk I was hoping to do back in 2022 but had to change my plan due to rain moving in. I exited Canning Town at the river entrance and headed towards the Bow Creek Ecology Park based on the land within a bend of the river. I passed an old bridge which crossed the DLR tracks (which has been locked with gates for some reason), going round the bend and underneath the DLR tracks to the opposite side of the old bridge, near what seems to be an old railway bridge. Crossing the river on what is called the "Blue bridge" (because it's blue) and I headed on the opposite bank of the river doing a large U to return to where I started near Canning Town station. An enjoyable little stroll which had been on my list for a while (but never got round to doing it).

DLR units 123 & 154 crossing the Bow Creek in Leamouth, London by Kite, on Flickr

Anyhow back at Canning Town and it was onto a DLR service formed of 128 & 139 to Westferry stepping back to a triple set from Lewisham formed of 58, 01 & 96 getting lucky as 96 was one of my needed for a mile sets. I took this service to Shadwell, exiting the station for a 3rd walk, another walk which had been on my list for things to do. I headed away from the DLR towards the enclosed Shadwell Basin, doing a loop around the basin before reaching the Ornamental Canal. This canal is broken up with the Wapping Woods as I continued along the path, passing a couple of old ships at the Tobacco Dock (which I presume are used for venue hire. This canal ends in the Hermitage basin and was an interesting walk.

After I reached Hermitage basin I headed towards the St Katharine Docks, before heading to Tower Gateway to end my little stroll. An enjoyable little stroll within Wapping but it was now back to playing with the trains, starting with the DLR looking for any of my sub mile units, managing to grab 94 & 73 before ending up in Stratford switching to the Central line for some linear hops, getting 92096 & 92258 into my book for over a mile, my luck with the S7 stock on the district/H&C line was a bit rubbish. Certainly, linear hopping on the Central line is better in the open air due to how hard they are to try and grab all 4 set numbers when they rush into a station.

Ornamental Canal, Wapping by Kite, on Flickr

I ended up at Kings Cross St Pancras onto Piccadilly line 189 pushing that one over a mile but the Piccadilly line was operating with some service gaps, so I didn’t hang round for long before switching to the northern line, getting lucky with sub mile 95 stock 51631/51632 to Waterloo where I felt like I had hit a wall. I think it might have been the underground air getting to me, but I felt like I had enough as I took a seat on the 17:45 service to Salisbury formed of 159021, 159001 (which was on a seaside special according to the destination screen) & 159103. A service which needed all 9 coaches as it was very busy, and remained busy even after Grateley, I can only presume a large percentage of the passengers on board were changing to GWR at Salisbury for Bath, Bristol etc due to the limited GWR service from Paddington due to the overtime ban. Anyhow I soon reached home, relaxing for the rest of the evening, after a couple of productive days walking wise, as well as getting some more TfL stuff over the mile (which is another one of my 2024 goals).

Next week sees a return to more long-distance trips with a return to Crewe, I wonder what type of biscuits I will get this time in my usual shared house. More photos taken from this trip can be found on my Flickr account Here. Thanks for reading, I will leave you with the canopy of Canary Wharf.

Canopy at Canary Wharf Station from West India Quay by Kite, on Flickr

 

[Kite159]

9-11th February – Edinburgh & Stoke

My first weekend away based in Crewe of the year, same accommodation as I usually use for price, location & the fact you can roll in at 11pm on the Friday night without issue as it’s all self-service. My original idea for the Saturday changed in the TPE £1 seat sale where I had a moment of madness to get tickets for a little trip to Edinburgh as it had been a while since I went via the Lakes in daylight.

9th February – Onwards to Crewe

The trip began with the usual 17:59 service, which tonight was formed of a busy (half-term week getaway) 159019 towards London Waterloo, nothing unusual happening along the way other than noticing some posters advertising Bournemouth Airport at Woking station, an airport which is nearly impossible to reach these days using public transport (2 buses to the Airport from Bournemouth early morning and 3 buses from the Airport in the afternoon/evening with the route 737). Anyhow arrival into Waterloo was a few minutes ahead of schedule but was met with pouring rain, so it was to the underground (no point getting soaked at the start of the trip).

I jumped onto the first northbound train (set 51592 & 51591, which as a bonus was a sub-mile pair) to Euston, a station in a bit of chaos due to many delays & cancellations (just another day on the WCML) caused by a broken-down train in the Berkhamsted area. As I was on a flexible ticket, I headed towards platform 2 to board the late running 19:46 LNR to Crewe, which didn’t arrive until 19:48 having been caught up with the chaos. I took a seat on 350406 (with 350130 on the rear) as it departed around 14 minutes late, time it never really made up (I suspect had there not been a Pendo blocking platform 5 at Milton Keynes it might have been held there to allow a couple of Avanti services pass).

350406 at London Euston by Kite, on Flickr

Nothing unusual happened along the way north (other than using platform 3 at Nuneaton) and it arrived at Crewe around 22:10. A gentle walk to the shared house to get checked in, noticing that both shared toilets were lacking toilet paper (not sure what happened there, maybe someone stole it or an oversight of the housekeeper), so I popped to the large Tesco Extra to grab a pack of cheap toilet paper as well as some supplies for the morning. I returned to the shared house, and relaxed for the rest of the night, being quiet outside with no idiotic youths messing around on an off-road motorbike.

10th February – A Day trip to Edinburgh

A later start than usual for me on a Saturday from Crewe with the 08:30 TfW service to Manchester, which due to some chaos at Crewe with cancelled Avanti services blocking up platforms 11 & 12 meant it lost 10 minutes sitting outside Crewe station waiting for a platform to become available as a busy 197006 rolled in. I was lucky to get a seat for the run towards Piccadilly on this busy 2 coach service, and at Piccadilly I headed towards platform 13 to board 397008 to the Airport, mainly to give me something to do as this would be my booked train to Edinburgh but more importantly allowed me to avoid the chaos of boarding at Piccadilly when it would return.

I decided to upgrade myself for weekend first for the leg towards Edinburgh as due to the reduced timetable between Manchester & Preston I suspected that standard class would be completely rammed. So once back on board at the Airport I made my way to the posh seated area, selecting a single seat which had a decent window view (as a couple had a view of plastic) with my card ready to pay the £20 upgrade (I did try with Seatfrog but that auction ended with someone paying around £25 plus the £3 fee).

First Class on a TPE 397 by Kite, on Flickr

Back towards Piccadilly and as expected standard class was chaotic, it didn’t help that this train was meant to be the 802 which has more seats, so there were a few passengers with seat reservations for seats which didn’t exist. Meanwhile in the posh seats at the front I was relaxing as that area slowly filled up, especially after Oxford Road. For some reason Northern were running replacement buses between Bolton & Manchester today, whilst the line was open, so it felt a bit strange heading towards Bolton without passing another train on what normally is, a busy section of track. The train joined the WCML at Leyland and carried on towards Scotland, after Carstairs junction I was onto new track for TPE coverage (one of the reasons why I wanted to do this service). I made use of the freebie snacks & soft drinks from the catering trolley as I was enjoying looking out of the scenery.

Arrival into Edinburgh Waverley was near enough on time, as I headed out of the station towards the busy tram stop (Rugby was on!) at St Andrews Square, jumping onto tram 251 for the slow run towards the Foot of the Walk tram stop in Leith where my little walk began. Today was going to be an odds & sods sort of day, the first was the “Restalrig Walk” which I believe uses part of the track bed of the former Caledonian Railways route to South Leith Docks. This was a large loop, and I had a little unplanned detour to the Lochend Park which was quite nice. The Restalrig Walk ended on Easter Road, the railway beyond this section lost to developments.

Lochend Park Doocot (Edinburgh) by Kite, on Flickr

Onto the road network as I made my way towards Pilrig Park with another detour towards Redbraes Park where I saw the gap in the fence of the disused Powderhall branch line allowing local residents to use the railway bridge over the Water of Leith (although it wasn't the largest of gaps in the fence). I picked up the St Mark's Path leading towards St Marks Park crossing over the Water of Leith and headed towards the opposite end of the railway bridge I saw earlier to walk part of the Water of Leith Walkway I missed a couple of weeks ago.

Disused Powderhall Branch crossing the Water of Leith by Kite, on Flickr

I was now onto a path which made use of the former Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway route near Bonnington station, where I continued to near Junction Road (where a couple of weeks ago I walked the riverside path as this is where the Water of Leith walkway splits into two). I did a U-turn to head back towards the Victoria Path leading towards Victoria Park and onto part of the former Caledonian Railways route. This led towards the Hawthornvale Path near Bangholm woods and to "Five Ways" where 5 old railway line paths merge.

It was back onto the route of the former Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway route, this time on the Trinity branch, passing the remains of Trinity station and via Trinity tunnel. The path came to an end at the waterfront of Wardie Bay which was very rough with waves this afternoon. I followed a path along the waterfront towards the Granton Harbour East Breakwater where sadly I ran out of time (my original goal was to finish near Crewe Toll). Had the water been calmer I might have walked along the breakwater towards the lighthouse, but I didn't fancy walking along the breakwater to get hit with a big wave as it was quite exposed.

Wardie Bay, Edinburgh (14) by Kite, on Flickr

My walk came to an end at Granton Square, where it was onto Lothian bus route 19 (bus 648) for the slow ride back towards a busy Princes Street (due to the rugby having finished). I alighted on Princes Street, visiting a couple of shops for dinner items before heading to Edinburgh Waverley station to relax before boarding 397003 on the last Manchester train of the evening. Unlike this morning I decided to remain in standard class, watching some videos on my tablet due to the darkness. A busy train after Haymarket which emptied out at Lockerbie (and Carlisle). After Carlisle there was a good passenger changeover along the way getting busy after Lancaster but emptying out at Preston. The lost time caused by a late running Shotts line stopper was recovered by the time the train reached Oxford Road so arrival into Piccadilly was on time allowing me a better chance at making an unofficial 4-minute connection to the next TfW service (to avoid an hour fester).

I easily made the connection onto winner (bonus!) 197048, and with an extra bonus I even got a seat (which I wasn’t expecting boarding so late). The train was delayed by 4 minutes (I’m guessing congestion), and it emptied out at Crewe, which is where I left the service, heading back towards the shared house to have a shower and relax for the remainder of the evening. An enjoyable little trip to Edinburgh making use of the £1 fare sale, shame I didn’t get the chance to compare a 397 with a 802 on the WCML as both trains were 397s.

Trinity Tunnel on Trinity Path (former Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway), Edinburgh (North Portal) by Kite, on Flickr


11th February – Walking the Trent & Mersey + Potteries Loop Line

After a good night sleep, I checked out of the shared house, swinging via Tesco at the Esso garage for breakfast before heading to Crewe station to board 350375 working the first Stafford (via Stoke) service of the day (used to be the first LNR service to Birmingham from Crewe on a Sunday but now the first LNR to Birmingham isn’t until nearly 3 hours later with the first Liverpool – Birmingham train). I dread to think how busier the XC services are between Stafford & Birmingham now those LNR services don’t run. Anyhow I took this 350 to Stone to begin my Sunday walk. Thankfully the wet weather which was being forecasted earlier in the week had changed to being overcast (although there was a couple of light short drizzly showers along the walk).

This planned walk was a combination of a couple of ideas I had, the first was a return to covering the Trent & Mersey canal, access to the canal from Stone station was quite easy as it was a footpath near the station car park, over a modern bridge (which had replaced a foot crossing) before another short path coming out near a lock and onto the towpath, this time I turned right (as I’ve got another walk planned where I will turn left and head towards Rugeley but that will probably be a task for the spring/summer months). The towpath was good quality as it was part of cycle route 5, a few areas of mud caused by recent rain but nothing too bad.

350375 departs Stone Station by Kite, on Flickr

My walk along the towpath took me mostly in a northern direction, running alongside the railway for a short section with the towpath flipping sides a couple of times as it left Stone behind and into a rural area. The towpath was busy with other cyclists & joggers with a few dog walkers but was quite relaxing heading towards Barlaston (and the zombie station) and onto a section of the towpath I walked back in 2019 when visiting the zombie stations of Barlaston & Wedgwood with my good friend Paul. After passing the Wedgwood factory I entered the Stoke on Trent area with a few housing in the Trentham area as the towpath went from rural countryside to more urban.

I did a little detour in the Trentham area to walk along part of the former North Staffordshire “Trentham Branch” which is now a mixed used path going between housing, doing a U-turn at the Longton Brook and headed back towards the canal to carry on heading along the towpath with new housing being built on the opposite bank before returning into more rural countryside before industrial units appeared along with the A500 Queensway Road (which was quite busy). I continued along the towpath reaching the area near Stoke on Trent station which was the end of my little canal walk (as I had previously walked the canal from Stoke towards Kidsgrove last January.

Trent & Mersey Canal between Stone & Barlaston (19) by Kite, on Flickr

My positioning walk to reach my second walk took me via Hanley Park (which looked quite nice), across the Caldon Canal and Hanley town centre (and a large Tesco which came in handy for lunch & a toilet break). I soon reached the start of a path running along the remains of the Potteries Loop Line, a railway which closed due to Beeching in the 1960s (although parts remained until the 1970s due to a diversional route when Stoke – Manchester was getting wired up according to Wikipedia). The first section was near the site of Waterloo Road station (although nothing remains of that station) before detouring towards the Central Forest Park area due to the closure of the Cobridge tunnel. I re-joined the old railway near Cobridge park, passing what seemed to be the remains of a platform before heading towards Burslem.

Within Burslem itself the former railway route has been lost under modern developments, so it was via the roads, following some poorly located signs for cycle route 5 to join the old railway line route for the section towards the town of Tunstall (one of the towns which makes up the city of Stoke on Trent). I was a bit tempted to walk part of the former Pinnox branch (which linked the Potteries Loop line with the WCML near Longport) but decided that could wait for another trip as I want to visit Westport Lake. Anyhow a couple of the modern tunnels’ underneath roads were a bit flooded due to the recent rain but were passable with care. The next section of old railway came to an end near Pitts Hill where once more the route has been lost to modern roads forcing a detour before re-joining the route near the Scotia Brook.

I was now onto the final section of this walk, with no more detours onto roads as the path headed away from Stoke on Trent towards the Birchenwood country park where the railway goes into a deep tree-lined cutting running close to a small river. This area also featured Goldenhill Tunnel and was very nice (even if the path in this area was a bit muddy in places). The last section was in Kidsgrove itself as I carried on to the end of the railway path near the Tesco in Kidsgrove, near the site of the former Kidsgrove Liverpool Road station. I had no time to rest as I made my way to Kidsgrove station climbing the many steps on the footbridge to reach platform 3 with a couple of minutes to spare before 350375 rolled in from Crewe to take me to Stafford.

Portal of the Goldenhill Tunnel on the former Potteries Loop Line in Kidsgrove (1) by Kite, on Flickr

The walk was quite enjoyable, other than the sections lost to modern developments, decent path throughout with no major areas of mud or flooding, but my legs were feeling the near 18 mile walk as I collapsed onto that 350, putting my phone on charge and having my delayed lunch. At Stafford it was a bit chaotic due to a landslip between Coventry & Rugby with a Pendo blocking platform 1, causing a 10-minute delay to the next LNR service for London Euston. This was formed of 350262 & 350119, and I had a good position away from the large crowd to board into coach 5, grabbing the extra legroom table seat behind the cab on 119, putting my phone on charge and settling down to watch some videos for the journey to London. I noticed the guard locking out the gangway door between units soon after departing Atherstone, clearly a guard who didn't want to be pestered by those pesky passengers (complete difference to the guard on the train from Kidsgrove who was patrolling the train checking tickets etc).

The train was further delayed on the southern part of the WCML due to a broken rail (I think) losing some more time so arrival into London Euston was around 20 minutes late. I headed away from the busy train, swinging via Sainsburys for some food before walking (slowly) to Euston Square where I got lucky a couple of minute wait before the next Hammersmith bound service, a circle line 21356/21355 for the short journey to Paddington. Due to engineering works in the Woking area, there was the magical replacement bus from Guildford to Basingstoke, but giving SWR some credit they extended the Salisbury stoppers to/from Reading rather than terminating them at Basingstoke (the ones in the evening which would normally run to London). Every little helps and all that jazz.

