Kite goes Exploring, Trip Reports

[Kite159]

8th – 10th April & 12th April Trips

8th April – Rural Lancashire on the Leeds & Liverpool

Today was another trip towards the North West to continue my coverage of the Leeds & Liverpool canal, having multiple options in terms of which part to head to (Rufford Branch, Burscough – Maghull or a mixed walk in Rishton), in the end keeping an eye on not wanting to be too late I decided on the section from Burscough towards Maghull, joining up with coverage from August 2023.

The day began with 159017 & 159006 to take me towards Waterloo, where after a gentle stroll towards Euston it was onto 390001 on the 07:30 to Glasgow, getting a seat in coach C which had 2 other passengers. The train picked up a few more passengers at Warrington and I alighted at Wigan North Western, passing the revenue block in the subway and the recently installed ticket gates. I reached Wigan Wallgate and headed to the platform for the next Southport service, noticing a 2-coach unit heading to Manchester already looking rather cosy. 156401 & 150129 took me to Burscough Bridge where my walk began (after detouring via the Tesco to grab supplies for lunch).

150129 departing Burscough Bridge by Kite, on Flickr

I picked up the canal near the wharf, turning west passing many moored boats and the Burscough urban area before that gave way to some industrial units near New Lane (I can't remember if I rode along this section of canal back in 2015 when I visited New Lane station, or if I stuck to the road). After New Lane the towpath turned more rural as the canal headed into the countryside, skirting round Heaton's Bridge, passing a static caravan park before going underneath the A570 near Pinfold with a modern marina.

The walk continued now heading in a south western direction, passing near to Halsall (and into a cutting) with some lovely countryside views before the canal reached Downholland & Downholland Cross, where I decided to pause for some lunch on a handy bench in the shade. A section where the towpath was a bit dodgy in places (narrow and uneven due to erosion) before the countryside gave way to urban landscapes in Lydiate, which merged into Maghull. I had a little detour towards Morrisons in Maghull to grab some supplies (mainly more drink as it was quite hot today and I had managed to nearly finish my big bottle of water).

Leeds & Liverpool Canal between New Lane & Heaton's Bridge (19) by Kite, on Flickr

After my visit to Morrisons, I returned to the canal for the final section heading towards a footbridge near Kennessee Green and headed towards Maghull station. An enjoyable walk in the countryside, the towpath reasonably busy at times with dogwalkers and people out enjoying the sunshine. Dud 777013 took me to Liverpool Central where I somehow made a +1 connection onto winner 777034 on a busy Chester train to take me towards Chester where I relaxed for 30 minutes before boarding a lightly loaded 805007 with 805003 attached to the rear from Holyhead for the run towards Euston, losing time at Crewe due to waiting for a Glasgow fast to head north before departing.

At Euston, I headed towards the Northern line platforms, jumping on the first available southbound train, formed of 51580 & 51579 (which as a bonus was a set I wanted for a mile) to Tottenham Court Road, transferring to the Elizabeth line with 345035 to Paddington. At Paddington I met up with my good friend Dan before heading to board a Bristol Parkway service formed of 387145, 387170 & 387152 for the fast run towards Reading, where I had booked a night in the Ibis close to the station. The rest of the evening was spent catching up and relaxing.

37175 at Chester by Kite, on Flickr

9th April – Flirting in South Wales

After a reasonable night sleep in the Ibis, myself & Dan left the hotel heading towards Reading station, catching 387147 & 387153 on the Cardiff train for some high speed electrostar running. Once at the Welsh capital we popped out of the station to buy the Valley Day tickets and to grab some supplies, coming back against a massive flow of customers from the Swansea direction (seems there was some sort of sporting event on today). Today was to give Dan some experiences with the Welsh Flirts so first up was 231001 on a Bargoed service taken to Bargoed, remaining on board back towards Queen Street. First time I’ve called at Gilfach Fargoed for what felt like ages on the southbound train.

At Cardiff Queen Street it was a short wait before winner 756103 took us towards Trefforest and a 5-minute connection into winner 756109 heading back towards Cardiff, where we had a brief break for some lunch before taking winner 756108 towards Pontypridd, the original idea was to take this towards Llwynypia to intercept another winner coming back from Treherbert but there was a set swap at Cardiff with that unit heading towards Merthyr Tydfil instead.

756108 at Pontypridd by Kite, on Flickr

After a short wait at Pontypridd, we took 756101 one stop to Abercynon for the cross platform change onto winner 756117 to take us back towards Cardiff Queen Street, where we changed onto 150231 for the run to Penarth (because it could be the last time I have a 150 at Penarth considering those services are meant to be switching over to 3 coach 756s at some point). We remained on the same unit back to Cardiff Central, where I popped out of the station to grab supplies for dinner from Boots (noticing the crowd control barriers making an appearance).

Back at the station, and it was onto a short formed GWR service for Portsmouth Harbour with 158768 running solo, and needless to say it departed Cardiff Central rather cosy and it only got worse as the journey continued, picking up & dropping off a good number of passengers at most of the stations, only emptying out at Warminster to such a degree there was nobody standing. Still 2 coaches is better than 0 coaches. At Salisbury I popped out of the station to visit the supermarket to grab some supplies for the week ahead before taking 159004 & 159021 to Grateley with Dan remaining on board towards Clapham as he made his way back towards Medway.

150231 at Penarth by Kite, on Flickr

An enjoyable social day in South Wales, I do like those Welsh Flirts, a large step up from the 150s.

10th April – Return to the Grand Union Canal

I completed the mainline route of the Grand Union canal last year, leaving just the long Leicester arm to walk, having made a start with it last August walking from Crick towards the junction a couple miles away from Long Buckby, with the future walks at the time put on hold due to the towpath being closed in a few places. I decided today was the day I would resume my exploring of this rural canal, putting the Leeds & Liverpool on a temporary hold. The bus to Welford from Northampton is quite limited with the ideal timed bus only running 3 days a week (the other 2 days it forms a Welford – Market Harborough service).

The day started with 158882, 159008 & 159108 on a train to Waterloo, nice fast run after Basingstoke. Once in London I did my usual stroll towards Euston via Waterloo Bridge, just to waste some time before taking a Birmingham New Street service formed of 350263 & 350247 (this was the day LNR allocations started appearing on RTT so I knew this would be a pair of 2s, so I knew I wanted to get there early to grab a seat in the former 1st class area for that bit of extra comfort. These units took me to Northampton where I left the station making my way towards the bus station via a shop for some supplies for lunch.

66569 passing Northampton Station by Kite, on Flickr

It was onto the 11:05 departure of the route 60 bus (fleet 28628) towards Welford, departing Northampton with 3 other passengers on board, all had departed the bus by Brixworth. A nice rural bus service serving villages like Spratton, Hollowell & Guilsborough before terminating in Welford, a village on the boundary between Northamptonshire & Leicestershire. A short walk from the bus stop towards Welford Wharf (via the Welford Pocket Park and Postman Pat), I visited the toilets before starting the main part of my walk.

The first section was near the marina and a small loop of a mooring area due to the loss of a footbridge over the entrance, but soon the canal turned very rural with the towpath being a mix of dried mud & grass with some beautiful views of countryside & woodland, the only sound being the wind and the occasional farm animal. The short Welford arm came to an end at Welford junction where it met up with the main Leicester branch (this arm was only built to access some reservoirs to feed the canal). I turned north on the Leicester arm to make my way towards North Kilworth wharf, coming close to the route of the old Rugby - Market Harborough railway line a couple of times.

Grand Union Canal (Leicester Line) between Welford Junction & Elkington (61) by Kite, on Flickr

At North Kilworth I did a U-turn to head back towards the junction to continue south, deciding to do this short section because there is a bus at North Kilworth from Market Harborough I'm planning to use for the next section towards Foxton (and the Market Harborough arm). The peaceful countryside was nice, with the towpath being quiet with the occasional boat moored up on this beautiful day. This section of the canal is very curvy and doesn't really pass anywhere so it did feel very isolated. My walk continued going underneath the A14 passing a glamping site towards the small settlement of Elkington. The canal continued its curvy route in the countryside heading close to Yelvertoft before the final section towards Crick (home of an annual boat show), joining up with my coverage from last year with the A428 bridge.

A fast walk along the road took me to the bus stop, making it with a few minutes to spare before the route 96 service bound for Northampton rolled in (with bus 36481) for the short ride towards Long Buckby (via West Haddon & Watford), where I had another short walk along Station Road to reach the station. In theory I could have continued on with the bus to Northampton but the connection between bus & train was quite tight and I know Northampton traffic can be quite bad. 350107 & 350376 rolled in on the next London train to take me towards Watford Junction, I was going to stay on all the way to Euston but I noticed the next Overground service was due to use platform 1 at Watford Junction, which is one platform I wanted (leaves just platform 4 to clear all 4 DC platforms at Watford Junction). So, it was onto 710269 to take me to Harrow & Wealdstone, crossing over to platform 6 onto 350117 & 350115 on a busy train from Tring for the nonstop run to Euston.

710269 at Watford Junction by Kite, on Flickr

I headed to the underground, jumping on the first available southbound train formed of 51674 & 51673, and like with Tuesday it was a bonus of being a sub mile pair, to Waterloo where after grabbing dinner it was to 159009 on the 19:50 service for Salisbury, a train which got extremely busy on departure, emptying out at Basingstoke (that 30 minute gap in fast Basingstoke trains doesn’t help, if only the XX:35 trains called at Basingstoke all day long rather than just in the peaks). Anyhow it was an enjoyable walk in the countryside, topping up my tan, listening to the birds etc. Certainly, a walk not to do during winter as I suspect the towpath would get muddy in places as it was very rural.

11th April - The Thames Meanderer Tour

When this tour went on sale, it looked appealing, even to the point of taking a day of annual leave to do it (helped by currently being on lates, had it been earlies then it would likely be a different story). The day began with the 05:59 service from Grateley to Waterloo with 159017 & 158887 on a lightly loaded service. Once in Waterloo, I had a gentle stroll towards Liverpool Street going via London Bridge (the bridge that is, rather than the station), walking through the city of London when it’s quiet is a strange feeling considering what it would be like at 8am on a weekday.

Anyhow I arrived at Liverpool Street, swinging via a supermarket for some supplies, and took up a seat waiting for the charter to arrive from the Peterborough direction. 57310 arrived first with the collection of Mk2 coaches from Eastern Rail Services and winner 66753 on the rear. The train departed from Liverpool Street heading towards Stratford, before heading towards Barking and Rainham. After Tilbury Town it took the new track leading into the Tilbury 2 container terminal, doing a couple of the lines within the terminal before heading back out towards West Thurrock Junction (just beyond Grays) where it reversed.

57310 at London Liverpool Street by Kite, on Flickr

The 66 hauled the train back towards Tilbury, staying on the passenger network heading towards Pitsea & Southend Central, where it went into bay platform 4 (after a pathing stop in the centre platform at Leigh on Sea). We had around an hour for a lunch break, time I used to visit a couple of places within Southend on this warm Saturday, before returning to the train with the 57 taking the train back towards Leigh on Sea for another reversal with the 66 leading the train all the way to Shoeburyness. Sadly, not enough time at this terminus to allow people out for photos considering C2C runs 6tph to Shoeburyness on Saturdays.

Departure from Shoeburyness and it was a bit of a slow potter behind a service train towards Barking (via Basildon) before taking the flyover and connection onto the Great Eastern to reverse at Stratford (and a set-down for anybody wanting an early finish). After Stratford the train had some decent speed with the run towards Shenfield, taking the dive-under to head towards Southend Victoria for a short break before returning back towards London Liverpool Street.

66753 at Southend Victoria Station by Kite, on Flickr

In theory I could have stayed on for the run towards Potters Bar with the 66 getting swapped over at Ferne Park, but the lack of sleep from the night before was catching up with me so I bailed for an earlier finish. I strolled towards Waterloo (this time going via Blackfriars bridge to mix things up a bit) and boarded the 19:50 service for Salisbury formed of 159021 which got very busy on departure and only got worse at Clapham Junction. The 30-minute gap in fast Basingstoke services doesn’t help, if only the XX:35 trains towards Winchester called at both Clapham & Basingstoke, it would resolve some of the overcrowding issues.

Anyhow I got back to Grateley in the light rain, and headed home to rest for the remainder of the evening, although it wasn’t long before I was in bed. An enjoyable little railtour, although the people I was sat with weren’t the talkative type which did put a damper on things. Thanks for reading, as ever more photos can be found on my https://www.flickr.com/photos/157760463@N05/albums/72177720324899703/page2 Flickr[/url

 

[Kite159]

17th April – 20th April, Easter Weekend in Scotland

I had a rostered long weekend at work and quite happily it landed on the Easter weekend, allowing a trip to Scotland with a railtour on the Saturday.

17th April – Onwards to Scotland & Chatelherault Country Park

Having finished work quite late on the Wednesday, my departure to Scotland wasn’t going to be mega early, instead it was onto the 06:59 service from Grateley with 158884, 159002 & 159007 on this quieter than expected service (I guess a lot of the London commuters had already finished for the easter break). Into Waterloo near enough on time giving me a nice 80 minutes to get across to Euston for the 09:30 service to Glasgow Central with 390137 on this busy service (no standard premium today, 3 coaches for 1st class).

The train lost a few minutes along the way so arrival into Glasgow Central was around 6 minutes late, after spending the journey (after Lancaster area) looking out of the window as sunshine turned to rain. At Glasgow Central I headed to the low-level platforms to jump onto 320401 & 320304 to take me to Hamilton Central where I made my way to my accommodation. A place I’ve used before and whilst it is no where perfect (window blinds are rubbish) for £35 a night it’s hard to turn down in the current climate.

View from train between Lowgill & Tebay on the WCML by Kite, on Flickr

After checking in, I had a few options to walk, as the rain had cleared up, deciding to head towards Avon Bridge to pick up a path within the Chatelherault Country Park. Marked up as the “Mineral Railway Path”. It followed the Avon Water in some lovely woodland, passing close to the remains of Cadzow Castle. The path changed to the Hoolet Row Path where I needed to change plans as the path across the "White Bridge" was closed. Some very steep climbs on this walk, both uphill & downhill as I headed up a particularly steep climb to the Riccarton Path leaving the Avon Water behind for a short distance before it dropped down to reach the river at the "Green Bridge". I crossed over the Avon Water and climbed up the Millheugh Steps (made harder as the fence on the left-hand side had barbed wire making it harder to get a grip if required).

On the other side of the hill, I dropped down to follow the Avon Water once more towards a disused road to the Millheugh area of Larkhall. Next up was a walk into Morgan Glen, underneath the disused Broomhall/Larkhall railway Viaduct, before climbing away from the gorge to reach the top of the viaduct (those steps were a killer!). I followed the route of the old railway line towards Larkhall station, where I popped to the Co-Op to grab some food before 320304 & 320401 on a rare platform 1 departure all the way back to Glasgow Central.

Avon Water from the Footpath between the Chatelherault Country Park & Millheugh (3) by Kite, on Flickr

Time to play with the subway as I headed towards St Enoch to go underground, keeping my eye on the 8 units out during off-peak times, linear hopping to West Street via Bridge Street with 302 & 306 before winner 311 rolled in on an "Inner" service (having seen it earlier at St Enoch) to take me to Partick. One thing I will say is that it felt like the services dwelled at the stations for longer than they previously did, even at the quieter stations south of the river.

After visiting Morrisons for some supplies, I headed to Partick station before jumping onto 320413 & 318268 to take me to Hamilton Central for the second time that day, walking to the accommodation to rest my legs as they are not used to such climbs! A beautiful walk, an area I will need to return to one of these days to do the path on the “South” side of the river.

318268 at Hamilton Central by Kite, on Flickr

18th April – Changing Plans in Clackmannanshire

When I went to sleep on the Thursday evening, the weather forecast was looking dry as I eventually decided on the old railway route from Alloa to Dunfermline, however when I woke up on the Friday the weather forecast had done a change with heavy rain coming in mid afternoon so once more that old railway line route went back onto my shelf (pretty sure it’s the 3rd time that has happened). So, coming up with an alternative idea got me dusting of a shorter walk idea I researched which involved using a bus.

When I eventually made it out of bed, I headed to Hamilton Central station, purchasing my Central Scotland Rover from the ticket office and onto 320414 & 320312 on a service to Glasgow Central. I headed across to Glasgow Queen Street via a couple of shops for supplies for breakfast before taking 385027 & 385001 all the way to Alloa (had the Aberdeen train been a HST I would have taken that to Stirling, but alas that was a 170). At Alloa I had a short walk to the main bus stop area in the town centre before boarding the 2 hourly H2 bus route to Dollar. My first experience with Midland Bluebird buses with fleet 2239 (a Volvo Wright Eclipse) for the nice run to Dollar via Sauchie & Tillicoultry with some beautiful views of the Ochil Hills.

43150 at Glasgow Queen Street by Kite, on Flickr

My walk today would take me along route of the former Devon Valley Railway which ran from Alloa towards Kinross. The section from Alloa to Dollar (which I believe Aloe Blacc needed at one point) has been resurfaced as cycle route 767 and branded as "Devon Valley Way". Once I had left the town centre (swinging via a Co-Op for lunch items) I picked up the route of the old railway, passing the former station and headed into the countryside. Some nice views of woodland & the hills with the river Devon running on the left-hand side (although not a peaceful walk due to the A91 running alongside the path).

I reached Tillicoultry where the old railway line route ended due to a missing viaduct over the river, forcing a detour on a path alongside the A908 before the old railway route came back from across a field and the cycle path returned to being woodland. My walk continued skirting the edge of Fishcross and into Sauchie where once more a detour was needed due to the track bed being lost under developments, the path resuming nearer Alloa station before the old railway route headed towards the existing railway and the cycle path crossed over the tracks on a footbridge. The freight line bypassing the platform at Alloa looks extremely rusty, I can't imagine much uses that line towards Dunfermline via Longannet (I wonder if that line will ever reopen to passenger trains similar to Leven).

View from Cycle Route 767 between Devonside & Fishcross (1) by Kite, on Flickr

I was tempted to continue my walk towards Cambus to pick up what looks to be another old railway line path towards Menstrie to end in the town of Alva but decided that could wait for another day with one eye on the sky which was turning a bit darker. So ending the walk at Alloa station, it was a short wait for 385018 to take me to Stirling, where I stepped back onto a busy 385109 on an Edinburgh service (annoyingly the posh seats were at the south end and I was at the north end which was a lot quieter). The rain started soon after departing Stirling so my decision to cut the walk at Alloa I think was quite wise.

At Edinburgh for lack of a better idea I headed to 170393 on the next Tweedbank service to take me to Newcraighall where I got lucky to grab a photo of a 385 coming ECS from the depot, where I was again tempted to bail at Brunstane to walk the "Innocent Railway" path towards the city centre, but decided that could wait for another day (I've got so much in the Edinburgh area I could easily spend a week here walking). 170406 took me back to Edinburgh and I headed across to board 385116 on the last Scotrail service for Dunbar, one of those things which had been on my list to get a Scotrail service to Dunbar (I would imagine in the days where this was a 158 would have been good fun with the high-speed running).

385023 passing Newcraighall Station by Kite, on Flickr

I had another change of plan, based on the weather forecast and headed into the town centre to catch a X7 bus from East Coast Buses (fleet number 54) to take me towards Haddington via West Barns & East Linton where I alighted at the bus stop near Knowles Road to start my second walk of the day. The Haddington Branch line closed in the 1960s branching from the ECML at Longniddry. I soon picked up the start of the railway line path (with a small detour due to the A1 being built on the old route) I left Haddington and entered countryside, eventually the road traffic from the A1 died down to allow myself to listen to the birds and enjoy the woodland.

4 and a bit mile later I reached the ECML, and Longniddry station. With time to kill I headed towards the village centre to visit a Co-Op to grab some dinner items before returning to the station and onto 385038 & 385042 to Edinburgh where I made a tight connection onto 385037 & 385022 to take me to Polmont in a random "follow Google Maps suggestion" where it would have gotten me to go back to Hamilton via Coatbridge Central. I did see a 334 had escaped on the Cumbernauld services and had I not had such an early start on the Saturday I would have done it for the novelty factor, but instead hung back in the rain for 385107 & 385108 to take me to Glasgow Queen Street.

Former Haddington Branch Line (Cycle Route 76) in Haddington (5) by Kite, on Flickr

It was a lot wetter in Glasgow than it had been in Edinburgh as I dashed to Glasgow Central, dodging various puddles and made it onto 320418 for the trip back to Hamilton Central, making my way to the accommodation to relax for the rest of the evening and to attempt sleep (one downside of this place is that there is a restaurant close by which has a ventilation system which doesn't shut off until around 23:30 so not ideal for wanting an early night). Anyhow two enjoyable old railway line walks, and I didn't get that wet!

19th April - The Grangemouth Growler

The main event of this weekend was the latest SRPS railtour taking a 37 towards Ayrshire & towards Grangemouth on a tour which changed somewhat since I had booked it (in terms of starting an hour earlier and finishing 2 hours later, meaning I would need to bail before the end to get back to Hamilton), plus the Killoch branch getting refused in the week beforehand (although it did mean the tour having a 2 hour break in Ayr which personally I felt was better to give the chance of fresh air and to walk around).

The day began with the first train from Hamilton Central to Glasgow Central with 320315 & 318259 where I headed across to Queen Street and onto 385120 & 385111 to take me to Edinburgh, in theory I could have bailed at Linlithgow to catch the tour but decided to stay on to Edinburgh to grab some supplies for breakfast. After breakfast I headed to the platform for 37403 to roll in from the Haymarket direction, locating my seat in a Mk2 coach of this short train. Departure was on time as it headed towards the Edinburgh Suburban line, a line I’ve not done in daylight for a good few years and towards Slateford, heading towards Glasgow on the Shotts line.

37403 at Edinburgh Waverley by Kite, on Flickr

After Holytown the train headed right to pass Mossend and onto the connecting line to join the Bathgate route near Coatbridge going towards the city centre via Shettleston, turning left onto the City Union line heading towards Cardonald and Paisley. The train visited several loops along the way (some planned, some "on the day" bonuses) reaching Ayr where we had the break. I jumped onto 380110 on a platform 2 departure from Ayr to take me to Prestwick Town where I walked back towards Ayr via the coastal path. Along the way I crossed the tracks leading towards Ayr Harbour, looking extremely rusty. The last section of my stroll took me along the banks of the river Ayr to the railway viaduct crossing over the river (after pausing for a photo of a 380 arriving into the station) and back to Ayr station via Morrisons for lunch/dinner items.]

Back on board the charter and winner 66749 hauled the train back north (again via various loops), turning left after Irvine onto the single-track chord towards the Largs line, a line I had forgotten how beautiful it is. The 66 reached Largs for a short break before 37403 took over for the run towards Ardrossan, making use of the freight line after Hunterston, bypassing the platforms at West Kilbride & South Beach. The tour headed back towards Glasgow causing a bit of chaos with delays to passenger services taking the City Union line back towards Bellgrove & towards Springburn & Croy.

380008 crossing the River Ayr heading towards Ayr Station by Kite, on Flickr

After Falkirk Grahamston the tour headed onto the Grangemouth branch, heading towards the gates at the Ineos refinery, before heading back towards the junction, passing a 385 which had arrived from Glasgow. After the reversal with 37403 back in charge an announcement was made about an extra stop being made at Linlithgow (for the tour would head towards Tweedbank with the first official set-down being at Shawfair), I decided to make the most of this additional set-down (and so did a few others), even if it meant a 30-minute wait at Linlithgow for a very busy 385107 & 385108 back to Glasgow Queen Street.

I crossed over to Glasgow Central and onto 318259 & 320315 to take me back to Hamilton Central where I was arriving a good 90 minutes earlier than expected, giving me time to relax with a shower & to sort my rucksack out. An enjoyable tour, nice to head to Largs again (I must revisit that area to have a decent explore of the town). Good company on the table I was sat at as well, which does make a difference.

66749 at Largs Station by Kite, on Flickr

20th April – Heading home “The Scenic Route”

When I was relaxing on the Saturday night, I had a crazy idea for the Sunday with the timings working out quite well. After checking out of the accommodation I headed to Hamilton Central for the last time of this trip and onto the first Glasgow bound train with 318263 & 318264 (I will miss the 318s when they eventually get replaced as the seats are ever so comfortable). I made the trip to Queen Street and onto a busy 385114 & 385110 to take me to Edinburgh where I didn’t hang around for long before boarding 801225 on the 10:30 service to London Kings Cross, grabbing a decent seat on the left-hand side for the scenic section of the ECML. (The WCML was closed at both London & Glasgow).

At Newcastle, I had time to kill before the next train towards Hartlepool, so after grabbing lunch items from Sainsburys I relaxed before 156469 rolled in from Carlisle, looking very busy. Thankfully a lot of the passengers alighted at Newcastle, leaving behind many empty containers of alcohol and I headed towards Hartlepool going the “scenic way” (for the Durham coast route has better scenery than the main ECML). The next southbound platform ticked off (something I was hoping to have done last October time before coming down feeling unwell) and a good thing I headed down an hour ahead of my original idea as the following service was cancelled!

156469 at Hartlepool by Kite, on Flickr

I headed out of the station, heading towards the marina (with a Premier Inn overlooking the water), picking up a coastal path near the South Pier to take me towards Seaton Carew for some more lovely seaside views. Had the next Nunthorpe train not been cancelled I would have caught that to Stockton for some better photos but hey-ho. Now for the main event of this little idea with the Sundays only northern service linking Hartlepool & Darlington, making use of the east facing side of the junction after Stockton (with Thornaby heading west). My last section of the Northern network to cover on a Northern train (excluding the Manchester Airport avoiding line which is shown on the network map but as far as I can tell has no booked Northern usage anymore).

158859 rolled in from Hartlepool to take me towards Eaglescliffe, under a massive new footbridge under construction (for a brand-new car park I believe). A short while later 180106 rolled in from Sunderland and I managed to grab an unreserved seat in the rear coach (meaning I didn’t need my seat reservation for York – London on the following LNER). I relaxed for the fast run to Kings Cross, the 180s might be flawed underneath but the passenger interior is so much nicer than an Azuma.

180106 arriving at Eaglescliffe Station by Kite, on Flickr

Arrival into Kings Cross was near enough on time giving me time to stroll across to Waterloo, being joined with a good friend for the first section (towards Holborn) with my last train of this trip being the 18:45 service to Salisbury with 158888 & 159007 to take me to Grateley where I headed home to relax for the rest of the evening doing some admin stuff on the laptop before getting ready for a run of 6 late shifts. Anyhow thanks for reading, as always more photos can be found on my Flickr Here

I won’t be doing something for the 27th April, but that involved a long-awaited return to the River Avon path in Bath, walking from Oldfield Park towards Keynsham and getting my last 730/0 into my little book on the Monday. Scary to think it’s nearly May!

 

[Kite159]

Trips 6 - 8th May (Wales & Liverpool)

6th May – A Trip to Pembrokeshire

The idea of staying overnight in South Wales came about earlier in April when I did some research to book a place in Llanelli I used a couple of years ago, a cheap but cheerful hostel around 15 minutes from the station. As the weather was going to be decent, I decided to head further west to do a walk along a path I’ve wanted to do for a while but either got messed with wet weather or a heavily reduced timetable.

The plan nearly went into the bin before it started with issues between Newport & Cardiff after a fire knocked out the signalling, coming up with an alternative plan in the event I couldn’t reach Swansea in time for the Pembroke Dock train. The day began with the 05:24 service from Grateley with 159021 & 159022 to Basingstoke, changing over onto 165128 to Reading where I had around 45 minutes to kill before 800003 & 800011 rolled in on a Swansea (vice Carmarthen) service. I settled down for the trip west, getting lucky as the train only lost a minute or so between Newport & Cardiff (and featured a rather grumpy lady as the train got very busy at Newport due to various cancellations, who didn’t like someone asking her to move her oversized handbag and actually left the train in a huff. Considering the next train was 30 minutes later and was a 2 coach TfW special I didn’t fancy her chances at even being able to board that service).

After Cardiff the news came through that the train was continuing towards Carmarthen, all be with a set swap at Swansea. After popping out of the station for some supplies from the handy Tesco Express, I took a seat on a lightly loaded 800004 from platform 1 for a slow trip towards Carmarthen, following a TfW service for Milford Haven which called at all the stations, still it gave me more time to look at the lovely views. At Carmarthen I had time to buy a West Wales ranger from the ticket office, a rover I’ve not used in many years (probably June 2014 was the last time) before boarding 197015 on the Pembroke Dock service, the 4th train on platform 1.

150217 at Carmarthen by Kite, on Flickr

An enjoyable run towards Pembroke Dock, pausing at a few of the little request stops, noticing what seemed to be a new mixed used path outside Saundersfoot station. At Pembroke Dock I headed away from the station, and towards the A477 road heading towards the Cleddau Bridge over Milford Haven (the water that is, not the town), quite a steep climb and it was quite windy when on top of the bridge as it gave some nice views of both Neyland & Pembroke Dock. I continued along the pavement of this busy road, crossing over the Westfield Pill before picking a footpath, part of the Wales Coastal Path towards Neyland, dropping down towards the Brunel Quay. Neyland used to be the western terminus of the Great Western Railway where passengers could transfer onto transatlantic ships for America. Sadly both the port & railway are long gone, with the route of the railway turned into a mixed used path heading towards Johnston as part of cycle route 4.

