There’s loads available from LA. Some include a trip via LV, some don’t.
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Juliano's World Frenzy/Tech's Trip Reports
- Thread starter Techniquest
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There’s loads available from LA. Some include a trip via LV, some don’t.
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Techniquest
Veteran Member
Fair enough, that's good to know. Thanks for the recommendation!
I don't know whether they are still available, but in 2004, I went to see my son in Christchurch NZ. I travelled on a 'round the world' ticket which was only just dearer than a straight return. It was available on various airlines but I only used Singapore and Air NZ. ISTR that any reasonable number of legs could be flown as long I kept going around the world in the same direction. The return flight landed at LAX for 2 hours for housekeeping/crew change but some passengers alighted and some boarded there also so it would be possible to hop off for a Grand Canyon excursion, - obviously not using the main ticket.
Techniquest
Veteran Member
I think BA still offer such tickets, I will have to check that. I'm also tempted to try Qatar on their NZ flights (with a change in Doha) as they sound good to do. Depends what offer is available when I next get the chance to take a large chunk of time off.
I'm also tempted to just do the south island of NZ, which looks absolutely stunning. The north island would be good to do too, but it's looking likely that I may have to choose bits to skip.
I'm also tempted to just do the south island of NZ, which looks absolutely stunning. The north island would be good to do too, but it's looking likely that I may have to choose bits to skip.
South Island is a wise choice, it is stunning. Flying into Queens town is impressive, (you land in a valley between two montain ridges and take off over a lake). White water rides can be fun and downtown Queens town is a bit like a wild west town with nicer (but bonkers) people in it! The internal flight from Auckland was one of the most relaxing flights ever. No security checks at the get, metal cutlery, cabin attended by three pleasant women who looked like they were from the local WI, and during the flight, offered (free) cakes that they had cooked themselves. They also came and sat next to passengers for a chat.
Note: other flight attendants are available.
TheBigD
Established Member
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If you fancy a cycling trip on the South Island...
I was planning on doing tour this in 2021 but covid got in the way. I'm looking at options to do it next year, along with the remaining NZ trains (Tranz-Alpine, Coastal Pacific, Northern Explorer).
Triple Trails Cycle | NZ Cycle Trails | Adventure South NZ
Triple Trails Cycle: Cycle the Alps to Ocean, Otago Central Rail Trail and West Coast Wilderness cycle trails through New Zealand's stunning South Island.
www.adventuresouth.co.nz
I was planning on doing tour this in 2021 but covid got in the way. I'm looking at options to do it next year, along with the remaining NZ trains (Tranz-Alpine, Coastal Pacific, Northern Explorer).
Iskra
Established Member
I'd never have booked it that way, but I ended up doing the California Zephyr in Coach last year and I did enjoy it. The US has such varied scenery that it's changing all the time and the people are so friendly and easy to talk to.
Well, I'm looking forward to seeing how you incorporate it into your future plans. I also like that you aren't giving up on it!
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Thanks all, some wise wisdom there 
Plenty to consider, and yes I would love to do some cycling over there so that's very much on my wishlist!
Plenty to consider, and yes I would love to do some cycling over there so that's very much on my wishlist!25 years ago now, but I saw a lot of Nz in 10 days. Auckland, Rotorua, Bay of Plenty, train to Wellington, ferry across to Picton, Marlborough, west coast, glaciers, Wanaka (careful on typing that), and Queenstown for thrills including jet boating. Then flew out to LA.
South Island is essentially Scotland on steroids with nicer weather. But if you are travelling halfway round the globe it would be silly to miss the north island.
I also did it with a round the world ticket. You can still get these. Back then it was £1500 (over Christmas /NY) which is the equivalent of £3.5k now.
Even more dangerous is whakatane - and that has been pronounced properly on TV news.
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Not even my rather generous credit card limit would stretch that far to £3,500!
Agreed it would be crazy to miss out the North Island, I'm more thinking how to fit it all into a restricted amount of time off. I'd like to do the trains, that much I am sure of, having watched a video on the Auckland to Wellington train. Although to be honest if I had to cut something out that would have to be it, and do a domestic flight after some exploring at the Auckland end of things.
The South Island is where it's at for me, the part of the country which one immediately thinks of when you think of New Zealand. It looks so stunning that I would prioritise that for sure!
I didn’t explain very well. Whilst my ticket was £1500 back then, you can get similar tickets for about the same price now. Of course, you can pay £3500 if you want, but there’s cheaper options…
I wouldn’t do that trip if I had the chance again. When I did it, I was meeting friends in Wellington (who lived there). They left Auckland several hours after me, by car, and picked me up from Wellington station. It’s a long way by train, and about the only thing worth seeing is Mt Ruapehu. But you can see that from the road if you get the coach.
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Thanks for the tip, I'll weigh up my options there then. It did feel like it was a slow journey for a train when I watched the video. The spiral the train takes on the journey does look fun, I've got to say. Obviously, when it comes to booking things, I'll bear the coach in mind.
Given how expensive the trains are, I think I'd rather save the funds for the train out of Picton. There's another one from (I think) Christchurch up and over a mountain whose name escapes me, but it would be nice to do that one. Hmm, an itinerary is already forming!
Yes that makes sense with regards to the air fares, I'll shop around carefully when it comes to that. Which reminds me, I added my recent flights to Flightdiary, and somewhere over Canada-ish I passed 100,000 aviation miles on the return to London!
I also have over 44,000 miles logged on BA, which I'm also pretty happy with
Given how expensive the trains are, I think I'd rather save the funds for the train out of Picton. There's another one from (I think) Christchurch up and over a mountain whose name escapes me, but it would be nice to do that one. Hmm, an itinerary is already forming!
Yes that makes sense with regards to the air fares, I'll shop around carefully when it comes to that. Which reminds me, I added my recent flights to Flightdiary, and somewhere over Canada-ish I passed 100,000 aviation miles on the return to London!
I also have over 44,000 miles logged on BA, which I'm also pretty happy with Attachments
TranzAlpine. Now that is worth doing.
That's the Tranz Alpine from Christchurch to Greymouth. 223km in 4 1/2 hours.
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Thanks, that's the badger! I think it was a video from Jeb Brooks on YouTube that led to me discovering that train, I watched it ages ago. It looked stunning, expensive but worth it.
Considering the terrain, that's not too bad a journey time. It's absolutely on my wishlist for NZ, that's for sure. If it ends up being the only train I do over there, then it's looking likely to be the best one to do.
I'd love to get this all booked right now, I'm definitely keen to get there and starting to wonder what may have happened if I'd gone there instead of the USA on my recent adventure!
All platforms
Established Member
Well, its been a while, but i have finally caught up on your American adventure. Another series of detailed enjoyable reading warts and all. I am all for telling it as it is! It makes perfect sense to base ones self in Vegas for the Grand Canyon visit, but i don't think i could ever do that. I have no dea what the alternatives might be but Vegas has no appeal whatsoever. Unbelievable bad luck on the trip to the GC being cancelled due to the high winds - a real kick in the teeth. So glad it is still being considered for a rematch. It is certainly on my top ten list of things to see for sure.
For me the travelling to/from is part of the whole adventure so it was very interesting to see your take on the Airbus and its features. America certainly appeals but not this year (i may have other rail adventure commitments to consider ahem). I viewed your world map with the places visited on with great interest - so many places already, but so many more await. The planning element is all part of the big adventure each time as well so it is clear that this takes up a chunk of available time, but so worth it in the end.
With regards to your difficulties err no lets call them challenges with vegan based food options there, have you heard of the phrase what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas??
I may have been very tempted to stray in your shoes if only on the basis a holiday is supposed to be a wholly enjoyable thing excuse. Fair play with sticking to your guns though. I look forward to your next set of adventures which i suspect may be nearer to home than Vegas.
For me the travelling to/from is part of the whole adventure so it was very interesting to see your take on the Airbus and its features. America certainly appeals but not this year (i may have other rail adventure commitments to consider ahem). I viewed your world map with the places visited on with great interest - so many places already, but so many more await. The planning element is all part of the big adventure each time as well so it is clear that this takes up a chunk of available time, but so worth it in the end.
With regards to your difficulties err no lets call them challenges with vegan based food options there, have you heard of the phrase what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas??
I may have been very tempted to stray in your shoes if only on the basis a holiday is supposed to be a wholly enjoyable thing excuse. Fair play with sticking to your guns though. I look forward to your next set of adventures which i suspect may be nearer to home than Vegas.
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Yes it's fair to say I don't miss a whole ton out with my trip reports! I do like the detail though, I've tried many times to cut much of it out but it doesn't feel like one of my trip reports then.
Las Vegas doesn't appeal to me either, trust me, and never has done. Even now I wonder if I should have just done the revisit to New York! I can picture it now, power walking around Central Park, as well as doing The High Line at long last. There's train stuff I'd like to do over there as well, and that's just a brief insight into my NYC wishlist. Seattle would have been amazing, I used to love watching Frasier which was located there. The Monorail I am reliably informed is still there, and of course the coffee culture would have been amazing.
Agreed that the Grand Canyon is a must-see, and Phoenix is another near-ish international airport but not as close. I've not yet set foot in Arizona, so that may end up being the winner choice. Mind you, if Bald Rick is right and options exist from LA then that would be a good choice as LA often has bargain fares with BA.