Anyhow the first available service to Reading when I arrived at Paddington was 387167 & 387164 on a busy service for Swindon for the slightly bumpy trip to Reading. At Reading I had a short wait before 159107 & 158890 rolled in from Salisbury to form the 19:12 service to Salisbury and I climbed on board to relax, catching up with some internet sites as I had finished what I was watching. This service took me towards Basingstoke & then to Grateley, where I had a gentle walk home, resting my legs.

387167 at Reading Station by Kite, on Flickr

All in all, an enjoyable weekend getaway, Edinburgh was busy with the rugby, but I managed to do mostly what I had hoped for. Another section of the Trent & Mersey canal has been complete as well as an old railway line walk. I was glad when those 350s rolled into Stafford as when I saw the inbound service was cancelled, I was expecting the worse. Thanks for reading, a lot more photos can be found on my Flickr of both days, not much in the way of train action this weekend but I need to make the most of the dry weather.

 

[Kite159]

16th – 19th February – Weekend in Yorkshire & Nottingham

The idea behind this trip was a weekend getaway to Yorkshire, staying in the shared house in Wakefield (which I used back in September) with a focus on disused railways on the Saturday and a canal walk on the Sunday. Originally, I was going to head home on the Sunday but due to engineering works on the ECML & around Wimbledon, combined with needing to use up the last few days of annual leave before the end of March I decided to stay an extra night in Wakefield to head home on the Monday instead.

16th February – Rescued by a voyager.

The trip began with the usual 17:59 from Grateley towards London Waterloo with a busy 159014. I arrived at Grateley in good time to see a GWR IET passing on an ECS service from Eastleigh to Westbury (then onwards to Paddington) which was a bit random seeing it pass before the 159 rolled in. This service lost time around Farnborough due to an emergency speed restriction and after Woking due to congestion caused by an earlier all line block with arrival being around 14 minutes late, annoyingly just short of the magic 15 minutes where money can come back (all the padding between Clapham Junction & Waterloo not helping things).

As the weather was dry and I had just under an hour, I decided to walk to Kings Cross heading towards Holborn before heading towards Judd Street to reach Kings Cross. Close to the station I looked up RTT to see what platform the 20:33 Leeds train was due to depart from, only to see the dreaded “C” word. Cancelled due to earlier signalling issues. The main option given was to wait until the 21:33 service to Leeds which not only called at every station to Doncaster, but it was also looking quite busy when I went to reserve a seat.

A GWR IET passing Grateley by Kite, on Flickr

However, there was an alternative option, which when I visited the ticket office the person behind the counter said “It wasn’t worth it” when it got suggested which was to take the 21:00 Newcastle train to Doncaster, changing to a Leeds bound XC service to get into Wakefield 45-odd minutes earlier than waiting for the 21:33 service. The guard on the Newcastle train (formed of 801230) said it was OK for me to travel (as well as many other passengers from the cancelled 20:33 service) as it headed north along the ECML calling additionally at Grantham (where a new barrier alongside the disused edge of platform 3, the bay, had appeared, I presume for safety). At Doncaster it was a short 15-minute wait before a very quiet 220007 rolled in from the Sheffield direction and I got a seat for the short run to Wakefield Westgate.

Good thing I did this unusual move, getting rescued by the voyager as the 21:33 service lost around 15 minutes reaching Doncaster and hence followed a stopper from Fitzwilliam getting into Wakefield 20-odd minutes late. Anyhow at Wakefield I headed towards the shared house I used back in September near Silcoates Street (northwest from Westgate). This place does have a couple minor flaws (mainly with the blinds) but was a good price when I booked. Sadly, it seems the management company has since hiked their prices for this place as even looking ahead to October, they now want £55 a night which isn’t worth it in my eyes). Anyhow I located my room on the top floor and sorted out my bag ready for the morning.

220007 at Doncaster Station by Kite, on Flickr

17th February – Wetherby & Ripley railway line walks

The original idea for this trip was to just do the old railway line path from Harrogate towards the village of Ripley, followed by linear hopping at some of the stations I want to revisit on the North Yorkshire section of the Harrogate loop as my photos are not the best. However, like with most of my ideas, things change when I noticed an old railway line path in the Wetherby area allowing for ideas to start forming for another walk as both ends required buses. The weather forecast changed from being dry to having rain in the evening but thankfully the daytime was due to be dry, so I set out for the first trip to the settlement of Boston Spa on the outskirts of Wetherby.

I had 3 options, including a direct bus from Wakefield to Boston Spa, but due to having no toilet paper in my room (located some in the shared kitchen area in the morning with a little nosey) and not being sure what options existed near the bus station for food, I decided to head to Westgate station for 331007 to Leeds, a service I nearly missed due to the gate line at Wakefield being in operation and the ticket office being closed. As I wanted a West Yorkshire Day Trainsaver, this couldn’t be purchased from the LNER TVMs (and is quite hard to buy on the train as it’s listed as “WY Daysaver”). Thankfully the gateline member of staff saw sense and allowed me through to buy it on the train. What is the point with having a gateline in operation when the person in charge doesn’t do revenue?

331007 at Leeds Station by Kite, on Flickr

Anyhow at Leeds, having purchased my ranger from the guard I popped to the Sainsburys Local on the concourse to grab something for breakfast before returning to the trains with 195101 on the next available train to Garforth. A station which has changed since my last visit as the old footbridge has gone as a new bridge with lifts is getting constructed with a temporary footbridge installed at the eastern end. I left the station area to head into the town centre area, swinging via a Greggs to make use of my O2 Rewards App to grab a free sausage roll (because it was free) before waiting at the bus stop for the 2 hourly Arriva run route 174 to Wetherby (the other option available was a Harrogate Bus Company route 7 from Leeds). The bus rolled in with the driver having a short break with an ADL Enviro200 fleet 1002 on a lightly loaded journey away from Garforth then towards Barwick in Elmet, Aberford before following a road which ran alongside the A1(M). A bit of a farce happened with a junction of this motorway near the A64 as the road towards Bramham was closed forcing an unexpected detour along the motorway for one junction before heading direct into Wetherby bus station, skipping Boston Spa.

One passenger kicked off big style about the bus missing Boston Spa, even saying it was shown as serving a prison near Thorp Arch (yes it does on a weekday but not at weekends, not the drivers fault you can't read a timetable). Eventually the bus set off going via the Prison to drop the lady off and the driver dropped me off in Boston Spa before going on the diverted route back towards Garforth & Wakefield. An enjoyable route looking out of the window in an area of West Yorkshire I haven't visited before. I was happy to get dropped off at the roundabout before the A1(M) with a short walk towards the village centre due to the issue, the driver was amazing in keeping his cool with that lady though.

Construction work at Garforth Station by Kite, on Flickr

My walk began with a little detour towards a path alongside the river Wharfe doing a little U-turn at the northern end (in hindsight I should have walked from the starting point even if was a bit longer as it looked like a nice woodland path). I followed this river path towards the Thorp Arch bridge and continued as it turned a bit more rural and went underneath the disused Newton Kyme railway viaduct. The path came to an end with a farm-track which was the worse section with mud & large puddles, but I reached the road near Toulston for a short walk along the A659 (nice pavement) to pick up the start of the Wetherby Railway Path. A mixed used path which makes use of the former Church Fenton - Harrogate railway line closed in the 1960s by the doctor.

The first section was decent quality tarmac as it passed a modern housing estate before crossing the Wharfe on the viaduct I walked underneath earlier with a small detour towards the Thorpe Arch Estate before returning to the route of the old railway line as it headed towards a deep cutting (with a crossing of Walton Road). This area ran close to the training ground of the Leeds kickball team (sounded like training was happening with all the noise from that direction). Other than that noise it was very pretty with woodland, no real evidence of the former station at Thorpe Arch. Another busy road crossing at Walton Road before heading into a quiet section with woodlands near the racecourse. The path went underneath the A1(M) on the outskirts of Wetherby where the first section came to an end.

Wetherby Railway Path between Thorp Arch & Walton (5) by Kite, on Flickr

The next section was lost to modern developments requiring some road walking before picking up the old railway route, this section now being branded as the Harland Way. I did the triangle of old railway lines where the former Cross Gates - Wetherby line joined up with the Church Fenton - Harrogate line, the former Wetherby railway station (Linton Road) now being used as a car park. After this little detour the path left Wetherby and turned rural, the path quality had changed from tarmac to more hard-core with some mud in places. Quite a scenic route again being peaceful as it crossed over into North Yorkshire. A bit of road noise from the A661 road in the distance when the path came out of a deep cutting. Annoyingly when I got closer to the end of the walk in Spofforth I must have misread the bus timetable for the Wetherby - Harrogate bus as it was only hourly on Saturdays (half hourly during the week) with a gap around 1pm...

You can probably guess the time I reached the village of Spofforth and the end of the Wetherby railway path, with a 50-minute gap for the next bus towards Harrogate. Instead for a little time-wasting move (and to get out of a short rain shower) I jumped on a Leeds bound route 7 bus run by the Harrogate Bus Company (bus 1856) back towards Wetherby then onto Walton (a village between Boston Spa & Wetherby). I changed buses here for another route 7 service (bus 1838) to take me all the way into Harrogate bus station where my second walk of the day started.

Harrogate Bus Company Bus FJ58 LSU in Walton on a route 7 to Leeds by Kite, on Flickr

This walk was along the Nidderdale Greenway path, a path which makes use of the former Leeds – Northallerton railway then onto the Nidd Valley Railway towards the village of Ripley. After a visit to an Asda to make use of the toilets, I joined the start of the path with the section which runs alongside the existing railway route before crossing the railway with a footbridge and heads towards the Bilton area of Harrogate. Quite a nice path as it curved in some woodlands. At the former junction where the line from Starbeck joined the greenway I turned to head towards Starbeck to reach the end of the Greenway, doing a U-turn to head back towards the junction and carrying on out of Harrogate and towards the Nidd Gorge Viaduct.

After the viaduct, the path turned quite rural with the former junction where the Nidd Valley line branched away from the mainline is clear as the path continued along the Greenway heading downhill via some beautiful woodland (would love to do this again in autumn time). The path dropped down to run alongside the river Nidd as it reached the A61 to the south of Ripley. I had good fortune as it just started to rain as I crossed the road to head towards the bus stop near the roundabout, arriving with a few minutes to spare before the next route 36 bus (Ripon - Harrogate - Leeds) rolled up with double decker 3640. I headed upstairs and was surprised with the 2+1 seating which was quite nice as I put my phone on charge and settled down as the bus headed towards Harrogate then onwards to Leeds bus station. The rain had finally arrived along with darkness so after Harrogate I gave up looking out of the window and relaxed.

Nidderdale Greenway in Harrogate (Starbeck) (11) by Kite, on Flickr

This bus took me to Leeds bus station, so after a walk via the busy city centre (all the drinkers) I arrived at the railway station. I had a West Yorkshire Day ranger and wanted to get some more use out of it, so it was onto a busy 170476 for the short hop to Burley Park for some better photos returning to Leeds a few minutes later with 150271 & 150270 on a Harrogate starter. Back at Leeds it was a short wait before boarding 333002 to get welcomed on to the Skipton train for my first 333 of the year and I had forgotten how fast they get on the run to Shipley. I changed at Bingley due to the next Leeds train showing as cancelled (typical Northern) and so took 333010 to Shipley changing to 333006 from Bradford to Kirkstall Forge for a short wait before 331006 arrived from Ilkley. Due to the line being closed via Baildon the Ilkley trains were calling additionally at Kirkstall Forge to allow passengers to change trains to head towards Shipley & beyond without the need to go via Leeds.

Back at Leeds once more, I headed towards the Wigan train formed of a busy 158795 & 158868 for the single stop to Morley, solely to revisit this station since it got relocated with new platforms being built (similar in a way to Rochester & Bromsgrove). As of the old Morley station part of platform 1 remains with the old waiting shelter, bike rack & parcel collection point, the new station looked reasonable, even had proper seats in the waiting shelter which is a nice bonus in an era where waiting shelters tend to get those horrible (in my eyes) perch style seats. I had a short wait before 158869 & 158901 rolled in from Wigan to take me back to Leeds where it was a short walk over to platform 16 to board the final XC service of the night for the hop to Wakefield Westgate (originally picked up as being formed of 8 coaches). 220011 rolled in with 220034 on the back, yes it was 8 coaches but 220034 was locked out of use so it was the usual XC crush in 220011 for the run to Wakefield. To give the driver credit, they did stop at the usual 4 coach point at Wakefield to save people a long walk and to save chaos with passengers trying to board the locked-out unit.

158868 at Morley Station by Kite, on Flickr

Time on the trains finished for the day as I fancied a pizza, which Wakefield seemed to have a range of takeaway options which I had narrowed down to a couple of potential places based on the menu online. I ended up buying one from a place called Freddies on the A642, walking back to the shared house on a path which ran alongside Wakefield prison. It was quite yummy, certainly filled a hole I had in my stomach, a place I would use again if ever I was in Wakefield overnight again. After the pizza I relaxed for the remainder of the evening listening to some rain.

18th February – Canal Walking in West Yorkshire

This area of West Yorkshire has several canals on my wish-list to explore (Leeds – Castleford, Castleford – Knottingley, Castleford – Wakefield & Shipley – Skipton) in the end I decided on finishing the Calder & Hebble Navigation from Brighouse towards Sowerby Bridge and continuing towards Hebden Bridge with the Rochdale canal, but before that I had something I wanted to investigate which I had spotted on RTT with Castleford.

Before I headed to Wakefield Westgate station, I did a loop from the shared house towards the Alverthorpe meadows along a path which did suggest an old railway route, after the meadows I headed towards the station swinging via a small Sainsburys local for breakfast and ticking off another couple of paths on my list in this general area, arriving at Wakefield Westgate to find the ticket office closed (no staff?) with 3 members of LNER staff sitting in the customer help point who just said to buy my ranger on the train (would it be too hard for one of those members of staff to relocate to the ticket office or even have a portable ticket machine to provide customer service for those whom can’t use the hopeless LNER TVMs?). Anyhow it was onto 150203 for the short trip to Wakefield Kirkgate changing to a busy 150210 to Castleford into a large crowd waiting (I presume this would be the first train to Leeds from Castleford on a Sunday).

I hung back a few minutes before 150222 rolled in from the Knottingley direction, being happy when it rolled into platform 2, the recently rebuilt platform (which allows the TPE service from York to call). I took this 150 to Leeds where I changed onto a reasonably busy 802209 on a TPE service to Liverpool Lime Street which was diverted via the Calder valley line so called additionally at Brighouse (for replacement buses to Huddersfield), which was quite handy. After exiting the station and swinging via the Sainsburys for lunch items (and to visit the toilet) I started my walk.

150222 at Castleford Station (using P2) by Kite, on Flickr

I soon joined the Calder & Hebble Navigation to walk west leaving the town centre area with the River Calder on my left hand side of this busy towpath. There was a couple of times the towpath switched sides near a fishing lake in Cromwell Bottom. My walk continued along the tarmac towpath heading towards Elland and underneath the railway line & busy looking A629 road. This is an area where my walk left the side of the canal due to a long-gone footbridge near Elland wharf.

The canal was soon re-joined, and I continued my walk towards Halifax (the Salterhebble area of the town) with another detour required due to the construction of a new road bridge closing part of the towpath. I passed a guillotine lock at Salterhebble (I presume built due to being close to the road bridge and not having space for usual lock gates) and headed up to the top lock where the Halifax branch of the canal branched off, which is where I turned to follow the branch canal.

A TPE 802 crossing the Calder and Hebble Navigation in Elland by Kite, on Flickr

This was a short branch as most of it has been lost under modern development, the canal coming to an end with a small basin alongside an old looking Premier Inn (Halifax South) with the path continuing as the Hebble Trial which was quite scenic with the trees, passing the remains of an old lock and an old canal bridge. At the end of the old canal section, I did a U-turn to head back towards the canal and junction with the main Calder & Hebble Navigation. There is another section of this path on my list to do near Halifax station but that is a job for another day.