After I picked up the start of the path near a marina, it went underneath the main road, following the Westfield Pill with some nice views of the water before heading into countryside, a busy path with cyclists, dog walkers & other walkers. Soon I reached the outskirts of Johnston where the old railway met up with the remaining line, with the path running alongside the railway line passing Johnston station heading towards North Johnston and back into countryside.

A477 Bridge over the Westfield Pill, Neyland by Kite, on Flickr

The path headed towards some woods, before running alongside a minor road before following the route of the railway towards Merlin's Bridge, part of Haverfordwest. I headed up Merlin's Hill, which was quite steep (wishing I stayed with the cycle path as it ran alongside the Bypass), but soon I reached the top of the hill and came down the other side, heading towards the station, arriving with around 5 minutes to spare before 197020 rolled in on a Milford Haven service. I took this unit to the end of the line at Milford Haven, making use of the time to pop to Tesco for some supplies before boarding the same unit for the long trip to Cardiff Central.

25 minutes after arriving I was onto winner 756114 to take me towards Penrhiwceiber on the Aberdare branch for a short connection onto winner 756116 back towards Radyr, stepping back onto 231006 for the trip back to Cardiff Central, going via Queen Street and terminating on platform 4 (as it was the time of night where the trains were heading to the depot). As for me the plan was to catch the 22:30 Carmarthen service which used the Swansea District Line towards Llanelli, but then I noticed by chance the 23:24 service was also going via the district line but also via Barry, deciding to delay myself an hour for the novelty of a 197 via Barry. At the same time, I noticed services were reversing after Newport to use the non-passenger side of the triangle towards Hereford.

231006 at Cardiff Central by Kite, on Flickr

Cardiff Central was quite chaotic this time of night, as platforms 0-2 were closed with everything long distance using 3 + 4, not helping was services arriving from Queen Street & elsewhere onto platform 4 to terminate and a GWR 166+165 blocking platform 3 on the last train to Bristol. Eventually 197117 rolled in from Crewe where it terminated and formed the Carmarthen train as I grabbed a seat in the standard plus seats at the front of the train with various announcements by the guard that this train was not calling at Neath or Swansea and any passengers for those stations needed to change at Port Talbot for a replacement bus (or wait for the following GWR service). Based on overhearing some chatter I think several drunks weren’t listening and ended up forking out for taxis!

Anyhow the train departed towards Bridgend, not the fastest due to following a Barry Island service it was meant to be in front of, eventually picking up speed after the junction at Barry to head towards Bridgend, before heading towards Port Talbot Parkway. After Port Talbot it branched off the main line onto the little used (for passenger services) Swansea district line, a line which isn’t the fastest, made slower as at Genwen Junction (after Bynea) it swung onto the goods line, running the length of the loop before crossing over just before Llanelli station.

197117 at Llanelli Station by Kite, on Flickr

I headed away from the station at Llanelli, heading towards my accommodation at the World Horizons centre, near North Dock, this time getting a room on the top floor, basic but functional, the biggest negative was the lack of cover for a skylight so when the morning came the room was flooded in light. Still for £24 for the night, it was a good deal compared to other places in both the Llanelli & Carmarthen areas which were £60+. A good first day in Wales, a nice walk in Pembrokeshire followed by a couple more 756s falling to my little red pen (leaving just one more of the 4 coach 756s) with the novelty of some unusual track in the Llanelli area.

7th May – Exploring Fishguard and a set swap which wasn’t actually a set swap.

I was thinking when travelling to the accommodation that it might be worthwhile visiting Fishguard Harbour when I was in this general area, and hence clearing all of West Wales for coverage by 197. Also, because that area had been on my list for a little explore for a while, but owing to the limited timetable of previous years it was quite hard. Thankfully TfW has increased the number of services to Fishguard giving a 3-hour window for a little explore.

The day began with a walk to Llaneli station and onto 197020 for the run towards Fishguard Harbour, this part of the world is quite remote and I always forget how far it is between Fishguard & Goodwick & Clarbeston Road. Anyhow once at Fishguard Harbour I headed out on foot on the road alongside the port area (my original idea was to head up a path but that was gated off), a quick stroll along the breakwater before climbing towards Fishguard itself and onto the Marine Walk, a path which runs alongside the harbour giving some nice views. I ended up in Lower Town and the lower Fishguard Harbour before climbing up a steep hill on the A487 road into Fishguard town centre, swinging via the Co-Op (which was a bit bare boned due to their IT systems hack) before picking up a path heading towards the A40.

Lower Fishguard Harbour (3) by Kite, on Flickr

I followed this path down the hill, crossing the road and into the Goodwick Moor Nature Reserve following a path to reach Phoenix Park and the main road near a rugby ground. After swinging via Tesco for some supplies I headed back towards Fishguard Harbour station for a short wait before 197117 rolled in to form a Manchester service, grabbing a seat in the standard premium section and I relaxed for the trip back towards Carmarthen, staying on board to Pembrey & Burry Port for no reason other than wanting to revisit this station.

A short wait here before 800010 rolled in on the next London train, attaching itself to 800027 at Swansea to head towards Cardiff Central where I decided to have a change of scenery and changed to 166217 on the Portsmouth Harbour service. An announcement was made that there was going to be a set swap at Bristol Temple Meads so everybody got off the train, crossing over to another platform for a ghost train. 5 minutes later, it was decided that 166217 would in fact be running to Portsmouth rather than a pair of 158s. Bit of a farce and it departed 10 minutes late, time it never really gained back.

197117 at Fishguard Harbour Station by Kite, on Flickr

I took this 166 to Salisbury, where I changed onto 159014 working a Reading service to take me to Grateley, and a gentle stroll home where I could relax, reflecting on the couple days in Wales. Fishguard looked to be a nice enough town and it was good to finally get to visit the town rather than just the station (and the area just outside Goodwick station).

8th May – A Day trip to Merseyside

Originally this was meant to be a walk along the Leeds & Liverpool canal, but things happened and it turned into a little red pen day. The day starting with 159022 & 158885 taking me to London Waterloo and a gentle stroll across to Euston to board 390118 on the delayed 08:30 service for Glasgow Central, which got caught up in issues further north causing a visit to platform 12 at Crewe and arrival into Warrington Bank Quay around 45 minutes late. I decided to ditch the idea of a walk as I had no clue how further delayed the train would be getting into Preston and after swinging via an Iceland in Warrington it was onto winner 197035 & dud 197043 on the next train to Chester which was very busy due to the races being on. I didn’t hang around Chester for long before jumping onto 777039 for the short run to Bache where I headed to Morrisons for lunch items.

I was down to needing 4 of the Merseyrail units for my little red pen, and all 4 were out today, with winner 777003 on the next train towards Liverpool which I took to Hamilton Square, making a fast walk across to platform 3 to jump onto winner 777035 on the next New Brighton service, taking it to the end of the line & remaining on board back towards Moorfields where I headed towards the Northern line platforms and onto dud 777053 for the trip to Formby, making a note for a future adventure in these parts involving the coastal path.

777035 at New Brighton Station by Kite, on Flickr

Anyhow the next Liverpool train was formed of winner 777047 & dud 777010 which I took to Liverpool Central, have a short break before winner 777150 rolled in on the next Headbolt Lane service, taking this to Headbolt Lane where I had a crazy idea and instead of returning to Liverpool on the same unit, I headed across to platform 3 and onto 156461 & 150135 on the next Northern service, which looked like it had revenue on board, having a chat with someone whom thinks payment is optional. I took these units to Rainford where I had a gentle stroll to waste the 30 minutes before 156410 & 150150 rolled in to take me back to Headbolt Lane, and onto 777150 back towards Liverpool Central, clearing the entire class for ten miles.

In a way I was glad to have done 777047 earlier as the Southport line had somewhat collapsed and this train got very busy after Sandhills as Merseyrail did their usual terminate late running Southport – Liverpool trains at Sandhills and sending them back empty northbound. Back at Liverpool I had a gentle stroll to Lime Street and onto 807008, getting a decent seat in coach H for the run to London Euston, having a gentle stroll to Waterloo for 159002 & 159013 on the 21:20 service, to take me back to Hampshire to relax and get myself ready for 6 late shifts.

807008 at Liverpool Lime Street by Kite, on Flickr
I was happy I had cleared the 777s, as no more hanging around the Merseyrail stations, although it does mean I have lost a “Wet Weather” option for when I stay overnight in Crewe. Anyhow as always, thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my (along with photos from a couple other walks I’ve done this month)

 

[Kite159]

15 – 18th May, Long Weekend in the North West

15th May – Return to the Leeds & Liverpool Canal

I had 4 days off from work so after looking at ideas decided to book accommodation in a shared house in Crewe, I had previously used in October last year, cheap & cheerful as a base for a long weekend. I had several ideas of what I could potentially do when in Preston, one of those times where I couldn’t make up my mind. The day began with 158887, 159002 & 159004 to Waterloo on the 06:57 from Grateley (a service which might go back to being 10 coaches at some point). After a gentle stroll (avoiding getting run over by cyclists unable to recognise what a red light stands for) I reached Euston and onto the busy 09:30 service for Glasgow with 390112 for the run to Preston.

At Preston I headed outside the station for some fresh air and to think as I could potentially do a bus move to walk the Rufford branch of the canal. In the end I decided on a 4th option, which was to split the idea I had for Rishton with doing an old railway line before the canal and purchased my ticket to Church & Oswaldtwistle, taking a seat on 150144 on the next Colne train (which like always was busy until Blackburn where it emptied out). At Church & Oswaldtwistle I began my walk heading towards Church to the point I left the canal in March, heading back towards the station area on the towpath on a loop of the canal as it went underneath the railway line eventually industrial buildings gave way to countryside, crossing underneath the railway again. On the approach to the M65 I reached a section of the towpath I walked back in 2020 when revisiting stations (at the time the Preston - Colne services had a missing diagram and I walked between Rishton & Church station to waste time).

150144 departing Church & Oswaldtwistle by Kite, on Flickr

I reached Rishton, going underneath the High Street & passing other houses before countryside returned on a very beautiful section before the towpath reached Blackburn where countryside was replaced with industrial & retail building and one final crossing of the canal by the main Preston - Burnley railway line. My walk continued via a mix of old and new buildings, reaching the town centre area and the old wharf (where the towpath is diverted round the back of the building). I continued passing the station area and the retail park with the canal curving once more, reaching the start of a lock flight. Dropping down the locks, I went underneath the Blackburn - Bolton railway line, just missing the chance for a photograph of a train crossing the canal. In the Mill Hill area, I reached a section of the towpath I'm pretty sure I walked way back in 2015 when visiting the stations, reaching the Cherry Tree area where my walk finished with a small detour to the nearby Sainsburys Local for some supplies.

70815 passing Cherry Tree Station by Kite, on Flickr

An enjoyable canal walk with the quality of the towpath being quite changeable, although most of it was decent there was some areas where I wouldn’t want to do during winter time due to the potential of mud. Anyhow 150138 rolled in from Colne to take me towards Preston where I had some options, annoyingly a required 197 which was previously working Liverpool – Chester services had been swapped onto a Cardiff bound service at Chester so would escape my little red pen. At Preston to the chorus of “this is a platform alternation” I boarded 390152 on a London via Birmingham service to take me to Stafford where I stepped back onto 350247 & 350119 to Tamworth, solely to waste time before the daily Avanti to Wrexham. Dud 805009 & winner 805006 rolled in, slightly delayed to take me towards Chester where 006 got dropped off and the vast majority of people in my coach departed (being replaced with people boarding at Chester) for the trip to Wrexham General where it arrived around 5 minutes late.

It seems these days the connecting train to Shrewsbury which used to start from platform 3 at Wrexham General (having arrived as an ECS from Wrexham Central) has changed with an ECS from Chester, one of those services which might be better running in passenger service, especially since the Avanti Wrexham isn’t the most reliable. Anyhow that 158 departed towards Shrewsbury and a few minutes later 158840 rolled in on a Chester service, slightly delayed departure from Wrexham but it arrived into Chester near enough on time giving me time to transfer to 805007 on the daily Holyhead – Birmingham Avanti service to take me to Crewe, where I headed to the shared house. Sadly, the issues which were reported back in October (shower head holder broken and the base of the bed being broken) hadn’t been repaired, but for £30 a night it was cheaper than anything else in the area. Plus, it had half decent curtains and was quiet.

805009 at Wrexham General by Kite, on Flickr

A good first day, even though I got a bit warm on the canal walk. I was glad I decided to split the walk as the railway path from Rishton can be done on another day, the next section of the canal heads away from the railway dropping towards Chorley & Adlington. I was also happy to finally do a 805 to Wrexham after having to ditch it on multiple times previously, either due to cancellation or severe late running. Even though like the LNER token daily services it seems quite pointless for passengers heading from London.

16th May – A Day of novelties in Lancashire.

The day started with leaving the shared house towards Crewe station via the little Tesco garage for some breakfast and onto a late running Scotland bound 390148 to take me to Preston (and I was aiming for the train afterwards but that also was running late, a theme which would stalk me most of the day). At Preston I had a short wait before jumping on 195131 to Chorley for no reason before 331027 & 331028 took me to Adlington where my latest canal walk began.

Once again it would be the Leeds & Liverpool canal and the section heading south towards Wigan. After leaving the station I headed towards the canal picking up the towpath for the walk south away from the built-up area with a cycle path heading away to run along an old railway line which ran close by. Once outside Adlington the canal turned quite rural with some nice views as it headed towards Red Rock where the cycle path re-joined and canal headed towards the Haigh Country Park and Wigan. Near the top lock of the Wigan flight there was a 90-degree bend.

I was glad to be walking down these locks as there was quite a few as it headed towards Wigan town centre, going underneath both the Wigan - Ince railway line & the WCML before I reached the junction where the Leigh branch began (and where I reached in 2023 when walking from Patricroft). I left the canal and headed towards Wigan North Western via the streets, nearly getting ripped off in the little Morrisons Local as the shelf edge labels said an item was part of the meal deal but the till said no. Anyhow another section of the Leeds & Liverpool canal into my little book, leaving just 2 sections in Lancashire.

156419 crossing the Leeds & Liverpool Canal in Wigan by Kite, on Flickr

For lack of a better idea I jumped onto 390134 for the run to Preston which somehow lost 10 minutes between Wigan & Preston meaning a connection for a pair of 323s to Manchester was missed, so I jumped onto 195128 to Blackburn where I was toying with a 150 towards Bolton via Darwen but that departed late due to earlier delays on the Headbolt Lane services so I gave that a miss (good thing I did as it would have missed both connections at Bolton as it was further delayed due to the single track). After popping out to Morrisons in Blackburn I returned to Preston on 156415 where I was going to take a Pendo to Wigan to intercept the Blackpool train, but a late notice change of platform meant I gave that Pendo a miss when it lost 10 minutes due to passengers transferring from P3/4 to P5/6, not the first platform alternation in Preston.

Eventually 390006 rolled in on the London – Blackpool service, something which since the timetable change has become a little bit harder to do as there is only one daytime Avanti instead of two (with the services being diverted to Glasgow). I had a short wait at Blackpool before boarding 390006 again for the trip to Wigan North Western, transferring to 331105 on a Manchester Victoria flyer, which was going well until it reached the outskirts of Manchester Victoria and got caught up in congestion due to late running trains, to the point where once more my plans changed as I was going to stay on board back to Eccles but the connection would have been lost.

390006 at Blackpool North by Kite, on Flickr

Instead, I hung back for the late running 323217 to arrive from Liverpool on the daily 323 visit to Manchester Victoria (unless there is a random Manchester Victoria – Blackpool service at the extremes of the day) and I took this to Eccles, where it began very busy due to the previous couple of Northern services towards Liverpool running hopelessly late from the Airport calling at all stations before running nonstop towards Merseyside after delaying other services. Anyhow I changed at Eccles for a short wait for 331107 to Manchester Piccadilly where I had time to pop out of the station to grab supplies, noticing that the little Sainsburys local was due to close for a refit and hence the shelves were looking barer than the Co-Op.

After grabbing food, I returned to the station and onto 323237 & 323224 on the next Blackpool service, something I think isn’t suitable for these 3+2 seated suburban units, especially after the users got used to the 331s. I took these to Leyland where I had a short wait, waiting near the footbridge for the last minute “This is a platform alternation” message as 331106 rolled in on 4 instead of 2. I took this back towards Bolton where I popped out of the station to the nearby Sainsburys for some supplies for tomorrow (and Sunday), mainly to waste some time.

323217 at Manchester Victoria by Kite, on Flickr

Back at Bolton station, it was a short wait before 769448 rolled in on a Wigan North Western service, for the novelty of having a 769 into Wigan North Western rather than Wigan Wallgate (it goes ECS to the sidings), where a late running train benefited me with 390047 to Preston to avoid a 45-minute fester at Wigan North Western. A short wait (and platform alternation) saw me onto 390128 (this was a very Pendo heavy day!) on a service to London which called at Crewe, and soon I was back at Crewe, heading to the shared house to sort my rucksack out for the morning as it would be an early start.

17th May – High Peak Trail

The High Peak Trail is a mixed used path which follows the route of the long gone Cromford and High Peak Railway, part I walked last October when I did the Tissington Trail to the junction near the hamlet of Parsley Hay. This is a walk I’ve been wanting to do for a while but the last few times I’ve had it pencilled in, the weather has decided not to play ball. Thankfully the weather today was going to be dry, a bit overcast in the morning but warm & dry.

The day began with the first East Midlands service to Derby with 170533 on this lightly loaded service, where I exited the station to board the route 114 bus from High Peak (buying myself a £6 High Peak Day ticket). Bus 297 was on this route which departed the bus station with half a dozen passengers on, all alighting at the bus station leaving just myself on board for the trip to Ashbourne via some villages such as Quarndon, Weston Underwood & Cross o' th' Hands with no takers. At Ashbourne I visited the Sainsburys near the bus stops for some supplies before the daily route 441 for Buxton. A busier bus compared to the previous one with half a dozen on board bus 285 heading along the A515 detouring to serve Tissington. Since October High Peak has introduced a bus stop near Parsley Hay itself (as previously it ran fast from Newhaven to Pomeroy, saving myself 2 and a bit mile of walking, every little helps!) I was the only person to alight and my walk began heading towards the railway bridge, climbing stairs near a visitor centre.

170533 at Crewe Station by Kite, on Flickr

I soon reached the junction between the High Peak & Tissington Trail and headed underneath the A515 via a tunnel, heading towards Friden passing other joggers, walkers & school kids doing what looked like their Duke of Edinburgh award (looking at maps carrying camping stuff). However this is when I noticed I might have had rubbish timing as there was a race by a running club of Matlock and this area was very busy with runners getting ready to start a half marathon.

Anyhow I continued reaching a road crossing of the A5012 as the first of the runners caught up, so for the next 20 minutes it was a case of being passed by runners as the path curved giving some nice views of the countryside & woodland. Some engineering went into building this line. Thankfully by the time I reached the former Gotham Curve the runners had disappeared into the distance allowing me to enjoy the stunning views of the countryside of the Peak District, passing Minninglow heading towards Longcliffe.

View from the High Peak Trail near Minninglow (1) by Kite, on Flickr

I continued along the walk, passing Harboro Rocks and reaching a section where the path runs close to a road and the first of a trio of steep inclines with Hopton, a case of being glad to be walking down the hill! Soon the path headed away from the road and via Hopton tunnel heading to Middleton Top which features a visitor centre and the second of the inclines (Middleton), this is when the runners whom were doing the full marathon course started to appear as I headed down the hill passing the National Stone Centre, close to Ravenstor station on the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway. I passed the Steeple Grange Light Railway (sadly closed today). Some beautiful scenery returned with views of Cromford down in the valley as soon I reached the Sheep Pasture Incline, which was not only steep (1 in 8 gradient) but also long.

The old railway walk came to an end at High Peak Junction crossing the Cromford canal, and following the canal towards Cromford wharf (quite a busy canal towpath this). At Cromford wharf I headed towards the station arriving just as 170513 rolled in on a Matlock service, taking the unit to Matlock remaining on board back towards Derby. An enjoyable walk in the countryside, just a shame the public transport options are very limited at the northern end for anybody wanting to do it linearly.

Middleton Top Engine House by Kite, on Flickr

On the train (getting very busy along the way) I looked up options, deciding against heading back towards Crewe as it was only 3pm, instead I jumped onto a busy 170114 to Tamworth before 221119 on a Birmingham New Street service (annoyingly the ticket office at Tamworth was closed so I couldn’t buy my West Midlands Day Ranger, although the barriers at Birmingham New Street on the Navigation Street footbridge were wide open. I headed towards Tesco to grab some supplies, coming back towards the station when I paused to have a look at the trams, just in case. A good thing I did as the next tram towards Edgbaston Village was my last West Midlands Tram, 55. I took it to the terminus, dashing over to tram 35 back to Grand Central with still time to board winner 196007 on the rear of 196004 on a Shrewsbury train.

These 196s took me to Wolverhampton (even featured a ticket check!) where I had a fast walk over to platform 4 to board 220033 on the next Birmingham service, the backup being the stopper from platform 5 and some of the platforms along the way looked very busy so I would imagine the stopper would have been a tad cosy. 390016 took me to Birmingham International where I transferred to 197005 on a Chester train for the novelty of a 197 at Birmingham International before they become more common.

West Midland Metro Trams 35 & 55 at Edgbaston Village by Kite, on Flickr

Back to Birmingham New Street and a gentle connection onto 390123 to Rugby where I had a short wait in the sunshine on platform 1 before winner 807005 rolled in on a Wolverhampton terminator, which I took to Wolverhampton where it felt a bit strange going nonstop to Wolverhampton after Birmingham. Next up was 221113 on a XC service to Stafford finishing the day on a busy 350407 & 350106 on a Crewe service, busy with football fans from the FA Cup final at Wembley (when I was at Crewe a Manchester bound Pendo rolled in alongside me and that looked quite cosy). I returned to the shared house, having a shower to wash the sweat and relaxed thinking what I could do on the Sunday as I wanted to finish early due to work on the Monday. An enjoyable day with some beautiful countryside in the Peak District, followed by some red pen action in the West Midlands, getting my last tram was the cherry on the cake. Just one more 196 left and that is with Chiltern for the Oxford – Milton Keynes services.

18th May – Running into another race at Chester!

After departing from the shared house in two minds about giving it another try in the future, weighing up the positives against some negatives, I headed to Crewe station to board the first train for Holyhead with 197008 for the trip to Chester where I decided to have a little stroll. I headed towards the city centre area near Tesco, picking up a path leading onto the City Walls, something I’ve been meaning to do for ages but never got round to doing (my theory is doing it early on a Sunday morning will be quieter than an afternoon when all the tourists arrive).

I passed the cathedral and Eastgate Clock heading towards the River Dee, following the river for a short section with the wall disappearing near a university building before resuming once past, close to Chester Castle. The wall path disappeared near the racecourse as a race was just kicking off so the roads were a bit busy with supporters for the runners, thankfully no issues for my walk other than congestion (as the wall path crossed over the running route). I crossed the railway line to reach Bonewaldesthorne's Tower before crossing over the railway line again heading on the wall path high above the canal and soon, I reached the Kaleyard Gate which is where I joined the path.

River Dee from the Chester Walls Path by Kite, on Flickr

After leaving the city wall path I returned towards Chester station with a couple of options, either head towards Liverpool for the novelty of an 807 via Bescot and a tighter connection at Waterloo or head towards Crewe or Warrington. But first I managed to jump onto 777029 for the trip to Capenhurst returning to Chester on 777019 just to waste some time, the inbound for the 807 service had been cancelled at London (unit was trapped on the depot due to overrunning engineering works) and with a massive crowd waiting for the next Crewe train I headed to join another massive crowd awaiting 197007 on the Manchester train to take me to Warrington Bank Quay. My theory is potentially I would be better boarding the London train at Warrington rather than Crewe.

390136 rolled in from Preston and I managed to get a decent seat in an unreserved coach for the journey towards London, calling at Crewe (where the train got very busy) and Stafford before heading towards Wolverhampton but turning off before reaching the station to head via Bescot & Aston to rejoin the usual route at Stechford. Always a nice experience to go nonstop through Birmingham International & Coventry and the train headed to Euston, giving me around 80 minutes to stroll to Waterloo.

390020 (390200) at Warrington Bank Quay by Kite, on Flickr

An easy walk, where I even had time to swing via the Iceland near Waterloo for some supplies before boarding 159009, 159008 & 159018 on an Exeter train to take me to Andover where I got a lift home (via a local Chippy for dinner), to end the long weekend in the North West. An enjoyable short day owing to the limitations of needing to get home at a reasonable time to be in bed by 8pm for work. My other option would have been a trip towards Rugby to do the northern section of the Grand Central Walk but that would have been a later start, and that can easily wait for another trip.

Anyhow as always, thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr here

 

[Kite159]

25th & 26th May – Overnight Trip to Blackpool

When I first saw that over this weekend Avanti were diverting services via Manchester due to engineering works at Warrington, I originally gave it a “would be nice to do” moment, before noticing that the Sunday it was via Bolton and the Monday going via Eccles potentially giving two different routes for unusual Pendo coverage. A search for accommodation found plentiful options in Blackpool at various prices, eventually going for something reasonably close to North Station which had good reviews. Sadly, the walking I had planned needed to be put back on the shelf due to the changeable weather forecast.

25th May

The day began with the short walk to Grateley for the first London service of the day with 158881, 159006 & 159103 to take me towards Waterloo diverting via Staines & Isleworth, the train only getting busy at Woking. At Waterloo I had around 90 minutes to get to Euston for the next Glasgow train so I did my usual walk, diverting via the Co-Op near Waterloo, across Westminster bridge and along the north bank of the Thames then towards Euston via Tottenham Court Road, arriving with plenty of time as I hung near the top of the ramp before boarding.

River Thames from Westminster Bridge by Kite, on Flickr

I managed to get a decent seat on 390153 which departed quite busy, reduction of trains due to the engineering works on the Trent Valley, the train catching up with a LNR service near Leighton Buzzard and sat at Milton Keynes for around 10 minutes due to running early. After Milton Keynes the train headed towards Rugby, Coventry pausing for another few minutes at Stechford due to early running (the Pendo was in front of a late running LNR stopper). After Stechford it took the connecting line towards Ascot for the trip via Bescot and towards Wolverhampton avoiding the station before heading towards Stafford & Crewe where the train emptied out (at least in coach G).

After a dwell at Crewe (as again the train was running quite early) it headed towards Wilmslow for a set down only stop and towards Manchester. Felt strange going nonstop through Stockport on a Pendo before getting a decent path (probably helped with Northern having their usual Sunday service meltdown) via Piccadilly & the Castlefield corridor for the run towards Bolton & Chorley. The train joined the usual route at Leyland and arrived into Preston something like 25 minutes early, although I decided against a walk in the Preston area and instead headed across to platform 1 to join the large crowd to squeeze onto 195120 on a Blackpool North service for the trip to the coast.

390153 at Preston by Kite, on Flickr

As the weather was currently dry, I decided to take a stroll towards the coastal path, deciding to head south (the theory being if the weather turned, I wasn't that far from the tramway). Some nice views of the seafront, trying to keep my eye on the trams in case my last one I needed for a mile popped up. I reached the end of the main path in the Squires Gate area of the town, seeing tram 15 heading north on a Fleetwood service so I decided to give chase once I managed to get to Starr Gate tram stop. One of these days I will continue the walk along the coast towards Lytham as well as the northern section from North Pier towards Fleetwood.

It was onto tram 003 on the next Fleetwood service, and with good time a couple minutes into the journey the rain decided to come, causing some delays. The tram did get quite busy heading north but emptied out at the stops serving some of the hotels like Cliffs & Norbeck. I decided to bail at Anchorsholme Lane, crossing over to the opposite platform for a short wait before tram 015 rolled in on a North Station service, taking this tram to Sandhurst Avenue to clear it for a mile and crossed over to the northbound platform for tram 004 to take me towards Fleetwood as it had been a few years since I last visited the northern part of the network.

Blackpool Tram 015 near Starr Gate by Kite, on Flickr

I had a recommendation to visit the Spoons in Fleetwood for some nice dinner before returning to the tramway for a wait before tram 015 rolled in on a southbound service which I gather from the timetable would have been one of the last to go direct towards North Pier stop rather than going via the station. The heaven's opened when on the way south as I alighted at Tower, locating my accommodation on Hornby Road, self-serve check-in and the room was quite reasonable for the £24 I paid. A good thing I ended the day there as I laid on the bed having a catch-up on the interweb listening to the rain arriving again. It wasn’t perfect by any means as there was a small window above the door which allowed light to escape into the room from the hallway.

An enjoyable first day of this little overnight trip, a nice walk along the coast and getting my last Blackpool tram for a mile.

26th May- Cuerden Valley Park

My original idea for today was to walk the Rufford branch of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, maybe even fitting in a visit to the West Lancs Light Railway but owing to the wet weather the previous night and more rain expected around midday I decided it wasn’t worth the risk of hitting mud or floods, instead I looked at some options for the Preston area and decided on a visit to the Cuerden Valley Park.

After checking out of the guest house, I headed towards the town centre (and a handy Co-Op) and Blackpool North station, jumping onto 195110 on a York bound service for the hop to Kirkham & Westham for a random revisit and a short wait before 323227 & 323242 arrived on the next Manchester Airport service to take me towards Buckshaw Parkway where my walk began.