I'm glad to hear you found the comments on Airbus' 350s interesting. That map has been going since 2012, unfortunately things like my flights into/out of Cardiff were a number of years before that thus have no details for.
Agreed 100% that the planning is part of the fun!
With regards to your difficulties err no lets call them challenges with vegan based food options there, have you heard of the phrase what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas??
I am aware of that expression, yes! I've always treated it as an excuse for things like people having affairs, or other activity that wouldn't be considered correct anywhere else in the West. A poor excuse to do silly things, of course. I could easily get super-judgemental here, so I'd best not go there!
The temptation at times was very real, but there was no way I could break my ethics and my morals. Besides, the absolute stench was stomach-wretching with some of the 'food' places I went past. I've never liked shrimp, but now I've had the misfortune to be anywhere near somewhere that serves it I've discovered the stink is enough to decrease my appetite!
I've had a couple of UK railway adventures since I got back from the USA, indeed I went to Manchester the day after I got back! Should I ever actually get around to that trip report, you'll see it was far more my sort of day than Vegas!
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Hi all, I haven't got my trip reports from Manchester and Derbyshire done yet but I have finally cleared an item from my to-do list. You may recall in my Las Vegas trip report I discussed my long overdue cycling mileages update, well I finally finished that this morning! It's been one of those things I've been putting off finishing, but I'm finally done.
My all-time total, dating back to late February 2020, is currently at 11,633.88 miles. I'm pretty pleased with that, especially considering the relative lack of cycling in 2023 so far and all the downtime from the Covid recovery in 2022. My total for 2022 was a rather poor 3,566.18, a number that was more than 1,000 less than 2021. June 2022 was 490.75, and this number doesn't include any Beryl mileage as this was just on The Beast and the Blue Beauty. June 2022 was not that much more than May 2022, which had been 485.53 and that was the month with my longest ever ride at 100.60 miles! Compare those with July 2022, which was just 22.70 miles! Oh yes, I recall that ride on 7th July 2022 now, the outward was fine then the epic pain in the legs made the return so very difficult. Even a week later it was not too much better with a 9.60 mile local spin at a slow pace! Mind you, February 2023 wasn't too good at just 92.70 miles!
At least I finally got this file off my to-do list, here's hoping the numbers will improve in 2023 but the current weather is certainly putting a stop to that!
The two overdue trip reports I'm sure I'll get cracking with soon, given tomorrow looks like a washout and far too windy to do much!
My all-time total, dating back to late February 2020, is currently at 11,633.88 miles. I'm pretty pleased with that, especially considering the relative lack of cycling in 2023 so far and all the downtime from the Covid recovery in 2022. My total for 2022 was a rather poor 3,566.18, a number that was more than 1,000 less than 2021. June 2022 was 490.75, and this number doesn't include any Beryl mileage as this was just on The Beast and the Blue Beauty. June 2022 was not that much more than May 2022, which had been 485.53 and that was the month with my longest ever ride at 100.60 miles! Compare those with July 2022, which was just 22.70 miles! Oh yes, I recall that ride on 7th July 2022 now, the outward was fine then the epic pain in the legs made the return so very difficult. Even a week later it was not too much better with a 9.60 mile local spin at a slow pace! Mind you, February 2023 wasn't too good at just 92.70 miles!
At least I finally got this file off my to-do list, here's hoping the numbers will improve in 2023 but the current weather is certainly putting a stop to that!
The two overdue trip reports I'm sure I'll get cracking with soon, given tomorrow looks like a washout and far too windy to do much!
TheBigD
Established Member
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- 19 Nov 2008
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Nothing wrong with 3566 miles in the bike for 2022. Just shy of 10 miles every single day. For comparison, I did LEJOG last year and my yearly total was 5297, though I was a lazy bugger for the last 3 months of the year!
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Perhaps understandable that, given the effort on LEJOG! I'd have not managed that, some of the hills around here are enough for me!
Techniquest
Veteran Member
April 2023 In Review
Well what can I say? That was an absolutely crazy month, so much so I haven’t had time to do trip reports. This review/look-back will have to do, and I’m only getting this started in the evening of 30th April 2023 while I wait for food to cook. So what have I been up to? Let’s begin!
The month started fantastically on 1st April with a trip to Manchester on a 67-hauled MK4 trip, hauled by 67014. I had got a former Grand Central MK4 set, so took advantage of a Weekend First upgrade. This trip was costing me a fortune, but it was 100% worth it already as I had been wanting to do First Class to Manchester for years. I’d done First Class south of Hereford on a diverted HST many years ago, and between Crewe and Manchester Piccadilly via Styal on a Summer Saturday HST in the late 2000s. I had wanted a 67 north of Shrewsbury for many years too, it’s just never quite worked somehow. So despite the extreme levels of speed that money was disappearing on fares, I was loving the trip. I ended up scoring a number of 331s, some in combination with some high-speed walking and getting a top 5 finish on a segment in Salford. I took it on again later and shaved off a lot of time but just couldn’t beat 5th place somehow, much to my frustration.
I added a couple of 195s to the mix too, as well as some walking coverage of Manchester, during the day and had to hold my jaw closed when walking past the Pinarello cycle shop. There was some incredibly beautiful machines in there, and I wanted to go in and admire them but I had a mission on my hands! Later the same day I finally had my first Class 197, with 197015 from Manchester Oxford Road to Manchester Airport. I like them, they’re surprisingly comfortable for new trains and I’m looking forward to trying them out on my local turf before too long!
I made my way over to the 1630 Manchester Piccadilly to Swansea later on, and I had been going to take 67020 all the way back to Hereford. I had an ex-LNER MK4 set this time, and while the noise of the 67 was fantastic to hear I got fed up of the noisy fools further up the coach. I saw an option to bail out and go surprise my little sister, but also go after my first Class 777 first. I’d seen news of 2 of them out of the planned 3 were out, so bailed at Crewe and took a 390 to Liverpool. I had a 507 to Kirkby, and figured my luck just had to be in on the way back, surely? Well no, the next service was a 50x, so I continued a walkabout in Kirkby before the next train. Aha, finally, a 777! 777008 was the first of the class, and wow I did not like those seats. The PIS was not working properly either, and quite honestly I was not blown away like I was with the 197s. A real big disappointment, and I took a 390 back to Crewe for a 350 to Winsford due to the way the times worked out. I probably should have stayed on the MK4s to Hereford, but reflecting on that decision I think it works out well, as I got to see how rubbish the 777s are and have therefore saved a lot of money on expensive trips to Merseyside. The money still got spent on fares, but on trips much more worthwhile. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though, April may only have been 30 days but there’s a lot to discuss yet!
3rd April was simply a case of getting back to Hereford, with plenty of delays, after a day of doing very little in Winsford on the 2nd. 5th April I was off again, this time to foreign territory. I refer of course to the East Midlands! I’d seen on RTT that all 3 of my last 222s were out, and they were certainly doable. An expensive day out, but to finally clear the 222s almost 19 years after getting my first one? Well it would be good to do, and I figured I’d not have to go back to the East Midlands again for a while so it would be all good. I was very wrong on that, but again I’m jumping the gun! The weather being unsuitable for cycling for most of April, I’d been determined early in the month to beat my record for distance set in March 2023. That walking record was 231km, and I honestly thought I’d struggle with that, that I’d have to settle for just 1km over the record. Wait and see how I did! All 3 222s were achieved, along with some exploring in Sheffield and, if memory serves, a Strava walking record on a segment in Derby! I even got a winner tram in Sheffield, and I’m led to believe number 105 is out of action at the moment, which is my last of the Duewag (I think) trams in Sheffield to get. I still haven’t checked that, but my source is usually rock solid with this sort of thing.
There were no trains or even buses for 11 days after that, there had been an enormous focus on walking. Of course, this isn’t just a stroll down the road kind of walking, when it comes to me and walking it’s full-power, high-speed, arms-swinging walking. Without going into too much detail, my OS maps got a lot of highlighting in April 2023! A huge focus was on physical and mental health, partly driven by a chance encounter on a pre-work cycle ride while working on the 200km cycling challenge on Strava early in the month. Anyway, 16th April saw me back on the rails and this was for a positioning journey from Hopton Heath to Hereford, following an epic cycling coverage mission. The Blue Beauty really got filthy on that ride, some rather filthy roads in places but a lot of Herefordshire covered, which helped progress my lifetime goal of cycling all of Herefordshire’s roads. That is an incredibly big achievement to be unlocked, and I’m still a long way from done but I’m getting there slowly. Having had a short ride on a 150 from Hopton Heath to Craven Arms, I was initially disappointed to have a 150 to Hereford but it had a 158 on the back. That’s where I went straight away!