Back on the main Calder & Hebble Navigation, I went underneath the railway bridge (carrying the Halifax – Brighouse line), heading towards Copley where on finding a nice bench seats I decided to sit down for 10 minutes to have lunch whilst listening to passing trains on the nearby railway. After lunch I continued along this scenic canal walk, going underneath the Copley viaduct (carrying the Halifax – Sowerby Bridge line). A couple of miles later I reached Sowerby Bridge itself where the Rochdale Canal meets the Calder & Hebble Navigation near Sowerby wharf, switching onto the Rochdale canal where the towpath wasn’t quite as nice (hard-core with some cobbles). At the first lock I crossed over the canal to explore part of the Sowerby wharf to finish the canal before returning to the Rochdale canal.

Rochdale Canal Zero Mile Marker, Sowerby Bridge by Kite, on Flickr

I soon reached Tuel Lane tunnel requiring a detour onto the road network, passing a busy looking Wetherspoons, coming onto the canal near Tuel Lane lock (deepest lock in the country) as the canal continued, the river Calder not being that far away. Some lovely views of countryside from this canal as well as some views of woodland. I would love to do this canal in autumn time when the trees are all in various colours.

The canal continued away from Sowerby Bridge towards Luddenden Foot turning quite rural, but still quite busy with other walkers & joggers. I continued my walk towards Mytholmroyd and Hebden Bridge with another little detour due to the Fallingroyd Bridge underneath the A646. I soon reached the end point of my walk (with my legs letting me know they were suffering) and I headed to Hebden Bridge station for a 20-minute wait for the next Leeds trains (during which time a diverted pair of 185s passed as well as a GBRf 60 hauling biomess). The canal itself was very scenic in places, an enjoyable walk.

60095 passing Hebden Bridge Station by Kite, on Flickr

The next Leeds bound service formed of 195130 rolled in and I managed to get a decent seat to put my phone on charge and relaxed with the journey towards Leeds, where I boarded 170472 for the run to Horsforth for some better photos of this station. The difference in acceleration between a 195 & 170 was quite notable and soon I had alighted at the border station (beyond the line goes into a place where there be dragons, also known as North Yorkshire). After a quick visit to Tesco for a quick nosey I returned to the station to take 170475 back to Leeds and headed towards the 18:45 LNER service to Peterborough, which was formed of winner 800206, which happened to be my final 800 to ride on. A very quiet train (3 other passengers in the middle coach) as I took it to Wakefield Westgate, returning to Leeds on a late running 331007 on the stopper from Doncaster.

I was feeling hungry after a long walk and ended up walking to “The Cuthbert Brodrick” Wetherspoons to have a mixed grill. After food, I headed back to the station for 150275 on a Knottingley train to take me to Pontefract Monkhill (via Wakefield), another station on my list I wanted to revisit for a better photo (although I might come back again for a walk). I had 15 minutes before the sprinter returned from Knottingley to take me to Wakefield Westgate to walk back to the shared house for my final night of this current stay. An enjoyable day with the canal walk with the bonus of my last 800 (just leaves half a dozen 9 coach 801s for the LNER fleet before the new trains arrive).

800206 at Leeds Station by Kite, on Flickr

19th February – A trip to Nottingham

When I originally extended this stay in Wakefield I was puzzling at how to get back to London with the ECML closed south of Peterborough, I could either head towards Crewe making use of a northern freebie single ticket for a cheap LNR ticket to London, in the end I looked at the fares from Nottingham to London using the sale, picking up a reasonably priced split advance from Nottingham on EMR as well as a cheap Northern ticket from Wakefield to Nottingham. The idea to head to Nottingham was to hunt down some sub mile trams and see if either of my last couple of 170s I needed for ten miles were floating around.

I checked out of the shared house heading out into the light rain, passed the prison and towards Wakefield Kirkgate station going via Sainsburys for breakfast, a bit tighter than I would have liked due to wasting time waiting for traffic lights to change as 195009 was rolling in just as I arrived onto the platform, amazingly I found a seat (after asking someone to move their oversized handbag) and settled down for the run towards Barnsley, Sheffield & Nottingham, the train getting quite busy after Langley Mill. Along the way I used RTT to form a rough plan to get both my remaining 170s as both were due to be in Nottingham around the same time.

170424 departs Bulwell Station by Kite, on Flickr

But first I had some time to waste so after heading to the tram stop to buy a Robin Hood day ticket, I jumped onto 170424 (one of the former Southern/Scotrail units) to Bulwell and headed across to the tram platforms getting lucky with sub mile tram 206 being the first service to roll in which I took to David Lane for sub mile 225 behind it which I took to High School (was originally going to bail at the Forest but changed my mind). Another sub-mile tram was following with 230 which I took to Lace Market followed by a short wait before taking 209 to Nottingham station to head downstairs to return to the big trains.

It was onto 170510 on the next Lincoln train which I took to Newark Castle, forgetting just how slow this line feels. Lots of flooding in the fields near the line but soon I had arrived at Newark with just over an hour before what should be 170423 coming back so I headed out of Newark Castle to walk towards the river Trent path, heading towards the town lock, watching the fast flow of water and flooding of the towpath in places. After reaching the weir I did a U-turn to cross over the river and back towards the remains of the castle and carried on along the south bank towards a footbridge near the A46 Newark bypass. Had I had more time I would have continued the path as it goes underneath both the Nottingham – Lincoln & ECML railway lines (although I wouldn’t have been surprised if those bridges were flooded). I crossed over the river and onto a muddier path on the northern bank, dodging some flooding and going underneath an old railway bridge which looking at old maps used to carry a curve linking Newark Castle to the ECML.

Newark Castle on the banks of the Trent by Kite, on Flickr

More solid ground was reached near the marina for the walk back towards the station, only to be greeted with that horrible C word again. The train back to Nottingham was cancelled ‘due to a person hit by a train’ so I was expecting the next Lincoln train to get terminated at Newark to work back to Nottingham (assuming the line was blocked between Newark & Lincoln) but that departed without issue. So, with some time to waste I took a seat, had my lunch and waited for 170206 (still in Greater Anglia colours) to arrive from Crewe to terminate and form the next semi-fast service back to Nottingham. 3 coach trains don’t quite fit at Newark Castle, so it was SDO for the front 2 coaches before I walked to the rear coach, sadly it wasn’t the end with the former 1st class seats in but ah-well, the front looked very busy.

Sadly, that cancellation meant 170422 had buggered off to Skegness by the time it arrived in Nottingham (delayed further by an emergency stop around Burton Joyce due to an idiotic dog walker misusing a foot crossing). Once back at Nottingham, I headed to the trams once more with 224 taken to Royal Centre & 205 to Nottingham Trent University, arriving at a time where the university had finished for the day (judging by the number of students floating around ignoring the big tram bearing down on them as they walked across the road face looking at their mobile phone). I knew one more sub mile tram was out (as I saw it earlier at the station before my trip to Newark) with one potentially being on an afternoon peak throw-out from the depot (as I saw it on the entrance track).

Nottingham trams 205 & 223 at Lace Market by Kite, on Flickr

I kept my eyes peeled at the trams, but sadly that luck I had in the morning had run out before 237 arrived from Hucknall to take me back to the station (just over a mile). I returned towards the city centre with 225 for another short section before calling it a day with 224 back to the station. Had my legs felt a bit more alive I was toying with the idea of a walk along the canal from the station towards Beeston, but I think after the 2 days of long walks they were a bit sore. Anyhow back to the big trains again with 170514 taken to Netherfield (for a random revisit) with a fast walk to Carlton to beat the level crossing to board a busy 170505 on the next Newark Castle terminator to take me back to Newark Castle.

Wasting some time, I popped to the Waitrose to have a look for any reduced to clear bargains, picking up a couple of items before returning to the station to find the next Nottingham train was delayed for some reason. I noticed the next Lincoln train (a 2 coach 170) depart looking rather cosy as the previous Lincoln train had been cancelled. Eventually 170423 rolled in and I headed to the former 1st class area at the back of the train for the nonstop run back to Nottingham. One more 170 into my book for ten miles (previously only had this unit on a Haymarket leap before it transferred to Southern getting turned into a 171 of either 2 or 4 coaches.

170514 at Netherfield Station by Kite, on Flickr

Due to the delay, I was originally going to take this unit to Beeston to intercept something coming back the opposite direction, but that was ditched as I headed to grab dinner from the Tesco Express outside the station before heading to locate my seat on 222002, one of the remaining 7 coach units. My reserved seat was in coach D (in the middle) but when the guard announced that one of the 1st class coaches was declassified, I hopped into that coach (for the extra comfort of the 1st class seats). The coach I was originally in had refurbished seats but was quite busy (probably due to being the first standard class coach people would reach).

This service was the slower Nottingham – London train calling at Beeston, East Midlands Parkway & Loughborough towards Leicester before the usual calls at Market Harborough & Kettering before running fast to St Pancras, as I settled down watching some videos the 222 catching up with a late running service from Corby near Luton so the last few miles weren’t as fast, but it was nice to be back on a 222 again with a decent run (pretty sure the last time was September 2022 on the trip I had a 180 to Skegness). Arrival into St Pancras was near enough on time, and I guess I could have dashed to the underground to attempt to make the 20:20 service from Waterloo (25 minutes) but decided to have a gentle walk to Waterloo, getting some fresh air.

222002 & 222014 at St Pancras Station by Kite, on Flickr

I arrived at Waterloo around 40 minutes later and relaxed looking at the advertising screen (mainly at the advert featuring the beautiful lady in sports clothing) before boarding the 21:20 service to Salisbury with 159004 & 159014. A shame what would have been the 20:50 starts at Basingstoke after running ECS from Reading (had it started at Reading it would have allowed more options from Paddington), but this train was lightly loaded as I relaxed looking at the internet with my tablet (having finished the series I was watching earlier and not wanting to start a new series). Nothing unusual happened along the way to Grateley as I had a gentle walk home, sorting out my back and going to sleep.

A later finish than usual, but that was due to the prices on EMR, an enjoyable day in Nottingham, shame I missed out on 422 but that will still be around next month when hopefully I do an East Midlands Day Ranger from Crewe. An enjoyable few days away, getting lucky with the weather and in a decent shared house (although not worth the £55 a night they now want for it). Thanks for reading, more photos are on my Flickr here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/157760463@N05/albums/72177720314590901/page7

 

[Kite159]

24th & 25th February Trips

After the last few weeks being away on weekend trips, it was back to day trips for the next couple of weeks. Although my original plan for the Saturday went into the bin due to a landslip between Bristol & Wales.

24th February – Frome to Midsomer Norton Disused railway walk.

My original idea for today was to head towards Newport then walk the canal towards Cross Keys before switching to a disused railway route towards Hengoed, then spend a few hours doing some odds & sods within South Wales (new platforms & track on the Ebbw Vale line etc). I woke up around 06:20 and decided to check RTT to see what I was due to have on the 07:30 service from Salisbury to Cardiff (Sprinter or Turbo) where I noticed it was showing as terminating at Bristol Temple Meads. A quick look at the GWR Journey Check website highlighted that there had been a landslip between Patchway & the tunnel resulting in single line working and a reduced timetable (with the trains to/from Portsmouth getting terminated at Bristol). I decided as it would be a 30-minute fester at Bristol Temple Meads both in the morning & in the evening on likely busy trains from the Taunton direction to park the idea into the sidings for the time being (waiting for TfW to get back to me to refund my unused advances for Warminster – Newport, as I was going to buy the Salisbury – Warminster ticket on the day).

With Cardiff out, I had to come up with an alternative plan, in the end picking a disused railway line walk I had on my list to make use of the £2 bus fare scheme whilst it lasts. After de-icing my car, it was a drive to Salisbury parking in my usual area (which has gotten a lot more popular since SWR hiked the parking charges up at the station), heading to the station to buy a ticket to Trowbridge and boarding the 07:30 service formed of 158798 to Trowbridge. I guess in hindsight I could have probably saved some money by booking to Warminster to use a Frome Bus service to Frome for around £3.50 (that operator isn’t taking part in the £2 fares). Leaving the train at Trowbridge I headed towards Sainsburys in the town centre to grab some supplies for lunch and waited for the next Faresaver operated route X34 rolled in from Chippenham to take me to Frome Market Place (a busy Enviro 200 bus MK13 KUB which emptied out in the town centre area).

158798 departs Trowbridge Station by Kite, on Flickr

At Frome, I soon headed away from the marketplace towards the station to pick up a path back towards the town centre which went via the Rodden Meadows, before carrying on with a path following the river Frome via the suburbs of Frome towards the Spring Gardens area of the town, the tarmac path coming to an end all of a sudden (part of it is being upgraded as part of the Frome Missing Link project, to provide an easier route to link up with the Collier’s Way path which makes use of the route of the old railway line which branches off the Whatley Quarry branch near Great Elm a few miles outside Frome. I reached Spring Gardens, crossing over the branch line on a foot crossing and had a short section of walking along the road to reach a footpath which eventually picked up the Mells River coming out near Hapsford. This wasn’t my original idea to how to reach Great Elm as I was originally going to follow the East Mendip Way out of Frome but missed the junction in a maze of paths.

After the riverside footpath it was back onto the road, thankfully a lot quieter than the road earlier on and I headed towards the railway near Hapsford to pick up an work in progress extension to the Colliers Way path (bit of a rough path suitable only for walkers at the moment) which followed the Whatley branch line to the junction where the old GWR Bristol and North Somerset Railway route came away and the extension path went along the old alignment on what felt like railway ballast. This section was very quiet with some beautiful views of the countryside as it continued to meet the tarmac path of the older cycle path which unusually runs alongside the old railway track, with the track still in situ (but heavily overgrown in places).

"Time to pretend I'm a train" Former junction of the Radstock line from the Whately Quarry branch by Kite, on Flickr

It was now onto the tarmac path which ran alongside the old track in a section I can only describe as being very quiet (both in terms of other path users & noise, when I stopped walking the only sound was bird song and the soft sound of running water). The view was quite nice as well of Somerset countryside. I saw no evidence of the former Mells Road station as the path continued heading into a woodland cutting towards Kilmersdon, a few puddles along the way due to recent rain but nothing major. The railway route headed north as I decided to try and get a photo standing on the old railway track itself, only to end up on my rear end as I slipped on the wooden sleeper (ouch!).

Colliers Way path (former Bristol and North Somerset Railway route) between Great Elm & Kilmersdon, Rare Track anybody? by Kite, on Flickr

The path came to an end in the town of Radstock, with modern developments built over the route of the old track as I reached the town centre, heading east along cycle route 24 which now was running along the route of the old Somerset & Dorset railway. I took this section towards Foxcote where the off-road mixed used path came to an end, the old railway route lost between this section & Wellow (where the path returns for the section leading towards Bath). Maybe one day I will get round to walking the section between Wellow & Midford, making use of that Westlink DRT bus scheme (which seems to include Freshford station & Wellow).

At the end of the path at Foxcote, I did a U-turn to head back towards Radstock, making use of a bench to have my lunch as a short shower arrived lasting around 5 minutes. After lunch I carried on back towards Radstock and then onto the “Radstock – Norton Greenway” path, running along the route of the old GWR route (with the Somerset & Dorset route higher up an embankment and being a muddy path before that crossed over the greenway path on a lovely bridge, I only wish I climbed up the steps to have a look from the top.

Somerset & Dorset Railway crossing over the former GWR route on the Norton-Radstock by Kite, on Flickr

Radstock gave way to Midsomer Norton with a short section of narrow path where the railway had been lost before the path terminated in the Thicket Mead area of the town. I switched to the Wellow Brook Walk (which parallels the railway line) towards the town centre, cutting across the shopping area and up a steep hill to reach Midsomer Norton South station, home of the Somerset & Dorset Railway Heritage Trust which during the spring/summertime they run trains along a short section of preserved railway. On reaching the old station, I climbed up to a path running along the route of the old Somerset & Dorset railway line back towards Radstock (labelled as “Five Arches Greenway”). I reached the end of this path before switching to the road to head along Welton Road, passing a pub called “Railway Hotel” onto the A367 where I finished the walk at the bus stop outside Bath College.

The first bus towards Bath was a First bus (I will get my coat!) route 172 (with double decker 33660 branded as “Mendip Xplorer” on a Bristol – Midsomer Norton – Bath service (something I will be adding to my list to do). This bus headed towards Bath via Peasedown St John and some steep hills. At Bath bus station, I had around 45 minutes to kill before the next Warminster bus so I headed towards the city centre with a random ex-Swansea bus passing (I couldn’t go to Wales, so Wales came to me). I noticed since my last visit there is a new Morrisons Local close to the station, and I do like Morrisons doughnuts (mmm Doughnut).

