16th February 2018 - Fareway to Heaven?
Another Friday, another day off. So another trip out, naturally.
Today's target was shack-clearance par excellence. Any winners would be a bonus! First up was a trip to Spoons for a sausage breakfast roll, then off to the bus station to acquire a GM Wayfarer (a nice, flimsy thing, specifically designed not to work the barriers at any station). Then tram 3087 up the hill to Rochdale station, for a smart connection onto 158755 for a spirited run to Victoria (14 minutes, start to stop, not bad at all!) Tram 3006 then trundled me across town to Piccadilly, where a newspaper and water were acquired.
The first train of the day started 11 minutes late (awaiting driver), which rather pleased me as I had a decent fester at my first shack. And it was a lovely day for a bimble through the Peak District with winter sunshine enhancing the scenery. There were still traces of snow on the tops as we traversed the Hope Valley, picking up and setting down many cold hikers enroute.
Arriving at
Grindleford, I paused on the bridge to watch 66538 rumble through on a cement train, then hit the local (and extremely popular) station cafe, for coffee and a cake. Then I returned to the station, watched 185117 head to Manchester, then superstalker 158863, with 156470 as ballast, heading for Nottingham, before 150150 returned from its brief visit to Sheffield and collected me again. Returning westwards, the cement trucks had already been taken up the branch at Hope, so 66538 had joined its fatter colleagues 66608 and 66614 in the sidings.
Half an hour or so later, I departed the train at New Mills Central (visited several times in the mid-eighties bashing 31s!), then girded my loins for the walk across town to the second new shack of the day,
New Mills Newtown. Down a steep slope, across a footbridge, then turn right through a mill car park, cut through the back streets and bear right - 12 minutes, a record for an overweight middle-aged smoker...
And what turned up here? None other than freshly-dud and still polished 150124, running a minute early and therefore taken through to shack 3,
Chapel-en-le-Frith. A sign here apparently said "Home of Frodo", until I looked more closely, then it was over the level crossing to pick up 156424, for a downhill run to the two-hourly served shack 4, at
Middlewood. Now some stations have inappropriate names - Alexandria serves a Scottish council estate, rather than a bustling seaport; The Berney Arms was not a Berni Inn; Blackpool Pleasure Beach isn't enjoyable, except by masochists - but Middlewood more than lives up to its name, being in the middle of an, erm, wood!
Anyway, I scratched a bit of the erstwhile Macclesfield to Marple Rose Hill route for walkage whilst crossing to the other platform.
156483 made a timely arrival, on my last foray of the day up the Buxton line, shack 5 being
Whaley Bridge. Which has a nice old-stylee footbridge, and also a defunct pub called the Jodrell Arms, which made me smile in view of my plans for the rest of the day. Someone with a greyhound got off here - about the fourth one I'd seen today. Obviously the dog of choice in Derbyshire. Anyway, the PIS here indicated four coaches for the return, so presumably 150124 had picked up a partner in Buxton...
...it had, arriving with 150204 attached. This also appears to have been refettled recently, being very pleasant inside. The pair were taken to Stockport, as it was Now Time for Something Completely Different
. "Hola! ¿Dondre este servicios, senor?" is included at this point in order not to disappoint those who, contrary to tradition, were expecting a Spanish Inquisition
Arrival at Edgeley was on time, enabling a +4 onto the 15:17 to Crewe to be made with ease.
323235 was the steed for this, which was on time, however a late running pendo wanting to overtake caused a diversion into Platform 1 at Alderley Edge (common from the North, not so usual to depart south over the crossover, though) before a peaceful run across the flatlands and past the definitely-not-defunct Jodrell Bank (which incidentally seemed to be pointing towards Whaley Bridge rather than far distant galaxies) as far as shack 6 at
Goostrey.
This is a rather remote and peaceful location, at least until 70015 blatted through Trafford Park bound, on a liner. A 175 rattled south, a squirrel ran across a tree branch opposite me, then a light appeared at Holmes Chapel (the line is dead straight, and the next station is clearly visible), indicating that 323237 was on its way to rescue me - and as it arrived 70006 blatted through southbound, again on a liner.
It was only a short leap on 323237, as
Chelford was also a required shack. 29 minutes here, so I had a walk, noticing enroute that the old sidings south of the station (a former oil or bitumen terminal?) are now a housing estate. There's more here than at Goostrey, including a Chinese greengrocers/convenience store, where I found a bar of chocolate and bag of crisps lurking among the pak choi. Returning to the station, a couple of pendos whizzed past, then 323236 took me through to Holmes Chapel, where I'd been before.
In comparison with the previous two, this is a thriving metropolis, with an uber-posh looking pub called The Swan right next door. However I only had a plus 14 here so, shockingly, desisted on this occasion, instead awaiting 323229 to take me north to my penultimate new shack of the day, at
Handforth.
Much more suburban hereabouts, but a +6 meant that The Railway Hotel was spotted but not visited. Anyway, it serves Robinsons beer which is, imho, rancid! Then 323230 became the fifth of the class for the day, with a run out to Alderley Edge, stopping in the correct, up, platform this time. Fifteen minutes here gave time for a smoke and a mooch, then time for the last shack. Or so I thought. Winner
319384 (when did that come north?) turned up on the direct service to Manchester, so was caned in to Wilmslow!
A stroll through the subway here, and 323236 (returning from Crewe) sped me swiftly to the last new shack of the day, the awkward and limited service
Styal. This was quiet and deserted (one other person got off) and I was glad that my fester was no more than 13 minutes. It was another repeater for the day, 323235, which eventually took me back to Wilmslow and civilization.
Cross platform interchange here, and potentially one of Beardie Branson's finest, of which a still need a few. But not 390013, which rolled me through the darkness back to Piccadilly. Then to the trams. 3006 to Victoria. 3092 to Oldham Mumps (baled due to lack of wifi, and finishing sudoku). 3064 + 3088 to Shawn Crompton. 3087 home.
Not a bad day at all, if a tad cold!