17th April, I had a big walking mission and took a bus for 4 miles. £4.10, what a rip off! It’s fair to say that, like with the 777s, I was outraged at the rip-off but it has steered me to avoid Lugg Valley Travel’s buses since then. Two days later, on 19th April, it was back on the rails to tick off something on my to-do list. This was a journey in one go from Bromsgrove to Lichfield Trent Valley on a 323. The easiest way to do this was a West Midlands Day Ranger, which at £32 is not cheap but there’s so much that can be done on one it’s definitely worth the money if it’s a full day out. On the way north, I saw the Centro-liveried 323, 323221, and I was determined to go and get that later. With the times known, I set off on my first walkabout in Lichfield, and on the way into the city from Trent Valley I had a change of plan come to mind. With that now set, my relaxed tour of the city turned into a bit of a mission. It had to simply be an introduction to the city, but it’s quite a nice one from what I saw, so I will be happy to return at some point soon. The cathedral in Lichfield is certainly a beautiful piece of architecture too, it needed more of a study than I gave it, but again I’ll go back on a warmer day. There had been a desire to go for a full-on walking expedition, but that biting cold wind had changed that plan and fast in the morning!
Back at Trent Valley station then, I’d positioned myself for a pair of 350s to Stafford and hoping XC would be running a few minutes late as is so often the case. Sadly no, it was on time and my train was 2 minutes late, but it was a +0 anyway so always unlikely to make! I had another 350 a few minutes later to Stoke-on-Trent instead, and once there I had a bit of an explore. That nearly got cancelled seconds into it when the wind blew something fierce! An additional fare later, I was on my first refurbished 390 in Standard Class, and I’d tried the new First Class in November 2022. I have to say, I liked the refurb, the seat was a little firm but I could easily do London to Glasgow on that. I was off to Macclesfield for Route 58 with High Peak, and I had arrived into some glorious sunshine. Compared to the rancid overcast and windy weather I’d left behind in the Midlands, this was absolutely stunning and I was gutted I hadn’t got there sooner. After a much desired coffee from The Hope Centre, I was soon on an Optare Solo to Buxton. I had expected a scenic journey, given the part of the world I was in, and once out of Macclesfield I was in for a treat.
It’s a long climb up the A road we took from Macclesfield, but wow what a beautiful journey that was! I had to try and keep my jaw closed, I was blown away by the scenery, this was better than expected! It is a bit barren in places, but the views all around were brilliant. There’s a lot of curves around them all on the A road, and while it would take some serious effort to get up the climb out of Macclesfield, it would be a cycle ride to remember for all time. By some measure, this was my favourite bus journey in a very long time, it’s a route I’d highly recommend to everyone. Of course, after a while we crossed into Derbyshire and down the hills we went. The difference in road surface quality from one county to another was very significant, and yes I made sure to note that for the potential cycle ride. That and to ensure I had good quality brakes ahead of the trip!
Once in Buxton, I was lucky that the TransPeak bus was running late or I’d have missed it. It looked like a nice town, I’d have to return one day to see it properly. I also noted the Skyline Route 199 (Buxton to Manchester Airport) bus was a quality vehicle, and yes it was on my list to do as well. I got one of the last seats on the TransPeak bus, that route to Derby had been on my list to do for many years. How many? Well, I’m pretty sure Midland Mainline were still around at the time, and that 175s had not started on the Cardiff to Manchester route yet, and I cannot believe it took me this long to get it done. To be fair though, there’s been many different priorities over the years! So the bus, was it worth the effort and chucking out all my plans for the WMDR? Well yes, it was a beautiful journey although I was fresh off the Route 58 bus which I had enjoyed so much more. Of course, all the way along I was making notes for future cycling adventures, as well as walking adventures. This is how things often go with my wishlist, as soon as I take something off my list, multiple things get added to it. They will all be discussed as the year goes on, I’m investing a lot of time in exploring the UK currently. Following the visit to the USA, I have such a fondness for the UK again, the appreciation of the beauty the UK offers is absolutely back and the USA is right at the back of the list. Put it this way, it’s more likely I’ll visit Santorini before I return to the USA!
Places like Bakewell and Matlock looked nice and well worth exploring, and I was wondering how I’d fit it all in. For that matter, I’ve not forgot I have a big event coming up in the autumn of 2023, and that I haven’t even planned that yet. As I alluded to earlier, it’s been a crazy month, so much so I’ve had to fit in some events before work on some days. A good example of that was a 3 hour continuous power-walk session not too long ago, in 3 hours I smashed 15.47 miles during what turned out to be rather warm weather! I got that done and devoured a meal before work began 2 hours after I finished that, and of course this was not a one-off, this sort of madness happened a lot. Another good example was on 29th April, but we’re not quite there yet!
Anyway, I eventually arrived in Derby with a rather urgent need, but I still managed to clear a few coverage gaps in Derby first. After a quiet pair of Voyagers to Birmingham New Street, I managed a quick spin on 323221 to Aston for a quick photo of modest quality. It must be said, it looks amazing and the nostalgia was pretty epic. Now all we need is a Central Trains liveried 170 and an HST in FGW pink and purple, or even the ‘fag packet’ livery, and I’d be swimming in nostalgia! The cold wind was seriously not welcome, and once back in Birmingham I ended up in Greggs. I don’t particularly like putting in their business these days, but now and again I end up doing so in desperation. Downstairs, I took advantage of the recent move to start using a peak time diagram with 196s, and the principal reason for getting to Macclesfield and making that connection in Buxton. Once the doors were finally opened, I joined double winners 196005+196006 on the 2000 to Worcester Shrub Hill, my first of the 196/0s and yes I was still liking them! I had a good bit of time in Worcester before joining GWR to Hereford, so I had a small session of new walking coverage and mileage building. I’d have done more, but the decay was doing its thing!
2 days later, 21st April, I was back on my travels and using the £2 bus fare cap scheme to Gloucester. A plumber who’d been out making a mess of the kitchen the day before had returned, at 0730 and woke me up. I wasn’t impressed, and he was a silly soul who’d used my protein shaker to catch water out of the tap. The bits in the shaker when I got in were of unknown origin, and of all the things he could have used he chose my shaker. Absolute genius! I wasn’t willing to put up with him getting in my way while making coffee and breakfast, so I hurried up and got ready and headed out for coffee. On the way, I chose to head to Gloucester for a meal and some walking. As you do, and this was of course all before work in the evening! The day after, it was another pre-work OS map coverage session but much more local. Still close to 10 miles, but it cleared some big gaps and progressed my cross-Herefordshire walking coverage mission quite a bit. That one is currently being confirmed with where it’ll go, but I’ll figure it out eventually!
The next day, 23rd April, was a day off on a Sunday and I had so many ideas with what to do with it. I’m just glad my list of things to do isn’t as long as Kite159’s list is! With things all worked out as the day went on, I followed impulse and jumped on 175004 to Shrewsbury as a minimum. By the time I got there, I had observed some ominous looking clouds, so diverted the plan away from doing the Cambrian Coast after all as said plan meant a +45 or so in Shrewsbury. Instead, I booked travel north and alighted in Wilmslow. There was what looked like a dual-athlon going on in Wilmslow that day, and no I wasn’t in any way jealous of the fitness levels of the participants! No, not even a microgram of jealousy was inside me, and of course there’s a whole ton of sarcasm there. Mind you, it helped drive me to pick up the pace near the end when I had slowed down during the coffee drinking. I absolutely don’t recommend the coffee in Co-Op, it’s not good stuff in my opinion and I’ll be avoiding it from now on.
319384 was a pleasure to travel on to Manchester Airport, and I had around 50 minutes here. I’d looked at using Metrolink for a thriller filler, but I saw a replacement bus and changed my plan. Instead, I got on with some new walking coverage, I’ve never walked in that area before so it was all new to me. When I saw signs for Wythenshawe Town Centre, I checked and yes I was reasonably sure I could do it and source lunch before the walk back. It took longer than I planned in Asda, so I had to really ‘drop the hammer’ on the way back. I’d not realised how close Wythenshawe is to Manchester Airport until then, and my plan to follow the tram tracks back to the airport had to be dropped. I followed the signs for The Black Path, a shared-use route from Wythenshawe to Manchester Airport. It was a nice way to go, it must be noted, although it could do with better signage at the airport end, especially by the multi-storey car parks. I made it with a few minutes to spare, and it was onto Skyline Route 199 to Buxton to tick off that route.
It’s not very exciting to Stockport, just along the M56 and M60, and one day I will actually get a photo of the impressive railway viaduct in Stockport. The route is a bit slow all the way really, going via Stepping Hill Hospital, Hazel Grove, Furness Vale, Chapel-en-le-Frith and Dove Holes. A lot of the route is along the A6, and I noted how much walking could be done. A lot of cycling notes were made too, and yes Manchester to Buxton by cycle is on the cards! It was on foot too, in one big walking session, but I’ve now dialled that back somewhat. Once I finally arrived in Buxton, I was soon loading up Strava to get some walking coverage done. I also wanted a coffee, with the aim to be a full-on explore before the bus at 1710 back to Manchester Airport. Kite159 alerted me to the presence of last minute Northern Advance fares to Manchester, and I was tempted as these were just £5. Soon after I got to Buxton, there was a hail shower! I dived into The Chakira Lounge and loved how much cake was vegan friendly. I would have to leave those for another day, as tempting as they were. The service was friendly, and I’ll be back there in the future. There was another vegan-friendly place a few doors away too, something told me I’ll enjoy a multi-day tour here! Yes, very much on the cards but just a case of when!