The new Bath – Neath bus service by First by Kite, on Flickr

Back at the bus station and into a big queue for the next D1 service for Warminster via Trowbridge (brings back memories of doing this bus route last May) with an Enviro 200, Bath City branded, 67096 on this busy service. This was quite a posh interior featuring seat back tables and armrests, along with some decent legroom. It departed rather busy heading away from Bath going towards the outskirts of Bathhampton and Bradford on Avon, the bus emptying out as the journey continued. I alighted at the bus stop nearest to Trowbridge railway station getting lucky with a delay to a Portsmouth bound service formed of 158950, grabbing a table seat putting my phone on charge and relaxing for the journey in the dark towards Salisbury.

At Salisbury, after a visit to the toilets to wash my glasses, it was back to my car to drive home after an enjoyable long walk (18 miles) along some old railway routes. The only thing holding me back from recommending the section from Great Elm to Radstock is the connection between Great Elm & Frome (although there is an infrequent Frome Bus operated service between Frome & Great Elm [and Great Elm & Radstock] which looks like it would be a good route to do at some point. My feet were glad to get home and out into the fresh air, the only issue I’ve got with my current walking boots is my feet sweat a lot more.

25th February – Buses in Berkshire

My original idea for this Sunday was to drive towards Romsey, taking the train towards Southampton & on towards Chichester for an old railway line walk (the old line towards Midhurst) but due to the weather forecast not being the greatest I decided that could wait for another day and instead dust of a rough plan to have a bus day based in the Slough area to do some buses which had been on my list for a while. Due to engineering works it was a later start than usual with the 08:56 service taking mum & myself to Reading with 158886 & 158882 (featuring a shifty looking character heading towards Swindon without a ticket and not having funds on his card when the guard pounced on him, gave the impression of a County Line drug runner (no doubt the sort who would board the first train towards Swindon and jump the barriers at Swindon station).

Anyhow at Reading it was a short walk over to 345060 on the next Elizabeth line service to Slough, where we exited the station and headed to the nearby Tesco for some lunch supplies before making our way to the bus stop on Brunel way, next to the fire damaged bus station for the Sundays only route 12 operated by Thames Valley Buses (Monday – Saturday this route is operated by First bus) with Enviro 200 bus 669 on this service. The bus headed via the Slough suburbs (all the speed bumps) slowly emptying out in the Manor Park & Britwell area before heading towards Burnham (which seemed a pretty place) with the last passenger (other than mum & myself) alighted before doing the Sundays only extension to Heathrow Terminal 5, joining the M4 at Junction 7 for some speed towards the M25 at junction 4 before taking the terminal 5 Spur to arrive at the airport terminal bus station (which is a horrible place to wait as it's dark & gloomy).

Thames Valley Bus 669 (YX67 UYL, Ram Rai) at Heathrow Terminal 5 on a route 12 by Kite, on Flickr

After a short break, the next bus was another Thames Valley operated service, a route 5 with bus 677 on this service back towards Slough going via Poyle & Datchet (some expensive looking houses) before carrying on after Slough town centre towards Cippenham (a suburb of the town) doing a loop of this housing area where we alighted at the stop at Braemar Gardens for a gentle walk via a waterside path and a couple of roads towards Moreton Way, the starting point of our next bus route, changing to a First bus operated route A4 for Heathrow Central bus station (getting lucky with a double decker 34387 as the next service was a Streetlite).

This was a faster route back towards Slough, going via the Trading Estate before following the A4 to bypass Langley and heading straight towards the airport on the Colnbrook bypass. An enjoyable route which got up to speed in places. Sadly, the Piccadilly line wasn't running so it was the long walk towards Heathrow central railway station picking up the free terminal transfer tickets and boarding the first available train towards Terminal 5, a Heathrow Express formed of 387137 & 387135 for the 1.75-mile journey to Terminal 5

387135 at Heathrow Terminal 5 rail station by Kite, on Flickr

I was in two minds with what to do next, as part of me was tempted with the Carlone Buses operated 442 towards Staines, but I decided that could be done on another day when I explore some of the bus routes in Staines, so it was onto another First bus double decker with 34386 on the next route 7 for Britwell. This followed a similar route (once away from Heathrow onto the A4) but went via Langley itself. Although the promised rain had arrived so it was a bit damp as the bus took us back to Slough, the section towards Britwell can wait for another day as we were getting hungry and had one eye on the time.

First Bus 34386 (SK19 EMJ) near Slough bus station on a route 7 by Kite, on Flickr

Back to the trains at Slough station, and onto 387169 & 387171 on a Didcot service which was fine until after Maidenhead where it lost 10 minutes waiting for fast trains to cross over in front of it before calling at Twyford (due to a fallen down tree in Sonning cutting). This cut down the time we had in Reading, so we went for a takeaway option at Wendys to eat it when sitting on the next SWR service (which was starting at Reading instead of Waterloo due to the Wimbledon block) with 158882 & 158886 on the 18:12 service to Salisbury. Nothing unusual happened along the way and thankfully it wasn’t raining when we walked home.

The end of a nice little day looking out of the window, some more Heathrow bus services ticked off my list, I think from a glance at the Bus Times website the only ones left is that 442/X442 Carlone Bus minibus service and a weekdays only Woking – Hatton Cross via Terminal 4 service run by White Bus. Excluding the various TfL buses & buses which only run in the early mornings. Some more photos can be found on my Flickr Here, February for me has been kind with the weather allowing a bit of walking. Roll on March and longer days. Thanks for reading if indeed anybody is still reading.

 

[D841 Roebuck]

"if indeed anybody is still reading..."

I still am. Two interesting trips (for me) in your latest report.

Firstly, the Mendips. I fancy doing the preserved East Somerset Railway at some point this summer, so was looking at bus times (weekday only to Cranmore) and then possibly walking from Radstock or Frome for the last section. The path alongside the Whatley branch was one I traced, so it's nice to see it does exist and isn't a swamp .

Secondly, the buses round Heathrow, some of which are familiar to me from "alternative" routes from Feltham to Central London (Hatton Cross/Piccadilly Line; Hanwell/Elizabeth Line)...

Keep them coming!

 

[All platforms]

Yup, still reading here too, even if i do so in chunks. I can very much see the attraction in old railway walks, and there must be hundreds dotted about by now. I have done quite a few myself although it must be said i was cycling not walking, and mainly also quite a few years ago. Ditto with canal towpaths which have also fascinated me, ever since holidaying on canal boats as a teenager.

When i lived in Scotland my "local" old railway path went from Kirkintilloch to Strathblane and I cycled it many times with my eldest and have probably even walked it once or twice. Whilst a bit dodgy (then) there is also a cycle path from Glasgow (forget exactly where it starts now - hmm somewhere near the Exhibition Centre i think) all the way to Balloch and that was done quite a few times also. Quite a few others as well... I especially liked your description and pics of the Edinburgh based paths as something probably more achievable for me these days.

You certainly (still!) get around with your varied travels - your recent visit to Trowbridge piqued my interest too, as that part of the world (Wiltshire) has long been a county i wish to explore both in rail form and in normal form, and has pushed it up the list of places to stay/visit. I would be very surprised if my rail saga does not bring me through Trowbridge and Melksham before too long.

Always a good read....

 

[Kite159]

Trips on 2nd & 3rd March.

2 more day trips exploring old railway lines, the first in Somerset the 2nd in Buckinghamshire

2nd March – Exploring Chard (Somerset)

My original plan for today was to catch the 07:05-odd train from Salisbury to Bath for a short fester for an IET to Weston Super Mere (cheap £5 advance), catching the bus towards Cheddar to walk the old railway line (branded as “The Strawberry line” towards Yatton (then probably picking up a ticket back to Salisbury when I was closer to Yatton as GWR seems to sell advances on the day for Yatton – Salisbury). A nice gentle start to March, as I went to bed on the Friday the weather forecast showing a bit of rain overnight but light showers ending around 10:00 & overcast for the remainder of the day.

When I woke up on Saturday morning around 06:00, I checked the weather forecast once more, seeing that it had changed to being 90% chance of heavy rain until 2pm. A couple minutes of thinking before I decided to ditch the £5 advance to Weston and instead researched a couple other places, highlighting that the forecast for south Somerset was showing as dry with a couple light showers forecasted for the late afternoon, so I dusted off a plan to walk the short disused railway path from Ilminster towards Chard, fitting in a couple random bus routes.

With my new plan in my head, I drove to Salisbury station, parking in my usual area (saves £5-odd for parking at the station) and because I had some time to kill, headed towards Sainsburys in the city centre to grab some supplies before heading to the station to board a lightly loaded 159104 & 159009 on the 07:47 service for Exeter. I was surprised when in the Gillingham area to see snow on the ground, only a light dusting but still quite surprising.

Snow around Gillingham (Dorset) (4) by Kite, on Flickr

Nothing unusual happened along the way to Axminster, the couple of minutes the train lost at Salisbury due to a late running GWR service was made up by Yeovil due to planned dwells, so I easily made the tight +7 connection to the 09:10 route 30 service to Taunton (with bus 33554 painted bright green). This was an interesting route once outside Axminster following the A358 (with some nice views) before heading towards South Chard before reaching the town of Chard itself where the bus got quite busy. After leaving Chard it headed via a couple of housing estates (passing the former Chard station) and onto the main road towards Peasmarsh where it turned to head towards Sea and Ilminster, where I alighted at the bus stop on Orchard Vale near the town centre to begin my walk.

First (Buses of Somerset) bus 33554 (SN58 CGE) in Ilminster on a route 30 (to Taunton) by Kite, on Flickr

The first section was following a footpath alongside the Shrudrick Stream before picking up cycle route 33 on a path running behind some houses which joined up with the route of the old Taunton - Chard railway line. The first section of this path was in a cutting with some puddles to navigate before reaching the rebuilt platform at Donyatt Halt. My walk continued as it reached an section where the old railway route has been built over forcing a detour via a couple of country lanes towards Peasmarsh, passing a waste water processing plant and onto the route of the old railway line once more.

The next section was quite scenic and was quiet, some nice history with the old railway fence still being in place to guard against a drop with some nice woodland. The path passes Chard reservoir and the route of the long disused Chard canal with some nice old bridges. The railway path comes to an end on the northern edge of Chard, the route of the railway beyond lost under modern developments with the cycle path taking a less direct route towards the town centre. I had a little detour to photograph the former Chard station (now used as offices & a shop) before heading towards Tesco and wasted some time swinging via St Mary's Church before heading into the town centre to wait for the next bus (after doing some shopping).

Donyatt Halt on former Taunton - Chard railway line by Kite, on Flickr

The next route 99 service (operated by First) with bus 44534 (featuring some dodgy looking seats), the less frequent service compared to the route 30. Departed with around a dozen passengers on board, half of which had alighted by the time the bus left Chard with the remaining half dozen staying on board all the way to Taunton. No takers as the bus made its way across the countryside (with some nice views from high ground) towards Combe St Nicholas, Buckland St Mary & Staple Fitzpaine, picking up some more passengers within Taunton itself. An enjoyable scenic route which gave me 25 minutes to waste in Taunton (time used to visit a branch of CEX to have a nosey) before boarding the next route 30 service to Axminster with bus 34469. Quite busy on departure but lost around half the passengers by the time the bus reached the M5 and outskirts of Taunton.

This bus went direct along the A358 from Taunton towards Ilminster (not the comfiest bus as it was a bit bouncy at speed). After Ilminster the bus carried on back towards Chard and Tatworth and I alighted at the first stop within Axminster at Millwey Court as I had another short walk planned to waste some time (otherwise I would be sitting at Axminster station for 30 minutes). This walk took me along a permissive path alongside the A358 to pick up the cycle route path across a field passing the football club. A short section of walking along the road on North Street before a footpath between the railway line & a waterway near Tesco took me to Axminster station arriving with 10 minutes to spare before the next train towards Waterloo.

159007 departs Axminster for Exeter by Kite, on Flickr

The next Exeter train arrived & departed before 159018 & 159021 rolled in on a London service. I located a decent seat in coach 4 of 6, settled down and relaxed for the journey back to Salisbury. Nothing unusual happened along the way as I did research into options for the Sunday, trying to decide which of the 3 options I should do. Anyhow back at Salisbury, and a short walk to my car before driving home as the temperature dropped quite fast. An enjoyable day, I got lucky as other than a couple of short showers the rain kept away, the old railway line was quite nice in places.

3rd March – Phoenix Trail (Princes Risborough to Thame)

Late on Saturday evening, I made my decision to put back the old railway line in Okehampton & also a couple on the south coast back until the temperatures improved (as de-icing my car at 06:00 or 07:30 in the morning on this cold foggy morning wouldn’t have been much fun), instead I decided to head towards Oxfordshire to walk the Phoenix Trail, a path running along the former Wycombe railway line which linked Princes Risborough & Oxford, running towards the town of Thame (beyond Thame the railway has been mostly lost to modern developments).

The day started with a walk to Grateley station in the cold to catch 159011 & 159012 on a London train to Andover, stepping back for 158880 & 159009 on the first SWR to Reading, which unusually went into platform 10(b) at Reading. I had some time to kill before the next train so headed outside the station for a gentle stroll towards Tesco Express to pick up something to eat for later. I always have a strange feeling walking in Reading town centre when most of the shops are closed and the streets are quiet, bit of a ghost town.

158880 at Reading Station by Kite, on Flickr

Anyhow back to Reading station and a late notice platform alternation for the 09:15 to Oxford (formed of 220008), I was late boarding, but I managed to grab a seat which was reserved from Oxford. Departure was on time as the voyager zoomed towards Oxford where I alighted, noticing that the barriers for the side entrance next to the bays were wide open whilst the barriers in the main ticket office area were closed, seriously what is the point? I exited the station for a gentle walk towards the city centre and the bus stop on Magdalen Street where the S4 service for Banbury starts from. This bus route had been on my list to do for a while so decided to get it covered when I waited for arrival of a good friend from Hereford.

The bus to form the 10:00 departure rolled in (an Enviro 200, fleet 27712) as I cleaned a couple of the windows as they were wet inside. Reasonably busy this bus as it departed Oxford heading north towards Summertown & Kidlington before picking up some speed along the A4260 before turning away from the main road to serve the villages of Tackley & Steeple Aston. I noticed there was some quite bad flooding of the fields as the bus headed back onto the main road to head towards Deddington, doing a little loop to serve West Adderbury before carrying on into Banbury itself, terminating at the empty bus station. An enjoyable little run, bringing back some memories of when I was younger, and my parents had a boat near Southam and would sometimes use the A4260 between Oxford & Banbury rather than the motorway (as there was a couple of nice pubs along the way).

Stagecoach Bus 27712 (PO11 BBZ) at Banbury Bus Station on a S4 for Oxford by Kite, on Flickr

Anyhow trip down memory lane over, as I headed towards the railway station (swinging via Morrisons to waste time) hoping that I would be able to board the Bournemouth XC service. 220032 rolled in and I even got lucky to get a seat for the run back towards Oxford, where I headed towards the next Chiltern service, getting myself comfortable as my good friend Jules arrived on an IET from Great Malvern. 165017 & 165039 took us towards Princes Risborough, first time I’ve been on this line for a few years as we had a little catch-up. Alighting at Princes Risborough we headed south along a muddy footpath leading to a road bridge over the railway (passing the remains of a former EMR HST power car on the land used by the Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway. The next section was along a lane towards Horsenden to pick up a mixed used path (featuring a lot of puddles to navigate around), crossing over the railway track of the Chinnor line and onto the route of the former railway line. The weather had certainly warmed up after the cold fog, a beautiful spring day in the sunshine, mixed with some cold winds.

Anyhow it was now onto the route of the old railway line, surface was reasonable being hard-core although some areas of mud & water due to recent rain but nothing that serious. A line which soon ran into countryside where the only sound other than birds was light aircraft in the air. We continued along the path, detouring at the site of the former Bledlow station (now a private house) before carrying on towards Thame. No evidence of the former Towersey Halt as the path changed to smooth tarmac for the final few miles into Thame itself. The former platforms at Thame remained along with what looked like to be a goods area as the path went into a cutting before turning a bit more urban as it went behind some housing.