323234 at Kirkham & Wesham Station by Kite, on Flickr

I headed north away from the station towards the modern Buckshaw Village following a mix of paths to reach the Lower Kem Mill car park of the Cuerden Valley Park on cycle route 55. I followed the path via the park enjoying the scenery as it headed towards Clayton-le-Woods with a break at Town Brow. I continued the path keeping track to make sure I was on the correct path as there are many paths in this area, eventually crossing over the M6 and coming to an end at Wigan Road, to the south of Bamber Bridge.

After reaching Bamber Bridge, I followed another path which followed the river Lostock before heading north underneath the railway line where I could have finished the walk and headed to the station but decided to carry on as the weather was dry, heading towards a path I covered a couple of months ago but taking a detour via the Dog Kennel Wood to reach Hennel Lane in Walton-le-Dale. I picked up another path heading towards the River Darwen and underneath the A6 with the idea of following this path along the south bank of the Ribble towards Preston. However, my plan needed changing as this path was closed (I presume related to the construction of the new Tram Road bridge) with a detour via a sewage works to pick up the old railway line route to take me into Preston.

Cuerden Valley Park, Clayton-le-Woods by Kite, on Flickr

After grabbing lunch from the Tesco near Preston station I headed to the platform the next London train was due to depart from at a very busy station, grabbing a decent seat on 390153 (again!) for the southbound run. Along the way we passed a 156 for Ormskirk which looked wedged out and platform 6 at Wigan North Western was rammed as the Pendo emptied out. Next stop was Crewe going via the Parkside curve onto Chat Moss via Eccles for a bit of unusual Pendo coverage. All was going well until the train reached the chaos of Manchester's Castlefield corridor, going from 5 minutes early to 42 minutes late, at one point I counted 7 trains stuck in a traffic jam.

Eventually the Pendo cleared the chaos of Piccadilly, passing Stockport to reach Crewe where the train got busy once more. After Crewe it continued south towards Stafford & Wolvermhampton heading via Darlaston, Bescot & Aston to Stechford where thankfully the signaller decided to hold a LNR stopper for use to go out in front with a spirited run towards Coventry & Rugby only slowing down on the approach to Milton Keynes where it had caught up with a Manchester - Euston service. Arrival into Euston was 19 minutes late and it was bad to hear the Train Manager claiming to get delay repay you needed to speak with the retailer in which you purchased the tickets from, rather than via the Avanti website.

Anyhow with the rain making it’s appearance a walk to Waterloo was out of the question, and with time to kill I headed over to board 710379 to Willesden Junction for 378217 to Clapham Junction, exiting the barriers with my Oyster and coming back in with my staff pass and heading over to board 455723 & 455741 to Waterloo before taking 159011 (for the first time since February) & 159020 to Grateley to end my little overnight trip to Blackpool. An enjoyable day with a nice walk via the Cuerden Valley Park, keeping dry as well as enjoying some Pendo mileage via unusual routes.

As always, thanks for reading, the Tuesday was a red pen day in London (and Essex) due to the wet weather, grabbing a few more 720s & 701s (and 458/4s for renumbering), before heading back to work for 6 late shifts. More photos can be found on my Flickr, May is at an end, all change please, all change. Have a 701:

701046 departing Stoneleigh by Kite, on Flickr

 

[Kite159]

12th June – 15th June. Long weekend in Yorkshire

I had a long weekend from work, and with the Wednesday spent walking in Leicestershire I was going to Yorkshire for a 3-night stay in a shared house in Wakefield.

12th June – Castleford Greenway

The trip began with the 06:58 service from Grateley to take me into London Waterloo with 158881, 159003 & 159016 into the capital where I had my usual stroll across London to reach Kings Cross arriving in plenty of time for the 09:33 LNER service for Harrogate via Leeds, a busy train due to the previous train being cancelled with signalling issues around Wakefield. I got a decent seat on 800109 for the run towards Wakefield Westgate arriving near enough on time, meaning the connection onto the Knottingley bound 150228 & 150277 was easily made for the short trip to Pontefract Tanshelf where my walk began.

The first section once away from Pontefract itself was onto a path (The Wakefield Way) near Pontefract Park and the racecourse (running alongside the racecourse at times), heading towards the M62 before a woodland path alongside the motorway diving underneath and alongside the railway line. I had a little detour towards Glasshoughton station before continuing my walk on this bridleway which runs alongside the railway line towards the Cutsyke area and a nice signal box alongside the level crossing.

It was a short detour via the roads before picking up cycle route 69 and part of the Castleford Greenway path, which made use of the former Pontefract and Methley Junction Line which allowed trains to avoid Castleford when heading towards Leeds. A decent surface on this former railway line route, passing the area of the former Castleford Cutsyke station (no evidence remains), crossing the railway near Whitwood Junction (where trains can head towards Woodlesford or Normanton) and crossing the River Calder (which was one of my original ideas for today, to do the river path from Castleford to Wakefield). The old railway path came to an end near Methley where the route of the Methley Joint Railway has been lost although I could make out where it used to run due to an old station house (Methley South) and a couple of bridges.

150277 at Whitwood Junction near Castleford by Kite, on Flickr

The third section of my little walk took me via the streets in Methley (and a lot of modern housing) and onto cycle route 67, which runs along the route of the former Methley Joint Railway. A decent surface again and some nice woodland. The long distance Trans Pennie Trail joined up after the first mile or so (with a "Welcome to Leeds" signpost near the M62. I continued along this route towards Bottom Boat where the old railway disappears under modern developments forcing a detour via the streets before picking up a path which made use of the old railway route near Lofthouse Gate, doing a little U-turn at a Co-Op near Outwood (I will admit to being tempted to call this walk to an end at this point considering Outwood station wasn't that far away).

I doubled back on the old railway route, taking another path heading towards Stanley and Stanley Ferry on the banks of the Aire & Calder Navigation. I headed south along this navigation before heading across the city suburbs (Eastmoor) to reach my accommodation in the Pinderfields Road area. Once I managed to get access to the key safe I dropped off my stuff and headed back out towards Wakefield Westgate station swinging via a large Sainsburys at Trinity Walk Shopping Centre for some supplies, before heading towards the station via the city centre. An enjoyable walk taking in some different views, another thing I can take off my list for this general area.

Castleford Greenway (Route of former Methley Joint Railway) between Methley Junction & Bottomboat (17) by Kite, on Flickr

Time to play with some trains and since the last timetable change, Northern have started running the 333s on Leeds – Doncaster services, so it was time to be welcomed on board the Doncaster Train by Martin Oldfield with a busy 333002 taken to Doncaster, changing onto 170473 on a Sheffield train (complete with failed AC) for the run into Sheffield. A short wait at Sheffield before boarding 150268 on an Adwick train to take me towards Rotherham Central, returning to Sheffield on 150214 & 150270, finishing the day with 195021 on a train towards Leeds via Barnsley (as the voyager I was waiting for was running quite late and this 195 was surprisingly lightly loaded).

Back at Wakefield and a short walk north (following the A61) saw me getting to my accommodation on Berne Grove. The room was a bit warm (due to the window being a bit on the smaller side) but it was moderately quiet (unless it sounded like someone in the room above me was having issues in the early hours, but that can happen in any hotel).

150001 alongside 399202 at Rotherham Central by Kite, on Flickr

13th June – Leeds & Liverpool Canal in Yorkshire

It was time to head towards Skipton to hopefully complete the Yorkshire side of the Leeds & Liverpool canal, although I did have a breakout point at Crossflatts if I felt like I had enough. A lazy start to my day as I made my way to Wakefield Westgate (via Sainsburys for breakfast as they do hot bacon baps as part of the meal deal). First train of the day for me was 333010 on a Leeds service which completes the Leeds – Doncaster route for 333 coverage. At Leeds it was a short walk over to board 158754 on a Carlisle service to take me towards North Yorkshire, alighting at Long Preston (for some better photos).

25 minutes in the sunshine later and 158849 rolled in from Lancaster to take me back the overhead wires and Skipton where my walk began. Before I headed towards the canal I swung via Morrisons for some lunch supplies, and I was a bit tempted to walk the short Springs Branch Canal towards Skipton Castle but decided that could wait for another trip (as I could work in a visit to the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway).

158754 departing Long Preston Station by Kite, on Flickr


Lunch (and other supplies) purchased I joined the canal at Belmont Bridge heading in a general southern direction, going underneath the freight line towards Swinden quarry and towards Low Snaygill before leaving Skipton behind. The towpath was decent quality with some beautiful views, but the road noise from the A629 was quite loud at times (as the road follows the rough route of the canal other than near Bradley where the canal curves to serve).

I was glad when I reached Kildwick where the Skipton Road finally headed on it's on way leaving the canal to be peaceful as it headed towards Silsden before going into a rural section towards Riddlesden (to the north of Keighley town centre). I continued my walk towards Sandbeds & Crossflatts deciding to continue when I reached the potential escape route towards the station. I carried on reaching the top of the Bingley Five Rise Locks (a set of 5 staircase locks) and a steep hill for the towpath.

Bingley Five Rise Locks on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal by Kite, on Flickr

My walk continued down the Bingley Three Rise Locks, passing close to the station before the canal headed into a woodland section, crossing over the River Aire and towards Saltaire. I passed the Salts Mill with the final section into Shipley reaching a footbridge to the point I had previously walked to from Leeds back in September 2023 and hence completing the Yorkshire section of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, the end is very much in sight with a short section in Lancashire & the Rufford branch.

I headed to Shipley station and onto 331007 on a Bradford Forster Square train to take me into Bradford Forster Square, ticking off the recently opened platform 0, before taking 333013 into Leeds, transferring to a busy 221131 for the short run to Wakefield Westgate, celebrating my long walk with a burger from a takeaway called “Mr Ts” which was located close to the shared house, and I rested for the remainder of the evening.

331007 on platform 0 at Bradford Forster Square by Kite, on Flickr

14th June – “It’s all gone a bit wrong”

Today was the day of a forum walk from Saltaire towards the Bradford area on the remains of the Shipley Great Northern Railway route, meeting up in Roberts Park in Saltaire after midday so in my crazy wisdom decided it would be a good chance to visit the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway seeing as I would be in that area, train to Oxenhope for a bus back to Keighley for a train to Salitaire. Well, it went a bit wrong.

The day began with a gentle stroll to Wakefield Westgate station and onto a Harrogate bound 800102 (the coach I was in pretty much emptied out at Leeds), and onto 333009 on the Skipton train to take me to Keighley where after buying my ticket to Oxenhope I settled down to relax watching as a passing downpour came and went. Steam engine 41241 (LMS Ivatt Class 2 2-6-2T) rolled in with coaches in tow and after grabbing a photo of the steam engine running round I took a seat in the front coach.

Steam 41241 running round train at Keighley Station (KWVR) by Kite, on Flickr

Departure was 10 minutes late due to signalling issues as the train headed towards Oxenhope, pausing in the loop at Damens Loop for a 144 to pass, eventually arriving at Oxenhope around 25 minutes late, the bus I had hoped to connect into was long gone. So, I had a stroll into the centre of the settlement to where the bus would start from (cut back from Hebden Bridge due to roadworks). The next B3 (Brontëbus) service to Keighley rolled in with fleet 1752 (A Volvo Wright Eclipse Urban from the Keighley Bus Company). I purchased my single towards Keighley for a nice run towards Keighley (even though there were some youths at the back deciding to treat everybody with their own selection of noise). I bailed at Victoria Road as I had spotted an interesting looking route alongside the River Worth branded as the "Worth Way" on signs. This took me back to Keighley station where after a 47 rolled in with a private train for a wedding, I headed to the Northern platforms and caught a busy 331005 to Saltaire heading towards Roberts Park and the Shipley Glen Tramway.

Sadly, when I arrived at the tramway I was told it was closed for the rest of the day due to mechanical issues, so I headed back to Saltaire coming up with another plan (as by this time the forum walking party was half-way to Idle). I decided to look at Cleethorpes to see if there was any booked use of platform 4 (because Cleethorpes clearly needed a 4th platform to deal with the 1.5 trains per hour it gets), coming up with a crazy idea as 333003 rolled in to take me to Leeds, transferring onto 801107 & 801108 to take me to Doncaster.

47714 arriving into Keighley Station on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway by Kite, on Flickr

I turned down the TPE to Cleethorpes, instead headed over to platform 0 to board 150206 on the 2 hourly Northern service to Scunthorpe, a route which saw me having my last 144 on in March 2020 before the world went crazy). This 150 took me to Scunthorpe, where I had 40 minutes to wait before the next TPE so I headed into the town centre to visit Sainsburys for dinner items, before returning to the station, only to see the train had lost more time due to a police incident. 185115 & 185118 rolled in and departed towards Cleethorpes where I had my fingers crossed as this was one of the 2 services which was booked to use platform 4. Booked to use the platform is one thing, actually using it is another matter (considering there was nothing else at Cleethorpes station). Thankfully it did use platform 4, and after a couple photos I returned to Grimsby Town on the same pair of units. I was toying with doing the refurbished EMR 170 to Barton on Humber but that was running late, as was the next TPE (which looked like it was getting spun at Barnetby of all places).

It was onto another new plan as I crossed over to platform 3 at Grimsby Town (probably a good few years since I last used this bay platform!) onto former GA 170270 getting a seat in the former 1st class area for the extra comfort for the run towards Lincoln, another line I hadn’t done in a while. At Lincoln I transferred to 170510 on the Doncaster train, I always forget how long it is between Gainsborough & Doncaster, although a chance for the 170 to get some speed up. At Doncaster it was a short wait before boarding 801214 on the next service towards Leeds to take me back to Wakefield Westgate to walk to my accommodation for the last time of this trip.

185118 at Cleethorpes Station (platform 4) by Kite, on Flickr

A day of two halves, a nice trip to Oxenhope behind a steam engine, but missing out on the forum walk due to late running.

15th June – Blackburn Valley & Rotherham

I had several ideas what I could have done today, annoyingly when I booked this trip, I didn’t notice the ECML was closed at the London end, but thankfully a Wakefield – London single is valid via the Midland Main Line. After weighing up various options I decided on a short disused railway line walk in South Yorkshire (one of many on my list of things to do) from Chapeltown towards Meadowhall. The day began with checking out of the shared house, having to leave my key in the door of my room as it seems the code for the key safe had been changed. I headed to Wakefield Kirkgate via a Tesco Express for breakfast items, reaching the station with plenty of time before 158795 & 158872 rolled in on the first Sheffield stopper of the day (forms the Sheffield – Carlisle service so probably wise to have it as a 4-coach set).

These 158s dropped me off at Chapeltown station and my walk began as I headed towards the older platforms (now used as an access path) and up Station Road to reach the start of the Blackburn Valley Trail, the name given to the former South Yorkshire Railway's Barnsley to Sheffield line. The first section was via Chapeltown park with some nice woodland before heading towards an industrial estate where signage wasn't the best but I managed to follow the path as it followed the existing railway line passing Ecclesfield and other parts of Sheffield reaching Meadowhall, passing a Travelodge.

158872 departing Chapeltown Station by Kite, on Flickr

In hindsight I ought to have called my walk a day at Meadowhall but along the way I decided to extend the walk considering the weather was fine, weighing up the option of heading towards Rotherham along the canal or heading into the city centre via a path which follows the Don (the Five Weirs Way). I decided on the canal considering I did the section from Sheffield towards Meadowhall back in December 2021. After getting a bit lost with the road network I crossed over the tram line near Meadowhall South, and reached the Sheffield & Tinsley canal, heading underneath the M1 (and Tinsley Viaduct).

Soon the canal came to an end as it met up with the River Don and I continued along the path as it reached the start of the Holmes cut of the Navigation, heading towards Rotherham heading underneath the railway from Barrow Hill before reaching Ickles Lock where the towpath flips sides near a level crossing near the C F Booth scrapyard. The towpath continued skirting round the edge of the New York Stadium on a recently upgraded section of the route for flood protection (judging by some signs). I passed a flood gate giving access to the Rotherham cut and soon reached the area of the station. This being a good place to finish as after this point the towpath diverts away from the water.

150228 near Booths Scrapyard, Rotherham by Kite, on Flickr

After visiting Tesco for food & drink items, I headed to Rotherham Central and jumped on 150276 on a service from Leeds (2 hourly on Sundays), taking me to Sheffield where I headed across to platform 8 to join the crowd building for the next EMR to London, watching a 3 coach 185 roll in from Cleethorpes looking extremely cosy and leaving a good 50+ behind. A bit of confusion as there was announcements that the London train would be stopping at the London end of platform 8 meaning the crowds headed that way, only for 222101 to stop in the centre of the platform. I made a bee-line for coach D, which thankfully as being one of the former 4 coach sets had a lot more standard class seating compared to coach D on one of the other 5 coach units. Not sure what it was like near the front of the train but coach D had a small number of seats available from Sheffield (although might be due to the hopeless overhead luggage racks), by Derby those seats had gone with standing in the vestibules by Leicester for a nonstop run to St Pancras.

When I got off the train at St Pancras, I was in quite a bit of pain with my back, no clue what caused it. But it was a gingerly walk to the Thameslink platforms for 700116 to Blackfriars and a slow walk to Waterloo (as it was going via Tulse Hill rather than via London Bridge) and onto 159012, 159013 & 159005 on an Exeter train to take me to Andover, where I got picked up by mum to drive home via a local Chippy. I got home and was careful when emptying out my rucksack but it wasn’t long before I was forced to lay down to rest my back, thankfully it’s back to normal which I suspect was simply a trapped nerve from sitting down on that 222.

Rotherham Cut Flood Lock on the River Don Navigation, Rotherham by Kite, on Flickr

Anyhow, an enjoyable weekend with a lot of walking, I might use that place in Wakefield again if the price was right in comparison to other places. More photos can be found on my Flickr here, thanks for reading.

 

[Kite159]

22nd & 23rd June – Overnight Trip to the Midlands

After visiting the Cholsey and Wallingford Railway on the Friday and a lazy Saturday (due to the heat) it was time for an overnight trip to the Midlands to do a random novelty at Northampton.

22nd June – Pinging around the West Midlands

The trip began with the 07:38 from Grateley to take me to Andover with 159008 & 159020 stepping back for the Reading train 10 minutes later with 159105 for the trip to Reading where I popped out of the station to visit the ticket office to buy my West Midlands Day Ranger and to grab some breakfast items from a little Tesco Express before boarding coach B of 221122 which had 220031 along for the ride. My original idea was to bail at Birmingham New Street and await the arrival of my good friend Jules from Hereford however he was being delayed due to an incident around Bromgrove (ended up getting diverted into Snow Hill for some unusual 196 coverage), but I noticed if I stayed on these voyagers, I could grab a winner 807 on a late running Liverpool service.

In terms of loadings, coach B got busy after Oxford and remained busy, at Birmingham during the dwell I switched to the rear unit which was a lot quieter for the run to Stafford (with some rain falling). A short wait at Stafford before winner 807009 rolled in on a 20-odd minute late Euston – Liverpool train (signalling issues at the Euston end of the WCML) to take me to Crewe. Where once more my plan changed as it just missed a London via Birmingham Pendo and I noticed the late running LNR service was being displayed as “Express to Rugby”. So, after popping out of the station to visit B&M for some supplies I returned to a very busy platform 7 to join 350248 & 350409 on a service which was also getting spun at Milton Keynes.

807005 passing Stafford Station by Kite, on Flickr

One of the few times I aimed for the 350/2 (and the former 1st class area) due to the crowding at the buffer stops, paid off as this end of the train was lightly loaded for the speedy run towards Rugby, going via the platform loop at Stafford and unusually passing a London bound Pendo at Lichfield Trent Valley when on the fast line. At Rugby I had a gentle stroll outside the station when I was waiting for Jules to catch up from the Coventry direction I headed out of Rugby station on the south side, heading west to pick up the so called "Black Path" which crosses the WCML close to the station, carrying along this path to the River Avon (near a Tesco) before following a path alongside the river and a short section on the road to the entrance to the Broughton Road Recreation Ground, meeting up with Jules. We followed a path towards the Oxford Canal before an overgrown path leading towards a railway bridge which used to carry the Great Central route. A steep climb on an access point and we took the path to the end where it used to cross the canal, the bridge long since gone.

Heading back on ourselves we took the path towards the Brownsover area of the town before the urban area gave way to countryside heading towards the settlement of Newton where the walk came to an end near a 5-arch viaduct. Changing from old railway to rural paths as we followed various footpaths heading to an industrial/office park to the north of the town, carrying on with the roads to the A426 crossing over with some large distribution centres and a lot of modern housing. Eventually we reached the route of the former Brownsover arm of the Oxford Canal, now a feeder canal. Quite a pleasant walk back south following the banks of this old canal near the Swift Valley Country Park, ending up with the junction with the main Oxford Canal, near a Premier Inn.

Route of former Great Central line in Newton (3) by Kite, on Flickr

We headed towards Rugby station (following the Black Path to "Technology Drive" near Rugby College) where we decided it would probably be better to head to Northampton now to get ourselves checked into the town centre Travelodge to save a job for later that night. 350247 & 350243 took us to Northampton where we soon located the Travelodge, getting checked in (separate rooms as it was booked at different times), and removing stuff from my rucksack before heading back to the station and onto 350242 & 350369 to Rugby, stepping back onto 805005 for the run to Coventry (which was a winner for Jules) and back to Rugby on 350374 & 350120 where we noticed things had started to change as the next Avanti to Birmingham hadn't left Euston 40-odd minutes after it was meant to depart and there was delays from the Northampton direction.

For the lack of a better idea we jumped onto a busy Crewe bound 350113, 350375 & 350262 to Nuneaton, returning to Rugby on a slightly late running (and very busy as the previous train had been cancelled) 350256 & 350108. I don’t know why travelling with London Northwestern makes me a bit annoyed, maybe it’s due to some guards hiding away in the middle cab with gangway doors locked out of use, with no announcements even when the automatic system is broken (considering this pair still was showing “The next Station is Crewe”). Anyhow rant over and back at Rugby (again!) and onto dud 805007 & winner 805002 for the run to Birmingham New Street, which for me clears the class. I have no idea what made me look it up on RTT after the walk considering it wasn’t showing as being out earlier in the day, but I was happy considering the 805s are a bit harder to bag from the London end (compared to the 807s which generally call at Milton Keynes).

350262 at Nuneaton Station by Kite, on Flickr

Sadly, due to the 38-minute delay into Birmingham, the original idea to take something to Shrewsbury to come back to Birmingham on a 197 went out of the window, likewise taking a pair of 350s to Crewe to intercept the Pendo due to the inbound running 20-odd minutes late. Eventually we decided on taking 730030 & 730014 to Lichfield Trent Valley (which for me clears Shenstone – Lichfield for 730 coverage) and having a little stroll to waste some time. Heading out of the new(ish) car park entrance on the London bound platform, and following a path towards the Burton Old Road crossing over the railway near the junction where the WCML connecting chord goes off. We followed this road to the end where it met the A5127 and headed back towards Lichfield Trent Valley station, detouring via a Co-Op. Back at the station and it was onto 807003 on a London bound service from Liverpool to take us to Nuneaton, where we transferred to 196007 onto the slow train to Coventry. Doing this randomly ticks Lichfield Trent Valley for Avanti usage and to waste time before the main random event of the day, the main reason why we stayed in Northampton.

Lichfield Trent Valley Junction Signal Box by Kite, on Flickr

After turning down the late southbound LNR service at Coventry, we waited a few more minutes before 390123 rolled in from Glasgow, grabbing a table seat in coach B for the trip to Northampton. Yep, this was one of the random Avanti services which calls at Northampton (set down only). Sadly a 11 coach Pendo takes up most of platform 1 so no real decent photo could be had, but for me is ticked a box in my randomness box (coming from someone who stayed in Birmingham a few months ago solely to head to Coventry on a late night 730). Anyway, we exited the station, making our way to the Travelodge to rest for the night, being thankful we had checked in earlier to save time (so we could go straight to the rooms).

A Pendo departing Northampton for London by Kite, on Flickr

23th June – Rural Walking of the Stratford Upon Avon Canal

I met up with Jules in the morning, and after swinging via Morrisons in Northampton we made our way to Northampton station which was in a bit chaos due to a broken-down freight train earlier that morning between Northampton & Rugby. Thankfully the line had reopened but as with all delays crews were out of place and the next northbound train was delayed by 20 minutes awaiting a driver. 350120 & 350252 eventually departed and we were expecting LNR to do their usual ripping out stops to make up time (or even spinning it at Birmingham International), but they didn’t do either as it got caught behind a Rugeley stopper after International to crawl into New Street 30 minutes late.

This delay meant our cross Birmingham connection was shorter and would put us onto a Chiltern service rather than a West Midlands service as I wanted to visit Tesco to grab lunch items for later in the day. After visiting Tesco, we headed to Moor Street and onto 165023 on the Leamington shuttle from platform 4 and soon we had reached Lapworth where our walk began. I still need Shirley – Stratford Parkway (and a short section in Stratford Upon Avon itself) for the canal, whereas Jules was ahead of me and only needed Lapworth – Wilmcote to complete the canal, so we decided doing that section would be good for both of us.

165023 departing Lapworth by Kite, on Flickr

We left the Turbo at Lapworth station, following a footpath across a field to reach a country lane to reach the canal, dropping down from the road onto the towpath in the long Lapworth lock flight. We headed along the canal, detouring onto the "Lapworth Link". This is a short section of canal linking the Stratford Canal with the Grand Union, where the Chiltern line crossing overhead (on a newish looking bridge). We paused for a couple of photos of passing trains (including a 68 hauled set) before heading back towards the Stratford canal and headed south into the countryside.

The towpath was quite variable in quality, but in a decent condition in terms of erosion. We headed underneath the M40 heading towards Lowsonford where an old railway line embankment swung across the land (an old line which connected Lapworth with Henley-on-Arden I believe looking at the maps). We continued along the canal in the lovely countryside swapping over a couple of times before reaching the Wootton Wawen area and an aqueduct over a road (which unusually has the towpath dropping to the base of the canal).

DVT 82305 crossing the Lapworth Link (between Stratford Upon Avon & Grand Union Canals), Kingswood by Kite, on Flickr

After Wotton Wawen we continued the towpath, reaching Edstone Aqueduct, taking us over the railway line on the longest aqueduct in England (near Bearley station), shame the only way to get a decent shot of the aqueduct is to either trespass on private land or with a drone (where there is a public road it is near the end and views are blocked by trees). We continued along the towpath reaching Wilmcote and another lock flight which has only recently reopened after one lock getting major repairs. The towpath in this area was a bit rough in places due to broken tarmac but thankfully it did get better for the last section towards Stratford Upon Avon itself, going underneath the busy A46 and reaching Bishopton Lane which is where I had previously joined the canal back in 2021 when I walked towards Honeybourne. Although I'm 99% sure I had previously rode along the towpath between Stratford Upon Avon Parkway & Wilmcote back in August 2015 when visiting the stations.

Anyhow the walk was done and we reached Stratford Upon Avon Parkway station, which was a bit chaotic due to an issue around Birmingham Moor Street with multiple West Midland services cancelled, so it was onto a very busy 168328 to take us towards Leamington Spa (it would give a nice-ish connection at Warwick Parkway to a Birmingham bound service, but this service skips Warwick Parkway). We exited the station at Leamington Spa to pop to a nearby Morrisons for some supplies before heading back to the station saying farewell with Jules heading towards Coventry on a 196 and I managed to grab a seat on 221131 which had 220026 along for the ride (which was locked out of use until Reading).

These voyagers took me to Basingstoke, where I had an extended dwell due to a late running Yeovil bound 158888 & 159005 due to congestion caused by a power failure in the Wimbledon area earlier that day. These sprinters took me to Grateley where I had a gentle stroll home, getting myself ready for 7 early shifts at work. An enjoyable social canal walk and a good catch up. A good weekend overall with 2 more winning Avanti units into my book, leaving just 807010 for when that enters passenger service (probably not for another couple of months I reckon). I suspect I will be returning to Lapworth sooner rather than later to complete the canal myself (as it is always a nice feeling to complete another canal for walking).

Edstone Aqueduct on the Stratford Upon Avon Canal by Kite, on Flickr

As always, thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr here. Scary to think June is nearly over, just where is this year going?

 

[87electric]

12th June – 15th June. Long weekend in Yorkshire

I had a long weekend from work, and with the Wednesday spent walking in Leicestershire I was going to Yorkshire for a 3-night stay in a shared house in Wakefield.

12th June – Castleford Greenway

The trip began with the 06:58 service from Grateley to take me into London Waterloo with 158881, 159003 & 159016 into the capital where I had my usual stroll across London to reach Kings Cross arriving in plenty of time for the 09:33 LNER service for Harrogate via Leeds, a busy train due to the previous train being cancelled with signalling issues around Wakefield. I got a decent seat on 800109 for the run towards Wakefield Westgate arriving near enough on time, meaning the connection onto the Knottingley bound 150228 & 150277 was easily made for the short trip to Pontefract Tanshelf where my walk began.

The first section once away from Pontefract itself was onto a path (The Wakefield Way) near Pontefract Park and the racecourse (running alongside the racecourse at times), heading towards the M62 before a woodland path alongside the motorway diving underneath and alongside the railway line. I had a little detour towards Glasshoughton station before continuing my walk on this bridleway which runs alongside the railway line towards the Cutsyke area and a nice signal box alongside the level crossing.