With a good coffee in my hand, and the weather cleared up, I booked a £5 Advance from Dove Holes. I’d not previously visited the station, and I knew the walk was going to be pretty easy having not long been through there. The hill out of the town up to the A6 was easier than expected on foot, and if I’d gone straight to the station and no further I’d have had less fun and too long to wait. In the end, with around 35 minutes to spare, I carried on walking through the village and just before the roundabout, I joined a lane going up and up the hills. There were some gorgeous views up there, 100% worth the effort and of course it helped to put some strength into the legs. Of course, I got to have some speed down the hills into the village as well, which also meant some effort put into the legs to regulate the pace. 150111+150125 took me away from the village which felt like it would have been at home in the Cardiff Valleys, and of course mobile signal in this part of the world is awful. It was quite some time before Strava sorted itself and the signal out, I wasn’t willing to lose around 7 miles of valuable data and it looked like that would happen for a while!
In Manchester, after a slow but punctual journey into my favourite city in the North West which I’d have liked more time in, I had just enough time to go to Vegan Shack and grab some of their amazing seasoned fries. I was famished, the food devoured on the bus from Manchester Airport did not last long. I’d been genned up that the 1830 out of Piccadilly was to be formed of a pair of 153s. I was without my cycle, so I was not so much concerned about space on board this time. Sure enough, Kite159 had the correct gen, and I joined 153361+153906 all the way to Hereford. It was actually a decent journey, and this ticked off an item on my to-do list as well. For longer than I cared to remember, I’d been wanting a 153 between Manchester and Crewe. I did a 153 between Crewe and Chester many years ago, way back in spring 2004, so I wasn’t fussed about doing that bit again, but this bit was a weird curiosity. That was ticked off, and I arrived in Hereford near enough on time if memory serves. Maybe a couple of minutes out, but overall not too bad.
Only 3 days later, 26th April, I was back on the rails. I’m sure you can see why April’s been a very expensive month! All day the day before, I’d got obsessed with visiting Pwllheli and the Cambrian Coast. I’d changed my mind on break at work, but had a brainwave around 11pm. Yes, I could split it at Shrewsbury and save money. If I’d realised TfW had had a sale on, I’d have booked with them and not in the GWR app, but ho-hum, never mind and all that jazz. With that all done, I had got to sleep around 1am and had to be up at 4am. 0415 and I was out of bed, and it was a bit of a farce trying to get ready in a hurry. I’d finally set off, then had to race back and pick up my helmet. I hadn’t been out on two wheels all that much, due to the weather, in April so I guess it was easy to forget it in a sleep-deprived state. Thankfully I got it and made it with time to spare before the 0547 out of Hereford. I could have done the 0625, but that meant a +6 and I wasn’t willing to risk that.
So it was I took 153367+153968 to Shrewsbury, and the coffee I’d made for the journey barely touched the sides. This was going to be a long and difficult day! In Shrewsbury, I took advantage of the opportunity to do a spot of walking coverage and visit Tesco Express. I was going to get coffee too, but I was too short on time for that. Thankfully I got one from the trolley on 158821, she was much more pleasant than the guy on the one from Hereford. It’s not much good waiting until after Craven Arms to go through the train and just standing in the vestibule all that time! The journey to Machynlleth went by pretty quickly, and to my surprise it wasn’t all that busy. That said, it was a Wednesday morning during school terms, so a good choice of day to do it I suppose! I changed in Machynlleth for 158820 all the way to Pwllheli, and this one had no catering all the way. It was busier after Barmouth, a fair amount of turnover of passengers at various places, lots of people making the most of the rare good weather in April. Considering it was supposed to be spring, much of the month felt like winter!
Eventually, the long and slow journey was over and I arrived bang on time. First port of call, Buffers Cafe on the station for what turned out to be a surprisingly good coffee for £2.50. My poor Blue Beauty was having issues, and I called time on that ride sharpish. Llyn Cycle Centre was close by, and he filled both tyres with some much needed air. It was fine 2 weeks prior, but had lost a lot of air somehow just by sitting in the room. Weird! I bought a portable pump while there, and I was very grateful for his help in getting me back on the road. It was now time for a full-power ‘drop the hammer’ session once I got out of Pwllheli, and I followed the A497 eastwards. By the time I reached Criccieth, the body was screaming about the lack of sufficient nutrition. So when I pulled over with a beautiful view of the seafront, I smelt chips. £4.70 later, I had a £2 Rijo coffee and a £2.70 portion of freshly cooked chips. They smelt and tasted amazing, the portion size was not very generous but they were well received. Castle Fish & Chips got my thumbs up for sure! Before I carried on, I wanted a look at the castle.
On Wednesdays, it was currently closed which was a shame. I had a good walkabout in the town, which I liked quite a bit. It’s a small town, but definitely a good place to stop off at. At the RNLI shop, which I never like going past without going in and buying something, I came away with a plastic 3 in 1 spoon, knife and fork. Pretty ideal that for my travels, and would save me using those wooden spoons etc. I don’t like eating yoghurt off one of those, they leave a weird taste in my mouth afterwards, so this was worth £2.50. I was soon back on the move, then there was some drama! On the way out of Criccieth, I heard something that sounded like plastic hitting the road. I was fearing the worst, my adventure was over, that kind of thought. I discovered I’d not zipped up the pocket on my Good Move jersey where my cards and tickets were! Thankfully the plastics were soon recovered, my tickets took longer but thankfully they were found soon enough. Mercifully, the important parts were all found and I’d only lost a couple of reservation coupons. With that all sorted, it was back up the A497 and it was a more hilly sector to Porthmadog than I’d expected. Once I got there, and stopped for a Maps check just before The Cob, I realised I was next to the narrow gauge trains. I still haven’t done those, one day I might actually do so. Onwards and upwards in gorgeous weather, and I was in my winter cycling gear. That wasn’t much fun, but it was mighty cold when I left Hereford, and the temperatures were not meant to have reached the height they did! Soon enough, with no real plan on where I was going to turn around, I found myself next to Penrhyndeudraeth. £6.60 would get me a single to Penychain, another station I hadn’t yet done.
158835 arrived and took me west, I had some exploring to do in Pwllheli and some more cycling to do first out of Penychain. I was there in no time, and I took on a B road through places I can’t pronounce or spell correctly! Soon enough, I joined the A road to Pwllheli and got some serious speed going on near the end, that gradient was pretty steep so I’m glad I didn’t do that road north to that big town beginning with C that I can’t ever remember how to spell! At Asda in Pwllheli, I got some supplies and the Lucozade Sport Orange barely touched the sides on its way down the throat. I hadn’t realised how thirsty I was! Before too long, I found a spot further into the town to lock up and explore, following a ride up a suburban road going up a hill with many speed bumps. Oh I was glad I’d gone east and not west out of Pwllheli earlier on!
To be honest, I didn’t think much of Pwllheli. It’s got some of the essential stuff for a town, and it felt less run-down than a lot of places I’ve been to, but I’ve no interest in returning. One day I will on a 197, but I won’t be going for the town, there’s a whole ton of walking and cycling to do up in that general part of the world yet. So basically a case of get off the train, visit Buffers and get out of the place again! I had tons of time to fill as it turned out before boarding the train, which wasn’t too busy. That surprised me a bit as this was the 1742, I expected more passengers, but I wasn’t complaining. With the time I had, I went elsewhere to buy coffee and went to drink it by the marina. As I put the cup down, I somehow knocked the cup over and I lost 95% of the coffee. I was disappointed, gutted, ready to scream at that point. Still, I gave up on the idea of caffeine and got on 158820 to settle in and devour a whole load of food.
On the way back south, I sat on the land side to see the views on that side, having done the coast side on the way up. The coastal side was better, as perhaps expected, but I still enjoyed the views. It felt like a long journey, but eventually I arrived in Machynlleth where there was a change of 158 again. That was disappointing as I had multiple smokers on 158828 forward to Shrewsbury. Not just smelling of it but actively smoking in the carriages. Along with her drinking a Fosters through a straw, and trying to cover the smell with some sort of spray, the one in my coach I both wanted to smack the living daylights out of but also I felt sorry for her. Whatever has got her in that state of mind, I’ll never know, but I hope she finds her way out of that hole.
Even so, it was good to get off that train and into the fresh air at Shrewsbury! There was just enough for a quick walkabout and another visit to Tesco Express, this time for a banana and KitKat Vegan (highly recommended by the way), before what turned out to be 150245 back to Hereford. 15 minutes late into Hereford at 2308 was not welcome, and I must apply for my Delay Repay soon. A little after midnight, I was in bed and fast asleep, not properly getting up for nearly 12 hours!
The final main entry here will be 29th April, and can you imagine how long this would be if I discussed all of my walking and cycling adventures? This day was the first day of 196s to Hereford, and I’d wanted to be on the 0639 but I was way too tired. I settled for the 1039, and I took winner 196004 and dud 196006 to Worcester Foregate Street. I’d struggled to justify the £12.10 day return to Bromsgrove, but when I’d looked at my Sustrans map I realised I could tick off the ride from Worcester to Bromsgrove from my cycling wishlist at long last. So it was to be, and it was a challenging ride up the A38. In short, I’ll simply say it is absolutely not recommended. The fools on the road, it just defied belief. I’ve never had anyone drive that close to my handlebars before, how her wing mirror didn’t knock my bars sideways I have no idea! A bus driver on route 144 wasn’t too much better further on, and the idiotic woman on a video call while supposedly ‘driving’ certainly made me angry! To say I was glad to lock the Blue Beauty in Bromsgrove’s town centre is an understatement! It was a challenging ride, and sure helped with my mission to get more serious with my cycling, but good grief what a way to spend time before work! I made it in time to join 196006+196004 back to Hereford, after which it was a case of getting lunch ASAP then off to work!