Remains of platforms at Thame Station (Phoenix Trail) (2) by Kite, on Flickr

Near the end of the path, the tarmac section turned north to head towards a leisure centre, but we decided to carry on along a very muddy path to come out next to the A329 road, marking the end of the railway path. To waste a bit of time we headed along the road towards the leisure centre to do both sides of a triangle of walking routes to finish the walk at a bus stop near to Sycamore Drive. An explore of the town centre will probably be done at some-point but we had one eye on the time as the next bus to Oxford was an Arriva operated X7 (featuring an Enviro 400 decker 5468, which was lucky as all the other X7 services we saw heading towards Aylesbury were Citaros). This was an interesting bus route in places as it followed the main A418 towards the M40 (serving the motorway services) before heading via Wheatley and then a fast run along the A40 toward Oxford, approaching the city centre from the Headington direction. After a slow crawl in the city centre, the bus reached the railway station where it terminated, I said my farewell to Jules as he had a longer wait. I had a walk to the platforms watching a very busy 2 coach 165 depart on a Didcot service before a late running 802113 rolled in from Hereford. I did my usual and headed to the northern end of the platform away from the masses whom there is only one door available, easily getting a decent seat as I settled down for the run to Reading. Better than playing voyager roulette with the following Bournemouth train

165006 at Oxford Station by Kite, on Flickr

At Reading I popped out of the station, heading to one of the Sainsburys (which doesn’t close until 6pm on Sundays) to grab some dinner before heading back to Grateley on the 18:12 service formed of 158884 & 159020 which got quite busy at Basingstoke. An enjoyable little day trip, one more bus route ticked off my list as well as a disused railway line walk. In theory there are footpaths available to link Thame town centre with Haddenham & Thame Parkway station, but I suspect this time of year they will be muddy (as they cut across fields). Sadly, the road between the town & station has no pavements so would be quite unsafe to walk along the road. Anyhow back at home, I walked home and relaxed for the rest of the evening. More photos can be found on my Flickr here, thanks for reading .

 

[All platforms]

Still very cold first thing at the moment but you certainly made good use of the meat of the day with decent weather especially on Sunday. It is always good to see old railway platforms, some of them in decent trim still - decent pictures as expected. Also good to hear that Jules is still about.

 

[Kite159]

Defo there with the weather. Seems this week has been cold(ish) mornings/nights warming up during the middle of the day (all be with a cold wind). I even had my lunch in an outdoor area at work today as the sun was shining and it was sheltered from that wind.

I live in hope that the temperatures eventually increase so I can pack away my de-icer (moving from the back of my passenger seat to my boot), and also for dry weather. Old railway line walks I find can be a complete-mixed bag with evidence of old stations, some have no evidence at all (other than a sign saying "This is the site of station X") whereas some have the old platforms still in place and looked after. Best line in my eyes for that is St Albans to Hatfield.

 

[Kite159]

9th March – Ferry across the Thames & Thames Estuary Path

It was another day trip where I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do until later in the week, in the end deciding on a trip to London to sample the Gravesend – Tilbury Ferry before it gets withdrawn at the end of March, fitting in a couple short walks on the Thames Estuary which had been on my list for a while as the weather was looking promising.

The day started with the 05:59 service from Grateley, formed of 159014 & 158888 for the trip to Basingstoke where I swapped to 221122 on the next Manchester train to take me to Reading, where a fast platform change saw me onto a quiet 800320 for the run into Paddington. At Paddington I headed towards the Bakerloo line to take the first service (formed of 3237 & 3557) to Charing Cross where I changed to the National Rail station to jump onto the Gravesend via Sidcup service (rather than a Gravesend via Woolwich) formed of 465014 & 465181.

Along the way I decided to look at the connection between the station & the ferry terminal on the Town Pier, noticing that annoyingly I would hit Gravesend just as there is a gap in service due to, I presume a crew break so decided to alight from these 465s at Crayford as I wanted to get some better photos. Crayford is one of those stations where the entrance to the London bound platform has barriers but there is a wide-open side entrance on the Dartford bound platform (which is better suited for anybody wanting to visit the town centre), an open invitation for those who think payment is strictly optional.

465181 departs Crayford Station by Kite, on Flickr

Anyhow, after watching many passengers entering via that side-gate to make their way across the footbridge I boarded 707003 & 707022 for the short hop to Bexley where a new footbridge/lift combo has been built (looking nearly ready to enter service, I presume the existing narrow subway will then get closed off). A short wait at Bexley before the next Gravesend service rolled in with 707005 & 707002 to take me towards platform 0 at Gravesend where I exited the station via the entrance on the south side (noting that the barriers were wide open). After swinging via Tesco for some lunch items I headed towards the town pier where the ferry to Tilbury was waiting. Vessel Jacob Marley was on the route today as the waiting crowd boarded to buy tickets from the member of staff and I decided to sit outside as it was quite warm inside the main area.

Jetsteam Jacob Marley Boat on Gravesend - Tilbury ferry at Gravesend by Kite, on Flickr

The sailing took around 5 minutes as it crossed the river from the south bank to the north bank at Tilbury Riverside, where I began my walk heading towards the historic Tilbury Fort and then onto a cycle path running along top of the sea wall. The decent tarmac path soon came to an end as the path went down some steps with warnings that “path floods at high tide” and along a footpath at the base of the wall, dodging via river related debris which had been washed up. Quite a strange feeling walking along this path with a tall wall to my left-hand side and river to the right, but thankfully the solid path returned as the footpath continued in this industrial landscape with a couple of ships getting loaded (or unloaded) at the Tilbury 2 container port before the landscape changed to waste-land, with what I think was a landfill site (thankfully not smelly at all). Very bleak before the landfill changed to grass before the path reached Coalhouse Fort which is another historic port.

After doing a little detour of the fort I carried on towards the Grassland Nature Reserve, the path along a wall moving away from the waterfront giving some excellent views of countryside & nature before returning towards the waterfront for the last section towards the end of the Estuary path as it moves in-land due to Mucking Marshes. The first section of this footpath was reasonable, bit narrow in places before it turned into a horror show with flooding, I walked slowly through one section before stopping when I saw the next section was even worse, the path completely underwater (and looked like there was a fallen tree) so I did a little U-turn back via the first section before going a bit rogue following an unmarked path via the marshes (which seemed to get used based on the footprints).

A very flooded footpath in East Tilbury (link path from Thames Estuary Path) by Kite, on Flickr

I followed this path before it reached a muddy hill which needed to be climbed (not the easiest but I made it up), I was back on the path of the footpath, but the next section seemed to have disappeared as I headed in the general direction thankfully the footpath reappearing and being back to reasonable quality as I turned away from the England Coastal Path to head towards East Tilbury where I had a 25 minute wait for the next train, so time to sit down on a nice bench putting my phone on charge and had my lunch. The next Fenchurch Street train was formed of 357028 & 357013 and was quite busy as I took it for a couple of stops to Grays, a station which featured some confused passengers due to engineering works (trains towards Upminster were starting from the bay platform and there is no subway access between platforms at the moment.

Exiting the station at Grays, I headed towards the waterside following a path towards the ‘Grays Beach riverside park’ before doing a U-turn back towards the wharf area before continuing along the path in the residential area of the town. Accommodation gave way to heavy industrial units as the footpath continued being between the river Thames & a high security fence (changing in places to a flood protection wall). This was quite a strange footpath for the location, but I continued along going underneath the Queen Elizabeth 2 bridge (part of the Dartford Crossing) where I had a bit of a tumble, my foot caught a large stone, and I wasn’t paying full attention so went down quite hard on my left knee causing a bit of pain (ouch!)

Queen Elizabeth 2 Bridge over River Thames in Purfleet (2) by Kite, on Flickr

I picked myself up from the ground, tried to wash some of the blood from my hand which had introduced itself to some thorns, had a quick break before continuing the walk at a much-reduced rate. This section of the walk wasn’t as enjoyable as the first section as I was now behind the flood wall with only a few occasions of seeing the river Thames. It was interesting to see the various industrial places, along with some old railway tracks. Soon the industrial units changed to some wasteland between the footpath & the railway as I was nearing Purfleet. Not the easiest to exit this path as it hasn’t got the best signs and a steep climb to reach the road. Certainly, it was an experience of walking somewhere which felt like you weren’t meant to be there, the path was reasonable quality with several bumps and stairs (including a very wobbly bridge).

Had I not had my little tumble I was planning to carry on towards Rainham to make a small start with the London loop long distance path but decided to call it a day and head to the station, to board 357015 & 357025 (I think) on the next Fenchurch Street service to take me to Barking where I left the train, thinking about hunting for my last 710/2 which had recently entered service. Just as I was thinking about the plan to where to fester, it rolled in on a Barking Riverside service. That was a lot easier than I had hoped but before boarding it I headed out of the station to visit a couple of shops before boarding 710270 for the long trip to Gospel Oak (making use of the USB sockets to give my phone a nice boost of electricity along the way).

710270 at Barking Station by Kite, on Flickr

At Gospel Oak I headed onto a very busy Stratford bound 378231 originally planning to take to Stratford for a spot of 720 hunting, but after searching on RTT highlighted nothing of interest I changed focus to the West Anglia line which was diverting via Seven Sisters today and had some required 720s floating around on Cambridge trains. I changed plans and alighted from this 378 at Hackney Central for a walk to Hackney Downs to board 710117 to Liverpool Street to board 720550 & winner 720123 on the Cambridge train to take me (slowly) towards Broxbourne (fitting GA services around a 4tph Overground stopping service on the line via Seven Sisters will always be a slow journey). A short visit at Broxbourne before I took 720111 & winner 720127 back towards Seven Sisters where I had a short break (watching a large crowd trying to squeeze onto a single Enfield bound 710) before taking 745106 back to Broxbourne (solely for the slight novelty of a 745 via Seven Sisters).

This is where I made a bit of a mistake with boarding 720540 & 720560 as for some reason, I had 560 down as being wanted on my list, but I had it 18 months ago on a Broxbourne starter, but whatever reason didn’t remove it from my list. I took it to Hackney Downs before taking 710120 back to Seven Sisters. I turned down a required 720 (as my body felt like it had, had enough and also the slowness of the running where it was taking 15+ minutes to reach Liverpool Street from Seven Sisters) for 745001 (sitting in declassified first class) with the slow run towards Liverpool Street where it felt like it crossed over to the ‘fast’ lines after Hackney Downs to cross over to the tracks via Bethnal Green station before crossing right across to terminate at platform 17 (for a set swap).

720518 at Broxbourne Station by Kite, on Flickr

I headed towards the Central line to jump on the first westbound service (formed of 91313 leading 92058, 92428 & 91309 with 91313 also being needed for a mile as an unexpected bonus). I took this service to Tottenham Court Road changing to the Northern line with 51539 & 51707 to Waterloo, exiting the underground and swinging via the little Sainsburys in the old Eurostar area to grab some dinner before heading to board 159002 on the 20:50 service to Salisbury. Heading home earlier than planned but that early start twinned with a bad night sleep had tired me out somewhat. No surprise that a 3 coach 159 departed Waterloo very busy (I was in the front coach and barely saw any empty seats) before a lot more passengers boarded at Clapham. In my eyes the Salisbury stoppers should simply skip Woking as the train emptied out a bit there (those passengers for Woking will simply need to use a 450 on a semi-fast).

Nothing else unusual happened along the way, arriving at Grateley near enough on time for a gentle walk home to relax for the remainder of the evening. An enjoyable day trip with 2 unusual walks (other than the tumble), a bonus of my last 710/2 popping up without having to hunt it down along with 2 more 720s into my book. Greater Anglia being on RTT does make things a bit easier when it comes to hunting for 720s. Anyhow thanks for reading, more photos are on my Flickr. I shall leave you with a photo from the seawall near East Tilbury.

View from Thames Estuary Path in East Tilbury by Kite, on Flickr

(Post script – thankfully after a restful Sunday where the only railway activity I did was visiting a local pub which has an old railway carriage in the garden my knee hurts no longer, shame the same can’t be said for my hand/arm which has a few scars which will probably take longer to heal).

 

[Iskra]

Unlucky about the fall on an otherwise interesting trip, do we know why the ferry is being withdrawn?

 

[Kite159]

Unlucky about the fall on an otherwise interesting trip, do we know why the ferry is being withdrawn?

Mainly due to funding from Thurrock/Gravesend councils:

More details are here:

Gravesend Tilbury Ferry

Announcement from a few days ago saying Jetstream are ceasing to operate this link from 31 March 2024 https://www.jetstreamtours.com/about-us/news Besides ferry only passengers, there are through rail ferry tickets available (eg Southend to Dartford). Wonder if c2c and Southeastern will...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[Iskra]

Mainly due to funding from Thurrock/Gravesend councils:

More details are here:

Gravesend Tilbury Ferry

Announcement from a few days ago saying Jetstream are ceasing to operate this link from 31 March 2024 https://www.jetstreamtours.com/about-us/news Besides ferry only passengers, there are through rail ferry tickets available (eg Southend to Dartford). Wonder if c2c and Southeastern will...

www.railforums.co.uk

Thanks!

 

[Kite159]

Thanks!

It reminded me of the Gosport - Portsmouth ferry in terms of journey length. Hopefully a solution can be found to retain the ferry after the end of the month, but I suspect the answer will be with funding from the councils to carry on running the ferry

 

[All platforms]

All the public transport types recently! And i quite like the sound of the Thames Estuary Path too. I am not a walker by preference but i could be persuaded to dust off my bike for canals and old railway lines when i have a bit more time. Not sure about the Estuary Path though - it might be a bit narrow.... Oh and the move right across all the tracks to P17 is something that happened to me late summer when similar engineering works saw a whole bunch of the unusual in and around Liverpool Street. Enough track for a completist to scratch his head at for sure.

 

[Kite159]

All the public transport types recently! And i quite like the sound of the Thames Estuary Path too. I am not a walker by preference but i could be persuaded to dust off my bike for canals and old railway lines when i have a bit more time. Not sure about the Estuary Path though - it might be a bit narrow.... Oh and the move right across all the tracks to P17 is something that happened to me late summer when similar engineering works saw a whole bunch of the unusual in and around Liverpool Street. Enough track for a completist to scratch his head at for sure.

The first part from Tilbury towards Cold harbour fort was a marked cycle path (although I wouldn't want to take a bike along the section of path which gets flooded when the tide comes in)

 

[Kite159]

15 - 18th March – Long weekend exploring Derbyshire & Yorkshire

Making use of my last day of annual leave before my holiday year resets at the start of April, I booked a 3-night stay in my usual shared house in Crewe with several ideas in my head of what to do for both days.

15th March – Onwards to Crewe

The trip began with the 17:59 service from Grateley towards London Waterloo, a busy 159013 which got caught up with some delays at the London end due to congestion, nothing major. At Waterloo as I had over an hour to reach Euston and the weather wasn’t wet, I did my usual underground avoidance walk over Waterloo Bridge then via Holborn to reach Euston station, saves some money and wastes some time along the way. Euston was in its usual state of chaos with late running/cancelled Avanti services causing a large crowd on the concourse, thankfully I was using RTT to bypass the crowd to board the 350s on the 20:46 service to Crewe before it got announced.

Lady luck was on my side with Desiro Roulette this evening as the 20:46 was formed of 350112 & 350105 and I took up my usual seat at the front of the train on the extra legroom table seat (allowing me to relax and watch some videos). This was a very quiet train in terms of loadings at the front, I went back after departure to make use of the toilets and there was 5 other passengers in the front coach and hardly anybody in the 2nd coach. No doubt the rear coach would be full & standing due to the wisdom of the norm rule which states there is only one set of doors. I even had a ticket check between London & Milton Keynes.

Nothing out of the ordinary along the way with the train arriving at Crewe a couple minutes ahead of schedule allowing me to walk to the shared house and making myself comfortable (by turning the heating off as the room was quite hot). After visiting the kitchen to put a sandwich in the fridge I sorted my bag out ready for an early start on the Saturday.

350112 at London Euston by Kite, on Flickr

16th March – Walking the Cloud Trail

The Cloud Trail Greenway is a mixed used path along part of the disused railway route from Derby towards Ashby de la Zouch (known as the Melbourne Line). The southern starting point is in the village of Worthington in Leicestershire which isn’t blessed with many buses (2 buses each way on a Saturday on a Leicester – Castle Donington service). I did some planning and times worked out with a potential backup option if things went wrong on the first leg (for its always good to have a back-up plan when it comes to the railways).