It was a short detour via the roads before picking up cycle route 69 and part of the Castleford Greenway path, which made use of the former Pontefract and Methley Junction Line which allowed trains to avoid Castleford when heading towards Leeds. A decent surface on this former railway line route, passing the area of the former Castleford Cutsyke station (no evidence remains), crossing the railway near Whitwood Junction (where trains can head towards Woodlesford or Normanton) and crossing the River Calder (which was one of my original ideas for today, to do the river path from Castleford to Wakefield). The old railway path came to an end near Methley where the route of the Methley Joint Railway has been lost although I could make out where it used to run due to an old station house (Methley South) and a couple of bridges.

150277 at Whitwood Junction near Castleford by Kite, on Flickr

The third section of my little walk took me via the streets in Methley (and a lot of modern housing) and onto cycle route 67, which runs along the route of the former Methley Joint Railway. A decent surface again and some nice woodland. The long distance Trans Pennie Trail joined up after the first mile or so (with a "Welcome to Leeds" signpost near the M62. I continued along this route towards Bottom Boat where the old railway disappears under modern developments forcing a detour via the streets before picking up a path which made use of the old railway route near Lofthouse Gate, doing a little U-turn at a Co-Op near Outwood (I will admit to being tempted to call this walk to an end at this point considering Outwood station wasn't that far away).

I doubled back on the old railway route, taking another path heading towards Stanley and Stanley Ferry on the banks of the Aire & Calder Navigation. I headed south along this navigation before heading across the city suburbs (Eastmoor) to reach my accommodation in the Pinderfields Road area. Once I managed to get access to the key safe I dropped off my stuff and headed back out towards Wakefield Westgate station swinging via a large Sainsburys at Trinity Walk Shopping Centre for some supplies, before heading towards the station via the city centre. An enjoyable walk taking in some different views, another thing I can take off my list for this general area.

Castleford Greenway (Route of former Methley Joint Railway) between Methley Junction & Bottomboat (17) by Kite, on Flickr

Time to play with some trains and since the last timetable change, Northern have started running the 333s on Leeds – Doncaster services, so it was time to be welcomed on board the Doncaster Train by Martin Oldfield with a busy 333002 taken to Doncaster, changing onto 170473 on a Sheffield train (complete with failed AC) for the run into Sheffield. A short wait at Sheffield before boarding 150268 on an Adwick train to take me towards Rotherham Central, returning to Sheffield on 150214 & 150270, finishing the day with 195021 on a train towards Leeds via Barnsley (as the voyager I was waiting for was running quite late and this 195 was surprisingly lightly loaded).

Back at Wakefield and a short walk north (following the A61) saw me getting to my accommodation on Berne Grove. The room was a bit warm (due to the window being a bit on the smaller side) but it was moderately quiet (unless it sounded like someone in the room above me was having issues in the early hours, but that can happen in any hotel).

150001 alongside 399202 at Rotherham Central by Kite, on Flickr

13th June – Leeds & Liverpool Canal in Yorkshire

It was time to head towards Skipton to hopefully complete the Yorkshire side of the Leeds & Liverpool canal, although I did have a breakout point at Crossflatts if I felt like I had enough. A lazy start to my day as I made my way to Wakefield Westgate (via Sainsburys for breakfast as they do hot bacon baps as part of the meal deal). First train of the day for me was 333010 on a Leeds service which completes the Leeds – Doncaster route for 333 coverage. At Leeds it was a short walk over to board 158754 on a Carlisle service to take me towards North Yorkshire, alighting at Long Preston (for some better photos).

25 minutes in the sunshine later and 158849 rolled in from Lancaster to take me back the overhead wires and Skipton where my walk began. Before I headed towards the canal I swung via Morrisons for some lunch supplies, and I was a bit tempted to walk the short Springs Branch Canal towards Skipton Castle but decided that could wait for another trip (as I could work in a visit to the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway).

158754 departing Long Preston Station by Kite, on Flickr


Lunch (and other supplies) purchased I joined the canal at Belmont Bridge heading in a general southern direction, going underneath the freight line towards Swinden quarry and towards Low Snaygill before leaving Skipton behind. The towpath was decent quality with some beautiful views, but the road noise from the A629 was quite loud at times (as the road follows the rough route of the canal other than near Bradley where the canal curves to serve).

I was glad when I reached Kildwick where the Skipton Road finally headed on it's on way leaving the canal to be peaceful as it headed towards Silsden before going into a rural section towards Riddlesden (to the north of Keighley town centre). I continued my walk towards Sandbeds & Crossflatts deciding to continue when I reached the potential escape route towards the station. I carried on reaching the top of the Bingley Five Rise Locks (a set of 5 staircase locks) and a steep hill for the towpath.

Bingley Five Rise Locks on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal by Kite, on Flickr

My walk continued down the Bingley Three Rise Locks, passing close to the station before the canal headed into a woodland section, crossing over the River Aire and towards Saltaire. I passed the Salts Mill with the final section into Shipley reaching a footbridge to the point I had previously walked to from Leeds back in September 2023 and hence completing the Yorkshire section of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, the end is very much in sight with a short section in Lancashire & the Rufford branch.

I headed to Shipley station and onto 331007 on a Bradford Forster Square train to take me into Bradford Forster Square, ticking off the recently opened platform 0, before taking 333013 into Leeds, transferring to a busy 221131 for the short run to Wakefield Westgate, celebrating my long walk with a burger from a takeaway called “Mr Ts” which was located close to the shared house, and I rested for the remainder of the evening.

331007 on platform 0 at Bradford Forster Square by Kite, on Flickr

14th June – “It’s all gone a bit wrong”

Today was the day of a forum walk from Saltaire towards the Bradford area on the remains of the Shipley Great Northern Railway route, meeting up in Roberts Park in Saltaire after midday so in my crazy wisdom decided it would be a good chance to visit the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway seeing as I would be in that area, train to Oxenhope for a bus back to Keighley for a train to Salitaire. Well, it went a bit wrong.

The day began with a gentle stroll to Wakefield Westgate station and onto a Harrogate bound 800102 (the coach I was in pretty much emptied out at Leeds), and onto 333009 on the Skipton train to take me to Keighley where after buying my ticket to Oxenhope I settled down to relax watching as a passing downpour came and went. Steam engine 41241 (LMS Ivatt Class 2 2-6-2T) rolled in with coaches in tow and after grabbing a photo of the steam engine running round I took a seat in the front coach.

Steam 41241 running round train at Keighley Station (KWVR) by Kite, on Flickr

Departure was 10 minutes late due to signalling issues as the train headed towards Oxenhope, pausing in the loop at Damens Loop for a 144 to pass, eventually arriving at Oxenhope around 25 minutes late, the bus I had hoped to connect into was long gone. So, I had a stroll into the centre of the settlement to where the bus would start from (cut back from Hebden Bridge due to roadworks). The next B3 (Brontëbus) service to Keighley rolled in with fleet 1752 (A Volvo Wright Eclipse Urban from the Keighley Bus Company). I purchased my single towards Keighley for a nice run towards Keighley (even though there were some youths at the back deciding to treat everybody with their own selection of noise). I bailed at Victoria Road as I had spotted an interesting looking route alongside the River Worth branded as the "Worth Way" on signs. This took me back to Keighley station where after a 47 rolled in with a private train for a wedding, I headed to the Northern platforms and caught a busy 331005 to Saltaire heading towards Roberts Park and the Shipley Glen Tramway.

Sadly, when I arrived at the tramway I was told it was closed for the rest of the day due to mechanical issues, so I headed back to Saltaire coming up with another plan (as by this time the forum walking party was half-way to Idle). I decided to look at Cleethorpes to see if there was any booked use of platform 4 (because Cleethorpes clearly needed a 4th platform to deal with the 1.5 trains per hour it gets), coming up with a crazy idea as 333003 rolled in to take me to Leeds, transferring onto 801107 & 801108 to take me to Doncaster.

47714 arriving into Keighley Station on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway by Kite, on Flickr

I turned down the TPE to Cleethorpes, instead headed over to platform 0 to board 150206 on the 2 hourly Northern service to Scunthorpe, a route which saw me having my last 144 on in March 2020 before the world went crazy). This 150 took me to Scunthorpe, where I had 40 minutes to wait before the next TPE so I headed into the town centre to visit Sainsburys for dinner items, before returning to the station, only to see the train had lost more time due to a police incident. 185115 & 185118 rolled in and departed towards Cleethorpes where I had my fingers crossed as this was one of the 2 services which was booked to use platform 4. Booked to use the platform is one thing, actually using it is another matter (considering there was nothing else at Cleethorpes station). Thankfully it did use platform 4, and after a couple photos I returned to Grimsby Town on the same pair of units. I was toying with doing the refurbished EMR 170 to Barton on Humber but that was running late, as was the next TPE (which looked like it was getting spun at Barnetby of all places).

It was onto another new plan as I crossed over to platform 3 at Grimsby Town (probably a good few years since I last used this bay platform!) onto former GA 170270 getting a seat in the former 1st class area for the extra comfort for the run towards Lincoln, another line I hadn’t done in a while. At Lincoln I transferred to 170510 on the Doncaster train, I always forget how long it is between Gainsborough & Doncaster, although a chance for the 170 to get some speed up. At Doncaster it was a short wait before boarding 801214 on the next service towards Leeds to take me back to Wakefield Westgate to walk to my accommodation for the last time of this trip.

185118 at Cleethorpes Station (platform 4) by Kite, on Flickr

A day of two halves, a nice trip to Oxenhope behind a steam engine, but missing out on the forum walk due to late running.

15th June – Blackburn Valley & Rotherham

I had several ideas what I could have done today, annoyingly when I booked this trip, I didn’t notice the ECML was closed at the London end, but thankfully a Wakefield – London single is valid via the Midland Main Line. After weighing up various options I decided on a short disused railway line walk in South Yorkshire (one of many on my list of things to do) from Chapeltown towards Meadowhall. The day began with checking out of the shared house, having to leave my key in the door of my room as it seems the code for the key safe had been changed. I headed to Wakefield Kirkgate via a Tesco Express for breakfast items, reaching the station with plenty of time before 158795 & 158872 rolled in on the first Sheffield stopper of the day (forms the Sheffield – Carlisle service so probably wise to have it as a 4-coach set).

These 158s dropped me off at Chapeltown station and my walk began as I headed towards the older platforms (now used as an access path) and up Station Road to reach the start of the Blackburn Valley Trail, the name given to the former South Yorkshire Railway's Barnsley to Sheffield line. The first section was via Chapeltown park with some nice woodland before heading towards an industrial estate where signage wasn't the best but I managed to follow the path as it followed the existing railway line passing Ecclesfield and other parts of Sheffield reaching Meadowhall, passing a Travelodge.

158872 departing Chapeltown Station by Kite, on Flickr

In hindsight I ought to have called my walk a day at Meadowhall but along the way I decided to extend the walk considering the weather was fine, weighing up the option of heading towards Rotherham along the canal or heading into the city centre via a path which follows the Don (the Five Weirs Way). I decided on the canal considering I did the section from Sheffield towards Meadowhall back in December 2021. After getting a bit lost with the road network I crossed over the tram line near Meadowhall South, and reached the Sheffield & Tinsley canal, heading underneath the M1 (and Tinsley Viaduct).

Soon the canal came to an end as it met up with the River Don and I continued along the path as it reached the start of the Holmes cut of the Navigation, heading towards Rotherham heading underneath the railway from Barrow Hill before reaching Ickles Lock where the towpath flips sides near a level crossing near the C F Booth scrapyard. The towpath continued skirting round the edge of the New York Stadium on a recently upgraded section of the route for flood protection (judging by some signs). I passed a flood gate giving access to the Rotherham cut and soon reached the area of the station. This being a good place to finish as after this point the towpath diverts away from the water.

150228 near Booths Scrapyard, Rotherham by Kite, on Flickr

After visiting Tesco for food & drink items, I headed to Rotherham Central and jumped on 150276 on a service from Leeds (2 hourly on Sundays), taking me to Sheffield where I headed across to platform 8 to join the crowd building for the next EMR to London, watching a 3 coach 185 roll in from Cleethorpes looking extremely cosy and leaving a good 50+ behind. A bit of confusion as there was announcements that the London train would be stopping at the London end of platform 8 meaning the crowds headed that way, only for 222101 to stop in the centre of the platform. I made a bee-line for coach D, which thankfully as being one of the former 4 coach sets had a lot more standard class seating compared to coach D on one of the other 5 coach units. Not sure what it was like near the front of the train but coach D had a small number of seats available from Sheffield (although might be due to the hopeless overhead luggage racks), by Derby those seats had gone with standing in the vestibules by Leicester for a nonstop run to St Pancras.

When I got off the train at St Pancras, I was in quite a bit of pain with my back, no clue what caused it. But it was a gingerly walk to the Thameslink platforms for 700116 to Blackfriars and a slow walk to Waterloo (as it was going via Tulse Hill rather than via London Bridge) and onto 159012, 159013 & 159005 on an Exeter train to take me to Andover, where I got picked up by mum to drive home via a local Chippy. I got home and was careful when emptying out my rucksack but it wasn’t long before I was forced to lay down to rest my back, thankfully it’s back to normal which I suspect was simply a trapped nerve from sitting down on that 222.

Rotherham Cut Flood Lock on the River Don Navigation, Rotherham by Kite, on Flickr

Anyhow, an enjoyable weekend with a lot of walking, I might use that place in Wakefield again if the price was right in comparison to other places. More photos can be found on my Flickr here, thanks for reading.

Always good writing reports and photos from you. Your retro comment of March 2020 had me thinking of that time. I stood on Grantham station in the late evening waiting for the last train to Peterborough.
Lockdown was to commence the next day, for allegedly 3 weeks only, and as I stood alone I knew the world had gone mad.
Does anyone a remember the R number? Not that I want to start a discussion on Kite’s thread. I bet it has been forgotten by the majority.

 

[Kite159]

Always good writing reports and photos from you. Your retro comment of March 2020 had me thinking of that time. I stood on Grantham station in the late evening waiting for the last train to Peterborough.
Lockdown was to commence the next day, for allegedly 3 weeks only, and as I stood alone I knew the world had gone mad.
Does anyone a remember the R number? Not that I want to start a discussion on Kite’s thread. I bet it has been forgotten by the majority.

The world did go crazy, I remember how quiet it felt that Friday I scored my last GWR IET on a Didcot - Reading leap that even a 5 coach unit from Penzance on a Friday evening was lightly loaded. Pretty sure that was the day when Doris announced pubs & other places were to close that night, with a lot of food wastage due to the Sunday being Mother's Day.

Thankfully, it's all in the past, and hopefully nothing like it happens again in our lifetimes. On the bright side, due to the lockdown I started walking (to get out of the house) something I've continued since.

 

[Andy Pacer]

Always good writing reports and photos from you. Your retro comment of March 2020 had me thinking of that time. I stood on Grantham station in the late evening waiting for the last train to Peterborough.
Lockdown was to commence the next day, for allegedly 3 weeks only, and as I stood alone I knew the world had gone mad.
Does anyone a remember the R number? Not that I want to start a discussion on Kite’s thread. I bet it has been forgotten by the majority.

I was on an ALR that week and everywhere got steadily quieter and more eery as the days passed!

 

[87electric]

The world did go crazy, I remember how quiet it felt that Friday I scored my last GWR IET on a Didcot - Reading leap that even a 5 coach unit from Penzance on a Friday evening was lightly loaded. Pretty sure that was the day when Doris announced pubs & other places were to close that night, with a lot of food wastage due to the Sunday being Mother's Day.

Thankfully, it's all in the past, and hopefully nothing like it happens again in our lifetimes. On the bright side, due to the lockdown I started walking (to get out of the house) something I've continued since.

And I found I had a liking for nature walks and bird spotting.

 

[Kite159]

I was on an ALR that week and everywhere got steadily quieter and more eery as the days passed!

I remember being in Doncaster on the last weekend before things started closing down, back when the BLS were a bit less secretive when it came to where tours would be starting from. I took a chance with the Premier Inn in the town centre as it was ~ £75 for 2 nights (I guess these days you would be lucky to get it for £75 a night), although the Saturday tour didn't really appeal to me, the Sunday one did (although owing to timings I could only do it to Wakefield rather than staying on to Morecambe). It was a bit spooky on that Saturday where some trains were busy, others were quieter as I did a South Yorkshire Connect Plus Gold Travelmaster or whatever the PTE are calling it this month. So I can imagine how places got quieter as the week carried on (because at that point nobody really knew how bad Covid could have become)

 

[Kite159]

Trips in (Seemingly) Nonstop July

July was a busy month for me with both exploring, railtours & with work.

My first adventure of July was on the 2nd when I headed towards Leicestershire to continue my coverage mission of the Leicester arm of the Grand Union canal, catching a bus (the route LC4) from Market Harborough to Foxton village to pick up the main canal at Foxton locks for a sunny walk in rural Leicestershire to finish on the outskirts of Leicester at Glen Parva (with bus route 85 taken into the city centre and a speedy 222 back to London.

7 late shifts at work later, it was then onto a long hot weekend with The Thundering Positioning Move tour from West Ruislip to Ropley on the Mid Hants Railway (doing the connection from Platform 2 at Alton onto the heritage line). To reach West Ruislip I went via the WCML to sample my first 730/2 on a Tring semi-fast, although couldn’t really make any real judgement calls with the short journey within the oyster area (other than the tables being a bit on the small side). A trip on Chiltern took me to West Ruislip where I picked up the tour which was 50008 hauling the very warm 4TC set on a trip to Alton via Hounslow & Frimley. At Ropley I was one of many who headed to the road side to join a Winchester bound route 64 bus to the city centre where after a walk to the station saw some chaos due to a failed freight train, eventually reaching Basingstoke for a short connection onto a pair of Sprinters back home, for a much-needed shower to wash away the sweat.

50008 at West Ruislip by Kite, on Flickr

Crazy fools never learn as the Friday I made use of the “off-peak all day” on Avanti with an early start to London & Preston with the 07:30 Pendo. Thankfully I was in a coach where the AC was working. At Preston it was a short wait for a route 2 bus bound for Southport to Hesketh Bank, home of the West Lancs Light Railway. I picked up the Henry Alty Way, a route making use of an old freight branch line towards Tarleton where the Rufford Branch of the Leeds & Liverpool canal begins. Once away from the industrial area of boat yards the canal turned rural with an ever-changing towpath as I enjoyed the Lancashire countryside towards Rufford and then onwards to Burscough (with an unusual railway bridge where the canal going underneath the railway at a user worked farm crossing). I was glad to finish the canal and hit the AC goodness of the Tesco store at Burscough Bridge station for some cold liquids, before making my way back towards home with a 150/2 to Wigan Wallgate and the same Pendo I had earlier to London. I was happy as it meant I only had one more section of the Leeds & Liverpool canal to walk which I had pencilled in for later in the month for my holiday.

The 12th July was the day of The Tytherington Quarrier tour, one I was a bit sitting on the fence for booking, eventually only booking it due to the calls at Clapham Junction meaning I didn’t have to fork out for accommodation and my travel costs were minimal. A trip to London Waterloo in the morning followed by a gentle walk along the north bank of the Thames to reach Vauxhall, although I have no idea why I rushed so much due to the tour being 50-odd minutes late due to one coach needing to be removed due to a hot box. Eventually the tour rolled into Clapham, and my worse fears were confirmed as the AC had packed up in the coach I was assigned making for a quite uncomfortable journey (especially with the low-down seats with hardly any legroom).

60029 arriving at Clapham Junction by Kite, on Flickr

Things only got worse at Yate due to a points failure meaning the main objective of the day (the actual Tytherington branch) had to be cut, the tour only getting as far as the loop on the branch line, before heading towards Bristol Temple Meads where 60029 was replaced with 56103 & 56113, although I only could bear the train to Bath before I bailed for the comfort of a wedged out 2 coach 165 (as this was a day where GWR collapsed), all was good until Westbury where we got told to leave the train as it had been cancelled and with nothing else showing as heading towards Salisbury I headed towards Reading via Newbury to head home that way. Once home I had a much-needed shower and relaxed in a cool(ish) room. That tour has made up my mind about doing future railtours, especially if running with Mk2 coaches as the seats are just not suitable for people with long legs.

After another week at work, where thankfully the temperatures had dropped, it was another 3 day weekend, and another BLS tour, this time The Salt and Pepper Shaker involving the Hastings Diesel unit (where thankfully my request for a seat in the wider coach was fulfilled as the bench seats in the narrow coaches are not ideal, although from what I could gather it probably wouldn’t have been an issue due to low bookings). A wet start of the day as I headed to Willesden Junction to pick up the tour for the trip towards a wet Goole & the Glassworks branch line (passing the site of the new Siemens factory where they are building the new LU stock). The other freight line was the short sidings near Brayton but it was another one of those tours where after we boarded at Willesden Junction, there wasn’t any sort of break away from the train. Anyhow I bailed at Doncaster for an Azuma to Kings Cross and back home on a 5-coach sprinter (avoiding a single 158 on both the 19:50 & 20:50 services from Waterloo which wouldn’t have been comfortable).

Hastings Diesel Unit arriving into Willesden Junction by Kite, on Flickr

The wet weather continued into the Sunday with my planned walk being put back on the shelf as I headed into London and across to Euston for a Liverpool service (807003) which was meant to go via Northampton (for the novelty of an 80X via Northampton) but due to late running the engineering works had finished by the time the train reached Wolverton and it went via Weedon. I bailed at Crewe for required 197022 on a Cardiff bound train which was diverted via Wrexham (another train where it departed Crewe rather overcrowded), taking it to Hereford for a short visit to Morrisons before taking required 197024 back towards Shrewsbury (along with 197007). A large thunderstorm popped up in Shrewsbury as I took a pair of 158s to Wolverhampton before a time-wasting trip back towards Crewe, via Kidsgrove with a pair of voyagers followed by some 350s to bring me back to Wolverhampton for required 197027 to Birmingham New Street where the connection into a fast service towards Walsall was missed so it was onto 730047 on a Walsall stopping service to take me to Walsall where I was staying overnight in the Walsall Travelodge (for the first time in a good few years).

The weather on Monday (the 21st) was looking dry until afternoon when the rain would resume, so I parked my trip to Stratford Upon Avon to one side, and instead picked up my explore of the Wyrley and Essington Canal. After grabbing supplies from the Tesco it was a short walk along the B4210 to pick up the canal near a bus depot. This canal is quite curvy as it curved its way north skirting the edge of Bloxwich before entering countryside towards Pelsall Common. I took a little detour along the route of the former Norton Canes branch of the South Staffordshire Railway returning to the canal via the short Cannock Extension.

Start of the Cannock Extension Canal at Pelsall Junction by Kite, on Flickr

My walk along the Wyrley and Essington Canal resumed heading towards Brownhills, going underneath the route of the former railway (now turned cycle path), finishing my walk near Catshill Junction, and picking up a bus on route 937 to take me towards Birmingham City Centre via Aldridge & Perry Barr, quite an interesting route for a different view of the Birmingham area. At Birmingham I got lucky to catch a slightly late running Bournemouth bound service (even getting a seat!) to Basingstoke for a pair of 159s back home, watching the rain.

The 27th July marked the day of my 2 weeks summer annual leave period, a busy couple of weeks as I kicked things off with a trip towards Pembrey & Burry Port, featuring a crush loaded 2 coach 197 from Cardiff which bypassed Swansea by using the Landore curve. I had a gentle stroll along the route of the former canal (and old railway) before returning to the station via the coastal path. Pembrey Country park is somewhere I wouldn’t mind revisiting for a better explore at some point. Back at the station it was a trip back to Cardiff, to visit the rebuilt Cardiff Bay, getting another 756/0 into my book as well as another renumbered 153 (153531), staying overnight in the Travelodge near the station.

A later start than expected on the Monday, before I headed towards Waun-Gron Park to walk the Ely Trail, a path following the Ely River towards Penarth, before taking 756006 to Coryton & back to Heath for another short walk, this time via various parks in the Roath area. I managed to get another 153/5 into my book with a run towards Newbridge as it was on a Newport service, before heading back home via Reading.

153531 (AT03) at Cardiff Central by Kite, on Flickr

I wasn’t home for long as on the 29th July I departed for 3 nights away, the first 2 nights being in a shared house in Edge Hill, a place I used back in December 2023 so I knew what to expect. So heading towards Chester via Avanti to Crewe & a busy TfW service, saw me onto a 156 to Cuddington to walk the route of an old railway line towards Winsford before scoring a couple of 730/2s even if my original plan failed due to late running missing a connection.

The Wednesday was an early start as I headed towards Preston on a 397 before heading to Adlington on a pair of 323s to walk the final section of the Leeds & Liverpool canal, with some unexpected rain along the way towards Cherry Tree, skirting round the edge of Chorley and into some nice countryside. I made a connection at Cherry Tree onto a 150 to Blackburn for a short break before heading into Yorkshire & back towards Liverpool via Manchester Victoria & a 185. A busy 350 saw me heading to Crewe to tick off 730226 back to Liverpool before I headed to Wigan on a 323 via Earlestown (just to give me something to do). I returned to Edge Hill to relax for the rest of the night.

The Thursday, 31st July, I headed away from Liverpool to Crewe with a random trip towards Whitchurch on 153552 and a short walk involving an old railway line before returning to Crewe for The Creighton-Ward Explorer tour, a one-way trip to Derby behind 37307 towing a Pendo. Ticking off the curve linking the WCML & high-level lines at Lichfield Trent Valley and the track into Litchurch Lane for the Greatest Gathering preview day. I spent a good hour and a bit having a look around before the site closed and I headed to the station, jumping onto a 222 for Chesterfield with the idea of getting food & returning back out after checking into my hotel.

150122 departing Cherry Tree Station by Kite, on Flickr

This plan failed due to there being not a lot of options close to Chesterfield station, so I returned to the trains with another 222 taken to Sheffield (going via Barrow Hill) before heading back towards Derby on a 158 for the novelty factor of a 158 on the section of track between Chesterfield & Ambergate junction, a section of track which is normally “Intercity” only. My last train of July was another 222 back to Chesterfield where I had accommodation in the Premier Inn, for the time for a while, but for £42 it was one of the cheapest places going which was reasonably close to a station.

More photos from July can be found on my Flickr , sorry for the shorten version this month, I’m a bit behind with myself.

 

[Kite159]

August Annual Leave Madness (1st – 10th August)

1st August – Reaching Mile Post Zero on the Grand Union

When I went to bed on the Thursday in the Chesterfield Premier Inn I was stuck trying to pick between 3 options, either Long Eaton to Nottingham (along the Trent & Nottingham Canal), Langley Mill towards Long Eaton (along the Erewash Canal) or to head towards Leicester to walk towards Glen Parva with a mix of the Grand Central Way & Grand Union canal. My decision was made when I woke up and looked at the train times having just missed the hourly train to Langley Mill and a 45 minute wait for the next train to Long Eaton (changing at Derby from the fast Sheffield – London train wouldn’t have made much difference and to be honest I wanted to stay away from Derby due to the Greatest Gathering, considering some of the security contractors the previous evening shouted at a XC driver as he was behind the yellow line when he was checking the front of his train.

I checked out of the hotel, and headed to the station to jump onto a reasonably busy 222022 on a London train, with the train emptying out at Derby allowing a better seat for the nonstop run to Leicester where my walk began. Heading towards the city centre and Castle Gardens (passing the cathedral along the way) when the weather changed to be a bit damp (even forcing me to grab my coat out of my rucksack) before I picked up the Great Central Way, a path along the route of the former Great Central railway heading away from Bede Park towards the city suburbs & the Aylestone Meadows. Thankfully the rain didn't last for long and by the time I was crossing the canal my coat was off as I arrived at Glen Parva detouring the roads & an old road to reach the canal at Whetstone Lane, the point where I left it in July. I dropped down onto the towpath and entered some more rural Leicestershire as the canal took me back north towards Leicester, skirting round the edge of the Aylestone Meadows Nature Reserve before the ruralness gave way to urban life, going underneath the mothballed (?) Leicester - Burton freight line near the football stadium, the canal now being part of the River Soar (with weirs alongside the locks)

Grand Union Canal (Leicester Arm) in Leicester (12) by Kite, on Flickr]

I continued north passing Castle Gardens once more, reaching West Bridge where in my eyes the waterway changes from the Grand Union Canal to the Soar Navigation (based on the bridge numbers resetting and there being a zero mile marker post alongside the waterways). Although it's one of those things where some say the modern day Grand Union continues to a point to the north of the city where the River Soar comes back into the navigation. Anyhow I continued along the navigation towards Frog Island, my original exit point being blocked by housing construction. I headed along Groby Road towards Stokeswood Park to pick up the route of the former Leicester and Swannington Railway route back towards the city centre and the site of the former West Bridge Railway Station. Just one of those paths I saw on the map and decided to visit.

My main walk complete for the day and I headed back towards the station via the city centre, to pick up some supplies for the journey south and onto 222018 on a nonstop service to St Pancras, even getting lucky with a decent seat in coach D. The rain had returned when I reached London so it was onto 700118 to London Bridge & 465161 + 465035 to Waterloo East, having to exit via the fire escape at the country end subway (due to the main entrance being closed due to a gas leak). A short wait at Waterloo before I jumped onto 159008 & 159107 to take me home, to sort out my rucksack ready for the weekend.