That has taken a LOT longer to type up than I expected, I must say. Finally, you’ll recall I said I wanted to clear 231km of walking in April 2023, well I not only beat it, I absolutely demolished and conquered it! Due to stopping to type this up, without such a task I’d have gone for more miles, I finished April 2023 on a massive 372km of outdoor walking! This doesn’t include anything on stations, at airports etc and absolutely does not include my work miles. Otherwise I’d have done so much more! 372km is probably never going to be beaten though, I’m very happy with that distance! 368km of cycling got done in the end, not as much as I’d have liked but also not too bad considering the weather.
According to Strava, the walking challenge worked out at 231.4 miles, with 6,768 feet of elevation gain, a moving time of 47h33m41s and an elapsed time of 51h44m25s. The cycling challenge (200km) saw me do 229.1 miles, with 9,623 feet of elevation gain, a moving time of 15h01m25s and elapsed time of 17h26m27s. I’m pretty pleased with both of those, I must say! Tons of new coverage across the board as well, even better!
On the railway, I haven’t got a mileage count but it will be a lot. 19 winners, a lot of new sights too and I’m counting the Pwllheli line as new coverage given I have no memory of it. I was apparently a very small child when I went, so that would explain the no memory thing. I’ve changed that now, so happy days, it was a big item on my to-do list!
So in general, it’s been a belter of a month. I’ve been doing fairly well with my physical health improvements, work’s getting me down a lot at the moment so that needs sorting. A new month is about to begin though, so with everything else going on it could be a good month! It’ll be a cheap month, given how much I spent in April, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I’m definitely looking forward to the next adventure though!
Well what can I say? That was an absolutely crazy month, so much so I haven’t had time to do trip reports. This review/look-back will have to do, and I’m only getting this started in the evening of 30th April 2023 while I wait for food to cook. So what have I been up to? Let’s begin!
The month started fantastically on 1st April with a trip to Manchester on a 67-hauled MK4 trip, hauled by 67014. I had got a former Grand Central MK4 set, so took advantage of a Weekend First upgrade. This trip was costing me a fortune, but it was 100% worth it already as I had been wanting to do First Class to Manchester for years. I’d done First Class south of Hereford on a diverted HST many years ago, and between Crewe and Manchester Piccadilly via Styal on a Summer Saturday HST in the late 2000s. I had wanted a 67 north of Shrewsbury for many years too, it’s just never quite worked somehow. So despite the extreme levels of speed that money was disappearing on fares, I was loving the trip. I ended up scoring a number of 331s, some in combination with some high-speed walking and getting a top 5 finish on a segment in Salford. I took it on again later and shaved off a lot of time but just couldn’t beat 5th place somehow, much to my frustration.
I added a couple of 195s to the mix too, as well as some walking coverage of Manchester, during the day and had to hold my jaw closed when walking past the Pinarello cycle shop. There was some incredibly beautiful machines in there, and I wanted to go in and admire them but I had a mission on my hands! Later the same day I finally had my first Class 197, with 197015 from Manchester Oxford Road to Manchester Airport. I like them, they’re surprisingly comfortable for new trains and I’m looking forward to trying them out on my local turf before too long!
I made my way over to the 1630 Manchester Piccadilly to Swansea later on, and I had been going to take 67020 all the way back to Hereford. I had an ex-LNER MK4 set this time, and while the noise of the 67 was fantastic to hear I got fed up of the noisy fools further up the coach. I saw an option to bail out and go surprise my little sister, but also go after my first Class 777 first. I’d seen news of 2 of them out of the planned 3 were out, so bailed at Crewe and took a 390 to Liverpool. I had a 507 to Kirkby, and figured my luck just had to be in on the way back, surely? Well no, the next service was a 50x, so I continued a walkabout in Kirkby before the next train. Aha, finally, a 777! 777008 was the first of the class, and wow I did not like those seats. The PIS was not working properly either, and quite honestly I was not blown away like I was with the 197s. A real big disappointment, and I took a 390 back to Crewe for a 350 to Winsford due to the way the times worked out. I probably should have stayed on the MK4s to Hereford, but reflecting on that decision I think it works out well, as I got to see how rubbish the 777s are and have therefore saved a lot of money on expensive trips to Merseyside. The money still got spent on fares, but on trips much more worthwhile. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though, April may only have been 30 days but there’s a lot to discuss yet!
3rd April was simply a case of getting back to Hereford, with plenty of delays, after a day of doing very little in Winsford on the 2nd. 5th April I was off again, this time to foreign territory. I refer of course to the East Midlands! I’d seen on RTT that all 3 of my last 222s were out, and they were certainly doable. An expensive day out, but to finally clear the 222s almost 19 years after getting my first one? Well it would be good to do, and I figured I’d not have to go back to the East Midlands again for a while so it would be all good. I was very wrong on that, but again I’m jumping the gun! The weather being unsuitable for cycling for most of April, I’d been determined early in the month to beat my record for distance set in March 2023. That walking record was 231km, and I honestly thought I’d struggle with that, that I’d have to settle for just 1km over the record. Wait and see how I did! All 3 222s were achieved, along with some exploring in Sheffield and, if memory serves, a Strava walking record on a segment in Derby! I even got a winner tram in Sheffield, and I’m led to believe number 105 is out of action at the moment, which is my last of the Duewag (I think) trams in Sheffield to get. I still haven’t checked that, but my source is usually rock solid with this sort of thing.
There were no trains or even buses for 11 days after that, there had been an enormous focus on walking. Of course, this isn’t just a stroll down the road kind of walking, when it comes to me and walking it’s full-power, high-speed, arms-swinging walking. Without going into too much detail, my OS maps got a lot of highlighting in April 2023! A huge focus was on physical and mental health, partly driven by a chance encounter on a pre-work cycle ride while working on the 200km cycling challenge on Strava early in the month. Anyway, 16th April saw me back on the rails and this was for a positioning journey from Hopton Heath to Hereford, following an epic cycling coverage mission. The Blue Beauty really got filthy on that ride, some rather filthy roads in places but a lot of Herefordshire covered, which helped progress my lifetime goal of cycling all of Herefordshire’s roads. That is an incredibly big achievement to be unlocked, and I’m still a long way from done but I’m getting there slowly. Having had a short ride on a 150 from Hopton Heath to Craven Arms, I was initially disappointed to have a 150 to Hereford but it had a 158 on the back. That’s where I went straight away!
17th April, I had a big walking mission and took a bus for 4 miles. £4.10, what a rip off! It’s fair to say that, like with the 777s, I was outraged at the rip-off but it has steered me to avoid Lugg Valley Travel’s buses since then. Two days later, on 19th April, it was back on the rails to tick off something on my to-do list. This was a journey in one go from Bromsgrove to Lichfield Trent Valley on a 323. The easiest way to do this was a West Midlands Day Ranger, which at £32 is not cheap but there’s so much that can be done on one it’s definitely worth the money if it’s a full day out. On the way north, I saw the Centro-liveried 323, 323221, and I was determined to go and get that later. With the times known, I set off on my first walkabout in Lichfield, and on the way into the city from Trent Valley I had a change of plan come to mind. With that now set, my relaxed tour of the city turned into a bit of a mission. It had to simply be an introduction to the city, but it’s quite a nice one from what I saw, so I will be happy to return at some point soon. The cathedral in Lichfield is certainly a beautiful piece of architecture too, it needed more of a study than I gave it, but again I’ll go back on a warmer day. There had been a desire to go for a full-on walking expedition, but that biting cold wind had changed that plan and fast in the morning!
Back at Trent Valley station then, I’d positioned myself for a pair of 350s to Stafford and hoping XC would be running a few minutes late as is so often the case. Sadly no, it was on time and my train was 2 minutes late, but it was a +0 anyway so always unlikely to make! I had another 350 a few minutes later to Stoke-on-Trent instead, and once there I had a bit of an explore. That nearly got cancelled seconds into it when the wind blew something fierce! An additional fare later, I was on my first refurbished 390 in Standard Class, and I’d tried the new First Class in November 2022. I have to say, I liked the refurb, the seat was a little firm but I could easily do London to Glasgow on that. I was off to Macclesfield for Route 58 with High Peak, and I had arrived into some glorious sunshine. Compared to the rancid overcast and windy weather I’d left behind in the Midlands, this was absolutely stunning and I was gutted I hadn’t got there sooner. After a much desired coffee from The Hope Centre, I was soon on an Optare Solo to Buxton. I had expected a scenic journey, given the part of the world I was in, and once out of Macclesfield I was in for a treat.
It’s a long climb up the A road we took from Macclesfield, but wow what a beautiful journey that was! I had to try and keep my jaw closed, I was blown away by the scenery, this was better than expected! It is a bit barren in places, but the views all around were brilliant. There’s a lot of curves around them all on the A road, and while it would take some serious effort to get up the climb out of Macclesfield, it would be a cycle ride to remember for all time. By some measure, this was my favourite bus journey in a very long time, it’s a route I’d highly recommend to everyone. Of course, after a while we crossed into Derbyshire and down the hills we went. The difference in road surface quality from one county to another was very significant, and yes I made sure to note that for the potential cycle ride. That and to ensure I had good quality brakes ahead of the trip!