My day started with the 06:XX EMR service from Crewe to Newark Castle with 170505, before I boarded a 68 rolled through with a freight service as well as a top & tail 37 hauled inspection train for some early morning noise. Once on board the 170 I managed to find a seat which wasn’t completely collapsed and settled down for the trip towards Derby where the 170 rolled into 170509 to form a 4-coach formation, losing some time during the reversal. This is the morning train which calls at the underserved Peartree and there didn’t seem to be any boarders this morning. I alighted at Long Eaton, sadly couldn’t get a picture due to the angle of the sun and headed towards the little Sainsburys local to grab some items for lunch.

68003 at Crewe Station by Kite, on Flickr

After a supply raid (and a mental challenge trying to remember my Pin for my card as contactless wasn’t working) I headed to the bus stop for a Coalville bound “Skylink Nottingham” service with Trent Barton’s bus 122 (an Enviro 200 with broken USB sockets). This was an interesting bus route which headed towards Castle Donington before going into East Midlands Airport running round the freight side before going into the passenger terminal. All the road signs saying “if you stop you will be charged £100” made the airport seem very unwelcoming and hostile in my eyes.

There was a good turnover of passengers at the airport as the bus continued towards Coalville going via Diseworth, Long Whatton, Shepshed & Thringstone, some nice little settlements in terms of buildings & some nice Leicestershire scenery. Soon the bus arrived at Coalville and with 40-odd minutes to wait before the route 125 from Leicester I had a little walk along a mixed used path along an old colliery line (Snibston Colliery) which has been turned into a museum featuring some of the old track & trucks, an unexpected surprise. Anyhow I returned to the bus stops near Memorial Square to wait for the next route 125 service to roll in from Leicester. Run by Diamond Bus East Midlands bus 30991 (an Optare MetroCity). It rolled in with 2 passengers on, both alighted in Coalville leaving just myself for the trip into the countryside Sinope, Coleorton & Newbold before reaching the village of Worthington where I alighted near the church. Passing a group of walkers, it was a short walk along a lane before picking up the access road leading to a small car park near the former Worthington station.

Snibston Mineral Colliery Railway Depot, Coalville by Kite, on Flickr

After a couple of photos and brief stop to try sorting my bag out (as my bottle of water was digging into my back) I continued onto the mixed used path which is part of cycle route 6. A busy path at the start as there was a running club out and about on a run. The quality was a bit rough at the start before it turned more tarmac but with some areas of mud from recent rain, nothing major. The path itself was quite rural in places (one of those walks where the only sound was from nature) as it ran close to the Cloud Hill quarry. There was one section where the track bed has been lost under modern development (the A42 dual carriageway) forcing a little detour along a pavement on Doctor's Lane to join the route of the railway after the dual carriageway. I carried on, passing the remains of Tonge station as the countryside continued passing into Derbyshire with a marked boundary post (near Wilson).

I continued along the path as it reached Melbourne, although not much evidence remains of the former station of this Derbyshire town. Soon I reached the point the runners were turning back on themselves, roughly 5 miles from the start of the trail as the railway line crossed over the River Trent and Trent & Mersey Canal (where the cycle route splits to running onto the canal towpath & carrying on). The last section went via some woodland which was quite scenic and joins onto Swarkestone Road near the railway bridge of the Castle Donington freight route. This marked the end of the first section of my walk as beyond this point the railway towards Sinfin has been mostly lost.

Path along the former Derby - Melbourne - Ashby Railway line (Cloud Trail) in Melbourne by Kite, on Flickr

Next up was a short section of walking along the road before accessing a footpath towards the Trent & Mersey canal to join the towpath (much safer) towards Swarkestone Lock where I left the canal towpath and onto the towpath running alongside the closed Derby Canal. I went underneath the Derby Bypass (A50) and into the suburbs of Derby starting with Chellaston before reaching Shelton Lock. This section wasn't the most interesting in parts as it was quite urban (and does anybody in Derby know how a bin works?)

The weather changed from being sunny to raining as I passed an Aldi reaching an industrial area (passing a place which had the plastic front sections of a 222 attached to a building). I soon reached Alvaston Park where the route of the old canal has been lost underneath Pride Park and I headed towards the banks of the Derwent near the railway bridge carrying the Derby - Long Eaton railway. I arrived at this area at a bad time due to football traffic coming in the opposite direction (had I had time I was considering heading across the river and towards Spondon station, but time wasn't on my side due to the slightly limited service that station was receiving today (roughly 2 hourly)

Derby Canal Path (Cloud Trail) in Chellaston (Derby) (5) by Kite, on Flickr

I continued along, passing the kickball fans heading to the kickball ground at Derby, most were pleasant enough, but some were singing rude songs whilst drinking cheap supermarket branded lager (clearly not understanding a concept of a bin either considering how much rubbish was left behind). That was quite an experience, and I was glad when I reached Derby station to finish the walk. I had a couple of options, first was to head towards Nottingham to intercept 170422 which was working on the Robin Hood line before a short tram hunt with the 19:16 service to Crewe (I didn’t want a late night as I didn’t sleep that well due to some idiotic youths playing with an off-road motorbike in the early hours). However, there was the chance to do the novelty of a detour via the Barrow Hill line to approach Sheffield from the Woodhouse direction (due to engineering works with the Dore re-modelling) (plus the novelty of doing a 222 to Crewe on a football extra). I decided to do the random track around Sheffield as sadly the timings didn’t work out to intercept that 170 and get back to Derby in time for the 222.

Turning down a 222 on a Sheffield terminator I waited a few minutes before a busy 221141 rolled in on an Edinburgh service, getting lucky to grab a seat on this 4-coach unit (XC lottery). Nonstop to Sheffield but soon lost time as it caught up with the EMR in front as it ran via the Barrow Hill line and then towards Woodhouse and Sheffield where it lost some time standing outside the station with congestion. With the limited time I had available I decided to take 150005 to Meadowhall, returning to Sheffield on 150276, had I had a bit more time I would have taken a tram to Rotherham Central to tick off both the Parkgate bound tram platform & Sheffield bound NR platform.

221141 at Sheffield Station by Kite, on Flickr

Back at Sheffield and I decided to board 158774 & 158864 on the next Sheffield – Norwich service for the novelty of a 158 via Barrow Hill. This took me to Chesterfield using platform 3 and a short wait before 222012 rolled in to take me back to Derby running a few minutes late due to congestion caused by a late running XC getting given the route out of Sheffield first. At Derby I arrived before 222013 rolled in from the depot and once the doors got released, I headed towards declassified first class near the kitchen (my theory is that it would have been a quieter journey). I had never noticed before at how bad the window to seat alignment is in 1st class with seats facing towards the cab having a decent view from the window but those facing away from the cab-end having a view of plastic.

I settled down and relaxed before the rest of the 1st class area started to fill with (mostly) Bolton football supporters and departure was around 15 minutes late. This service had the novelty of running nonstop to Stoke, passing a massive crowd at Uttoxeter from the races (not helped with a 2-hour gap in Stoke bound trains due to the missing diagram). The delay had been made up by Kidsgrove with an on-time arrival into Crewe. For lack of a better idea, I decided to turn in for the night, heading towards my accommodation swinging via the big Tesco to get some supplies and one of the many (many) takeaways in Crewe for a meaty pizza. It was a good day, the weather behaved until the end on my walk with the novelty of a 222 to Crewe and passenger services via Barrow Hill.

222013 at Crewe Station by Kite, on Flickr

17th March – Exploring the Monsal Trail

I was a bit worried when I checked the weather forecast on the Saturday evening when eating my pizza that the forecast for Bakewell was showing as “Heavy Rain” until 2pm then ‘thunder showers’, so worried that I came up with an alternative idea just in case. However, checking the forecast again in the morning (after a night of heavy rain) found the Met Office was suggesting dry after 11am with sunny spells. Good enough for me considering I wouldn’t be arriving to that area until after 11am due to the timetables. The Monsal Trail is a mixed used path which makes use of the former Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midland Junction Railway route between the town of Bakewell & Topley Pike, with a limited bus service at the Topley Pike end (roughly 2 hourly).

The day started with a loco hauled set on the 08:35 to Manchester with DVT 82201 leading and 67014 pushing the set on the Sunday morning detour via Styal. At Piccadilly I had some time to kill so popped to a shop to get lunch items before returning to the station and taking a seat on the Buxton service with 156406 leading 150104 relaxing before it departed to head towards Buxton, a line I hadn’t been along in a while (might have been early 2020 when Northern had 2tph before the world went crazy). Quite a few passengers (looked like a school group) alighted at Disley and at New Mills as the train continued into Derbyshire arriving at Buxton near enough on time. I headed towards the bus stop at Sylvan Park in the town centre where the route 65 service picked up from. This is a bus route very much on my list to do in full as it looks like it gives some beautiful scenic views of the Peak District. Anyhow Stagecoach’s 37186 rolled in (in ‘North Western Road Car’ colours) for a brief stop before carrying on to the Market Square where there was a short break.

Stagecoach (Yorkshire) bus 37186 (YY64 GUA) in Buxton on a route 65 for Sheffield by Kite, on Flickr

After the bus does a loop of Buxton town centre it went onto the A6 and I was the only passenger to alight at the Topley Pike bus stop, near the Wyedale Car Park, where my walk began. The first section was along a woodland road running alongside the river Wye going underneath the Buxton – Peak Forest freight line a couple of times before picking up the disused railway line at Blackwell Mill (with some steep steps leading to a fenced off viaduct) and onto the path. I carried on enjoying the views and the construction with some steep cliffs and a couple of short tunnels before reaching the platforms at Millers Dale station, the former junction station.

One thing I will say is just how busy the Monsal Trail is in places, with walkers, cyclists and even some joggers/runners. The path surface was quite reasonable with some areas of puddles from the recent rain. I continued along the path, going via some more tunnels (choo choo!) and over a couple of viaducts with the river Wye running close by before that disappeared in the Longstone area. Soon the path started to head south heading towards Bakewell, passing the remains of Bakewell station (only the buildings survive, nothing remains of the platforms), and I carried on to the end of the trail at the Coombs Road viaduct where the old railway continued towards Rowsley. An enjoyable walk with some beautiful countryside, I was sad when I reached the end.

Inside Chee Tor Tunnel on the Monsal Trail (Former Midland Railway) between Blackwell Mill & Miller's Dale (2) by Kite, on Flickr

At the end of the trail is a steep hill leading to road level, which was the worse section due to mud. I was now onto the minor Coombs Road Lane walking towards Bakewell town centre, swinging via a couple of shops before heading towards the bus stop on Buxton Road where the Transpeak bus stopped. Bakewell itself looked very pretty and was busy, a place I will need to return to one day. Anyhow it was onto the next Buxton bound service with bus 806 (a Buxton Buzz Citaro) on the "TransPeak" service from Derby. A busy bus as it went via the countryside serving Ashford, Taddington & Burlow before dropping to Buxton where I alighted at the bus stop outside the railway station. This is another bus route on my list to try and do in full, although I suspect I've done the most scenic section.

Back to the trains and onto 156461 with 150109 up front on the next Manchester train, my phone going straight on charge as I grabbed a decent seat for the run towards Stockport. I was a bit tempted to bail at New Mills to walk the short railway line to Hayfield, but I decided that could wait for another day (where I can bolt it onto a walk along the Peak Forest Canal). I was originally going to bail at Stockport but due to a delay (caused by a late running XC) the unofficial connection to a southbound TfW was missed and with Avanti in melt-down (caused by signalling issues at Watford) the next couple of London trains were cancelled, so I stayed on the 156 to Manchester Piccadilly where I had a fast walk to platform 14 to jump onto 197109 on the next Chester train to take me to Warrington Bank Quay.

390156 at Warrington Bank Quay Station by Kite, on Flickr

Next up was 390040 on a London train for my first example of a refurbished 9 coach Pendo for the short journey to Crewe where I had a short wait before 197011 rolled in from Chester. Annoyingly RTT was showing this service as another 2 coach 197 but during the day it seems it had swapped over and headed to Manchester, ah well. I took this 197 to Chester as it continued towards Holyhead where I noticed another set swap with the next Crewe train (was meant to be 005 but turned out to be 006). Merseyrail was in a state of chaos due to cancellations so the only thing I could do was sit and wait 15 minutes for winner 197110 to roll in from Holyhead where it emptied out and took me to Crewe where I decided to end the day. The crowd on platform 5 was massive as well as a crowd on platform 11 for a Holyhead bound voyager, so I exited the station swinging via Tiger Bite for a burger meal deal and headed to the shared house where I munched on said burger and relaxed for the remainder of the evening. I would recommend the Monsal Trail, but for those with public transport starting at the Topley Pike end due to the more limited bus service.

18th March – Back to London via North Yorkshire

Back in October time when heading home from West Yorkshire I got delayed for over an hour due to Grand Central cancelling a service, giving me the option of either getting some money back or getting a free single ticket. I went for the free ticket option as I felt like it could be of more benefit (I was originally going to use it last month but was hit with the engineering works at Peterborough with no GC running). I also had a few old Northern freebie singles from a few years ago which I wanted to get some use out of (rather than Crewe – Manchester – Bradford with a walk along the Rochdale Canal) so after playing with RTT I came up with a plan to go to Bradford via North Yorkshire.

It was an early start with the 06:46 service from Crewe to Manchester Piccadilly with 323225 calling at all the stations, the train only getting busy after Stockport in terms of people standing (rather than taking a seat next to someone else). At Piccadilly I had a short walk to board 195117 on the next Barrow service, a busier service compared to the 323 but also quite slow going via Bolton as I think it caught up with a Blackpool bound stopper. I remained on this 195 to Lancaster where I had a 45-minute wait for the next train so I popped out of the station heading towards a large Sainsburys in order to grab supplies for lunch, out via the roads (passing the bus station which will be useful for future reference) and returning via a path next to the river then the old railway line path.

Stagecoach Bus 10030 (PX12 DNU) in Lancaster by Kite, on Flickr

At Lancaster station once more and it was onto 158787 working the next Leeds service, going via the “Little Northwestern” line, with my good friend Stu boarding at Carnforth for a little catch-up along the way as well as looking out of the scenery at a very under-rated line. We alighted from the train at Gargrave to start a short walk. First, we headed into Gargrave itself and reached the Leeds & Liverpool canal, turning east to walk the towpath into the beautiful North Yorkshire countryside (only downside was a busy road running close to the canal so not peaceful bliss). The towpath was decent quality other than one short section which is shared with a farm access track (and was a bit muddy due to the recent rain).

We walked along the towpath reaching Skipton, staying on the canal passing the station and entrance to the short Spring Branch canal to exit the towpath at a footbridge near Gas Street, near the bus station. I said my farewell to Stu who was going to head towards Spoons, and I headed towards Skipton station via the “Black Walk”, a footpath next to a Morrisons which annoyingly no access due to a fence. I arrived at Skipton station arriving earlier than expected and managed to board 158789 on a service from Carlisle (which emptied out at Skipton).

Leeds & Liverpool Canal between Gargrave & Skipton (14) by Kite, on Flickr

I took this 158 to Leeds (because connection at Shipley for the next Bradford Forster Square train was nearly 30 minutes due to the lack of Ilkley – Bradford services at that moment. Also, I was comfortable with my phone on charge looking out of the window at the scenery. At Leeds it was a short walk to board 195015 & 195018 on the next Chester service for the slow trip to Bradford Interchange where I exited the station, heading into the city centre to grab some more fizzy pop (as my bottle of water was nearly empty) before returning to Bradford Interchange to wait for the doors on the Grand Central service to get released.

This afternoon, it was 221143 on the London train, and I boarded coach D, ignoring my seat reservation because it was crap and managed to grab one of the unreserved tables (before heading to remove my seat reservation label to tell people it was available). The voyager departed on time and headed towards Brighouse (bringing back memories of “I walked that canal last month” when it crossed over the canal a few times. Mirfield was a worksite due to the various upgrade works and the train waited time at Wakefield Kirkgate, it would normally continue towards Pontefract, but that line was closed to a landslip, so it was diverted via Fitzwilliam (which benefited me as it was a bit of new track for voyager coverage lol).