Zero Mile Marker on the Grand Union Canal (Leicester Arm) in Leicester by Kite, on Flickr

2nd August – A Day Trip to West Midlands

A day out with mum, with an overdue visit to the West Midlands (after a couple previous attempts were put on ice due to hot weather), with the day starting with the 05:59 to Basingstoke (159014) before picking up 221134 for the long run to Birmingham New Street, being delayed at Reading due to the police needing to attend the train (I was glad I paid extra to go towards Coventry rather than towards Dorridge considering the connection onto Chiltern was missed).

After visiting Tim Hortons for breakfast, we headed towards Moor Street and onto 172214 & 172212 for the run to Stourbridge Junction and onto 139002 down the hill to Stourbridge Town where I had a change of plan and headed to the bus station to jump onto bus route 9 (with National Express bus 6939 on this busy route). We took this bus back towards Birmingham city centre (Colmore Row) going via Halesowen, Quinton & Bearwood, areas I have never been to before. After grabbing lunch we headed to the tram stop at Bull Street taking tram 21 to Edgaston Village (where I popped out to the Morrisons to make use of the toilet) before we took tram 52 all the way towards Wolverhampton Station. I was glad it was one of the newer batches as the seats are slightly more comfortable.

139002 at Stourbridge Town Station by Kite, on Flickr

At Wolverhampton station, we headed back to Birmingham New Street with 196104 before doing some shopping deciding to head back south an hour earlier than planned due to the city centre being manic and onto 221132 for the long trip to Basingstoke before heading back to Grateley with 158884 & 159017 getting lucky as the following service was caught up in some signalling issues and ended up being something like 25 minutes late.

Not the busiest of days for me, but after the week I had I needed a quieter day and it made mum happy as she got out of the house for the day.

3rd August – Gapping the Mole

Originally my idea for today was to head towards Luton to walk a path from Leagrave towards Dunstable & back towards Luton near the Busway but when my alarm clock rang, I decided to stay in bed a bit longer. I looked up various options, deciding to head towards Dorking as there was a 450 working on a Dorking service (for the novelty of having a 450 to Dorking rather than the more usual 455 (or 701).

I drove to Andover and onto a busy 159104, 159008 & 159003 to Waterloo where I made the connection onto 450041 & 450071 on the next Dorking service, it had been a while since I last came out this way and I felt it was a good day to walk the Mole Gap path, something I was planning to do a couple years ago when I walked the Thames Down Link but ditched it due to the warmth. I exited the station at Dorking where my walk began.

450071 at Dorking Station by Kite, on Flickr

The first section was along some roads to pick up a wooded footpath, before following a footpath which went via a Vineyard, crossing the North Downs Way on the outskirts of Westhumble before going into the village with some narrow footpaths (the sort of path you couldn't pass anybody on), reaching the roads and the station. The next section was across a field with the railway on my right hand side before crossing over the River Mole near the railway viaduct, moving away from the railway towards a farm track climbing up a steep path towards Norbury Park (the railway has an advantage of going through this hill via a tunnel!).

Some nice woodland in this area as I followed the path, keeping an eye on my OS Maps app to ensure I didn't go the wrong way as signage was a bit poor in places, eventually dropping down from the hill to go underneath the railway to follow a path alongside the river towards Leatherhead. I went underneath the railway lines (the route to Dorking & towards Guildford) to Leatherhead Common, picking up a footpath to finish with a walk along the road to the station. One of those walks I was glad to get it done but won't be rushing back to do.

Railway Viaduct over the River Mole, Leatherhead (Guildford Line) by Kite, on Flickr

I returned to the railway, and onto 455717 & 455714 from Guildford (I think) into Waterloo, part of me was tempted to jump off to try and intercept a winner 701 at Thames Ditton but I decided against it. At Waterloo I popped out to the Iceland near the station (which I had discovered is open most of the day on Sundays) before returning to the station and onto 159105, 159001 & 159022 on an Exeter service back to Andover. I drove home to sort my rucksack out ready for another little getaway for the 2nd week of my annual leave. I don’t rest!

4th August – August Winds

It was time for an overdue visit to the North East, as since my last visit the Tyne & Wear Metro has introduced some new trains and the North East is an area where I could probably easily spend a week exploring various disused railway paths. With my rucksack all packed I headed to Grateley station and into Waterloo on the 05:55 service (with 159107 & 158888), having a gentle stroll across to Kings Cross (getting in my miles just in case I couldn’t do anything in Newcastle with the weather). At Kings Cross it was onto 180114 working the next Grand Central service to Sunderland (because I wanted to make my good friend Dan jealous with a fast run on a 180 lol).

A busy train from Kings Cross, but it did empty out a little bit at Peterborough before 75% of the rear coach emptied out at York. I remained on board for the scenic (if a bit slow) run towards a place where the sun doesn’t shine, Sunderland (the station that is). I picked up my Nexus Day ticket (once I found the exit at Sunderland) and got lucky with winner 555028 on the next South Hylton service. Had the weather been a bit more agreeable I would have walked the old railway line path towards Washington, but instead headed towards Pallion along a cycle path, the rail popping up on a road section (I was originally planning to walk to Millifield but diverted towards a handy Iceland to pick up some fizzy pop).

555028 at South Hylton by Kite, on Flickr

Back to the metro and onto winner 555005 to Pelaw, where I noticed the line between Hebburn & South Shields was closed… There went a crazy idea to walk the tunnel from Jarrow to Howdon to get checked into my accommodation. A short wait at Pelaw before I boarded winner 555002 to take me all the way to Newcastle Airport (been a while since I last visited this part of the network for, I had forgotten how rural it gets in places). After visiting the toilets at the airport, I boarded 4085 & 4008 with the idea of taking these to South Gosforth but another 555 passed me as it was leaving the Airport so I bailed at Callerton Parkway for a short wait before winner 555009 on the next train.

My luck continued as the next coast bound train was 555011 which I took to Whitley Bay, where I headed to my accommodation (Pines Hotel, a small guest house around 5 minutes from the station), getting checked in, handing over my money (£35 a night in my eyes was a bargain for August time, especially for somewhere close to the Metro). I was toying with walking towards Newsham via the coastal path, but that idea went into the bin after getting blown around with a short section of coastal path near the beach, that wind was strong!

Beach at Whitley Bay (1) by Kite, on Flickr

I returned to the Metro, going via a handy Morrisons near Monkseaton and getting lucky with winner 777027 on the next service to St James, which I took to St James (to clear that short branch for 555 coverage). I exited from the system to walk back towards Monument, spending the next couple hours getting 555003, 008 & 015 into my little book, along with my last 2 active “MetroCars” (4017 & 4068) I needed for a mile, having missed out on another one which was an early scrapped and 4002. I decided on having another walk from Heworth towards Hebburn.

This walk took me towards the Tyne, dodging various fallen branches towards the Hebburn Riverside Park, one of those paths I had spotted when looking at Google Maps. At Hebburn I had just missed a departure (probably would have made it had I not stopped for a photo of an old church) but it wasn't long before 4044 & 4056 rolled in on the next departure, going from platform 1 to use the crossover to the south of the station (BLS hat time lol). I decided to call it a night as frequencies had started to drop and the early morning was catching up with me.

Metrocar 4044 at Hebburn Station by Kite, on Flickr

Back at Whitley Bay and to my guest house, where the bed was reasonably comfortable and there was hardly any outside noise, other than the noise of the wind gusts. I slept well, snore snore.

5th August – Not walking the Derwent Valley Railway Path

The Derwent Valley Railway path runs from the town of Consett towards the Tyne near Blaydon, the walk I had decided on for the Tuesday, a decision which didn't last... The day began with 555028 to Monument station and a walk to the Eldon Square Bus Station for a route X45 bus (Go North East's 6239) for a trip towards Consett via the shopping paradise known as the Metrocentre, Rowlands Gill & many other settlements along the way. My plan changed when I noticed the bus route crossed the railway line path in Blackhill, which in my mind at the time made more sense due to Consett having 4 old railway line paths.

I alighted from the bus at Blackhill, somehow completely missing the Tesco Express as I visited a Londis for some supplies before heading towards the crossroads where on seeing a sign saying "Durham 13 miles" I had a complete change of plan and instead of the Derwent Valley Path I would be focusing on the Lanchester Valley Railway Path. The first section was heading south from Blackhill towards Fawcett Park & Lydgett's Junction where the Waskerley Way path crosses overhead (Consett towards Stanhope/Rookhope, a path which looks to be beautiful if not a bit hilly).

Old Iron Wagon alongside the Waskerley Way at Lydgett's Junction (Consett) by Kite, on Flickr

I started with the Lanchester Valley Railway Path, a path which turned quite rural with some beautiful views of the Durham countryside with a short section near Knitsley where the route has been lost, but there is a well-marked detour which runs close to a road before picking up the route of the old railway for the run into Lanchester with some beautiful woodland and some more countryside as it reached Langley Park, a place I detoured to a handy Co-Op as I was getting hungry. After a late lunch I continued with the path as it skirted Bearpark (where sadly I didn't see any bears), running close to the ECML (where there used to be a junction) and to the Broompark Picnic Area where the old railway path continues, but as the Deerness Valley Railway Path towards Crook with another path which heads towards Bishop Auckland.

In theory I could have caught a bus into Durham city centre, but as it was only a mile and a half (and with the uneven train timetable, it would have made little difference as I would have probably been sitting at the station for 25 minutes. A case of following the A690 towards Nevilles Cross and a side-street, narrowly missing out on the golden shot of a train crossing the viaduct I headed up the hill to reach Durham station, getting lost trying to find the path to the northbound platform, before boarding a late running 802205 on the next Newcastle service & onto a busy 158853 on the next Ashington bound service to take me to Newsham station.

158853 departing Newsham Station by Kite, on Flickr

Not much around the station area, although I’m sure it will be nice when it’s all finished and landscaped, as I waited for 158853 to return to take me into Newcastle city centre. Part of me was tempted to bail at Manors, and I wish I had because when I went to the Metro platforms the next northbound train was showing as being in 18 minutes with delays. I strolled to Monument with the crazy idea of joining a St James service (4027/4024) as it would form the next train towards Whitley Bay…

Nope, those units went out of service and with security cracking down on some anti-social idiots whom were smoking at the bottom of the stairs, it caused a delay with the next service until one of those idiots left the station after he returned after getting evicted. Eventually he got the idea and left the train as 4056 & 4044 got some more extra miles (same pair as I had the night before, crazy that) to Monkseaton where I walked back to Whitley Bay via Morrisons, had it been a bit earlier I was tempted to visit Spoons for a hot dinner, but I needed some more drink.

An enjoyable walk in County Durham, if the other railway line paths in Consett are anything like the Lanchester Valley path, I will be in for a treat.

6th August – Valley of the Esk

I decided to have a quieter (ha!) day today with an early start to head towards Whitby as it had been a while since I had the delights of the Esk Valley line (late 2020 I believe). It was to Whitley Bay station for 4090 & 4049 to take me to Central Station where I managed to grab some breakfast before boarding 158853 on a limited stop Middlesborough service, settling down to enjoy the Durham Coast. At Middlesborough I had time to pop out of the station to visit a couple of shops for some supplies before joining a large group of passengers on platform 2 as 156423 & former Scottish 156496 rolled in from Whitby to form the next Whitby train. Fair play to Northern for running 4 coaches on this line due to the crowding (even if pretty much all of the stations it was local door only and the guard being unable to do any revenue, reminds me a bit like Scotrail with the Mallaig line when they run pairs of 156s as that’s local door only pretty much everywhere between Fort William & Mallaig.

Anyhow I took a seat in the former Scottish unit, going for an airline style seat due to the rubbish legroom at the tables, sitting back and relaxing for the next couple of hours looking out of the window at the scenery with the run into Whitby itself. I headed across to platform 2 to ask if there was space on the next North Yorkshire Moors Railway service, and on being told “oh yes” I took my seat behind 37688 for the run towards Grosmont (platform 2 at Whitby and connection into Grosmont platform 2 ‘ticked’ off).

37688 at Whitby by Kite, on Flickr

At Grosmont there was a set swap, so everybody heading towards Pickering swapping over to platform 3 for a service hauled by steam engine 80136 (choo choo!). When researching the timetable last night, I noticed there was references to a disused railway line path from Goathland towards Grosmont, so I decided it would be rude not to bail at Goathland (cue the Heartbeat theme song), and headed into the village centre (up a steep hill!) and picking up the route of the former railway which was changed to avoid the Beckhole Incline. An enjoyable 2 and a bit mile stroll along the route of the old railway coming in alongside the railway line near the depot with various locos on display. Even the climb up the large hill was worth it for the stunning view from the top.

I returned to Grosmont station with plenty of time to kill before jumping on 156471 & 156488 on the next Whitby service which I took to Ruswarp to undertake a walk which had been on my list for a while, a footpath which is between the railway & river towards Whitby, going underneath the Larpool viaduct (one of these days I will walk the disused railway line towards Scarborough, although most likely splitting it at Robin Hood Bay due to length). I headed into the town and to the bus stop for the next X93 service to Middlesborough… only for that service to end up being cancelled (I presume due to a lack of driver considering the bus was seemingly dumped at the stand, with door left open with nobody in sight).

Larpool Viaduct near Whitby by Kite, on Flickr

A large queue was building and with the buses to Middlesborough via Saltburn departing very much full & standing, the queue did halve when a Scarborough bus rocked up (which again departed pretty much full). Thankfully the next service arrived with bus 7401 (annoyingly with vinyl Poppies on the side which restricted viewing), even getting a decent seat with legroom for the speedy run towards Middleborough mostly following the A171 over the hills giving some beautiful scenery, before a run towards Middleborough town centre via the suburbs. A fast walk took me to the railway station to board the next Newcastle service in the hands of 156486 which I took to Sunderland, deciding I would head towards Pallion to finish the walk from Monday.

That plan didn’t last all of 3 minutes and instead of heading south, I was heading north with 555002 to Fellgate to begin a completely random walk Doing a loop in Hedworth Park before heading north following a path which ran close to the Calfclose Burn before a path close to the River Don in the Monkton area. Quite a nice area, far removed from the urban landscape at times. I continued with the path going underneath the A19, the Metro line and A185 towards the disused Jarrow Bridge over the Don with the river turning wider as I headed north towards Jarrow Slake before heading back west passing close to the fuel terminal storage tanks.

I joined the road for a short while before picking up a path towards the banks of the Tyne and to the southern portal of the Tyne Pedestrian Tunnel, taking the lift down and walking underneath the Tyne (somewhere you don't want to hear dripping) to the north bank at Howdon. A short walk followed towards the Metro station, finishing the day in darkness with 4035 & 4015 to Whitley Bay. Something else I can now tick from my oversized list.

Tyne Pedestrian & Cyclist Tunnel, Howdon Side by Kite, on Flickr

After leaving the station at Whitley Bay, I returned back to my accommodation to rest, getting my rucksack ready for the Thursday, being unsure what to do as it is quite hard to make a decision (and stick to it!)

7th August – Coastal Path to Blyth

I checked out of the guest house, somewhere I would use again if I was ever in Whitley Bay (which seems likely considering all the old railway lines to explore as well as more Tyne & Wear Metro stock entering service), still being undecided as I headed towards the town centre area to pick up some breakfast. After breakfast I decided to do a walk, I was toying with doing back in 2023 when I took a bus to Blyth (only to walk some old railway lines instead), which was the coastal path considering it wasn’t windy this morning.

So, I headed towards the beach near the Premier Inn (I dread to think how much they would have wanted to stay for 3 nights in August!), picking up the path which followed the beach heading away from Whitley Bay towards Brierdene and St Mary's Lighthouse. The path has been diverted inland a couple of times due to erosion of the cliffs. After the Lighthouse I headed towards Hartley & Seaton Sluice before following the path near the beach towards Blyth.

St Mary’s Lighthouse, Whitley Bay (2) by Kite, on Flickr

My coastal adventure ended at the South Beach, doubling back to visit a Co-Op before following another path to end up at Newsham station, resting before boarding 158849 on a Newcastle bound service. I hung around Newcastle for a short while before boarding 801219 on a semi-fast service from Edinburgh (the next fast was from Inverness so I didn't fancy my chances in the half of coach C lottery as LNER don't like turn up and go passengers, even those with tickets from Blaydon).

Thankfully I got a decent seat in coach C and relaxed for the long journey to London, where I had time to stroll towards Waterloo for 159016 & 159020 on a service to take me to Grateley to finish my little North Eastern adventure, with a little red pen day in London on the Friday (scoring 4 more 720s, 2 more 730s & 3 more 701s along with some more Central Line & DLR units for a mile.

9th August – Stratford Canal

Time to do a walk I was planning to do in July but changed due to the weather forecast, the last two sections of the Stratford Upon Avon canal. The day starting with the 05:59 towards Basingstoke (with 159012 & 158882) and a trip to Leamington Spa on 221121. I had time to pop out of the station to the nearby Morrisons for some supplies before returning to take 165023 on the Chiltern service to Stratford Upon Avon where the first walk began as I headed away from the station along Western Road to pick up the canal near the Premier Inn, at a spot I left it back in 2021 when I walked towards Honeybourne. It was only a short distance along the canal before I reached Bancorft Basin and the entrance lock onto the River Avon. I crossed the Avon on the old Tramroad bridge before walking south along the route of the old Stratford and Moreton Tramway towards the Rosebird roundabout. Next was a stroll on a footpath running close to the Seven Meadows Road, taking me towards the Avon where I headed north back towards the Tramway bridge.

After crossing over the river again, I headed back towards the station swinging via Tesco to grab some lunch and onto 172211 & 172337 with the next departure towards Birmingham via Whitlock's End. I took these units to Shirley where the second walk began. I headed away from the station towards the Shirley Drawbridge to join the canal, skirting around the edge of Major's Green and underneath the railway.

172337 departing Shirley Station by Kite, on Flickr

After the railway bridge, I continued along the towpath skirting the edge of Dickens Heath. Quite a busy towpath this and quite beautiful with woodlands. After leaving the urban area of Dickens Heath the canal turned rural (although still with a reasonable towpath) as it headed towards the noise of the M42 and running close to a minor road towards Hockley Heath. After Hockley Heath the canal reached Lapworth and the Lapworth lock flight, until I reached Mill Lane, which is the point I joined the canal back in June with Jules, allowing me to say Stratford Upon Avon canal, tick. One of these days I will need to get myself a map of the canals (and other inland waterways) for the UK to start colouring in my various canal (and other inland waterways) coverage.

Anyhow with the canal finished, I decided to head to Lapworth station via the roads and onto 168326 & 168108 on a busy service from London to take me into Moor Street where I crossed over to New Street and onto 196107 on a Shrewsbury 'semi-fast' service, just one of those things I wanted to do since they were introduced. The reason to heading to Shrewsbury wasn't to see some 37s on a charter but to intercept a required 197 which was on a Manchester train, however due to a farce involving the charter blocking platform 4 (which is the only platform a train from Craven Arms heading towards Crewe can use due to the signalling), I wasn't quite on the ball when the 197s rolled in unannounced on platform 6 before departing back towards the signal box only to pass through the station on the centre line (only to end up getting caught behind a busy 158 on the stopper as some of the signal sections were quite long).

197027 passing Shrewsbury Station by Kite, on Flickr

I was expecting TfW to do something random like a unit swap at Shrewsbury and sending the pair of 197s which had rolled into platform 7 on a Birmingham service to Manchester with the pair from Cardiff being sent to Birmingham, but alas 197033 escaped me (again!), one of these days I will be able to hopefully intercept it considering it was inactive for a while. All wasn't lost though as I took a seat on 197046 & 197016 back to New Street to clear Shrewsbury - Wolverhampton for 197 coverage, which I believe only leaves the Maesteg branch for routes which currently sees 197 working.

After popping into the chaos of Birmingham city centre on a Saturday afternoon, it was onto 221121 for the run to Basingstoke (making a bee-line for coach B) and back to Grateley on a busy 159006.

The Sunday was spent in London with mum doing some bus routes and getting a couple more 701s into my book, a quiet day in preparation for the return to work and the chaos of the emergency timetable west of Salisbury. Anyhow as always more photos can be found on my Flickr Here, thanks for reading.

 

[Kite159]

August Exploring (Part 2)

19th August – Making a start with the Soar Navigation

The Soar Navigation is a continuation of the Leicester Arm of the Grand Union Canal, running from Leicester to the River Trent near Long Eaton, I decided today would be a good day to make a start as I split the route into 3 sections (although in theory it can be done in 2 sections, all be with one longer walk). The day started with 159108, 159006 & 159021 to take me to Waterloo, where unusually I walked to Elephant & Castle to take 700019 to St Pancras (mixing things up compared to walking to St Pancras direct).

At St Pancras, I went upstairs to board 222015 on the 10:05 service to Nottingham to take me to Leicester, stepping back to board 170509 on the stopping service towards Lincoln for the 9 and a half mile run to Barrow Upon Soar, probably the first time in a fair few years I’ve called at those stations. My walk began with a detour towards a handy Co-Op before picking up the Navigation at a road bridge.

170509 departing Barrow Upon Soar Station by Kite, on Flickr

This section was one of the canal sections of the navigation (creating a short-cut as the river heads towards Quorn). As a result, there were quite a few boats moored up along this section as I skirted round the edge of Barrow Upon Soar, re-joining the river at a marina and left the decent quality towpath behind for a bumpy field, keeping the river on my left-hand side as I followed the path with multiple gates (not a path you could cycle along by any means). I headed underneath the A6 heading towards the northern end of Mountsorrel, going underneath an old railway bridge as well as the A6 again.

I passed Sileby Marina before the path turned very rural heading in a generally southern direction (picking the path with the river on my left-hand side, as it seems there are path options on both sides of the river here), coming close to the A6 near Rothley. The Navigation leaves the Soar near Cossington Lock and follows the route of the River Wreake, the towpath improving near Junction Lock where a cycle path joins. I continued along the path, as the Wreake river branches away and navigation heads south with the A46 close by (the Leicester Western Bypass).

Former Mountsorrel Railway viaduct over the Soar Navigation in Mountsorrel (1) by Kite, on Flickr

The towpath switched sides as I entered the Watermead Country Park, as the cycle path headed away from the towpath (giving me an idea for a future walk from Syston station to explore the various lakes in this large country park). I followed the canal heading towards Leicester city centre, the river Soar re-joining the route which was now quite busy (it was a sunny day during the school holidays after-all). I followed the course of the river, although at times I couldn't see it due to the trees (or private moorings), reaching Birstall. After a brief pause for some food, I continued with the river on my right-hand side, the path becoming a bit overgrown for a short section (I presume most people & cyclists use a more modern bridge underneath the Thurcaston Road Bridge)

I continued with the river on my right-hand side, heading towards the city centre, leaving the river for a short section at the Belgrave Meadows (looked like the path has been lost to erosion), although in hindside I ought to have switched sides at Thurcaston Road Bridge as the path that side looked better. I was soon back alongside the river as it reached a junction near Swans Nest Footbridge with the scenery now turning quite industrial, both good & disused on another lengthy canal section skirting round the southern edge of Abbey Park before I reached North Lock which is the point I left the Navigation earlier in the month.

All that was left was to head towards the station via the city centre area, pausing for some dinner items before boarding 222020 for the fast run towards St Pancras, switching to Thameslink with 700021 to Blackfriars for a short walk to Waterloo to finish the day with 158885 & 159101, back home to relax ready for the week ahead. A good first section of the Soar Navigation complete, mix between the rural, urban & industrial with a changeable towpath.

River Wreake (Between Rothley & Syston) (part of the Soar Navigation) by Kite, on Flickr

26th August – Return to the Soar & Beeston

Originally for these days off, I had booked accommodation in Shrewsbury with the idea to do some exploring around Shropshire, but due to the poor weather forecast I decided to ditch that plan and switch to some day trips.

The Tuesday after the bank holiday weekend, and after looking at various options I decided on doing a couple of shorter walks, the day starting with 159007, 159022 & 159005 to Waterloo, and a gentle stroll to St Pancras to board 222018 on the 10:05 to Nottingham to take me to Loughborough to start the first walk, heading towards the Soar Navigation close to Loughborough station, heading with the canal on my right hand side in the sunshine, passing some industrial buildings and going underneath the currently disused Great Central railway bridge (which hopefully will eventually bridge the gap to connect the two sections once more). I left the Loughborough area with the towpath turning rural, running close to the railway at a couple of places before the River Soar re-joined the Navigation with a large weir & flood locks (complete with "Do Not Proceed when red light flashing" warning boards)

Soar Navigation between Loughborough & Barrow Upon Soar (16) by Kite, on Flickr

The last mile (or so) was alongside the river as it headed to Barrow Upon Soar reaching the road bridge where I started my walk last week (although this is where I missed a trick in not heading towards Quorn on a mixed used path to return along a footpath close to the river doing a little loop). Anyhow I headed to the station (with no seats or anything on the Loughborough bound platform) and took 170270 to Beeston for the 2nd of today's walks. Beeston is a station which has certainly changed since I was last here with new lifts and removal of stairs, not a station where you want to have a tight connection by any means.

I headed away from Beeston station, passing a B&B I used back in June 2016 when I was in this area doing the stations, and headed towards the Nottingham & Beeston Canal, and the junction with the canal with the River Trent. There are two paths here towards the city centre, one alongside the river & the other alongside the canal (the walk along the Trent from the Long Eaton area is on my list of things to try and do this year if I get round to it).

222104 passing Barrow upon Soar Station by Kite, on Flickr

The towpath in comparison to the earlier walk was a lot smoother, although the first section I was high above the canal due to private moorings but soon the urban area of Beeston was gone, replaced with some industrial area but this was a lot better than I was expecting from an urban canal in terms of being peaceful as it headed towards the railway bridge (Nottingham - Beeston) & the A52. I headed underneath the tramway & also the railway bridge near Lenton North junction passing an marina and the final section near the old wharf (complete with old British Waterways branded warehouse), finishing my walk at the point where I joined the canal back in September 2022 when I did a time-wasting loop towards the Trent. An enjoyable stroll in the sunshine as I headed to the station, turning down a 5 coach 222 on a semi-fast service (as in my experience it is better to board those trains with plenty of time to get a decent seat), although I didn’t know it at the time there had been an incident near Market Harborough meaning the next couple of departures towards St Pancras were cancelled.

Nottingham & Beeston Canal in Notingham (3) by Kite, on Flickr

With Plan B in my head, I headed towards 170417 working the Skegness service for the slow trip to Grantham, it might only be 22 and a bit miles but it feels so much longer due to the multiple stops this 170 makes (I think everything other than ELO). However, I got lucky at Grantham with a late running LNER service pulling in alongside the 170, allowing me a quick dash across the footbridge onto 801220 as the doors were closing (and before the masses made it across). A nice nonstop run to Kings Cross, arriving into the rain as I headed across to St Pancras for 700008 to London Bridge (on a late running Rainham train I recall) and 707022 & 707030 to Waterloo East, changing to 159107, 159101 & 159020 on a SWR service to take me back to Grateley.

Former British Waterways Warehouse overlooking the Nottingham & Beeston Canal in Nottingham by Kite, on Flickr

An enjoyable day in the East Midlands, two completely different walks, one step closer to finishing the Soar Navigation and a long-term canal aim complete.

28th August – Medway Exploring in Rural Kent

After the wet Wednesday was spent in London, hunting down various units (getting a couple more 701s into my book as well as another 730/2 & my last 807, I looked up options for the Thursday which was suggesting Maidstone/Tonbridge would be mostly dry with some showers, allowing me to dig out a plan which I had on my list of things for a while, to finish a couple of gaps on the River Medway in Kent, a river I had started back in March 2022 when revisiting stations for photos. The only downside of doing it this week is that the Medway Valley had been cut to hourly for some unknown reason

The day began with 159006, 159008 & 159017 to Waterloo, where I had some time to kill before making my way across to Waterloo East for 377512 & 377510 on a Maidstone East semi-fast service from Charing Cross, taking me to Maidstone East where the first of my walks began. I headed away from Maidstone East along the path leading towards Maidstone Barracks, but before crossing the Medway I took the stairs down to the path running north with the river on my left hand side (a path which doesn't exist on Google Maps). Quite nice with trees as it headed away from Maidstone town centre, passing various boat yards, heading towards Allington Lock which marks the start of the tidal river (site of a Premier Inn). After a couple photos of the lock, I continued going underneath the M20 towards the Forstal area of Aylesford, where the path alongside the river is currently closed forcing a detour onto the road passing various industrial units before I reached Aylesford itself.

River Medway between Maidstone (town centre) & Allington Lock (8) by Kite, on Flickr

Crossing over the Medway on the old Aylesford bridge I picked up a footpath which ran alongside the south bank of the river towards the area the station is located, getting extremely lucky crossing over the railway at a level crossing as it started to active as soon as I reached the opposite side, with the final section to the station itself, boarding a busy 375304 to take me to Beltring where the second walk would begin (after having lunch along the way).

Leaving the remote station of Beltring, I followed Torbay Road (a dead-end road) towards the A228 at East Peckham services to pick up the Medway path at the road bridge. The first section was close to an outdoor activities place for kids but soon as I left the noise of the kids playing it went very quiet & very rural as I headed in a general western direction on a path which doesn't exist on Google Maps and even looking at Google Maps shouts out how rural it is (says something when I went to label the photos I did it Lock to Lock to break up the walk).

