Northern Rail - where to go this weekend...

[WhichRailWay]

So I have a free travel anywhere on Northern Rail coupon (for one day only) and I'd like to use it on either Saturday or Sunday. I'm Manchester-based, can anyone recommend where I should go?

I'd like a little bit of scenery, but ideally no more than a couple of hours traveling time each way and if there's a couple of pubs at the destination (or at a number of destinations along a route) that will be a big plus!

 

[ashworth]

Limiting yourself to no more than 2 hours each way does restrict things. One idea that could fit in pubs and some nice scenery and a nice circular route could be:

Manchester Piccadilly to Sheffield (Hope Valley Local Service)
Sheffield to Huddersfield (Head of Steam Pub on Huddersfield Station)
Huddersfield to Manchester Victoria

Or you could do Manchester-Sheffield-Leeds-Manchester
Or even Manchester Victoria to York

If I had a one day ticket for Northern I would want to do some longer journeys perhaps including Settle to Carlisle, Leeds to Lancaster or even around the Cumbrian Coast

 

[Crossover]

For railway stations with pubs the main ones would be Stalybridge/Huddersfield/Dewsbury although arguably not hugely scenic!
For that I would have thught Settle to Carlisle would be a good one judging by the journey Michael Portillo recently took - just need a day of good weather!

 

[wellhouse]

How about Manchester-Dewsbury via Caldervale Line
(Sowerby Bridge Jubilee Refreshment Rooms)
(Dewsbury West Riding Refreshment Rooms)
A short hop on to Batley
(Cellar Bar opposite the station under same management as West Riding Refreshment Rooms)
Option of then heading back west or going on to Leeds
(Wetherspoons on the station or Scarbrough just opposite)
Then back to Manchester via Huddersfield
(The Transpennine Rail Trail all the way back to Victoria
http://www.southpenninesrail.co.uk/docs/RailAleTrail.pdf
- with the recent additional option of The Commercial a couple of minutes down from the station at Slaithwaite)

Two lines of delightful Pennine scenery (at least Rochdale - Brighouse, and Huddersfield - Stalybridge)

 

[General Zod]

If the trip was an all day affair then I would do the following

Manchester - Sheffield
Sheffield - Leeds
Leeds - Carlisle ( via Settle)
Carlisle - Preston ( Cumbrian Coast via Barrow -in-Furness)
Preston - Manchester

Or maybe do a return trip from Carlisle - Saltburn via Redcar and Maske instead of the Carlisle - Preston leg. The coastal trains would definitely be better appreciated during the long, warm summer days !
(Our friends in the North are really spoilt)

 

[142094]

You don't really get much of the coast on the Middlesbrough - Redcar - Markse - Saltburn line until you get to the very end. Still, it is a nice ride, even better if you like big steelworks.

 

[WhichRailWay]

Wow, thanks for all the information guys. So much information to take in and I've just spent the past few hours pouring over timetables. So, I've decided to go with traveling along the Cumbrian coast.

My journey (not very adventurous I know) on Saturday will look something like this:

Manchester Victoria (7.16) to Preston (arrive 8.14)

Preston (8.42) to Carlisle - will stop off somewhere en-route (not quite decided where)

Then do the opposite direction back to Manchester. Does anyone envisage any problems with this routing (all on Northern)? Seems most direct to me.

Also I'll be traveling with someone else, who has a disabled railcard, will just getting one of the day rangers be the best bet?

 

[tony_mac]

It's a very long day!
Do you know how you are getting back? There doesn't seem to be many Northern services between Barrow and Preston.

I went up the Cumbrian coast last week, it was approx. 3 hours on a cold, noisy, rattling train with filthy windows. The Workington - Maryport shuttle is very nice though (apart from the unwashed windows)!

I don't think that there is a single day ranger that covers it; there is a Cumbrian Coast Day Ranger for £10.55 and £11.80 for a return from Manchester to Grange-over-Sands.

 

[Mike Redding]

Wow, thanks for all the information guys. So much information to take in and I've just spent the past few hours pouring over timetables. So, I've decided to go with traveling along the Cumbrian coast.

My journey (not very adventurous I know) on Saturday will look something like this:

Manchester Victoria (7.16) to Preston (arrive 8.14)

Preston (8.42) to Carlisle - will stop off somewhere en-route (not quite decided where)

Then do the opposite direction back to Manchester. Does anyone envisage any problems with this routing (all on Northern)? Seems most direct to me.

Also I'll be traveling with someone else, who has a disabled railcard, will just getting one of the day rangers be the best bet?

There's a wetherspoons 2 minutes walk away from whitehaven station, cheap and the foods always been good when i've been there

There's also a little cafe in St. Bees right on the edge of the beach, it's about 10 minutes walk from the train station, although would be better in the summer i guess.