Once in Buxton, I was lucky that the TransPeak bus was running late or I’d have missed it. It looked like a nice town, I’d have to return one day to see it properly. I also noted the Skyline Route 199 (Buxton to Manchester Airport) bus was a quality vehicle, and yes it was on my list to do as well. I got one of the last seats on the TransPeak bus, that route to Derby had been on my list to do for many years. How many? Well, I’m pretty sure Midland Mainline were still around at the time, and that 175s had not started on the Cardiff to Manchester route yet, and I cannot believe it took me this long to get it done. To be fair though, there’s been many different priorities over the years! So the bus, was it worth the effort and chucking out all my plans for the WMDR? Well yes, it was a beautiful journey although I was fresh off the Route 58 bus which I had enjoyed so much more. Of course, all the way along I was making notes for future cycling adventures, as well as walking adventures. This is how things often go with my wishlist, as soon as I take something off my list, multiple things get added to it. They will all be discussed as the year goes on, I’m investing a lot of time in exploring the UK currently. Following the visit to the USA, I have such a fondness for the UK again, the appreciation of the beauty the UK offers is absolutely back and the USA is right at the back of the list. Put it this way, it’s more likely I’ll visit Santorini before I return to the USA!
Places like Bakewell and Matlock looked nice and well worth exploring, and I was wondering how I’d fit it all in. For that matter, I’ve not forgot I have a big event coming up in the autumn of 2023, and that I haven’t even planned that yet. As I alluded to earlier, it’s been a crazy month, so much so I’ve had to fit in some events before work on some days. A good example of that was a 3 hour continuous power-walk session not too long ago, in 3 hours I smashed 15.47 miles during what turned out to be rather warm weather! I got that done and devoured a meal before work began 2 hours after I finished that, and of course this was not a one-off, this sort of madness happened a lot. Another good example was on 29th April, but we’re not quite there yet!
Anyway, I eventually arrived in Derby with a rather urgent need, but I still managed to clear a few coverage gaps in Derby first. After a quiet pair of Voyagers to Birmingham New Street, I managed a quick spin on 323221 to Aston for a quick photo of modest quality. It must be said, it looks amazing and the nostalgia was pretty epic. Now all we need is a Central Trains liveried 170 and an HST in FGW pink and purple, or even the ‘fag packet’ livery, and I’d be swimming in nostalgia! The cold wind was seriously not welcome, and once back in Birmingham I ended up in Greggs. I don’t particularly like putting in their business these days, but now and again I end up doing so in desperation. Downstairs, I took advantage of the recent move to start using a peak time diagram with 196s, and the principal reason for getting to Macclesfield and making that connection in Buxton. Once the doors were finally opened, I joined double winners 196005+196006 on the 2000 to Worcester Shrub Hill, my first of the 196/0s and yes I was still liking them! I had a good bit of time in Worcester before joining GWR to Hereford, so I had a small session of new walking coverage and mileage building. I’d have done more, but the decay was doing its thing!
2 days later, 21st April, I was back on my travels and using the £2 bus fare cap scheme to Gloucester. A plumber who’d been out making a mess of the kitchen the day before had returned, at 0730 and woke me up. I wasn’t impressed, and he was a silly soul who’d used my protein shaker to catch water out of the tap. The bits in the shaker when I got in were of unknown origin, and of all the things he could have used he chose my shaker. Absolute genius! I wasn’t willing to put up with him getting in my way while making coffee and breakfast, so I hurried up and got ready and headed out for coffee. On the way, I chose to head to Gloucester for a meal and some walking. As you do, and this was of course all before work in the evening! The day after, it was another pre-work OS map coverage session but much more local. Still close to 10 miles, but it cleared some big gaps and progressed my cross-Herefordshire walking coverage mission quite a bit. That one is currently being confirmed with where it’ll go, but I’ll figure it out eventually!
The next day, 23rd April, was a day off on a Sunday and I had so many ideas with what to do with it. I’m just glad my list of things to do isn’t as long as Kite159’s list is! With things all worked out as the day went on, I followed impulse and jumped on 175004 to Shrewsbury as a minimum. By the time I got there, I had observed some ominous looking clouds, so diverted the plan away from doing the Cambrian Coast after all as said plan meant a +45 or so in Shrewsbury. Instead, I booked travel north and alighted in Wilmslow. There was what looked like a dual-athlon going on in Wilmslow that day, and no I wasn’t in any way jealous of the fitness levels of the participants! No, not even a microgram of jealousy was inside me, and of course there’s a whole ton of sarcasm there. Mind you, it helped drive me to pick up the pace near the end when I had slowed down during the coffee drinking. I absolutely don’t recommend the coffee in Co-Op, it’s not good stuff in my opinion and I’ll be avoiding it from now on.
319384 was a pleasure to travel on to Manchester Airport, and I had around 50 minutes here. I’d looked at using Metrolink for a thriller filler, but I saw a replacement bus and changed my plan. Instead, I got on with some new walking coverage, I’ve never walked in that area before so it was all new to me. When I saw signs for Wythenshawe Town Centre, I checked and yes I was reasonably sure I could do it and source lunch before the walk back. It took longer than I planned in Asda, so I had to really ‘drop the hammer’ on the way back. I’d not realised how close Wythenshawe is to Manchester Airport until then, and my plan to follow the tram tracks back to the airport had to be dropped. I followed the signs for The Black Path, a shared-use route from Wythenshawe to Manchester Airport. It was a nice way to go, it must be noted, although it could do with better signage at the airport end, especially by the multi-storey car parks. I made it with a few minutes to spare, and it was onto Skyline Route 199 to Buxton to tick off that route.
It’s not very exciting to Stockport, just along the M56 and M60, and one day I will actually get a photo of the impressive railway viaduct in Stockport. The route is a bit slow all the way really, going via Stepping Hill Hospital, Hazel Grove, Furness Vale, Chapel-en-le-Frith and Dove Holes. A lot of the route is along the A6, and I noted how much walking could be done. A lot of cycling notes were made too, and yes Manchester to Buxton by cycle is on the cards! It was on foot too, in one big walking session, but I’ve now dialled that back somewhat. Once I finally arrived in Buxton, I was soon loading up Strava to get some walking coverage done. I also wanted a coffee, with the aim to be a full-on explore before the bus at 1710 back to Manchester Airport. Kite159 alerted me to the presence of last minute Northern Advance fares to Manchester, and I was tempted as these were just £5. Soon after I got to Buxton, there was a hail shower! I dived into The Chakira Lounge and loved how much cake was vegan friendly. I would have to leave those for another day, as tempting as they were. The service was friendly, and I’ll be back there in the future. There was another vegan-friendly place a few doors away too, something told me I’ll enjoy a multi-day tour here! Yes, very much on the cards but just a case of when!
With a good coffee in my hand, and the weather cleared up, I booked a £5 Advance from Dove Holes. I’d not previously visited the station, and I knew the walk was going to be pretty easy having not long been through there. The hill out of the town up to the A6 was easier than expected on foot, and if I’d gone straight to the station and no further I’d have had less fun and too long to wait. In the end, with around 35 minutes to spare, I carried on walking through the village and just before the roundabout, I joined a lane going up and up the hills. There were some gorgeous views up there, 100% worth the effort and of course it helped to put some strength into the legs. Of course, I got to have some speed down the hills into the village as well, which also meant some effort put into the legs to regulate the pace. 150111+150125 took me away from the village which felt like it would have been at home in the Cardiff Valleys, and of course mobile signal in this part of the world is awful. It was quite some time before Strava sorted itself and the signal out, I wasn’t willing to lose around 7 miles of valuable data and it looked like that would happen for a while!
In Manchester, after a slow but punctual journey into my favourite city in the North West which I’d have liked more time in, I had just enough time to go to Vegan Shack and grab some of their amazing seasoned fries. I was famished, the food devoured on the bus from Manchester Airport did not last long. I’d been genned up that the 1830 out of Piccadilly was to be formed of a pair of 153s. I was without my cycle, so I was not so much concerned about space on board this time. Sure enough, Kite159 had the correct gen, and I joined 153361+153906 all the way to Hereford. It was actually a decent journey, and this ticked off an item on my to-do list as well. For longer than I cared to remember, I’d been wanting a 153 between Manchester and Crewe. I did a 153 between Crewe and Chester many years ago, way back in spring 2004, so I wasn’t fussed about doing that bit again, but this bit was a weird curiosity. That was ticked off, and I arrived in Hereford near enough on time if memory serves. Maybe a couple of minutes out, but overall not too bad.
Only 3 days later, 26th April, I was back on the rails. I’m sure you can see why April’s been a very expensive month! All day the day before, I’d got obsessed with visiting Pwllheli and the Cambrian Coast. I’d changed my mind on break at work, but had a brainwave around 11pm. Yes, I could split it at Shrewsbury and save money. If I’d realised TfW had had a sale on, I’d have booked with them and not in the GWR app, but ho-hum, never mind and all that jazz. With that all done, I had got to sleep around 1am and had to be up at 4am. 0415 and I was out of bed, and it was a bit of a farce trying to get ready in a hurry. I’d finally set off, then had to race back and pick up my helmet. I hadn’t been out on two wheels all that much, due to the weather, in April so I guess it was easy to forget it in a sleep-deprived state. Thankfully I got it and made it with time to spare before the 0547 out of Hereford. I could have done the 0625, but that meant a +6 and I wasn’t willing to risk that.