I needed to pause for a while near one of the locks as there was a heavy downpour, one of those downpours which lasted a couple of minutes, but I was thankful to be under a tree. Once the downpour finished, I continued, going underneath Hartlake Road bridge (the only road bridge between East Peckham & Tonbridge). An enjoyable walk for the isolation in rural Kent, but all good things come to an end as I reached Tonbridge with the final section towards the Town Bridge and finishing at Tonbridge station, just as the rain resumed. There is another short section from Tonbridge towards Leigh which looks interesting (marked on Open Street Maps as "Tudor Trail" & the OS Map as "Eden Valley Walk" which could be interesting for next year.

River Medway at Eldridge Lock (2) by Kite, on Flickr

Anyhow back to the trains and the next departure for London Charing Cross was a reasonably busy 375614 & 375908 from Hastings which was unusually (?) using platform 1 at Tonbridge, taking me to Waterloo East where I had a short walk across to Waterloo to take 159105, 159107 & 159018 back to Grateley to finish the day and finish the month for my exploring.

As always, more photos can be found on my Flickr Here, thanks for reading my random tales of exploring random inland navigations, Hoshi ga Matataku Konna Yoru ni.

 

[Purple Train]

A very pleasant report, thanks for that I confess I'm cowardly enough to usually avoid canal towpaths in case I fall in, but you may have a convert as these look stunning! Medway Valley is on my list too, but I've never actually got round to doing Kent.

 

[ChrisC]

I can definitely recommend the walk along the Trent from Long Eaton towards Nottingham. After leaving Long Eaton Station, once you join the path down the side of the canal towards Trent Lock, it is very rural all the way to Beeston Lock. The section alongside the Attenborough Nature Reserve is a lovely walk. It is all very well surfaced and rarely gets muddy as long sections have a hard surface. It’s a walk I do occasionally in winter if the footpaths out in the Nottinghamshire countryside get too muddy. The last section from Beeston Lock into Nottingham is the least interesting part although if continue as far as Trent Bridge the walk along the Trent Embankment is very pleasant.

 

[Kite159]

I can definitely recommend the walk along the Trent from Long Eaton towards Nottingham. After leaving Long Eaton Station, once you join the path down the side of the canal towards Trent Lock, it is very rural all the way to Beeston Lock. The section alongside the Attenborough Nature Reserve is a lovely walk. It is all very well surfaced and rarely gets muddy as long sections have a hard surface. It’s a walk I do occasionally in winter if the footpaths out in the Nottinghamshire countryside get too muddy. The last section from Beeston Lock into Nottingham is the least interesting part although if continue as far as Trent Bridge the walk along the Trent Embankment is very pleasant.

Ta, I might do it in a few weeks time, weather permitting. I've done Long Eaton station area towards the Trent last year when walking along the Trent & Mersey canal, also the Erewash/Cromford Canals are on my list for that general area. Both I believe have reasonable towpaths which would allow use during the winter months.

 

[ChrisC]

Ta, I might do it in a few weeks time, weather permitting. I've done Long Eaton station area towards the Trent last year when walking along the Trent & Mersey canal, also the Erewash/Cromford Canals are on my list for that general area. Both I believe have reasonable towpaths which would allow use during the winter months.

The walk up the towpath of the Erewash Canal, north from Long Eaton past Ilkeston to Langley Mill is well worth doing, if you have never walked it. Well worth doing if only to take a short detour to walk across the Bennerley Viaduct near Ilkeston. The Nutbrook Trail which leaves the Erewash Canal about a mile north of Sandiacre is also a nice walk right up through Shipley Country Park to Heanor but there’s not much left of the Nutbrook Canal to see.

The Cromford Canal is a beautiful walk down the Derwent Valley from Cromford down to Ambergate and again well surfaced. Much of the rest of it is difficult to trace the route where it ran. There’s a nice and interesting section to the east of the Midland Railway Centre around Ironville and Jacksdale especially near Codnor Park Reservoir. South of Jacksdale towards Langley Mill it can can get extremely muddy and even boggy in places after wet weather, and the disused route of the canal the further south you get is not easy to trace.

They are all walks which are within 30 minutes drive from home for me but can take me so long to reach by public transport.

 

[Kite159]

The walk up the towpath of the Erewash Canal, north from Long Eaton past Ilkeston to Langley Mill is well worth doing, if you have never walked it. Well worth doing if only to take a short detour to walk across the Bennerley Viaduct near Ilkeston. The Nutbrook Trail which leaves the Erewash Canal about a mile north of Sandiacre is also a nice walk right up through Shipley Country Park to Heanor but there’s not much left of the Nutbrook Canal to see.

The Cromford Canal is a beautiful walk down the Derwent Valley from Cromford down to Ambergate and again well surfaced. Much of the rest of it is difficult to trace the route where it ran. There’s a nice and interesting section to the east of the Midland Railway Centre around Ironville and Jacksdale especially near Codnor Park Reservoir. South of Jacksdale towards Langley Mill it can can get extremely muddy and even boggy in places after wet weather, and the disused route of the canal the further south you get is not easy to trace.

They are all walks which are within 30 minutes drive from home for me but can take me so long to reach by public transport.

I will probably leave the disused section between Ambergate & Langley Mill until the spring/summer time when it won't be muddy/boggy.

The wider area around Nottingham has a lot of old railway line paths, although has the path from Radcliffe towards the Cotgrave Country park reopened yet (old railway line)?

 

[eastwestdivide]

+1 for the Bennerley Viaduct. Easy walk from Ilkeston, where there's a cafe in an antiques centre by the railway

 

[ChrisC]

I will probably leave the disused section between Ambergate & Langley Mill until the spring/summer time when it won't be muddy/boggy.

The wider area around Nottingham has a lot of old railway line paths, although has the path from Radcliffe towards the Cotgrave Country park reopened yet (old railway line)?

The path from Radcliffe to Cotgrave is still closed and could be for some time. It seems to be quite a complex situation to sort out. To give them credit the former Conservative Nottinghamshire County Council were trying to sort this out, although cutting corners with minimal expense, but now Nottinghamshire is a Reform controlled council I’m not sure that they are in any hurry to spend money on this. There are legal matters to sort out concerning the landowner who did the damage to the embankment.

There are indeed many old railway paths not too far from Nottingham, especially north of the city towards Mansfield and over the border into the ex coal mining areas of Derbyshire.
Old Railway paths I can recommend are The Southwell Trail between Bilsthorpe and Southwell and also from Bilsthorpe in the other direction towards Clipstone and down towards Rainworth and Blidworth, all near Mansfield.
The large network of trails just to the north of Sutton in Ashfield around Teversal, Skegby and Pleasley.
The Linby Trail just to the north of Hucknall. This is only around 2 miles long but linked with the walk through Newstead Abbey Grounds and back through Papplewick can make a good circular walk from Hucknall Station.
The Five Pits Trail from Tibshelf, west of Sutton in Ashfield up towards Chesterfield, makes a lovely walk.

 

[Kite159]

Thanks for the various ideas Chris, lots to research for future explores in terms of access points, transport & distances.

4 – 7th September – A Long weekend based at Crewe

My original idea for this weekend was to head to Scotland, but when there was a new railtour announced for the North West, I swapped my accommodation to Crewe. Whereas the railtour didn’t quite float my boat I decided to keep the booking in Crewe & cancel Scotland. Unlike previous trips based in Crewe I did have a rough idea what I wanted to do on the Friday & Saturday, the Sunday was a bit more up in the air, as was the Thursday.

4th September – A return to the Cumbria Coast

The weather was looking a bit ropey so I decided to break out a wet weather option to heading back to the Cumbrian Coast for the first time in a while, made more interesting with the recent extension of 195s to Corkickle due to the tunnel between Corkickle & Whitehaven being closed. The day started with 159019, 159015 & 159017 for the run to Waterloo where I had my usual stroll to Euston, however not being quick enough to make the 09:30 Glasgow service, instead I had the option of taking the 09:39 Blackpool train to Preston for a fester or waiting round for the 10:30 service to Glasgow. I decided to jump onto a very quiet 390013, one of the few times I didn’t go straight to coach C as there were plenty of available seats in the other coaches.

The train hit quite a heavy band of rain in Staffordshire (to the point where it started to leak inside the train at the vestibules), but I got lucky as the Edinburgh bound train which was meant to be in front of this Pendo was behind it, so I stepped back at Wigan North Western (for it’s a nicer place to wait than Preston with it’s endless platform alternations) and took 390148 to Lancaster where I headed out of the station to grab some food. A good thing I took that Blackpool train as the following Glasgow service was running 20-odd minutes late and would have missed the connection at Lancaster!

90014 passing Wigan North Western by Kite, on Flickr

I made my way across to platform 1 to board 195124 on the Corkickle service, which was strange to hear a 195 announce, considering until recently they only had a token service to Millom for workings beyond Barrow in Furness, the coastal route between Barrow & Carlisle being solid 156 otherwise (gone the days of the Northern Random Unit Generator which saw a mix of 156s, 153s, 142s and even the Loco Hauled stock). I relaxed in the front coach for the run to Cumbria, looking out of the window, picking up ideas for future walks (Kents Bank to Grange Over Sands etc), a few hours later the unit arrived at Corkickle where it turned back near enough straight away due to delays. Part of me was tempted to step back at Sellafield to walk the coastal path towards Seascale but I decided against it due to the late running and that it would have been a tad tight (and I wouldn’t have been able to take my time and get photos of the water).

All was going well as I came up with a rough idea to get a required 730 into my book, that was until the train arrived at Barrow in Furness where it randomly terminated due to a “Train Fault”, not like we were told it was getting cancelled as we were asked to leave the train so it could be “reset”, the next thing we knew the train was heading to the sidings with a large crowd on the platform. Would have been nice for the station staff to announce something over the PA to say sorry about the delay etc, but I guess that would have been putting the customer first.

195124 at Corkickle by Kite, on Flickr

45 minutes later 195118 rolled in from Corkickle, thankfully continuing towards Lancaster, I noticed on RTT there was a potential +15 at Carnforth onto a train from Leeds, giving me time to pop to the Co-Op at Carnforth (rather than the longer walk to either Tesco or Sainsburys at Lancaster). On return to the station, I took 158755 for the short trip to Lancaster, waiting 20-odd minutes before 390121 rolled in on a London Euston service which kindly was calling at Crewe, rather than running nonstop after Warrington (connects into a Crewe – London via Birmingham service). At Crewe I had a short wait to the shared house accommodation, same room as always, basic but functional and reasonably quiet (and cheap considering how much accommodation can be in Crewe these days seeing as a few of the shared houses no longer exist).

5th September - Caldon Canal

The Caldon Canal is a short canal which runs from the Trent & Mersey Canal in Stoke to Leek & Froghall, part I walked back in December last year when doing the old railway line from Congleton and has been on my list. Leek itself is easy to reach by bus (3 buses an hour from Hanley Bus Station plus other routes), with a few access points along the way, the hardest part was the Froghall end. Whereas there is a semi-regular bus service to the nearby Kingsley Holt, the walk to the wharf area didn't look the nicest (either along the A52 or the A521). Froghall itself (with a station on the Churnet Valley Railway) only gets a few buses each way a day, taking some research into the best way to reach the place. I came up with an idea so I headed away from the accommodation to Crewe station, boarding 350261 for the run to Stoke on Trent, making my way to the bus stop outside the station to jump on a route 25 bus (First Bus 35687) to Hanley Bus Station, purchasing a "Knot" Ticket, £7 for all day travel on buses within Stoke & Staffordshire isn't a bad price, considering I would be looking at potentially £9 for the buses without it.

At Hanley I headed towards a large Tesco to grab some supplies for lunch before taking the D&G operated route 16 to Leek (Bus 169), going via Bucknall, Werrington & Cheddleton to reach Leek, where I had just over an hour before the next bus so I headed for a little explore, heading towards Brough Park (which was a nice little park). Back at the bus station, making use of the toilets (a motto of mine is to try and use the toilets when provided as you never know the next time you will have access). It was onto an unbranded former Preston Bus Solo, PO56 ROU for my first experience of Aimee's Buses on the route 30 to Upper Tean (via Cheadle). Heading out of Leek along the A523 it didn't go the booked route via Ipstones due to a road closure, instead going via Whiston and the curvy A52. Some beautiful views from the bus mind, especially with the ruralness of the Staffordshire Moorlands.

Brough Park, Leek (4) by Kite, on Flickr

I was the only person to leave the bus near Froghall Wharf with a short section of a minor road towards the actual wharf (alongside Hetty's Tea Shop), this is near the area where the former Uttoxeter Canal joined with the Caldon Canal, the only bit remaining is a small (and empty) marina beyond a lock. I picked up the towpath running alongside the canal reaching the very low Froghall Tunnel forcing a little detour over a small hill towards the closed B5053 road and onto the canal the opposite side of the tunnel.

Leaving the former industrial area of Froghall behind the canal soon turned rural with some beautiful woodland and a reasonable quality towpath, soon the railway line came alongside the canal with the southbound platform of Consall counter-levelled over the canal itself. I crossed underneath the canal as it ran into the River Churnet. This section in terms of the path quality was the worse for mud and I was glad when I reached Oakmeadowford Lock where the canal resumed, although would be nice for a photograph of a passing steam train in a couple of places.

Caldon Canal at Consall Station by Kite, on Flickr

I continued along the towpath, the surface quality being a bit changeable in places, but nothing major in terms of mud or thistles, as the ruralness continued with the walk towards Cheddleton with a nice view of the railway depot, before reaching built up area, completed with some industrial units before reaching the former Flint Mill and ruralness returned with the walk towards Wall Grange and the mothballed railway route between Stoke & Leek (which looking at the map suggested it was possible to walk along the route in a couple of places). The canal now headed west, going underneath the Hazelhurst Aqueduct (which carries the Leek branch) and rising with some locks as I reached Hazelhurst Junction where the Leek branch joins up with the "Main arm".

I turned off the main arm of the canal onto the Leek branch, near enough double backing on myself for the first section crossing the canal on the aqueduct & also the route of the former railway as this branch turned quite woodland (with a decent towpath). I continued along the Leek branch reaching Leek tunnel with a steep hill for the towpath to go up and over the hill. The last section of the canal was towards the current terminus, the section into Leek itself being lost to modern developments

Hazlehurst Junction on the Caldon Canal (2) by Kite, on Flickr

Part of me was tempted to continue my walk along the route of the Canal Feeder which leads towards the Rudyard Lake, but I decided that could wait for another day (as there is also an old railway line path in that area), and I ended the walk with a stroll along the main road towards Morrisons (which was built on the site of the former Leek Station), picking up the First run route 18 bus (with fleet 63178) for the trip back towards Hanley Bus Station going via Endon & Sneyd Green, following the route of the A53, a busy bus route this, made even busier as it was school kicking out time in Endon. At Hanley bus station, I decided to have a little stroll towards Stoke on Trent station as I wanted another explore of the Hanley Park, and to waste some time.

Back onto the trains and it was onto a late running 221125 on a XC service to Stafford, picking up winner 730215 for the run to Wolverhampton, annoyingly the service following 30 minutes later was also a required 730 but it was running late enough to risk the connection at Birmingham New Street onto a particular Crewe service, so I gave up and took 221114 into Birmingham New Street. Although the 730 did make up some of the lost time and would have easily made the connection onto a slightly late running 807006 on a very quiet Crewe service, which is booked to go via Bescot & have a 15-minute dwell at Wolverhampton. After Wolverhampton it heads to Crewe, going via Stoke on Trent for the novelty of having an 807 via Stone. At Crewe I headed back to my accommodation to relax for the rest of the evening. An enjoyable walk along the Caldon Canal.

6th September - Shropshire Union Canal, the Return to Woodseaves

Back in May 2024, a distant world away, I attempted to walk the Shropshire Union Canal between Market Drayton & Gnosall, only to hit on a landslip a couple of miles south of Market Drayton in the Woodseaves cutting (forcing a U-turn and a longer walk to Nantwich). I’ve been keeping my eye on the Canal & River Trust website for any news on when the towpath will reopen and around June time it disappeared from the website and after querying, it was confirmed the towpath had been reopened. I hence booked a trip to Shrewsbury (in late August, which I ended up cancelling due to severe weather) so today was a recovery of a recovery walk. My original idea was to head towards the East Midlands but that could wait.

I delayed my departure from the shared house an hour, solely to score 197036 running with 197111 on a Shrewsbury terminator (engineering works towards Hereford & Newport), giving me time to grab some supplies in Shrewsbury town centre before making my way to the bus station to board the Arriva run route 64 bus to Market Drayton (hourly to Market Drayton and 2 hourly beyond to Hanley). Bus 3693 took me away from Shrewsbury serving such Shropshire places like Harlescott, Shawbury, Hodnet & Tern Hill Barracks before terminating at the small bus station at Market Drayton.

My walk began as I made my way towards the canal at the eastern side of the town, picking up the path heading towards Tyrley Locks, reaching the point where I had to turnback last year within the Woodseaves cutting. Yes, the landslip had been cleared with the towpath reopened, but it was very narrow passing it. I can see why this cutting gets a mention in my inland navigation guidebook as being impassable during the winter months as it was already quite muddy in places. I was glad when I reached the end of the cutting and the towpath turned back to being not so muddy.

Shropshire Union Canal between Tyrley Locks & Goldstone Wharf (11) by Kite, on Flickr

I continued my walk, in rural Shropshire, very peaceful at times as the canal made its way curving at times, passing a factory near Knighton which was a good place to pause for lunch. After lunch I continued along the towpath passing into Staffordshire (not like I could tell anything on the ground), passing groups of fishermen and the High Bridge carrying the A519 (and a telegram pole) with the towpath being very changeable from the good, to average and a couple times quite rough (mainly within cuttings, all due to the recent rain).

I reached Norbury Junction where the former Shrewsbury & Newport Canal joined up with the Shropshire Union, the first section being used for private moorings (reminds me of the Somerset Coal Canal), I continued for the last push towards Gnosall where I did have the option to heading towards Newport for a short walk along the rewatered canal there, but decided that could wait for another day. The walk ended at Gnosall and a short walk along the road towards the old railway line route (now the Newport – Stafford greenway walk) and it was onto the Arriva run route 5 bus to Stafford (bus 3784).

High Bridge on the Shropshire Union Canal between High Offley & Norbury Junction by Kite, on Flickr

At Stafford station, I headed towards Crewe on a busy 390006 for a short wait for winner 730210 back to Stafford, returning to Crewe with 730226 for another short wait before getting winner 730213 back to Stafford, the 730s can certainly fly along the WCML. At Stafford I managed to get a photo of the UK Railtour charter arriving causing delays (as charters normally end up doing) before boarding 730215 back to Crewe, and I headed to the accommodation via a takeaway. Another enjoyable (if not a bit muddy at times!) walk along the Shropshire Union canal. A canal sadly I won’t be able to complete just yet as there is another closed section to the south of Brewood. I spent the rest of the night relaxing and looking at options for the Sunday, keeping an eye on the weather being a bit changeable.

7th September – Old Railway in Godley & Peak Forest

I decided to park up my idea to walk from Chester to Mickle Trafford & from Runcorn to Warrington and instead picked up on a disused line near Godley in the Hyde area of Manchester, a short railway line which gave me a chance to cut and run in case the weather turned back. After leaving the accommodation (I would use it again if the price was right, although these days Crewe can be quite expensive). To the station and onto 197050 & 197036 with the first train to Manchester Piccadilly, going via Styal (I’ve probably gone via Styal more times than via Handforth in the last few years!) and a short break to board 323210 on a Hadfield/Glossop ‘rounder’ service (Manchester Piccadilly to Manchester Piccadilly) to Godley where my walk began.

The first section was via some housing to reach an access point to the former Cheshire Lines Committee line from the Woodhead line at the former Godley East towards Apethorn junction near Woodley. Not the easiest to locate due to Google Maps suggesting there is a connection at the eastern end near the site of the former Godley East station, but these days that is fenced off. After joining the route of the railway, I headed east, passing the site of the Godley Railway Turntable and to the remains of Godley East (the platforms being heavily overgrown). After reaching the fence, I retraced my steps towards the turntable (thankfully now without kids playing in the area so I could get a photo) and continued along the route of the former railway, now a busy mixed used path heading towards the former Apethorn Junction site.

Godley Old Railway Turntable by Kite, on Flickr

This is where I had the option to walk the short distance to the main road to pick up a frequent (every 20 minutes) Bee Network bus to Stockport (or hourly bus to Manchester), but as the weather was still looking reasonable, I headed towards the Peak Forest Canal, picking up the towpath to walk north towards the centre of Hyde. A lot better than I was expecting for an urban canal (in terms of litter and other dumped items). The towpath was in a reasonable condition as I crossed over the canal a couple of times before heading underneath the M67 and towards Dukinfield (crossing underneath the railway a couple of times, nice to see the Guide Bridge - Stalybridge link line now having overhead wires, although I can't imagine much uses them at the moment (assuming they are even live) due to that line being mostly 185s.

I reached the end of the Peak Forest Canal at Dukinfield Junction (junction with both the Ashton Canal & the Huddersfield Narrow Canal) with a short walk towards Guide Bridge station, taking a footbridge over the railway (and yard area) to approach the station from the south. An enjoyable walk, as I waited at Guide Bridge for a slightly late running 323210 to take me back to Manchester as the heaven's opened with a thunderstorm (timed that right!).

323210 departing Godley Station by Kite, on Flickr

At Manchester Piccadilly I didn’t have a long connection onto 390136 on a Euston service, grabbing a seat in coach C near the front (as the Pendo was running in reverse formation with first class at the Manchester end) for the fast run towards London, calling at Stockport, Stoke & Nuneaton (how much I miss the days when these trains were nonstop after Stoke on Trent). The train lost time along the way due to being held for a diverted Glasgow – London train and signalling issues around Rugby, getting into London around 20 minutes late. I was going to head towards Waterloo, but I noticed there was some issues on the tour of Staines with signalling at Egham with ticket acceptance on GWR, so instead of walking to Waterloo (as it was nice and dry in London compared to the monsoon I left behind at Manchester) I headed towards Paddington, via Euston Road. Not the most of interesting routes but probably the easiest. At Paddington it was onto a late running Swansea service formed of 800015 & 800012 to take me to Reading, for a nice connection onto 165104 to Basingstoke for a longer connection onto a late running 159101, 159104 & 159021 to take me to Andover, where I got picked up to head home via the Fish & Chip Shop.

Altogether, an enjoyable weekend, decent weather on the Friday & Saturday allowing me to do some rural canal walks, followed by an urban canal (and old railway line) on the Sunday. A small start with the Peak Forest Canal, as always more photos can be found on my Flickr here, thanks for reading.

 

[Kite159]

Day Trips in September 2025

13th September – Shropshire Union Canal

The weather forecast for the whole weekend was looking poor at times (to such a degree I cancelled an overnight stay in Cardiff for the Sunday night due to the heavy rain forecasted on the Sunday followed by the strong winds), although there was some promising on the Saturday and after considering a few options I decided to return to rural Staffordshire on the Shropshire Union, the section of towpath between Brewood & Wolverhampton is closed long term, however I could split the remainder as Brewood is served by an hourly Stafford – Wolverhampton bus service.

The day started with the 06:59 service to Waterloo with 159018, followed by 51660 & 51659 on the Northern line (for the first time in what felt like ages) to take me to Euston with plenty of time to spare to board 805004 on the 09:00 Holyhead train, complete with lots of football fans drinking various brands of cheap supermarket lager (so a case of putting in my earphones to drown out the singing). At Stafford I had a short walk to a bus stop outside the Guildhall shopping centre for the Select Bus operated route 876 (with bus 14) on a busy route, heading via the Stafford suburbs to the south of the town centre before leaving the urban environment to run towards Penkridge and towards Wolverhampton, diverting from the A446 at Four Ashes towards the town of Brewood where I alighted in the town centre to begin my walk.

805004 at Stafford Station by Kite, on Flickr

I soon reached the canal on the western side of the town, dropping down onto the towpath to walk northwards, passing a good number of moored boats before the countryside arrived. I crossed the A5 on a nice aqueduct (although one which is better looked at from below) and continued with the scenery changing from woodland cuttings to running along an embankment with views of rural Staffordshire. I soon reached the village of Wheaton Aston with some locks which was the only settlement of note along the walk today. The towpath was changeable in quality from the good (tarmac) to the rough (mud), but nothing that major.

Leaving Wheaton Aston behind I continued along the towpath, enjoying the countryside and peace, having to dive for cover a couple of times due to passing showers, although pausing for one heavy downpour which I spent underneath a tree near some fishermen (hiding underneath their large umbrellas). Thankfully the downpour didn't last for long and I continued along the wet ground towards Gnosall. The section in Cowley cutting was the worse for mud & puddles but I was expecting that. A short tunnel (of which used to be longer but got opened out) with Cowley tunnel before the final section into Gnosall where I ended the walk at the bus stop near the canal crossing (rather than walking into the village like I did the week before).

Inside Cowley Tunnel on the Shropshire Union Canal by Kite, on Flickr

It was back to Stafford on the Arriva run route 5 service (with bus 3780) coming up with an idea for the journey home, but first job was to visit Tesco near Stafford station to purchase a new tee-shirt as the one I was wearing was a bit damp. With my purchase made, I headed to the station and onto winner 730232 to Wolverhampton for a 30-minute fester before winner 730220 followed to take me to Birmingham New Street. I got lucky at Birmingham as a Scotland - London service was running late enough to be behind the 730 so I headed across to platform 1 to board 390127 when it rolled in, departing a few minutes late.

I took this busy Pendo to Milton Keynes Central, transferring to 350117 & 350126 on the next stopping service to take me to Tring where I had a 20-minute fester (watching the passing trains at speed) before taking 730230 & winner 730218 to Watford Junction on a Tring starter to take me to Watford Junction for another 30-minute fester for winner 730235 to Euston. Linear hopping like crazy to grab some winning 730s, just like the olden days! At Euston it was straight to the underground for 51668 & 51669 to Waterloo, where I made a tight connection onto 159101 & 159002 on a busy (to Woking at least) Salisbury service to take me home to Grateley where I could relax for the remainder of the evening.

730218 at Watford Junction by Kite, on Flickr

14th & 15th September – London Days

With the poor weather (mainly the strong winds) I decided to play it safe, staying local (ish) in London, scoring my last 2 active Greater Anglia 720s (720503 & 720534), leaving just 505 for whenever that enters use. Also scored another 730 with 730216 as well as getting a trio more 1973 stock units into my book for a mile, spotting my first new DLR unit (on test) and having a random trip to Sevenoaks solely to cover Sevenoaks to Orpington on a Thameslink service (something I was hoping to do back in March 2022 only to get bowled out with cancellations).

The Monday was spent getting some more 701s into my book, as well as having a walk from Hampton Wick towards Surbiton along a path on the south side of the Thames, one of those paths which had been on my list to do for a while but like many walking ideas in London it’s getting the time to actually do it without getting side-tracked. A bonus was getting 701021 into my book on its first passenger service (which wasn’t actually planned as I was going to take 701013 to Surbiton but missed that unit at Waterloo due to being held outside the station).

700017 at Sevenoaks Station by Kite, on Flickr

23rd September – Disused Railway in Horncastle

With 3 days off and with the weather looking quite decent for walking, I decided to head towards Lincolnshire to walk a short disused railway route which required buses at both ends. The Woodhall Spa – Horncastle branch line, which came off the former Lincoln – Boston railway route. The day started with the 06:18 from Grateley with 159107 & 159017 which unexpectedly terminated at Basingstoke due to signalling issues at Waterloo. Good thing I had a good buffer at the London end as 15 minutes later a busy 444044 & 444016 rolled in, I got lucky with a seat in the rearmost coach, away from the masses waiting nearer the front of the train.

At Waterloo, after grabbing supplies I headed towards King’s Cross arriving with 20-odd minutes to spare before the 09:06 York stopping service, featuring my first 91 for over 2 years with 91106 hauling the Mk4 coaches with DVR 82214 on the rear. Onwards to Newark Northgate and a connection onto 170516 working a Lincoln service to take me into Lincoln station where I had around 50 minutes to kill before my first bus move, as annoyingly both hourly bus services depart Lincoln bus station on the hour.

91106 at London Kings Cross by Kite, on Flickr

I headed towards the city centre area, up the steep hill (which was quite steep!) towards the cathedral and castle area, doing a loop around the cathedral being amazed at the detail of the stone work, before heading back down the hill towards the bus station and onto the Stagecoach run route 56 service to Skegness. With double decker 11740 on this busy service. A bit slow leaving Lincoln city centre area due to traffic, but once out of the city it was following the A158 towards Langworth, Wragby, Baumber & finally Horncastle where I alighted from the bus to begin my walk.

After crossing over the road, I followed a path alongside the River Waring to where it met the River Bain, having a small detour towards the area of the former Horncastle Station (not much evidence remains). Heading back to the Bain I followed the path running alongside the river (and the former Horncastle Canal) before picking up the route of the old railway branch line, heading into woodlands with the river on my left-hand side (and a popular dog walking route from what I can gather). The path continued eventually leaving the river behind (complete with scary looking fence to stop people looking at the site of a former lock), heading underneath the B41191 and into a cutting (and passing a Viking longboat, as this path forms part of the long distance "Viking Way" path).