221143 at Bradford Interchange by Kite, on Flickr

It wasn’t the fastest of runs towards Doncaster due to following a freight service but the train had another planned dwell at Doncaster to get it back onto the correct path on the ECML (as going via Fitzwilliam rather than Pontefract is faster). As usual for Grand Central the train got busy at Doncaster for the nice fast run to Peterborough where it had another 5-minute dwell, getting even busier before running to London Kings Cross, arriving near enough on time. As I had just over an hour before the 19:20 service from Waterloo, I had a gentle walk towards Waterloo (saves paying TfL for a peak-time Zone 1 journey on the underground).

40 minutes later, I arrived at Waterloo, grabbing something to eat from Tesco before heading to the platforms, heading to board the 19:20 service which was formed of 159017 & 159101, and I settled down for the run to Grateley to end the long weekend. From memory the train was delayed due to congestion caused by earlier delays but nothing too major. It was an enjoyable weekend with a couple old railway line paths walked as well as another section of the Leeds & Liverpool canal (for I have far too much on my list of things to do, not enough time).

Anyhow, thanks for reading, a lot more photos can be found on my Flickr, Here, back to a couple weeks of day trips (including the Easter weekend) before a busy looking April

 

[All platforms]

I am sure Class 159's are the default class for most of your Grateley start/finishes but until i ventured to Overton on one a week or two ago i had never really noticed them, so i have just been looking up the history of them, and as i thought they are derived from the 158 which are pretty much everywhere north of Birmingham and very often used by me. I thought they looked somewhat familiar, but for some reason hadn't realised SWT had so much non electrified track in their portfolio (how misinformed could i be) and hadn't considered what they primarily used for this. A digression to start....

Another rail/walking tour, this time covering a couple of places i have actually been to, primarily the Monsal trail which is not that far from me. That tunnel at Chee Tor is a wonderful addition to the walk/cycle way and always impresses me (well 3 times now) when i see it. Good pics as usual and the Leeds/Liverpool canal is one i have a few miles under my belt as well, primarily near Skipton, but also South of Chorley as my sister lives less than a mile away from it.

Passing through my old home town of Bolton as well as some old haunts from my cycling days near Lancaster also jogged a few memories. Nice one.

 

[D841 Roebuck]

Nice read, as usual.

Coincidentally, 221143 was my steed yesterday, as I had spotted a £22 single from KGX to Halifax, so returned North that way...

 

[Kite159]

I am sure Class 159's are the default class for most of your Grateley start/finishes but until i ventured to Overton on one a week or two ago i had never really noticed them, so i have just been looking up the history of them, and as i thought they are derived from the 158 which are pretty much everywhere north of Birmingham and very often used by me. I thought they looked somewhat familiar, but for some reason hadn't realised SWT had so much non electrified track in their portfolio (how misinformed could i be) and hadn't considered what they primarily used for this. A digression to start....

Another rail/walking tour, this time covering a couple of places i have actually been to, primarily the Monsal trail which is not that far from me. That tunnel at Chee Tor is a wonderful addition to the walk/cycle way and always impresses me (well 3 times now) when i see it. Good pics as usual and the Leeds/Liverpool canal is one i have a few miles under my belt as well, primarily near Skipton, but also South of Chorley as my sister lives less than a mile away from it.

Passing through my old home town of Bolton as well as some old haunts from my cycling days near Lancaster also jogged a few memories. Nice one.

This area is only 159s and 158s. The only difference is a 159 has 3 coaches. Leeds & Liverpool in the Chorley area on my list to do. Probably something like Chorley to Wigan.

I just need to research it to see what the towpath quality is like to see if it's a possible winter walk

 

[Western Sunset]

Interesting to read about you exploring the Cloud Hill trail, down in my old neck of the woods. I managed to "acquire" a bit of old bullhead rail from Worthington when they were lifting the track in the 1980s...

Have you done the old MR route out of Bristol towards Mangotsfield yet? Staple Hill tunnel is good to walk through, with echoes of Jubilees and 4Fs.

 

[All platforms]

Leeds & Liverpool in the Chorley area on my list to do. Probably something like Chorley to Wigan.

I just need to research it to see what the towpath quality is like to see if it's a possible winter walk

Whilst i am sure my sister doesn't hike to Chorley (or Wigan) and back whilst dog walking most days, she most certainly wouldn't be wandering along the towpath at Wheelton if it was mud central.

 

[Kite159]

Interesting to read about you exploring the Cloud Hill trail, down in my old neck of the woods. I managed to "acquire" a bit of old bullhead rail from Worthington when they were lifting the track in the 1980s...

Have you done the old MR route out of Bristol towards Mangotsfield yet? Staple Hill tunnel is good to walk through, with echoes of Jubilees and 4Fs.

I've done the section between Bath & Stapleton Road, not the section from the former Mangotsfield station heading north. Another busy path.

 

[Kite159]

Trips on 23rd – 24th March (Didcot & Grand Union)

23rd March – Dodging the Didcot Rain when walking the rails

Originally, I was planning to head towards Birmingham or even Cardiff today, but the poor weather forecast put a stop to those plans, so I decided to do a walk I was planning to do in a couple of weeks’ time before the latest strike days got announced involving a short old railway line walk in the Didcot area which had been on my radar for a while as the forecast was dry until around midday.

The day began with the 07:59 service from Grateley with 159009 & 159005 working this busy service from Honiton to take me to Basingstoke where after popping out of the station to visit Sainsburys for some supplies (also to waste time) I returned to board 221132 on the next XC service towards Reading, easily getting a decent seat as in my experience these XC services only tend to get super busy beyond Reading. At Reading I had a short wait before boarding 387144 & 387147 to take me to Newbury for a gentle stroll towards the bus station.

221132 at Reading Station by Kite, on Flickr

I caught the next Thames Travel operated X34 service (with a Scania OmniCity fleet 944) on the Didcot service. Busier than the last time I used this bus route (when it was only myself & mum from Newbury) with half a dozen or so passengers on board for the fast run along the A34 to the village of Chilton where I alighted from the bus to start my walk. The first section was along a couple of footpaths leading towards the railway cutting used by the closed Didcot, Newbury & Southampton railway route, crossing over the cutting on a bridge before following a footpath along the top of the cutting (no public access to the railway cutting itself).

This footpath led me towards the village of Upton, passing the former station house with a short walk along the road before going via the Upton playing ground to pick up the railway embankment before a cycle path (route 544) joins and path goes from more rural grass to tarmac. I continued along the old railway line as it passes close to the village of West Hagbourne before going into Didcot from the south. One short section of the old railway has been lost to modern developments forcing a little dogleg before gaining the old route near a lovely old road bridge before more modern development (mostly housing) has been built over the old route the closer it got towards the town centre. The cycle path dodges round some of the houses before joining up with the road.

Path along the former Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway route in the Didcot area (3) by Kite, on Flickr

I headed across the road and underneath the railway into the Ladygrove area of the town following a couple of paths before the rain arrived, not just light rain but some heavy rain so my planned explore of the Ladygrove Hill and a footbridge over the railway line (on the line towards Oxford) was put onto the back burner and I headed towards Didcot Parkway station via Cow Lane to end my walk with a couple of options for trains to Reading. Either 387147 & 387144 on the stopper or a gamble with a 5 coach IET from Oxford, I went for the 387s as at least I knew I would get a seat where I could put my phone on charge and have my lunch, even if it was a couple of minutes slower than the nonstop service.

At Reading I had a couple of options, but as the rain was still coming down heavy, I headed across to platform 1 to board 387152 on the Newbury stopper to take me to Theale to have a look at the new footbridge/lift combo which had popped up since my last visit. Looked quite good, and nearly done at a glance, certainly will help passengers as the stairs to exit the station at Theale are quite steep (although hopefully those stairs will remain available giving passengers a choice to use the new footbridge or exit onto the road).

387152 departs Theale Station by Kite, on Flickr

The next train back was formed of 387161 to take me to Reading West where the rain had been replaced with sunshine as I exited the station via the recently opened station building with revenue protection ready to catch out those who think payment is strictly optional whom used to exit at Reading West to avoid the gateline at the main Reading station. I had a gentle walk along Oxford Road, swinging via a couple of shops, passing a Travelodge I was going to be using next week before changing to a cheaper Premier Inn for a railtour. I reached the bus stop on Friar Street to board the next Thames Travel operated route 143 service on the once-a-day extension to Goring station (normally only runs to Upper Basildon). Bus 855 (a Citaro) was working this service which shares the route towards Tilehurst along with a couple of other Reading bus routes before breaking away to run along the A329 road (passing Tilehurst station itself) with a couple passengers alighting on this section. 2 more passengers alighted in Purley-on-Thames leaving just myself and one other passenger as headed towards Pangbourne (where the other passenger alighted).

Leaving just a private bus as it headed towards Upper Basildon doing a loop of this nice-looking village before heading back towards Pangbourne and heading towards the station, following the A329 via Lower Basildon and Streatley, heading across the river Thames to terminate outside Goring & Streatley station. An interesting route of some nice countryside and towns, one I can remove from my list of bus routes to do in the Reading area. At the station I entered and caught 387153 & 387155 to Didcot Parkway, returning to Reading with 800304 (I was hoping to have intercepted a pair of fast 387s from Cardiff, but that service had been cancelled).

Thames Travel Bus 855 (TF56 OXF) outside Goring & Streatley Station on a route 143 by Kite, on Flickr

At Reading I headed towards platform 2 to take a seat on a 3 coach 165 which had just rolled in from Basingstoke and would form the next Basingstoke train, just sitting down relaxing when using my phone. It was delayed before getting cancelled for some unknown reason with the guard saying any passengers for Basingstoke should board the Cross-Country service on platform 7, which is what I did as I even managed to get a seat on 220031 as it emptied out at Reading (I even had a choice of seats, going for one with a decent view). This voyager took me to Basingstoke where I had 25 minutes to waste before the next Salisbury train, so I popped out of the station to visit Sainsburys just to waste some time before returning to board 158881 & 159012 for the run to Grateley.

An enjoyable short day (nice to get home when it was still light), a short walk in South Oxfordshire to cover another disused railway line path, as well as another novelty bus route before it gets cut back due to low use.

24th March – Grand Union Canal Walk

Unlike the Saturday the weather forecast for Sunday was looking good for a nice walk, after careful consideration I decided on a walk along the Grand Union Canal, making use of the cheaper fares available on a Sunday. Due to engineering works I drove to Andover to catch the first train for London (rather than playing replacement bus lottery) with 159008 & 159003 taking me to Clapham Junction where after a quick visit to Sainsburys to grab lunch items I headed to Watford Junction on 377708 before taking 390009 to Milton Keynes Central. I was in two minds at the walk I was considering doing, either taking a bus to Newport Pagnell to walk the old railway line to Wolverton followed by the canal or heading to Wolverton to walk the canal.

In the end I decided to start at Wolverton with a busy solo 350104 taken the 2 and a half miles to Wolverton on a Birmingham service, making use of the fast line platform for something a bit unusual (engineering works via Northampton so the LNR to Birmingham was running direct via Weedon). Access to the canal was close to the station and the towpath quality was variable as I set off heading towards London (as the canal weaves due to following the lay of the land). Once away from Wolverton and into a section of the canal near Oakridge Park it was very quiet (in terms of road noise) and quite scenic with views of lakes. It went underneath the old railway line path near Great Linford and soon went into a section where the towpath alongside the canal was more rural (grass) with a mixed used path being constructed running close to the canal but behind some trees (branded as the Canal Broadwalk).

350104 departs Wolverton Station by Kite, on Flickr

I could have taken the easy option to walk along the mixed used path, but decided to stick to the original towpath, even if was muddy at times. Mainly to give me views of the canal (certainly this is an area I would revisit to walk the broadwalk path as that also looked scenic with woodland). I ran into a running competition heading in the opposite direction, thankfully they were using the hard surface rather than the towpath but there was a few parts where we were sharing the same path (near a marina at Campbells Wharf). Milton Keynes itself is an area on my list for another good explore as it has various public parks & lakes which looks interesting on the map.

Continuing along the canal towpath reaching the Woughton on the Green area of the city, the path turning quite rural again as it headed away from Milton Keynes and into the Bletchley area (followed with a short section in Fenny Stratford). When I reached the lock at Fenny Stratford, I decided it would be a good time to sit down to have lunch before continuing, deciding to push on towards Leighton Buzzard to avoid the mile walk from Fenny Stratford to Bletchley due to being a Sunday with no Marston Vale Trains

Grand Union Canal in the Simpson area of Milton Keynes (3) by Kite, on Flickr

After lunch, I restarted my walk along a well-made path (which I think was part of a cycle route in some places), although it was quite narrow in places. I was glad to have packed my summer hat to help with the sunshine on this beautiful spring day as I departed Fenny Stratford and the Bletchley area to head into countryside, the next settlement passing was at Three Locks near Stoke Hammond with a very busy pub. The towpath continued running close to the WCML (with a soundtrack of various trains) with some limited views of the railway tracks as the towpath reached the outskirts of Leighton Buzzard, going back into a wobbly canal (again to avoid hills I presume), passing Ouzel Meadows where the river Ouzel made an appearance running alongside the canal as it reached Leighton Buzzard with many boats moored up.

I caught it a day at Leighton Buzzard near the large Tesco (which was sadly closed due to being a Sunday) and headed up a steep hill to the station in the Linslade area of the town, having worked out a route home, with the need to have to travel via Kensington due to the routing on my ticket. Thankfully the next stopper was formed of 350109 & 350110 where I easily got a decent seat putting my phone on charge as I relaxed calling at the various stations along the way, the semi-fast service I could have caught passed this service near Kings Langley and seemed to be a pair of 350/2s, not like it would have made much of a difference as it only reached Watford Junction a couple of minutes before the stopper. I remained on the stopper to Harrow & Wealdstone where I made a fast move to board 710264 on the next Overground stopper to Euston, taking this unit to Willesden Junction.

A Pendo alongside the Grand Union Canal in the Soulbury area by Kite, on Flickr

Next up for me was a 10-minute connection to 378204 on the next Clapham Junction bound service, giving me time to pop out of the station at Clapham Junction to the little Sainsburys local to grab some bits for dinner before returning to board the next Exeter service. Due to engineering works around Brookwood services from London were running earlier (this would have normally been the 19:20 service). 159003 & 159008 from this morning had been joined with 159016 as I got a seat in a busy coach 2 of 9 for the run towards Woking before going onto the wrong line running section, running along the London bound fast line after Woking passing Brookwood and crossing back over to the correct line using the crossover after Farnborough station (for a random microgrice). Nothing else happened along the way and soon it reached Andover station for me to have a drive home and to rest my tired legs after a near 19 mile walk along the canal.

An enjoyable canal towpath walk, getting my legs back into a better shape as the next section of the canal towards Northampton is a similar length (with a curveball of some road walking due to Blisworth Tunnel, but that is a job for another Sunday walk when the sun is out over Spring/summertime. A lot more photos are available on my Flickr (Here). Thanks for reading Next up is the Easter weekend & some trips with some enforced East leave, where I’ve got rough ideas but all depends what the weather does.

 

[Iskra]

I'm glad you enjoyed the Monsall trail, I did it last year and also found it very enjoyable and also very busy.

I agree about the 222's window alignment in 1st class and that the Bentham Line is very underrated. A nice bit of novelty having a 221 on a GC service.

 

[All platforms]

Considering i don't do a lot of walking or cycling these days i find you have again covered ground that i have trod or in this specific case cycled of late. I should have mentioned this before actually.... I have done chunks of the Monsal Trail in the last few years and found it to be one of my favourite spots, even if you do have to put up with the hordes on a decent day.

Your tour of the spots in South Oxfordshire reminds me this is an area i really need to address myself this year - it has always appealed as an area to explore so unsure why it gets passed by. This may have made up my mind to address this shortcoming.

The Grand Union looked in fine fettle according to your pics - I was a keen canal buff many years ago and if circumstances had fallen differently it was possible i may well have chosen a canal project rather than a rail project, though i fear this may be getting out of hand as i dive deeper into the murky waters. Mixed metaphor??