So it was I took 153367+153968 to Shrewsbury, and the coffee I’d made for the journey barely touched the sides. This was going to be a long and difficult day! In Shrewsbury, I took advantage of the opportunity to do a spot of walking coverage and visit Tesco Express. I was going to get coffee too, but I was too short on time for that. Thankfully I got one from the trolley on 158821, she was much more pleasant than the guy on the one from Hereford. It’s not much good waiting until after Craven Arms to go through the train and just standing in the vestibule all that time! The journey to Machynlleth went by pretty quickly, and to my surprise it wasn’t all that busy. That said, it was a Wednesday morning during school terms, so a good choice of day to do it I suppose! I changed in Machynlleth for 158820 all the way to Pwllheli, and this one had no catering all the way. It was busier after Barmouth, a fair amount of turnover of passengers at various places, lots of people making the most of the rare good weather in April. Considering it was supposed to be spring, much of the month felt like winter!
Eventually, the long and slow journey was over and I arrived bang on time. First port of call, Buffers Cafe on the station for what turned out to be a surprisingly good coffee for £2.50. My poor Blue Beauty was having issues, and I called time on that ride sharpish. Llyn Cycle Centre was close by, and he filled both tyres with some much needed air. It was fine 2 weeks prior, but had lost a lot of air somehow just by sitting in the room. Weird! I bought a portable pump while there, and I was very grateful for his help in getting me back on the road. It was now time for a full-power ‘drop the hammer’ session once I got out of Pwllheli, and I followed the A497 eastwards. By the time I reached Criccieth, the body was screaming about the lack of sufficient nutrition. So when I pulled over with a beautiful view of the seafront, I smelt chips. £4.70 later, I had a £2 Rijo coffee and a £2.70 portion of freshly cooked chips. They smelt and tasted amazing, the portion size was not very generous but they were well received. Castle Fish & Chips got my thumbs up for sure! Before I carried on, I wanted a look at the castle.
On Wednesdays, it was currently closed which was a shame. I had a good walkabout in the town, which I liked quite a bit. It’s a small town, but definitely a good place to stop off at. At the RNLI shop, which I never like going past without going in and buying something, I came away with a plastic 3 in 1 spoon, knife and fork. Pretty ideal that for my travels, and would save me using those wooden spoons etc. I don’t like eating yoghurt off one of those, they leave a weird taste in my mouth afterwards, so this was worth £2.50. I was soon back on the move, then there was some drama! On the way out of Criccieth, I heard something that sounded like plastic hitting the road. I was fearing the worst, my adventure was over, that kind of thought. I discovered I’d not zipped up the pocket on my Good Move jersey where my cards and tickets were! Thankfully the plastics were soon recovered, my tickets took longer but thankfully they were found soon enough. Mercifully, the important parts were all found and I’d only lost a couple of reservation coupons. With that all sorted, it was back up the A497 and it was a more hilly sector to Porthmadog than I’d expected. Once I got there, and stopped for a Maps check just before The Cob, I realised I was next to the narrow gauge trains. I still haven’t done those, one day I might actually do so. Onwards and upwards in gorgeous weather, and I was in my winter cycling gear. That wasn’t much fun, but it was mighty cold when I left Hereford, and the temperatures were not meant to have reached the height they did! Soon enough, with no real plan on where I was going to turn around, I found myself next to Penrhyndeudraeth. £6.60 would get me a single to Penychain, another station I hadn’t yet done.
158835 arrived and took me west, I had some exploring to do in Pwllheli and some more cycling to do first out of Penychain. I was there in no time, and I took on a B road through places I can’t pronounce or spell correctly! Soon enough, I joined the A road to Pwllheli and got some serious speed going on near the end, that gradient was pretty steep so I’m glad I didn’t do that road north to that big town beginning with C that I can’t ever remember how to spell! At Asda in Pwllheli, I got some supplies and the Lucozade Sport Orange barely touched the sides on its way down the throat. I hadn’t realised how thirsty I was! Before too long, I found a spot further into the town to lock up and explore, following a ride up a suburban road going up a hill with many speed bumps. Oh I was glad I’d gone east and not west out of Pwllheli earlier on!
To be honest, I didn’t think much of Pwllheli. It’s got some of the essential stuff for a town, and it felt less run-down than a lot of places I’ve been to, but I’ve no interest in returning. One day I will on a 197, but I won’t be going for the town, there’s a whole ton of walking and cycling to do up in that general part of the world yet. So basically a case of get off the train, visit Buffers and get out of the place again! I had tons of time to fill as it turned out before boarding the train, which wasn’t too busy. That surprised me a bit as this was the 1742, I expected more passengers, but I wasn’t complaining. With the time I had, I went elsewhere to buy coffee and went to drink it by the marina. As I put the cup down, I somehow knocked the cup over and I lost 95% of the coffee. I was disappointed, gutted, ready to scream at that point. Still, I gave up on the idea of caffeine and got on 158820 to settle in and devour a whole load of food.
On the way back south, I sat on the land side to see the views on that side, having done the coast side on the way up. The coastal side was better, as perhaps expected, but I still enjoyed the views. It felt like a long journey, but eventually I arrived in Machynlleth where there was a change of 158 again. That was disappointing as I had multiple smokers on 158828 forward to Shrewsbury. Not just smelling of it but actively smoking in the carriages. Along with her drinking a Fosters through a straw, and trying to cover the smell with some sort of spray, the one in my coach I both wanted to smack the living daylights out of but also I felt sorry for her. Whatever has got her in that state of mind, I’ll never know, but I hope she finds her way out of that hole.
Even so, it was good to get off that train and into the fresh air at Shrewsbury! There was just enough for a quick walkabout and another visit to Tesco Express, this time for a banana and KitKat Vegan (highly recommended by the way), before what turned out to be 150245 back to Hereford. 15 minutes late into Hereford at 2308 was not welcome, and I must apply for my Delay Repay soon. A little after midnight, I was in bed and fast asleep, not properly getting up for nearly 12 hours!
The final main entry here will be 29th April, and can you imagine how long this would be if I discussed all of my walking and cycling adventures? This day was the first day of 196s to Hereford, and I’d wanted to be on the 0639 but I was way too tired. I settled for the 1039, and I took winner 196004 and dud 196006 to Worcester Foregate Street. I’d struggled to justify the £12.10 day return to Bromsgrove, but when I’d looked at my Sustrans map I realised I could tick off the ride from Worcester to Bromsgrove from my cycling wishlist at long last. So it was to be, and it was a challenging ride up the A38. In short, I’ll simply say it is absolutely not recommended. The fools on the road, it just defied belief. I’ve never had anyone drive that close to my handlebars before, how her wing mirror didn’t knock my bars sideways I have no idea! A bus driver on route 144 wasn’t too much better further on, and the idiotic woman on a video call while supposedly ‘driving’ certainly made me angry! To say I was glad to lock the Blue Beauty in Bromsgrove’s town centre is an understatement! It was a challenging ride, and sure helped with my mission to get more serious with my cycling, but good grief what a way to spend time before work! I made it in time to join 196006+196004 back to Hereford, after which it was a case of getting lunch ASAP then off to work!
That has taken a LOT longer to type up than I expected, I must say. Finally, you’ll recall I said I wanted to clear 231km of walking in April 2023, well I not only beat it, I absolutely demolished and conquered it! Due to stopping to type this up, without such a task I’d have gone for more miles, I finished April 2023 on a massive 372km of outdoor walking! This doesn’t include anything on stations, at airports etc and absolutely does not include my work miles. Otherwise I’d have done so much more! 372km is probably never going to be beaten though, I’m very happy with that distance! 368km of cycling got done in the end, not as much as I’d have liked but also not too bad considering the weather.
According to Strava, the walking challenge worked out at 231.4 miles, with 6,768 feet of elevation gain, a moving time of 47h33m41s and an elapsed time of 51h44m25s. The cycling challenge (200km) saw me do 229.1 miles, with 9,623 feet of elevation gain, a moving time of 15h01m25s and elapsed time of 17h26m27s. I’m pretty pleased with both of those, I must say! Tons of new coverage across the board as well, even better!
On the railway, I haven’t got a mileage count but it will be a lot. 19 winners, a lot of new sights too and I’m counting the Pwllheli line as new coverage given I have no memory of it. I was apparently a very small child when I went, so that would explain the no memory thing. I’ve changed that now, so happy days, it was a big item on my to-do list!
So in general, it’s been a belter of a month. I’ve been doing fairly well with my physical health improvements, work’s getting me down a lot at the moment so that needs sorting. A new month is about to begin though, so with everything else going on it could be a good month! It’ll be a cheap month, given how much I spent in April, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I’m definitely looking forward to the next adventure though!
Kite159
Veteran Member
A busy month!
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Oh yes, an expensive month too but it was definitely worth it. A couple of tight-fisted weeks ahead, but it will all be worth it
Indeed! One of my busiest months for rail travel in a good while, with a lot of variety. I even got a few stations ticked off too, which just doesn't happen normally. There's only one station on my wishlist right now, as it clears all stations between Manchester Piccadilly and Penzance/Milford Haven/Bournemouth and other routes.