Spa Trail (former railway line) between Horncastle & Woodhall Spa (29) by Kite, on Flickr

The cutting changed back to some lovely woodland for the last section of old railway towards the Roughton Moor area where the railway path ends at Sandy Lane (the section beyond here lost to modern developments or private land). I followed Sandy Lane for a short distance picking up a footpath which crossed a golf course leading towards Woodhall Spa, after visiting a Co-Op for some supplies (and some handy public toilets) I headed towards the bus stop on the Long Avenue to pick up the Brylaine Travel run route B5 service (runs between Boston & Lincoln) with a 20-year-old Solo (YJ05 JXG) for this reasonably busy route.

After the bus cleared the traffic caused by road works within Woodhall Spa, it headed towards Kirkstead (and the River Witham where there is a 16-mile cycle path heading towards Lincoln along the route of another old railway line). This route had some fast running as it headed towards the former RAF Metheringham where I noticed a chance to get home an hour earlier by bailing at Metheringham station (also a chance for a random revisit considering the last time I visited this basic station it was for a matter of a few minutes).

170512 at Metheringham Station by Kite, on Flickr

It was a short wait before a busy 170512 rolled in from Lincoln on a Peterborough working as I settled back for the run towards Sleaford & Spalding as I hadn't been along this route for a good few years (probably December 2021 when I did a LNER Lincoln divert). At the Peterborough end, this service took the dive-under underneath the ECML to terminate on platform 7 where I had a reasonable connection to platform 3 to board 801221 on a service from Bradford which arrived a good 5 minutes ahead of schedule.

This Azuma took me to Kings Cross where I had a short walk across to St Pancras to jump onto 700102 to London Bridge, followed by a trio of South Eastern 375s (375813, 375703 & 375812) for the short hop to Waterloo East. After grabbing dinner, I headed to the 18:50 Salisbury service formed of 158883 & 159008 to take me back to Grateley, relaxing after an enjoyable walk in the Lincolnshire countryside.

24th September – Return to the Caldon Canal

I decided to return to rural Staffordshire to finish my walking coverage of the Caldon Canal from the remote Hazelhurst Junction towards Birches Head in Stoke. The day starting like the Tuesday with the 06:18 service towards Waterloo with 159014 & 159007, giving me plenty of time to grab some supplies and stroll towards Euston where 350401 & 350374 were waiting to take me to Rugby on the 08:46 LNR service for Crewe. A short wait at Rugby before 390011 rolled in on a very lightly loaded London – Manchester service, with a Scottish 320 passing the Pendo when it was at Rugby heading back to Scotland after visiting Wolverton works.

Leaving the Pendo at Stoke on Trent, I headed towards the bus stop outside the station to jump onto the First operated route 25 service (with bus 35943) to take me towards the Hanley Bus Station where I had around 35 minutes to waste before the next route 18 service for Leek (with bus 63364). I was planning on alighting at the bus stop near “Leek Old Road” in the Dunwood area, and the next stop announcement even said it was the right bus stop, but there was a random disused bus stop flag beforehand (and before I noticed it was in the wrong place, the bus had already gone towards Leek).

390011 departing Stoke on Trent Station by Kite, on Flickr

Thankfully I was able to recover with a poorly signed footpath across a slightly bumpy field, crossing the Endon Brook and the mothballed Leek - Stoke railway line before reaching the canal with a steep slope to drop onto the towpath. The first point of call was to walk towards Hazlehurst Junction before heading back towards the bridge and then onwards (on the decent quality towpath) towards Endon. The canal running alongside the old railway route in this area giving the occasional glimpse of overgrown track.

The canal skirted round the edge of Endon and headed towards Stockton Brook heading underneath the A53 and also the mothballed railway route. Clearly the old railway is used by locals as there were paths visible but nothing shown on the map (so likely something completely unofficial), there were even worn paths leading from the canal towpath towards the railway (where I couldn't turn down for some photos of the trees growing between the tracks.

Remains of Stoke - Leek Railway line in the Stockton Brook area by Kite, on Flickr

Back on the canal as it entered a rural section between Stockton Brook & Norton Green with some nice scenery, entering into Stoke on Trent with another crossing of the mothballed railway route (which from the ground looked like it was fenced off, but heading from the towpath saw the fence only covering part of the tracks, all very strange. Anyhow the ruralness soon turned into the urban environment as the canal snaked its way towards the Birches Head area where I left the towpath at the road, another canal into my little book. Although in hindsight I ought to have stayed on the canal as there was a steep hill as I headed towards a bus stop with a frequent bus route (called the Cheshire Cheese), again in hindsight looking at the map I was close to the Central Forest Park so I could have detoured that way for a little explore. Ah-well.

The first Hanley bound bus was a D&G run route 9A (with bus 90) taken to Hanley Bus station, for a short walk onto the D&G operated route 9 service (with bus 6002) to take me to the railway station where I headed towards platform 1 and onto 390049 on the next London service for my last 720 had finally entered traffic and was on an evening Braintree service. This Pendo took me to London Euston, where I headed underground with a Northern line to Tottenham Court Road for a spot of linear hopping towards Stratford, getting lucky with 4 more 92 stock sets being cleared for a mile (could have had a 5th had I jumped blindly on the first train at Tottenham Court Road). At Stratford it was a short wait before 720573 & winner 720505 rolled in on the Braintree service, standing room only in the front coach of 505 but after today I won’t need to head to Shenfield for a while.

720505 departing Shenfield Station by Kite, on Flickr

Crossing over to platform 1-2 at Shenfield it was a short wait before 720101 & 720545 took me back to Stratford, where I headed to Tottenham Court Road, this time via the Eliabeth line and 345064, turning down the first Northern line set to get rewarded with a sub mile set on the following service to take me to Waterloo where I jumped onto 158881 & 159015 on the 18:50 service for Salisbury to take me back to Grateley. An enjoyable day with a nice walk along the Caldon Canal in the sunshine.

25th September – “From the Trent to the Thames” – Soar Navigation Part 3

A slightly later start for me this morning with the 07:27 service (159001, 159106 & 159019) to Waterloo and another cross London stroll to reach St Pancras with plenty of time before the 10:05 EMR service for Nottingham with 222101 on the speedy run towards East Midlands Parkway where my walk began. Leaving the station area walking towards a roundabout and onto a road leading towards Redhill Marina, picking up the Soar Navigation near Redhill flood lock and the towpath (if you could call it that!). I followed the path going via a field (complete with cows & sheep), running towards the Trent where the River Soar flows into the Trent. I guess in the olden days there would have been a ferry across the Trent but these days the towpath of the Soar ends on the southern bank, opposite the entrance to the Erewash Canal) and to continue walking towards Nottingham requires a detour towards Sawley Marina near the M1.

I did a little loop following a footpath to head back towards Redhill Marina, heading south as the river snaked its way towards the A453 dual carriageway with a "footpath ahead closed sign" (my heart having the sinking feeling). My walk continued along the Soar, mostly across a field, eventually reaching the area where the towpath was closed at Kegworth Flood lock, thankfully there was a parallel path to bypass the section closed due to lock improvement works so I could continue my walk.

Cooling towers of Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station overlooking the station at East Midlands Parkway by Kite, on Flickr

The towpath flipped sides on the outskirts of Kegworth for some delightful countryside walking towards Zouch (with Sutton Bonington not being that far away), where once more the towpath flipped sides as it crossed over a flood lock with the towpath being replaced once more with a path across a field with Normanton on Soar being on the opposite bank (complete with a little chain ferry across the water). I continued the walk in the countryside as thankfully the path did improve as I reached the outskirts of Loughborough, leaving the Soar River for the final time as I followed the Loughborough Cut, heading towards the town centre and a Travelodge overlooking the basin.

I finished my walk with a short double back to the junction with the short town arm to head towards the A60 bridge near the railway station, being able to say Soar Navigation is now complete. From the Thames to the Trent the Grand Union is complete. Thankfully the next London bound service at Loughborough was running a few minutes late and I even got a decent seat on 222013 for the slow run towards Leicester. I have no clue why it was so slow, even for the nonstop run towards London it kept on losing time eventually arriving 29 minutes late.

Soar Navigation between Sutton Bonington & Zouch. by Kite, on Flickr

At London I headed to the Thameslink platforms for 700147 to London Bridge and onto a delayed 375911, 375917 & 375818 which was being delayed due to an incident at Waterloo East. Thankfully the train did depart towards Waterloo East giving me time to head to the 18:23 service for Exeter formed of a busy (even at the front of the train!) 159017, 159107 & 159010 to take me back to Grateley to end my 3 days of late September walking in the sunshine.

As always, thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr here. September is nearly over, scary that.

 

[Kite159]

2nd – 5th October – Ever Changing Plans due to Amy

This weekend was meant to have been a return to Scotland with a long weekend, focusing on my last section of the Union Canal (Edinburgh Park to Linlithgow) and one of the disused railway lines, however when earlier in the week I noticed Storm Amy making the weekend seem like a washout I decided to cancel my accommodation and instead have multiple day trips based on what the weather was doing.

2nd October – Exploring Rushall & the Wyrley and Essington Canals

For my first walk of October, I decided to head towards the West Midlands to do a walk I was planning on doing in a few weeks’ time, the short Rushall Canal & the remaining parts of the curvy Wyrley and Essington canal. The day began with the 06:57 service from Grateley to Waterloo with a busy 158883, 159020 & 159017 where I had my usual stroll across the capital to reach Euston and boarding 390047 working the first off-peak train towards Birmingham (on a Glasgow service). As suspected coach C on this service was quite busy (due to the large cliff-edge in fares between off-peak & peak on the WCML).

At Birmingham New Street I had a short walk over to 730030 which was following the Pendo from Birmingham International to take me to Tame Bridge Parkway where my walk began. I left the station, following a couple of roads to pick up a path leading up towards the Tame Valley Canal for a short walk alongside the M6 towards Rushall Junction where the Rushall Canal branched off. This canal is quite straight with a decent tarmac towpath (as it forms part of cycle route 5), although there was a short section after the B4151 where the tarmac disappeared as the canal entered the countryside.

730030 departing Tame Bridge Parkway by Kite, on Flickr

I soon reached Longwood Junction where the Rushall Canal magically turned into the Daw End Branch of the Wyrley and Essington canal (not like you could tell the changeover on the ground, other than the straightness turning into curves as the canal follows the contours of the land to avoid expensive locks. The towpath in this area was a bit rougher, certainly not a canal to do during winter as I would imagine things would get muddy, however it was nice and peaceful as it was near the Park Lime Pits Nature Reserve. Crossing the Sutton Park railway I soon reached Daw End where the ruralness was replaced with industry (and high fences) as the canal skirted round the edge of Aldridge reaching Walsall Wood (and a rude sounding bridge!)

The towpath did change back to being decent tarmac quality as the canal skirted round the edge of Walsall Wood heading towards Catshill Junction where the Daw End branch joins up with the main Wyrley and Essington (although I suspect in terms of boat traffic, most will switch to the 'branch' to do a loop when out boating considering the main line is a dead-end). Anyhow I crossed underneath the A452 bridge and onto new ground with the canal skirting round the edge of Brownhills, housing to the left of me, fields to the right, wait that's sounding a bit too much like Stealers Wheels.

My walk continued as I reached Ogley Junction where the Lichfield canal branched off and I was now onto the Anglesey Branch, still skirting round the edge of Brownhills and crossing over the former South Staffordshire Railway route (now part a mixed used path towards Walsall, the section towards Lichfield I believe is getting turned into a greenway at some point). I crossed underneath the M6 Toll and into Burntwood, the canal coming to an end at Anglesey Basin near the Chasewater Reservoir.

Remains of South Staffordshire Railway Line near the Wyrley and Essington Canal aqueduct, Brownhills (2) by Kite, on Flickr

I climbed a slope to reach the level of this large reservoir within the Chasewater Country Park (home of a little heritage railway), and I followed a path alongside the south eastern corner of the reservoir to reach a footpath which crossed over the M6 (Toll) towards Brownhills West and a short section of the former Midland Railway branch line towards Watling Street where my walk ended. I had a short wait before the next route 10 bus (operated by National Express West Midlands with bus 2136) took me towards Walsall, where I got lost trying to find the railway station from the bus station (signage is somewhat lacking). Once I reached the railway station it was onto 730040 on the next semi-fast service to Birmingham New Street and a reasonably tight connection onto 390129 from Scotland on the next fast London train.

At Euston, I noticed one of the LNR branded TVMs was suggesting that Harrow & Wealdstone was one of the most popular destinations before I headed to the underground to find an unexpected 7-minute gap in service. I squeezed onto set 51623 & 51719 (bonus of a sub mile pair of 1995 stock units) to Waterloo, where after grabbing some dinner from Sainsburys I headed to the 19:20 service to take me back home to Grateley with 159006, 159018 & 158885. An enjoyable walk in the West Midlands (and Staffordshire), another canal complete.

Chasewater Reservoir (2) by Kite, on Flickr

3rd October – Changeable Weather in Manchester

When I checked the forecast when I woke up it was suggesting the Manchester area would remain dry most of the day with rain moving in around 5pm, so I decided to head that way (although couldn’t decide between the Peak Forest Canal or the Huddersfield Narrow & a disused railway walk). The 05:50 took me into Waterloo with a lightly loaded (it was a Friday after-al) 159016 & 158888 and another gentle stroll to Euston, this time for the 08:13 Manchester Piccadilly service with 390002 on this service calling at Nuneaton, Stoke & Stockport (speedy!).

Along the way I checked the forecast once more as I was still undecided wherever to jump off at Stockport for a bus towards the Woodley area, or remain on board for a TPE towards Greenfield, however I wasn’t impressed when instead of being dry it was suggesting heavy rain pretty much the rest of the day from around 11am, confirmed by the weather forecast as it looked like the storm had moved a lot further south than it was originally predicted. Change of plan time it was as I looked up the locations of some required 197s, one wasn’t out, another was in West Wales but the 3rd was on Wrexham – Bidston services so came up with a plan.

The first stage of this revised plan was on a Mk4 set formed of DVT 82216 and being pushed by 67029 (a loco I’ve not had for many years since it popped up on a UK Railtour towards Stratford Upon Avon). This took me to Crewe, where after confirming the identity of the Crewe – Shrewsbury stopper as being AT02 (as these don’t show on RTT) I headed towards Chester on 197113, changing onto 197002 on a Llandudno Junction bound service to Shotton giving me around 20 minutes to get between platforms.

67029 at Crewe Station by Kite, on Flickr

To waste some time, I went via the town centre area, noticing that the little Iceland had closed, before returning to the station and onto winner 197026 for the run to Wrexham General and a reasonable connection onto a pair of busy 158s (it was student kicking out time) bound for Holyhead (158822 & 158833) to take me back to Chester where I transferred to 805003 starting from platform 1 (unusual seeing a 805 using that bay platform!) to take me to Crewe, noticing 197039 on test on platform 9.

I had a short wait before 197027 & 197034 rolled in on the next train towards Cardiff to take me to Whitchurch for a short wait (in the rain) for 153353 & 153528 to roll in (also known as set AT02), taking an airline seat in the 153/5 (as the table seats give rubbish legroom) for the run back to Crewe, another renumbered 153 into my book. At Crewe I was originally going to turn down the unit from Liverpool for the Pendo from Manchester, but when 807004 rolled in I noticed it wasn’t that busy (in coach H) so boarded it for the run towards London.

153528 (AT02) at Crewe Station by Kite, on Flickr

Things were going well, until it hit congestion caused by issues around Hanslope junction, losing nearly 20 minutes, losing more time after Milton Keynes as one of the trains in front called at Watford Junction, so arrival into Euston was nearly half an hour late. Although this is when I noticed the SWR network was in a state of chaos due to an incident near Surbiton, so I headed into the light drizzle (although judging by the state of the roads, it seems London got hit quite bad with downpours) towards Paddington.

At Paddington, I jumped on the first train towards Reading with a busy 802111 (easily got a seat in the 3rd coach from the front whereas the rear coaches were looking quite busy), this got delayed outside Reading for around 10 minutes for no real reason (nothing showing on the platforms at Reading), which meant I had to dash across to squeeze onto a rammed 165121 on the next stopper which departed late (as it was held for a Penzance bound service to depart first), with many unhappy folk about missing the connection at Basingstoke.

197026 at Wrexham General by Kite, on Flickr

The next service towards Salisbury was a heavily delayed service from London which was showing as running non-stop to Salisbury, so I popped out of the station to grab some supplies from Sainsburys before returning with the assumption the next train would start from Basingstoke (considering the outward leg was cancelled at Basingstoke) and in rolled 159019 from Barton Mill to take me back home to Grateley, where I had a walk home in the rain. A day of mixed results, good that another 197 & 153 is in my book, however I couldn’t help thinking had the weather forecast shown heavy rain in the morning it would have been a different day (probably staying closer to London), you win some, you lose some.

4th October – A Day of Chaos in South Wales

I had 2 ideas for this Saturday, based on the weather being a bit rubbish further north, either a trip to Cardiff with my little red pen, or a trip to London to have a TfL day, when I woke up I did a quick search on RTT which showed that both active 197s I needed were out as well as 3 of the 4x 756s I needed so I decided to head to Wales with a rough plan in my head. The day started with a damp walk to the station to board 159019 & 158882 to Basingstoke, where I changed onto 221128 to Reading, it was 4 minutes late into Basingstoke due to a dodgy signal near Micheldever, reducing the connection was 4 minutes at Reading (ignoring any allowances), sadly that went up in smoke due to a random signal check near Southcote junction (nothing in the area that I could see). So, with an hour to kill at Reading (how I wish GWR would bring back the all-day 2tph service to Cardiff on Saturdays) I exited the station for a little stroll, grabbing some breakfast.

Back at Reading station and it was onto 800312 with the run to Cardiff Central, where I had a little time-wasting walk towards Queen Street to take 231011 back down the hill to Central, before transferring onto 150259 on a Lydney service to Newport (a bit of high speed 150 noise as the window near my seat wouldn’t stay shut), however this is where things started to go pear shaped. My idea was to take 037 which was on a Swansea service from Manchester along with a 197/1 to Bridgend giving an 18-minute connection into 033 (and another 3-coach unit) back to Cardiff.

150259 at Newport Station by Kite, on Flickr

197037 rolled in along with another 3-coach unit, however due to the front unit striking a branch (which was sticking out of the coupler) it seemed to have knocked something with the wiper (either the wiper itself or the washer fluid) so the train got cancelled at Newport. Rats. Over to platform 1 along with a massive crowd to board 800008 on the next train towards Cardiff Central where I had another gentle stroll near the station (just to waste time and to get away with the noise of various announcements about See it Say it, Sorted etc). Back at the station, something was wrong as a Rhyl service was sitting on platform 1 as 197033 rolled in along with another 3 coach 197, only to end up getting cancelled due to a tree on the line near Leominster. Rats (again). At this point I was tempted to call it a day and to head home but decided to remain and headed over to platform 6 to board winner 756007 to take me to Caerphilly with a non-stop run after Cardiff Queen Street.

I remained on the unit at Caerphilly to take it back towards Queen Street where I had a little trip to Cardiff Bay on 150217 returning on the same unit before winner 756007 rolled in to take me back to Caerphilly, with a speedy run as the previous train had been cancelled (so it had a clear run). Once more I remained with the same unit (the downside of needing units for 10 miles), taking it towards Grangetown for a +3 onto winner 756005, back to Caerphilly (probably more fun than all the stops to Coryton!). 3rd time today I remained on the same unit to take me back towards Cardiff, leaving me with just one more 756 to get. At Queen Street I transferred to 756103 to take me to Central as that overtook the 756 towards Penarth.

756005 at Caerphilly Station by Kite, on Flickr

Finally, some good news regarding 197s, as I noticed 033 had ended up on an Ebbw Vale service after getting cancelled at Cardiff, so it was a trip to Risca & Pontymister on a late running 197118 (I was going to bail at Rogerstone had the connection been tight due to the long walk between platforms at Risca station). The rain had finally arrived as I waited for a busy 197033 to roll in to take me back to Cardiff Central where I noticed 197037 was due to come out from the depot to work a Rhyl service (with the idea of taking it to Newport for a GWR service to Salisbury), however that service just disappeared without a trace. I did have another little stroll towards Queen Street to grab some supplies returning down to Central with 231007 to waste time.

I was going to call it a day once the Rhyl service disappeared, wait around for the next London train, however a 2-coach unit appeared at Cardiff to attach to 197122 on a busy Manchester train, once the staff managed to remove a dead bird from the coupler, 197037 attached… Only for the train to get delayed due to another reported tree near Ludlow, thankfully the train got given the signal and it departed as I took it to Newport. Another 197 into my book, last active one as well, so nice to be on top of the Welsh 197s again.

197037 at Newport Station on a Manchester Train by Kite, on Flickr

A short wait at Newport before a busy 800307 rolled in, I easily got a seat near the back for the speedy run towards Reading, losing some time at Swindon. It was onto 165114 on the next stopper to take me back to Basingstoke for a short wait before a delayed 159003 on a very busy service to Salisbury (didn’t help that the previous couple of trains had been cancelled due to various tree related issues), although I did get a seat for the run back to Grateley. One of those days which had its positives (the winners) but also the stress of the various cancellations and delays, but thankfully there wasn’t anything too bad.

5th October – Walking the Busway in Bedforshire

Today was a little trip to Bedfordshire to do a walk which had been on my oversized wish list for a while, Leagrave towards Dunstable via cycle route 6 then back towards Luton via a path alongside the busway. The day began with a drive to Andover to catch the 07:02 service to Waterloo formed of 159107, 159017 & 159101 on this semi-fast service, even if the London end was a bit slow due to the various pathing allowances on a Sunday morning. Once I reached Waterloo, I headed towards St Pancras on foot to waste some time to board 700142 from platform 2 at St Pancras (usual Sunday morning closure of the Core), for the quick run towards Leagrave where my walk began.

I left the station on the western side, following Toddington Road to reach the cycle route 6 path which broadly follows the Houghton Brook (although from the looks of it, I suspect it's a winterbourne, flowing only during the winter months). The first section wasn't that interesting as it was the urban area (a case of dodge the dog poo) before the path reached the M1 and the urban area changed to a wide flood plain near a large Lidl warehouse.

700142 alongside 222017 at St Pancras by Kite, on Flickr

Following the path, although a couple times I did use some shortcuts via footpaths, I reached Houghton Regis, following the path via the Houghton Hamlets to reach Houghton Hall Park where the brook disappears. I continued the walk and onto what is called the Dog Kennel Walk (no idea!). This path took me over the busway with Houghton Regis turning into Dunstable and I had a little detour via the Grove House Gardens before reaching the A505 which I followed for a short distance to pick up the route of the original railway line back towards the busway.

Once I reached the busway, I followed the path towards Blackburn Road, the limit of the busway (as it turns into a normal road in an industrial estate). I turned round and headed back towards the Portland Ride bus stop and followed the path with the busway on the right-hand side. Sadly, this section was closed for buses due to gardening so not a lot of traffic (unless you count council vans gingerly avoiding the car trap pits). Quite an interesting route once it gets outside Dunstable town centre as it gives nice views of the Paddocks with various footpaths giving future options for more walks. I soon reached Luton and the section where the busway is fenced away with the mixed used path running alongside the busy Hatters Way, passing the football ground of Luton FC.

Luton - Dunstable Busway from the Dog Kennel Walk in Dunstable by Kite, on Flickr

I reached the centre of Luton where the busway heads over the top of a large roundabout and heads down a hill towards Luton station interchange, where my walk ended as I headed across to platform 1 to board 700130 for the run towards Blackfriars (I was toying with waiting for the next EMR service for a spin on a 360 but the next southbound was a 4 coach special so decided to avoid that, instead sitting in the declassified first class area at the back of the 700.

Once I reached Blackfriars, I headed towards Waterloo, jumping onto a Weymouth bound service formed of 444029 & 444034 to take me to Basingstoke, making a swift change (how I wish both services would use platform 2 at Basingstoke to make life easier) onto a Salisbury bound 159106 to take me to Andover, where I headed home (via the local chippy) to relax for the rest of the evening and getting myself ready for 6 early shifts. The first section was a bit rough, but certainly the busway was interesting, gives me a taste for the north Cambridge one (towards St Ives). As always thanks for reading, more photos (including some buses) can be found on my Flickr Here. Hopefully next weekend I will be able to get away for an overnight stay at the 3rd attempt!

 

[Kite159]

Trips 12th – 14th October

12th October – McClean Way and the return to Chasewater

The McClean Way is the name given to the mixed used path built on the alignment of the former South Staffordshire Railway between Walsall & Brownhills (I believe the section between Brownhills & Lichfield is getting converted at some point since traffic at Anglesey Sidings is no more). As the weather was looking dry (all be misty) I decided it would be a good chance to have a little explore of this disused railway line as the Brownhills end is meant to get muddy in the winter, staying overnight in a Travelodge in Birmingham.

The trip began with the 07:39 service from Grateley towards Waterloo, which I was going to take to Andover, stepping back onto the Reading train (for a XC service towards the West Midlands), however overrunning engineering works at Basingstoke soon threw a large spanner in the works as 159003 & 159005 dwelled at Andover for around half an hour before getting the signal to depart towards Basingstoke, with the Reading train cancelled. Basingstoke isn’t the best place to hang around on a Sunday morning as there isn’t a lot open close to the station and I found myself onto 165125 on the stopper to Reading to visit the little Sainsburys Local outside the station for some supplies before taking 221121 & 220021 on the 10:15 service towards Manchester.

I easily got a table seat in coach B of the 221, which remained very quiet throughout (makes a change with XC!), probably the first time since before Covid I had a XC service via Warwick (due to engineering works in the Adderley Park area), and arrival was around 8 minutes early allowing me to make a quick dash to 730003 on the Rugeley service from platform 4C (helped out with the XC using P5 and being at the right end of the train). This 730 took me to Walsall where my walk began, first of all heading towards the bus stop to meet a friend who had arrived from Wolverhampton via bus.

730003 departing Walsall Station by Kite, on Flickr

The first section was via the roads to reach the entrance to the mixed used path on Mill Lane, near to the bridge over the Sutton Park line. This section was via a local nature reserve before the path joined up with the route of the old railway on a decent quality tarmac path. Even with the mist it was reasonably popular with other walkers and cyclists as we headed towards Pelsall where remains of the former station has disappeared.

In Pelsall the tarmac path changed to being more variable as we continued towards Brownhills and into a deep cutting for the last section reaching the canal aqueduct, we continued a little bit further towards the fence underneath the long bridge underneath Watling Street (where one day I suspect I will be back to walk towards Lichfield). We climbed the stairs to reach the canal and headed towards Chasewater Country Park.

McClean Way (Route of former South Staffordshire Railway) in Brownhills by Kite, on Flickr

On reaching the reservoir, it was so misty we couldn't see the opposite side as we headed north along the side of the water before following another path close to Burntwood Rugby club to reach Chasetown (Church Street) station on the heritage Chasewater Railway, picking up a footpath running alongside the railway towards Chasewater Heaths, crossing over the railway heading towards Norton Bog. We continued the walk, walking high above the railway reaching the very basic Norton Lakeside Halt before carrying on leaving the route of the railway and following the side of the main reservoir again.

Holly Bank No 3 near Chasewater Heaths Station on the Chasewater Railway by Kite, on Flickr

We soon reached Brownhills West station, the main base of operations for the railway with various shunters parked up along with 142030 looking good in First North Western colours. After some photographs we continued the walk to pick up the path over the M6 Toll to reach Brownhills West itself and a short walk along the road (passing a Mk3 Reliant Robin), finishing the walk on the bus stop at Rising Sun Island where National Express bus 2119 took us back towards Walsall Bus Station on a route 10 service.

At Walsall bus station I said farewell to my friend, as he headed back towards Wolverhampton, always nice to have a catch-up as it’s been a while since we met up, and I headed to the station to board 730008 on the stopper towards Birmingham New Street, giving me time to pop outside the station for some supplies before joining the large crowd waiting for the London train. Due to the engineering works it was only an hourly train service linking Birmingham with the Airport & Coventry (with a half hourly bus service calling at all stations between New Street & International) so needless to say 390125 departed extremely busy (in my eyes what Avanti should have done is split the London – Scotland service up at Birmingham to improve time keeping).

142030 at Brownhills West on the Chasewater Railway by Kite, on Flickr

I was originally going to take this Pendo towards Rugby for something along the Trent Valley line, but as a winner 730 was showing as out, I bailed at Birmingham International, deciding the connection at Coventry would be too risky. As the next Pendo for Crewe was running late, I decided to take 350408 & 350401 for the short hop to Hampton in Arden returning on 350121 & 350371 (both sets having the inter-unit gangway doors locked out of use to prevent passengers from being able to get between units, all because the guards want to hide away, no wonder why revenue loss on LNR services is sky high).

Anyhow back at Birmingham International, I joined the majority of passengers from those 350s in crossing over to platform 3 for the late running Crewe Pendo with platform staff saying to use the entire length of the platform with standard class at the front of the train, so it was a tad annoying after following the instructions when 390011 rolled in with first class at the front, with no hope to getting to standard class I took a seat in Standard Premium for the short journey back to Birmingham New Street, going via Aston & Perry Barr to approach Birmingham from the Wolverhampton direction. It wasn’t quite over for me as I headed over to winner 730214 on the next Liverpool train to take me to Wolverhampton, returning to Birmingham on a late running 390136.