 

[Kite159]

Grand Union canal is a mixed bag in terms of towpath quality. I'm leaving the section between Daventry to Leamington until spring time where it should hopefully be dried out as I suspect it's muddy. Especially after all the recent rain.

 

[Kite159]

29th – 31st March, Easter Weekend Exploring

29th March - Centurion Way & Hayling Island

Good Friday, the weather forecast was a bit changeable, so my rough ideas changed a few times in the days beforehand, eventually settling on a couple of shorter old railway line walks in the south as the weather was looking slightly more reasonable compared to say Birmingham or London. The day began with a drive to Romsey, parking in the library car park making use of the free parking on offer due to being a bank holiday and I made my way to the station to pick up my ticket from the TVM.

First train was the GWR Portsmouth service formed of a busy 158768 for the short distance to Southampton Central (which was in a bit of chaos due to signalling problems towards Dorset, a large crowd was waiting on the platform for a London train). I popped out of the station to visit the little Tesco Express to grab some supplies for lunch before returning to take a seat on 377214 on the Victoria service for the run to Chichester where I decided not to wait 30-odd minutes for the next Midhurst bus and decided to flip the walk around, so I walked north rather than heading south.

377214 at Southampton Central by Kite, on Flickr

The Centurion Way is a mixed used path which uses part of the route of the former Chichester – Midhurst railway line, a line with a mixed history. The first section of this walk was along the A259 towards Chichester college before picking up the route of the old railway line near a footbridge over the tracks & yard. A decent surface of mostly tarmac and the sun had come out as I made my way along the old railway path skirting around both old housing & new housing under construction before getting views of the Platinum Jubilee Country Park and the path going into a woodland cutting.

Quite a busy path at the southern end in terms of other users as I continued the walk leaving the city of Chichester and into the countryside leading towards Lavant where the only remains of the station was the station building (now a private house). This was a short section of walking along the road of a housing estate (with pavements) due to the route of the old railway being lost, the railway path resuming to the north of the village. This was a lot more rural with some beautiful views of the countryside, also a lot quieter compared to the southern section. One more short detour from the track-bed due to a farm before going underneath the A286 to the south of the village of West Dean and a final section to a bridge over a little lane where the path came to an end. The railway continued beyond West Dean towards Midhurst but sadly that area has either been lost to modern developments or is in private hands with no public access.

The first walk over as I made my way along the little lane to reach the main road for a handy bus stop outside the Selsey Arms pub, I made good timing and got lucky as I only had a 5 minute wait for the next hourly bus (Sunday timetable) on a route 60 for Chichester with Stagecoach bus 27741 on a busy service (part of me was toying with the idea of catching the northbound service to Midhurst before riding the entire route but that is a job for another trip). This route follows the A286 via Lavant before reaching Chichester where it got quite busy. I was also toying with an idea of doing a little explore in Chichester with the city walls but decided that could wait for another day as I made my way to the railway station for the next train towards Havant.

Centurion Way (former Midhurst Railway) in Lavant (2) by Kite, on Flickr

It was onto a very busy 377409 from Brighton (I think) for the journey to Havant where after a quick visit to the station toilets I started my second walk. Exiting Havant on the south side, it was a walk via the car park to pick up the route of the former Hayling Island branch line taking me towards Langstone, crossing a busy road and onto the remains of the former viaduct across Langstone Harbour which was one of the reasons the line was closed (to avoid costly repairs, the short slightness of the governments of the 1960s). At the end of the little spur of land I did a U-turn to head back towards the mixed used path which headed onto the busy Langstone road bridge with a strong wind coming across the water as I reached Hayling Island and picked up the route of the former railway line, which is now branded as the “Hayling Billy Trail”.

This section of path was a bit rougher than the previous section in Havant, a hard-core surface with some areas of mild flooding & mud from the recent rain. After doing a little detour to the southern spur of the former railway viaduct I headed south into the countryside and some beautiful views of the water as the railway ran along the edge of the island. Passing the site of the former North Hayling station (nothing remained that I could see) I continued along the path enjoying the views on both sides (as well as the peaceful nature). Soon the path when into woodland (where the path got muddier in places) but sadly came to an end near the former station at Hayling Island (which is now used as a theatre).

Restored signal on old Hayling Island Railway by Kite, on Flickr

It was onto the roads of “West Town” to reach the waterfront on the south coast of the island picking up a path running close to the beaches crossing over the track of the Hayling Seaside Railway. This was nice to walk along the beach in the sunshine as I reached Eastoke Corner where the Seaside Railway had the depot, making a small detour towards the depot for some photos where I noticed the train was in operation (I checked the website when on the train from Chichester & Havant where it said it wasn’t running so it was a nice little bonus). The next departure was due in a few minutes as I made my way to the station to board the train in a compartment coach. The loco up front was "Edwin", a Ruston & Hornsby built loco from 1967, as it departed towards Beachlands roughly a mile away. It gave my legs a short rest on the gentle trip there and back, some unusual track into my book with a well-run tourist railway narrow gauge line.

Hayling Seaside (Light) Railway Loco Edwin at Eastoke station by Kite, on Flickr

Back to my walk as I picked up a path along the Hayling Island Promenade, sticking to the path at the bottom due to the top path walking along the soft stoney beach which still gave nice views. The path entered the Sandy Point nature reserve which was very scenic giving views towards West Wittering in Sussex. The path came to an end near a boat club as I headed inland, ending up at a bus stop near the (annoyingly closed) toilets at Creek Road for the next Havant bus. There seems to be 2 bus routes (a 30 & a 31) which seem to run in opposite directions on a loop at the south of the island, joining together to do another short loop around the housing in Eastoke. Next up for me was a route 30 (with Stagecoach's 27863) doing the loop in Eastoke before heading towards the mainland via Mengham [the 31 goes back via West Town].

The bus took me to Havant bus station as I headed back to the railway station swinging via an Iceland & a little Cost-Cutter shop to grab some dinner items, not ideal but this area of Havant didn’t have much open on a bank holiday. At Havant railway station I looked up options to reaching Romsey, as I took 377469 to Fratton, changing to board 450054 & 450102 to take me to Eastleigh changing once more to board 158881 on the Romsey terminator via Chandlers Ford. A very busy train when it rolled into Eastleigh due to the continuing chaos caused by signalling issues with heavy delays to London trains. Thankfully it emptied out at Eastleigh as I headed towards Romsey to end the day with a relaxing drive home. An enjoyable little day trip with two different former railway line paths as well as a seaside walk, the weather behaving itself.

Hayling Bay from Sandy Point, Hayling Island (4) by Kite, on Flickr

30th March – Exploring the Strawberry Line

The Strawberry Line is the name given to a mixed used path which runs between Cheddar & Yatton, making use (in parts) of the former Cheddar Valley line (which in the progress of getting restored further between Cheddar & Wells/Shepton Mallet with some parts already opened).

I was originally going to do this walk at the start of the month but put it on hold due to the forecasted heavy rain (switching to walking in Chard). Today the weather was on my side with beautiful sunshine forecasted (all be with some wind). I drove to Salisbury parking in my usual place on Churchfields Road (saves paying out £5.30 for parking in the station car park) and headed to the station with a slightly late running 07:30 service formed of 158765 & 158760 to take me to Bath Spa where I had around 15 minutes to wait before a very quiet 800306 rolled in on a Weston Super Mare terminator, calling only at Yatton between Bristol & Weston (giving me a tiny bit of new IET coverage leaving just the section of track south of Weston to the mainline).

With some time to kill in Weston Super Mare I headed to Tesco to grab supplies for lunch, also to look for a hat as I had foolishly left my hat at home (nothing of interest in Tesco). After grabbing lunch and taking photos of various First buses I headed back to the railway station to board a busy route 126 service for Wells via Cheddar, a bus route which thankfully came back from the dead. This service was in the hands of a former Southampton Wright StreetLite, 47672. Going via Uphill, Hutton, Sandford & Axbridge before getting stuck in a large traffic jam caused by tourists heading to Cheddar Gorge. Eventually the bus cleared the traffic, and I alighted in the village itself, spotting a little charity shop which I randomly popped into seeing a decent looking M&S hat for a couple of quid, something to keep the top of my head from getting burned. An enjoyable little bus route with some good views, but it got quite busy after Axbridge and with a large crowd waiting for it in Cheddar.

First Bus 47672 (SN15 ACZ) in Cheddar on 126 service to Wells by Kite, on Flickr

The first section was a walk along the road to reach Draycott Park to the south of the village (annoyingly a place the bus doesn't stop at) picking up the route of the old railway line (although in this area the only evidence that it used to be railway was the bridge over the Cheddar Yeo). This first section ends alongside the A371 near a school with another short walk along the road to reach an industrial estate where Cheddar station used to be located. Back onto the route of the old railway line as it headed away from Cheddar towards Axbridge, where I had a little detour to reach the banks of the Cheddar Reservoir. One of my original ideas had me circling this reservoir but for some reason I decided against the mile long round journey round the edge.

The section of railway in Axbridge has been lost under the bypass road forcing a detour into the pretty town of Axbridge, where I decided to sit down to have my lunch (ironically a cheddar & ham roll) in the town square before continuing away from the town centre towards the route of the former railway line once more. Some steep hills giving some lovely views of the Somerset countryside and soon I was back on the old railway line route as it crossed the A38 road and onto a reasonably busy path going via Shute Shelve tunnel to reach Winscombe where the former platform of the station remains.

Shute Shelve Tunnel on the Strawberry Line Path (former Cheddar Valley Railway Line) between Axbridge & Winscombe by Kite, on Flickr

I continued along the old railway line path as it went via a woodland cutting towards Sandford where the path detours away from the old railway line as the station is used as a small centre with an old loco alongside the platform. The next section of the path didn't use much of the old railway line route and has recently been opened up to avoid a walk along Nye Road (as part of the National Grid's Hinkley Connection Project). The old railway line route was shortly regained after passing a sewage works onto a long straight across open countryside towards Congresbury (where the old station remains). Another short section where the path doesn’t follow the railway line with a detour along the Congresbury Yeo to reach a bridge across this river then along a farm access track to reach the route of the old railway once more. Onto the final push (so to speak) as the countryside returned and path headed towards Yatton station, ending in the car park alongside the station giving me 15 minutes (or thereabouts) before my booked train which I had booked a couple of hours earlier when in Sandford. An enjoyable little old railway line walk, mostly a decent path with some mud with some lovely countryside.

Anyhow it was back to the trains with 802006 to take me to Bristol Temple Meads on a Cardiff train (complete with the usual sitting outside the station for 5 minutes waiting for a platform), it was a short walk across to platform 14 to board 158766 on the Salisbury stopping service which departed a few minutes late due to a late arrival. I was lucky to grab a seat to relax only for things to go a bit wrong after Bradford on Avon where the train got caught up in congestion caused by a broken-down Weymouth service at Trowbridge. That broken down train eventually got moved to Westbury (I presume) however the damage had been done with the train I was on terminating at Westbury with passengers for Salisbury told to wait for the next Portsmouth train which at the time was 45 minutes away (as the next Portsmouth & Salisbury service was both cancelled)

Train at former Sandford Station on the former Cheddar Valley Line (Strawberry Line) by Kite, on Flickr

For lack of a better idea, I decided to walk into Westbury town to visit the Morrisons to grab some dinner items (originally, I was going to grab something in Salisbury) returning to the station still with 15 minutes to waste. I dread to think how busy the Weymouth train would have been which was in front of the Portsmouth being the first train from Bristol/Bath towards Trowbridge for 90 minutes, but it kept on losing time. Anyhow eventually 166215 rolled into Westbury, as expected it was quite busy, but I managed to get a seat in the former 1st class area at the front. The train did empty out at Salisbury as I made my way back to the car and had a relaxing drive home. Other than for the farce with the trains it was a good day, beautiful weather in Somerset and another old railway line walked. The newer sections between Cheddar & Wells will probably wait until more of it has been opened, whenever that will be.

31st March – A random day in London

A day in London with mum was the aim of todays little trip, with no real plan in mind only ideas to do some random bus routes after a boat ride The day began with the 07:38 service from Grateley formed of 159010 & 159020 featuring a couple of revenue protection officers checking tickets, we took this to Clapham Junction jumping back to Wimbledon on the first available service which was 455910 & 455913 transferring to the underground with 21372/21371 taken to Putney Bridge. Since some-point last year the Thames Clipper service has been extended to run to/from Putney every hour at weekends rather than being at peak time only.

We made our way out of Putney Bridge underground (barriers wide open), across Putney Bridge and to the pier which is 3rd party owned where passengers having to wait by the access door before a member of staff from the boat comes up to open it. The first boat of the day was the 10:05 sailing with Galaxy Clipper on the RB2, we got lucky to grab seats at the front of the vessel for some lovely views of the fast-flowing river (even though the sky was fifty shades of grey).

Galaxy Clipper (Thames Clippers) at Putney Pier by Kite, on Flickr

After an hour or so we alighted from the boat at Canary Wharf, the limit of the Central zone (getting our moneys worth) and walked towards the DLR station at Canary Wharf (via the toilets in the shopping centre), jumping onto the first Lewisham bound service formed of 103, 144 & 135. At Lewisham we exited the station making our way towards the town centre shopping area (via Greggs for lunch) to board a route 108 bus for Stratford International, formed of bus MEC10 (a London Central Citaro). A busy bus as it headed away from Lewisham towards Blackheath, Charlton & North Greenwich, getting caught up in traffic before going via the Blackwall Tunnel towards Bow, then towards Stratford International station. A gentle walk took us towards Stratford City bus station for a route 388 service for London Bridge (in the hands of Stagecoach’s 12509).

This was a reasonably busy route departing from Stratford heading towards Hackney via the Olympic Park, then on a one-way loop via South Hackney (near Victoria Park, an area to explore as I've only been there once before, back in 2008 when I saw Radiohead play live). After South Hackney it went via Bethnal Green then Spitalfields before passing Liverpool Street and heading to London Bridge via the City of London. An interesting route for different views of London which I wouldn't have seen by train, or even by foot. The next bus route on a bit of a “wing-it” afternoon was a route 17 run with Metroline’s BDE2647 (an electric Enviro 400).

Go-Ahead London Bus MEC10 (BG09 JKJ) at Stratford International by Kite, on Flickr

This route took us from London Bridge towards Archway going via the City of London (passing St Paul's Catherdral), before going north via Kings Cross towards Holloway then Archway terminating near the underground station. Another interesting little view of parts of London. Part of me was tempted to head back south on the Underground but I decided on another random bus route, this time the Stagecoach operated W5 (with a little Optare Solo 47986) service. This route went from Archway towards Crouch End (with some Hail & Ride) before going towards Harringay terminating at the bus stop outside the large Sainsburys, quite a bit of residential houses and steep hills (which gave some nice views of the centre of London).

We headed away from the supermarkets (all closed up due to being Easter Sunday and it being after 4pm) towards the main road, jumping onto a busy route 141 service (with Arriva’s HV379. This route headed back towards London Bridge going via Canonbury, Shoreditch & Old Street. A 5-minute pause on the bus stop on London Bridge itself due to running early before the bus terminated into the London Bridge bus station. The day on the buses was at an end as we headed into the railway station to catch 378146 on the Overground service to West Croydon (running from London Bridge due to engineering works), which was busy near the front but quieter nearer the rear.

378146 at London Bridge by Kite, on Flickr

At West Croydon, we exited the station for a walk towards Wetherspoons for dinner (and also a much needed toilet break), before heading to East Croydon jumping onto 377109 & 377444 on the first Victoria bound service to take us to Clapham Junction, changing to board 444036 & 444040 into Waterloo to allow us to get a decent seat on the 19:45 Salisbury stopper formed of 158888 & 159001 to take us back towards Grateley, the end of a nice day in London. Nice to have done the Western extension of the Thames Clipper network as well as some random London bus routes giving different views of the capital. Weather wise was a bit wet walking home as it looked like the rain had arrived early at Grateley with Monday being a bit damp, so I had a lazy day, the closest I got to the railway was a random walk to a disused railway bridge in the so-called Hampshire Gap area for a couple of photos misjudging the weather.

159006 heading towards Grateley at Hampshire Gap by Kite, on Flickr

March overall has been a busy month, not so much with long distance travel but some disused railway lines walked, some more photos from my Easter weekends travels can be found on my Flickr, here. Thanks for reading