It's an easy one to do as well, but it's just never been done. On my next visit to Manchester, I fully intend to change that!
I've even done some bus routes on my list of those to do, although after discovering the 65 between Buxton and Sheffield I've added that to my list. I'd also like to do the 61 from Buxton to Glossop, so I'm sure you can imagine I will be busy in that part of the world before too long. I'm already formulating a plan!
barrowjack
Member
Was exhausted after reading half of your April exploits!
Agree with your comments about Pwllheli. I think it only exists because of the Butlins (Now Haven) at Pen-y-Chain. Went there a number of times when I was young, first in 1984 taking 25265/321 to Machynlleth for a 120 unit up the coast, the next twice behind a pair or 37/4's so much better than the current offering.
Porthmadog is much nicer. Not sure how the narrow gauge operates now and if you still can but if you only wanted a short journey we got the BR train to Minffordd for the Ffestiniog over the cob to Porthmadog. (or it might have been the other way we went!) Also Portmeirion isn't far away from either if you have your bicycle and like that sort of place.
Agree with your comments about Pwllheli. I think it only exists because of the Butlins (Now Haven) at Pen-y-Chain. Went there a number of times when I was young, first in 1984 taking 25265/321 to Machynlleth for a 120 unit up the coast, the next twice behind a pair or 37/4's so much better than the current offering.
Porthmadog is much nicer. Not sure how the narrow gauge operates now and if you still can but if you only wanted a short journey we got the BR train to Minffordd for the Ffestiniog over the cob to Porthmadog. (or it might have been the other way we went!) Also Portmeirion isn't far away from either if you have your bicycle and like that sort of place.
Techniquest
Veteran Member
I did consider Portmeirion, and I was going to branch off for it as I have no memory of it. It sounds like a place I'd find more enjoyable on foot to be honest, but we'll see. I want to do Harlech on foot that's for sure, it looks like it might be a bit challenging on two wheels. The castle there looks amazing, and of course I'd combine it with some more cycling up the coast as well.
The narrow gauge train over the cob for TfW the other way (or the other way around) was a consideration, but I firmly had my cycling head on and wanted to keep exploring. I had considered cycling all the way down to Harlech, then getting the 158 back up to Pwllheli for a quick supply raid before the long journey to Hereford. I'd wanted to explore Pwllheli properly though, so to do that I had to get the 158 I got on instead.
One day I will go and do that Ffestiniog, I've been going to do it since the last time (only time actually) that I was in Blaenau Ffestiniog and that was in 2005. 18 years on, and I still haven't done it! I remember to this day looking at the option and flicking through my paper timetables, coming to the consensus that I'd not make it back to Swansea in the same day. On the HST from Cardiff to Swansea, which is where I was living at the time, I realised that actually yes I would have made it but just got back 2 and a bit hours later. What an absolute fail that was!
I've attached a few photos from April as a small insight into the month, more may follow soon! There's a lot I could share, but I'll be here all day doing that! In order then:
1) 67014 at Manchester Piccadilly on 1st April
2) The walking segment record on Strava
3) 197012 at Manchester Oxford Road
4) 67020 at Manchester Piccadilly on the 1630 to Swansea
5) 777008 at Kirkby
6) Sheffield Supertram number 103 approaching Cathedral tram stop
7) Celebratory selfie with 222022 at Sheffield
8) Bike-selfie at a rest stop in Bredwardine, Herefordshire, on one of the rare days when the wind wasn't ridiculous
9) A bike-selfie at Hopton Heath, following a ride along some unexpectedly wet and muddy, and in one case a flooded road, sectors on the big ride from Hereford to Hopton Heath
The narrow gauge train over the cob for TfW the other way (or the other way around) was a consideration, but I firmly had my cycling head on and wanted to keep exploring. I had considered cycling all the way down to Harlech, then getting the 158 back up to Pwllheli for a quick supply raid before the long journey to Hereford. I'd wanted to explore Pwllheli properly though, so to do that I had to get the 158 I got on instead.
One day I will go and do that Ffestiniog, I've been going to do it since the last time (only time actually) that I was in Blaenau Ffestiniog and that was in 2005. 18 years on, and I still haven't done it! I remember to this day looking at the option and flicking through my paper timetables, coming to the consensus that I'd not make it back to Swansea in the same day. On the HST from Cardiff to Swansea, which is where I was living at the time, I realised that actually yes I would have made it but just got back 2 and a bit hours later. What an absolute fail that was!
I've attached a few photos from April as a small insight into the month, more may follow soon! There's a lot I could share, but I'll be here all day doing that! In order then:
1) 67014 at Manchester Piccadilly on 1st April
2) The walking segment record on Strava
3) 197012 at Manchester Oxford Road
4) 67020 at Manchester Piccadilly on the 1630 to Swansea
5) 777008 at Kirkby
6) Sheffield Supertram number 103 approaching Cathedral tram stop
7) Celebratory selfie with 222022 at Sheffield
8) Bike-selfie at a rest stop in Bredwardine, Herefordshire, on one of the rare days when the wind wasn't ridiculous
9) A bike-selfie at Hopton Heath, following a ride along some unexpectedly wet and muddy, and in one case a flooded road, sectors on the big ride from Hereford to Hopton Heath
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TT-ONR-NRN
Veteran Member
Thanks for such detailed reports; I love reports that include not just the trains but the food as well Vegan-related is that I’m trying to experiment a bit with tofu, because I’ve found it can actually be quite nice if only it’s cooked right. Yesterday I tried ANOTHER new dish with my favourite aubergine which was rather nice, though did feature meat in the form of pancetta.
For me, reading this is actually so exciting as I’ve obviously been unable to sample the 196, 197, and 777s so I will certainly be doing those A.S.A.P… a farewell XC HST ride from Bristol to Birmingham might tie in nicely with a West Midlands Daytripper, with which hopefully I’ll be able to get all 196s out with a bit of back-and-forthing from Sandwell & D. and University. These reports remind me of the things I’ll be able to do that I couldn’t before.
Might also be able to do a Cheshire Day Ranger for the 197/777 fleet. I look forward to seeing if the seats are as bad to my mind as people say.
The references to TfW 153s and 150s remind me of Cardiff strongly. I hate the 150s. Everything else is enjoyable for me, dogboxes included. When I return there, it will be a 769-free zone, and that for me is not a bad thing at all. Still more interesting than the 150s though.
Vegan-related is that I’m trying to experiment a bit with tofu, because I’ve found it can actually be quite nice if only it’s cooked right. Yesterday I tried ANOTHER new dish with my favourite aubergine which was rather nice, though did feature meat in the form of pancetta.For me, reading this is actually so exciting as I’ve obviously been unable to sample the 196, 197, and 777s so I will certainly be doing those A.S.A.P… a farewell XC HST ride from Bristol to Birmingham might tie in nicely with a West Midlands Daytripper, with which hopefully I’ll be able to get all 196s out with a bit of back-and-forthing from Sandwell & D. and University. These reports remind me of the things I’ll be able to do that I couldn’t before.
Might also be able to do a Cheshire Day Ranger for the 197/777 fleet. I look forward to seeing if the seats are as bad to my mind as people say.
The references to TfW 153s and 150s remind me of Cardiff strongly. I hate the 150s. Everything else is enjoyable for me, dogboxes included. When I return there, it will be a 769-free zone, and that for me is not a bad thing at all. Still more interesting than the 150s though.
Techniquest
Veteran Member
I didn't discuss the TGI Fridays meal in Gloucester did I, oops! I've attached a photo of the Vegan and Beyond burger (minus the mushroom) and the amazing garlic ciabatta bread.
I've also attached a selection of other photos, in order they are:
1) Stagecoach bus on route 65 and the railway viaduct on the non-passenger line in Buxton
2) View from the bridge on the lane I walked up leading away from the A6 just north of Dove Holes, check out the vintage bus!
3) Random scenic view on the way back to Dove Holes
4) 158820 at Pwllheli
5) Bike-selfie at Pwllheli
6) Strava screenshot highlighting how it was a year since I set my land speed record for walking. I've since come close to beating it, but never quite enough. One day!
7) Finally, the giant Jammie Dodger I got from the village shop in Wellington, Herefordshire. I was the first customer to buy some, and believe it or not they are about the same size as the packet!
I've also attached a selection of other photos, in order they are:
1) Stagecoach bus on route 65 and the railway viaduct on the non-passenger line in Buxton
2) View from the bridge on the lane I walked up leading away from the A6 just north of Dove Holes, check out the vintage bus!
3) Random scenic view on the way back to Dove Holes
4) 158820 at Pwllheli
5) Bike-selfie at Pwllheli
6) Strava screenshot highlighting how it was a year since I set my land speed record for walking. I've since come close to beating it, but never quite enough. One day!
7) Finally, the giant Jammie Dodger I got from the village shop in Wellington, Herefordshire. I was the first customer to buy some, and believe it or not they are about the same size as the packet!
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Iskra
Established Member
Glad you made it to Pwllheli Tech! I agree the town offers little, bar the essential amenities you need for a long journey. Shame about the ruffians on the way back however.
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