350121 at Birmingham International Station by Kite, on Flickr

I headed out of the station, towards the Newhall Street branch of Travelodge, getting given a room on the 3rd floor, allowing me time to relax for the rest of the evening. An enjoyable day, even if some of the trains were massively overcrowded (because passengers prefer to take trains, even if the journey takes longer, than a stopping bus with no guarantee the train/bus would wait for the bus/train to arrive).

13th October – Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal Exploring

One of the main reasons for wanting to stay in Birmingham city centre was for the novelty of doing a 730 on the route knowledge refresher route via Bescot, also it gave me a chance to walk another section of the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal which I started back in August last year (with Penkridge towards the junction at Great Haywood). After checking out of the hotel I made my way towards Birmingham New Street via a couple of shops (including Tim Hortons for a breakfast wrap) before boarding dud 730218 on the 07:57 service to Liverpool (I will admit to getting thrown when I saw the random Avanti service to Liverpool from Birmingham at 07:51 with a “am I on the right platform” moment.

Annoyingly RTT was suggesting this would have been a winner (ah well, those things happen) and I took a seat in what was going to be first class area, only to be thrown when the train departed towards Aston (again, I will admit to seeing this service went via Bescot, but didn’t see it went via Aston & Perry Barr as I was presuming it would go via Soho. This train even featured a rarity on London Northwestern, a ticket check! Anyhow the trip via Bescot complete, the new stations on that line are coming along well I stayed on until Penkridge, moving towards the centre of the train due to the short platform, leaving the train with a large crowd of college kids boarding, and my walk began.

730218 departing Penkridge Station by Kite, on Flickr

The first section was a copy of the walk from last August, heading towards the main shopping area of Penkridge before following Cannock Road to join the canal at the Boat Inn, this time I headed south underneath the road following the reasonable towpath passing a marina before leaving the main built up area of Penkridge, going towards Otherton. On reaching the bridge which used to carry the Littleton Colliery branch I broke away from the canal to walk the route of this short branch line back towards Penkridge, reaching the end point at the A449 (close to where I would imagine the colliery branch line would have joined up with the existing railway.

I headed back towards the canal along this nice woodland path and carried on, trying to drown out the noise from the M6 for the short section the canal runs close to the motorway before heading west towards Gailey. A short detour was needed due to towpath works between Gailey & Four Ashes before passing a chemical works site at Four Ashes (with warnings not to stop or moor in this section, even if sirens are sounding). The towpath had changed from solid ground to more rural grass with my pet hate, bricks (as they can be quite slippery when wet).

Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal at Four Ashes (1) by Kite, on Flickr

After leaving Four Ashes the canal turned quite rural as it headed back east towards Calf Heath and the junction with the former Hatherton Canal, the section in water being used as a marina with no public access from the towpath side of the main canal. The next section was by far the worse for towpath quality, very bumpy and narrow in places for a couple hundred metres before thankfully it returned to being flat and I headed back into the countryside. My walk reached the railway bridge over the canal near Slade Heath (one of those bridges where I dread to think how many times I've been across over the last 11 years). The towpath quality did improve the closer I got towards Wolverhampton passing the Anchor Inn and going underneath the A449 & M54 near Coven Heath.

I was now in the Wolverhampton area with some industrial units close by as I followed the canal towards the Autherley Canal junction, near Pendeford where the Shropshire Union Canal ends, one section of this towpath was a bit weird in having the tarmac path dive inland leaving a grassy path alongside the canal, before the tarmac path resumes in running alongside the canal, this area also featured a deep cutting which was quite nice for woodland views. I reached the junction with the Shropshire Union, carrying on towards the Oxley viaduct & Aldersley Junction where the Birmingham Canal joins.

Autherley Junction between the Staffordshire & Worcestershire and Shropshire Union Canals, Wolverhampton by Kite, on Flickr

This area of the canal was quite nice in terms of woodland and being peaceful, considering the location. I continued towards Tettenhall with having the option to finish here for a bus into the city centre, but I decided to push on for another mile going underneath the route of the former Smestow Valley railway line route with the Meccano Bridge to reach Compton where my walk ended with a short walk to a bus stop close to a very unusual road junction which one side was a regular mini roundabout, the other side was a road junction, I suspect an accident black spot considering it looks like a regular mini roundabout.

Anyhow it was onto the route 10A route with National Express's 852 to take me towards the city centre, as I decided to jump off at the bus stop outside a shopping centre to pick up some more drink & something to munch before heading to the railway station. The first available service to Birmingham was formed of a Bournemouth bound 221111, which I decided to stay with all the way to Basingstoke as I had a reasonable seat in coach B. In hindsight this turned out to be a good move, due to an tragic event at Vauxhall and when I was at Basingstoke with services being delayed I decided to head to Andover via the route 76 bus (with bus 11243) with the theory of getting a lift home, however the lift wasn’t required as trains had started to run again and I strolled to the railway station in Andover to catch 159015 & 159001 on what would have been the 17:23 service from London which started at Woking.

221111 at Basingstoke Station by Kite, on Flickr

Once home, I relaxed for the rest of the evening, sorting my rucksack out ready for another day trip on the Tuesday. It was an enjoyable canal walk in the Staffordshire countryside, I suspect the rest of that canal will be done next year as it seems quite rural, other than the section at Kidderminster to Stourport as that is a cycle route so I would imagine would be a decent year-round towpath.

14th October – Bingham Linear Park

I had various options for this Tuesday, in the end deciding to head towards Nottinghamshire to walk a short disused railway path in the Bingham area, one I was originally going to pair up with the walk from Radcliffe towards Cotgrave but with that path out of action until further notice I decided to separate the walks. Anyway, the day began with the 06:18 service from Grateley with 159022 & 159011 to take me to Waterloo, getting very busy after Basingstoke as per usual with this train. After grabbing breakfast and supplies for lunch I strolled towards Kings Cross arriving with plenty of time to spare before the 09:06 York stopper with 91106 at the northern end (and DVT 82214) to take me to Grantham and a 25-minute fester before 170208 rolled in from Skegness to take me to Aslockton where my walk began. The train fits on the platform but only the doors in the front 2 coaches are opened due to the large step at the rear of the train.

The first section from Aslockton was towards Whatton and then onto Conery Lane (featuring a crossing of the busy A52 road), a quiet country lane heading towards farms and a footpath across a field towards the route of the former Northampton to Nottingham branch of the Great Northern and London and North Western Joint Railway. I did take a wrong turn at a bridge over the River Smite and ended up going via what looked to be a vineyard on a footpath and a steep unofficial climb onto the embankment. I should have turned left along another path which had a connection to the railway near the river viaduct.

170208 at Aslockton Station by Kite, on Flickr

Anyhow I was now onto the route of the old railway line, doubling back towards the end point, just passed the river viaduct (the path does continue further but there was a "Private Land, No Entry" sign after a farm crossing. I retraced my steps along this path which was a reasonable quality with stones on the ground, although not one I would want to do during winter time, quite nice views of countryside once the embankment section left the woods with the embankment turning into a deep cutting with various farm track bridges before reaching a tunnel underneath the A52 Bingham Bypass with the path now being more solid (and busier).

I continued along the Bingham Linear Park going underneath a nice viaduct carrying Tithby Road over the old railway (couldn't really photograph it due to the trees) and soon the path came to an end alongside Nottingham Road, close to a bus stop used by the frequent Bingham - Nottingham Trent Barton bus route, but as I had time I headed towards the town centre, grabbing a photo of the Butter Cross and headed to the station, jumping onto 170422 for the nonstop run to Nottingham. Quite an interesting old railway path route for the different in scenery from woods, cuttings and embankments.

Bingham Linear Park Info Board by Kite, on Flickr

Once at Nottingham, I decided to call it a day earlier than I was planning (I was going to have a little tram hunt) due to my feet being damp (seems my waterproof boots are not all that waterproofed) so I jumped onto 170202 on the next Norwich bound service, solely to clear Grantham to Peterborough for 170 coverage (not as fast I was expecting it to have been) to take me to Peterborough for a short wait for 801224 to arrive from Edinburgh to take me to Kings Cross where I had a gentle stroll to St Pancras for a Rainham bound 700053 to London Bridge followed by 707008 & 707003 on the first available South Eastern service to Waterloo East.

After grabbing some drink from Iceland, I headed to Waterloo and onto a busy 16:50 service formed of 159017 & 159106 to take me back to Grateley, the end of an enjoyable little day trip to Nottinghamshire even if I cut it short, a nice little getaway. As always thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr Here.

 

[Kite159]

Firstly, an apology for the lack of updates over the last few weeks, as I’ve been struggling to get the motivation to write lately (call it writer's block). When I first started doing trip reports, this area of the forum had a lot more activity than it currently does, I guess as times change the era of the written report has passed with only a handful of regular posters remaining, the motivation just isn’t there any more.

So long tales of chasing units, tales of exploring stations, tales of having early starts/late nights for random track during engineering works. Maybe in the future I will regain the motivation to write again but for now, a photo taken during a disused railway line walk from my trip to the North East last week:

View from the Derwent Walk near Ebchester by Kite, on Flickr

 

[Kite159]

Colours Of October

My writers block I’ve been suffering with has departed, so time for a big catch up, although mainly focusing on my walking trips.

22nd October – Worcester & Birmingham Canal

I decided to head towards Worcestershire to complete a bit more of the Worcester & Birmingham canal, being the section from the Droitwich area towards Worcester itself (meeting up with a part I walked a few years ago). An early start saw me heading towards Droitwich Spa via the Cotswolds line picking up the Droitwich canal and headed east via the suburbs before going underneath the M5 (no towpath in this section as this was rebuilt with the original route of canal lost). After re-joining the canal, it was via more rural setting heading towards the end at Hanbury Junction where it met with the Worcester & Birmingham Canal.

The next section of canal was quite rural with the occasional sound of traffic from the M5 and sound of Voyagers from the nearby railway line as I headed generally in a southern direction via Shernal Green & Dunhampstead before heading west away from the railway towards Tibberton, going underneath the M5 where the rural towpath turned more urban as a cycle route joined the path as the canal reached Worcester, passing close to the Sixways Stadium. I continued with the walk along the towpath heading towards the city centre, reaching Worcester Shrub Hill where I made good timing to catch a train an hour earlier than I was expecting with 800002 starting from Shrub Hill to take me back towards Reading before I made my way back home. An enjoyable walk, but like with the Shropshire Union, the last section needs to wait until the towpath is repaired as it's closed near a tunnel in the Alvechurch area.

Hanbury Junction between Droitwich Junction & Worcester and Birmingham Canals (2) by Kite, on Flickr

28th & 29th October

The 28th October, I decided to head towards Essex to visit the recently opened Beaulieu Park station, one of those stations I can see getting well used in the future due to the location and more houses due to pop up (similar in a way to Barking Riverside). The 29th was a London day focused on my Sub mile London Underground units, clearing the Northern line and putting a large dent in the Central line driving units, the trailer units will be an old-school sit and hang around. I also ticked off a few more 730s before taking the sleeper to Glasgow Central for a return to Scotland.

30th October – Exploring the Airdrie to Bathgate railway path

The Airdrie to Bathgate railway path is part of cycle route 75, this path was built when the railway line between Bathgate & Airdrie was rebuilt, one of those paths which had been on my oversized list for a while, although it was a bit chilly this morning. After grabbing breakfast from Glasgow city centre, I headed to Drumgelloch on a pair of 334s where my walk began. The first mile or so being alongside a road towards Plains before the off-road section began heading towards Caldercruix (dodging various icy patches).

After Caldercruix the path head towards the Hillend reservoir with some good views of the water, running close to the railway line. Near Blackridge I took a little detour along the route of an old railway line path, doubling back on myself to carry on the walk as it headed via woodlands to the south of Blackridge station the path being a bit twisty before it returned to running alongside the railway line, I decided to end the walk at Armadale station, the rest of the path and cycle route 75 can be followed on another day with a walk towards Livingston, maybe ending at Uphall station (one of those walks I will need to play with Google Maps for distances).

DR98960 alongside the Airdrie to Bathgate Path (Cycle Route 75) between Blackridge & Armadale by Kite, on Flickr

A pair of 334s took me back one stop to Blackridge where I wanted some better photos before the same pair of 334s as I had earlier (033 & 040) took me to Haymarket, changing onto a delayed pair of 385s on a Glasgow Queen Street service. Once back in Glasgow I headed across to Glasgow Central and onto a pair of 156s to East Kilbride in the pouring rain, doubling back to the rebuilt and relocated Hairmyres station. I returned to East Kilbride on the next southbound service and back to Glasgow Central heading to the Subway which wasn’t having a good day with only one side working when I first arrived. I managed to get another Subway unit into my little book, before heading back upstairs and onto a pair of 385s (104 & 115) to Polmont where my accommodation was located.

31st October – Union Canal

Finishing the Union Canal was one of my big goals for 2025, but for whatever reason I hadn’t gotten around to doing it on my previous trips this year, a bit of a risk owing to the forecast looking a bit damp in the early afternoon. One reason for picking accommodation in Polmont was mainly the cost (considering it was the cheapest place which was close to a station), but mainly for the location near to Linlithgow. One of these days I will return to Linlithgow to have a little walk around the loch, but that can be a job for another day as today's walk was going to be a long one, I had the option of a break point along the way. The day started with a pair of 385s to Linlithgow from Polmont and a short walk to the canal towpath, which for the majority of the way was solid tarmac. I headed east away from Linlithgow towards Philpstoun & Winchburgh, the canal coming close to the railway in a couple of places.

After Winchburgh the canal skirted round the edge of the Greendykes Shale Bing leaving countryside behind and into Broxburn, where I had the option of an exit point with a frequent bus towards Edinburgh. I decided to keep going and soon departed Broxburn going underneath the M8 and back into countryside. This section was a lot better than I was expecting in terms of noise from the motorway and featured an aqueduct over the River Almond. The next settlement I reached was Ratho and I carried on with some lovely woodland. The rain decided to make its appearance with a mile or so to go as I was in the Hermiston area, crossing over the City of Edinburgh Bypass into the capital. I reached the goal and headed towards Edinburgh Park station via the large Tesco, mainly to dry off and mainly for some more supplies.

Union Canal between Philpstoun & Winchburgh (22) by Kite, on Flickr

I decided to have a little spin on the trams, taking one tram to Ingliston Park & Ride before riding tram 276 all the way to Newhaven where I was going to have another gentle stroll but the rain returned as soon as I got off the tram, so ended up heading to a nearby Asda before taking another tram back to St Andrews Square with a tight connection onto a LNER 800 to Stirling where I headed to a nearby Spoons for a celebration meal before heading back to Polmont on a pair of 385s, relaxing in the comfortable bed. A bit on the noisy side due to Halloween and it being a Friday night, but similar sort of noise in the accommodation I've used before in Hamilton, nothing is perfect when on a budget (and I'm not the sort of person who will pay out £75+ a night for a fancy hotel)

Anyhow more photos can be found Here

 

[Kite159]

November Trips

1st November – Warrington to Runcorn via the Ship Canal

The weather on this Saturday in the Polmont area was quite rubbish in terms of being wet so I ditched my original plans for any walking (I was toying with the old railway line route from Paisley Canal towards Johnstone (or most likely the other way round) and headed into Glasgow on a pair of 385s, having a short walk in the city centre to get some supplies before taking a seat on 390121 working a London service, started off quiet before getting extremely busy, especially after Preston as the ECML was closed for engineering works at York. As the weather was looking better in Cheshire I decided to bail at Warrington Bank Quay, just to get away from the chaos of an overcrowded train (when it’s standing along the aisles it isn’t much fun).

I dug out a plan I had originally pencilled in for a potential Sunday walk for the times I stayed at Crewe (before my usual accommodation closed up and prices have generally shot up), which was a stroll towards Runcorn along a footpath close to the Ship Canal. The first section was leaving Warrington Bank Quay station to head south along Slutchers Lane towards a newish housing estate, picking up a path to lead me onto a footbridge over the river Mersey (the footbridge is alongside the railway line). I headed underneath the railway and picked up a footpath leading along the remains of the Runcorn & Latchford Canal before heading along a reasonable quality path towards the Moore Nature Reserve, a place I wouldn't mind returning to when the weather was a bit sunnier. I soon turned off a little lane, dodging various fly tipping and onto a footpath running between the Ship Canal & the Mersey, giving some nice views of the Ferrybridge Power Station.

In all fairness I was heading to the point where the footpath just ends on the OS Map, Open Street Map/Strava was suggesting it would continue, but there is always that little doubt that I will run into a high gate/fence, thankfully where I did run into a road block, it was only for vehicles and not walkers (or cyclists) as I reached Wigg Island, picking up the route of the disused canal and headed underneath the modern Mersey Gateway bridge, before heading towards the former quays area, crossing the Ship Canal, and walking alongside it towards the Silver Jubilee bridge, doing a little loop to cover the Runcorn Locks Greenway along the route of the former Bridgwater Canal (as it used to connect into the Ship Canal).

Manchester Ship Canal from the Runcorn Promenade (2) by Kite, on Flickr

I reached Runcorn with time to spare, even getting there earlier than I was planning (was aiming for a direct London train), and jumped onto 730212 to Crewe, changing to a nearly empty coach on 805003 & 805005 from Chester to take me towards Euston. I was foolish after walking to Waterloo to jump onto winner 701060 to Twickenham, foolish even more to leave the train at Twickenham and into the organised chaos of the post-match queuing system (in hindsight I should have stayed on to Feltham or remained on the platform for a 701 towards Kingston). In the end I ended up at a busy St Margarets, squeezing onto a very busy 701 to Clapham Junction, where I just about made a connection onto a busy pair of 450s towards Basingstoke, before taking a rail replacement coach to Grateley (getting lucky with having one of the Newbury & District coaches used for the Basingstoke – Heathrow bus route, those interiors are quite nice. Needless to say the Sunday I was quite lazy after a busy few days in Scotland!

7th November - Sett Valley Trail & Peak Forest

This was a Friday where my plans did change along the way, originally I was heading into Manchester to take a train towards Patricroft to walk a disused railway line path & the Leigh busway into Leigh, but for whatever reason (which I can't remember) decided to change at Stockport for a plan to catch a bus towards Hyde to pick up the Peak Forest Canal from Apethorn Lane to head towards Marple or New Mills. Anyhow after taking a busy 9 coach Pendo (390049) to Stockport, and headed towards the bus station, my plans changed when I saw a bus to Hayfield, and a chance to walk the short disused railway line path called the Sett Valley Trail.

It was a former Stagecoach bus on the route 358 (part of the Bee Network), and fitting for the time of year it was a bus for Remembrance (rather than the usual custard colour). Quite an interesting run towards Hayfield, heading away from Stockport town centre via the suburbs (Offerton) and into Marple. After Marple the views did start to open out a bit with the run towards Strines (pretty sure I used this bus route many years ago when I took a bus from Marple to Strines station, back when Strines station was 2 hourly and quite awkward due to the trains passing there). Into New Mills and finally towards Hayfield with some nice views from the top deck.

My walk began picking up the Sett Valley Trail in a car park near the bus station, and was soon heading towards Birch Vale and back towards New Mills, not the most scenic of old railway line walks other than views of a reservoir, but good to get it removed from my oversized list. In New Mills I headed via the Torrs Park, heading towards Newtown station to pick up the Peak Forest Canal.

Sett Valley Trail between Birch Vale & New Mills (12) by Kite, on Flickr

I decided to head towards Whaley Bridge, with some beautiful scenery (although not the best day for scenery with cloud and a light drizzle at times) leaving New Mills to head towards Furness Vale, the canal following the route of the railway as it headed south towards Whaley Bridge, the branch towards Bugsworth Basin heading away (I've got a plan to walk that section alongside the Peak Forest Tramway Trail path). I had time to swing via the Tesco for some supplies before carrying on to the basin in Whaley Bridge, the drizzle turning more into light rain for the last short section, this being the remains of the Whaley Bridge Incline on the Cromford and High Peak Railway.

After reaching the top of the hill, I headed towards Whaley Bridge station, with time to spare to take a pair of 150s towards Stockport, making a connection onto a busy 9 coach Pendo for London (390040) on a fast service. Once in Euston I had one further walk across to Waterloo to take a 158+159 home. An enjoyable day, even if the weather did turn wet near the end.

8th November – Erewash Canal

Another late notice change of plan, as I was aiming to walk the path between Long Eaton & Nottingham via the River Trent, but decided when heading towards London to look at the Erewash Canal instead. I headed to St Pancras via South Eastern & Thameslink (to make a change from walking) and got seated on a Nottingham bound 222. Departure time came and went, eventually there was an announcement about the original crew getting held up somewhere with 222009 departing near enough 25 minutes late, time it never made back up or lost more time.

At Nottingham I had time to pop out to the Co-Op to grab some lunch items, before watching 195013 roll in from Leeds, doing an impression of a clown car in just how many passengers squeezed onto the 2-coach unit. The return towards Leeds was also quite busy, as I alighted at Langley Mill to start my walk. After a short section along the road I soon reached the Erewash Canal, the basin area is all fenced off for private moorings as I headed towards Ilkeston, the towpath quality being mixed in this section, but nice scenic views of woodland. I continued towards Ilkeston having a detour towards the Bennerley Viaduct to walk across the Iron Giant (although at the moment it's a dead end as construction work continues at the eastern end). After a U-turn it was back to the canal, where the towpath quality had improved to tarmac as it skirted around the eastern edge of Ilkeston.

195004 heading underneath the Bennerley Viaduct by Kite, on Flickr

Eventually another cycle path joined in, using an old railway line route (?) towards Shipley Country Park, something else to research as this area of the East Midlands has so many old railways line paths to explore. I continued going underneath the M1 and towards Sandiacre where the former Derby Canal joined, quite a few fishermen in this section, some being a bit grumpy at having to move their fishing equipment for walkers. I soon reached Long Eaton and Sawley where the canal did a sharp turn south where I left it at Fields Farm Road, near the railway bridges and the point I reached last year when I walked the last section of the Trent & Mersey Canal. Another canal ticked off my list as I headed to Long Eaton station.

It was a short wait before 170639 rolled in on a Nottingham bound service which I took to Beeston, a station which has changed quite a bit since my last visit with new lifts getting installed. I headed towards the town centre via a handy Co-Op (bringing back memories of the first time I stayed in this area back in 2014, time flies). It was onto the trams as it had been a while since my last decent run on the Nottingham Tramway with tram 231 taken towards the city centre, spending the next 40 or so minutes doing some linear hops, keeping my eyes out for any of my last trio of sub mile trams, eventually tram 202 popped up which I took to Meadows Way West, the last of the original batch of trams cleared for a mile. I walked back towards the station as darkness was falling and I decided enough was enough.

Nottingham Tram 202 at Meadows Way West by Kite, on Flickr

I managed to get a decent seat on 222013 working the next ‘fast’ St Pancras service, departed on time before a complete and utter farce as it was held for 5 minutes at the junction near East Midlands Parkway for a late running stopping service from Sheffield (bare in mind at the time this 222 stopped the one from Sheffield had just arrived at Long Eaton). The train from Nottingham eventually got going but at a crawl due to following a stopper, getting into Leicester something like 20 minutes late (and delaying the following fast service from Sheffield as well). The delay only increased due to being out of path and following a 360 from Corby after Luton getting into St Pancras bang on 30 minutes late.

Before I headed to my accommodation, I took a stroll to Euston to jump onto winner 730207 to Harrow & Wealdstone, just about making a connection into winner 730223 back to Euston due to 207 being 6 minutes late. Two more 730s into my book as I took a Hammersmith & City line service to Paddington where a delay worked to my benefit as a Didcot Parkway semi-fast was running 10 minutes late and only had started to board (this was an evening where the Elizabeth line had fallen over). I jumped onto 387166 & 387170 to take me one stop to Slough, where after visiting the big Tesco, I located my accommodation in the Slough Travelodge. Mainly as a replacement bus avoidance move for the Sunday.

9th November – Lichfield to Brownhills Railway Path

I checked out of the Travelodge on Sunday morning, heading to the station for a late running pair of 387s on a stopping service towards Paddington (probably the first time I’ve called on the mainline platform at Langley). Today was another day where I had a few ideas of walks as I took a gentle stroll towards Euston to board 807005 on a Liverpool service, mainly for the novelty of an 807 via Northampton. Along the walk to Euston, I decided on the recently opened up path along the route of the former South Staffordshire line from Lichfield to Brownhills, a route so new it doesn’t even show on Google Maps!

I left the 807 at Lichfield Trent Valley and started my little stroll going out via the secondary car park towards an industrial estate before picking up a path in Darnford Park, this took me towards the part restored section of the Lichfield Canal before I headed towards the Sandfields Pumping Station on Chesterfield Road where the new greenway path began. I will admit the path quality wasn't the easiest to walk along as it felt like railway ballast, but it's still early days (and I would imagine give it a couple of years and it will be smooth tarmac). I continued along the route of the old railway, crossing Fosseway Lane with an old signal box (all boarded up) with the path heading into countryside, passing the remains of Hammerwich station (complete with footbridge, but no platforms).

Footbridge at site of former Hammerwich Station on the Lichfield to Brownhills Greenway (2) by Kite, on Flickr

The path crossed the M6 Toll and soon came to an end near Watling Street where a fence which was there a couple weeks earlier when I was in this area had vanished as it connects with the existing McClean Way path. I was back on roads as I walked towards the centre of Brownhills as I was unsure about messaging regards bus route changes with parades. It was soon before a National Express bus rolled in on a route 10 to take me to Walsall bus station, getting diverted itself due to road closures along the way so a comfortable connection to a stopper suddenly became a bit less comfortable, but I still managed to make it (even had time to buy a ticket from the ticket office) before boarding 730044 on a stopping service to Birmingham New Street.

After popping out of the station for some food, I was soon back to board winner 730229 to Wolverhampton, returning to New Street on another 730, where I started to plan my way towards Bristol where my accommodation was located. I spotted on RTT a Very Short-Term Plan service to Bristol Temple Meads which was being advertised as Gloucester as 170636 rolled in and I managed to grab a seat in the former 1st class area for the trip towards Gloucester, losing time along the way. On the approach to Cheltenham Spa (where it was behind the GWR stopper for Bristol) it was announced that after Gloucester it would run to Bristol Temple Meads, so I stayed on board for the reversal at Gloucester for some unusual track coverage on a XC 170!

170636 at Bristol Temple Meads (on arrival from Birmingham) by Kite, on Flickr

At Bristol Temple Meads, I headed towards the nearby Spoons for some dinner before making my way to the Travelodge ready for an early start on the Monday for some strange random reason.

10th November – A maze of paths in Taffs Well

Originally an idea for this Monday was to head towards Swansea & Pontarddulais for an old railway line path towards Gowerton but the weather forecast out west wasn’t looking promising. So, I ditched that idea to stay closer to Cardiff coming up with some ideas. I checked out of the hotel making my way to the station and onto 170636 (I was expecting it would have been this unit again) on the daily Bristol – Cardiff XC service for some more unusual track coverage on a XC 170 (why else did you think I would stay overnight in Bristol lol).

After grabbing breakfast, I met up with my good friend Jules as we took 756105 to Trefforest Estate for a little walk. Heading towards the industrial estate and towards a cycle path along the route of the long closed Cardiff Railway route near Nantgarw towards Taff's Well before heading onto the Taff Trail for a short section along the former Rhymney Railway route before climbing onto the Old Taff Trail (it still has signs saying Taff Trail but it has since been removed from the OS Map) which made use of the former Barry Railway route towards the former Walnut Tree Viaduct (this part of Wales used to a be a maze of railway lines!)

After departing from the route of the old railway line, the rain began as we headed into the Fforest Fawr, an area we both agreed was worth a revisit when the weather was nicer, after a very steep downhill section we reached Castell Coch where a footpath had been closed forcing a detour via the roads towards Tongwynlais and towards Taff's Well along the Taff Trail, doing an U-turn back towards Tongwynlais, pausing for a coffee at a local café before we picked up a footpath alongside the River Taff leading us underneath the M4 and another detour, this time towards the Long Wood Nature Reserve & the remains of the Glamorganshire Canal, reaching Forest Farm Road where we headed towards Radyr station, swinging via a local Co-Op for some lunch & other supplies.

Castell Coch by Kite, on Flickr

The first northbound train was 150245 which we took to Trefforest before taking 756114 to Aberdare to tick off the new arrival’s platform where we decided to have another short walk, heading away from Aberdare station and onto a path following the route of the former Aberdare canal and a road to reach Cwmbach station to take 756108 back towards Cardiff Central where after grabbing food we said our farewells as Jules headed on a 197 and I took 166203 to Salisbury for 159022 to Grateley to end my little long weekend of travels.

15th November – Tour of Middlewich

Using up a day of annual leave because who knows when the next time Avanti will divert services via Middlewich (and it’s one of the novelties I tend to do). It was onto a lightly loaded 805003 at Euston on the Holyhead service, complete with dodgy PIS listing various random station calls, a train which never got that busy even for the rare section between Crewe & Chester going via the slow freight line at Middlewich, pausing in the loop along the way for another service to pass.

At Chester I had a gentle stroll towards Mickle Trafford along the route of the former Cheshire Lines Committee route (part of the Chester Millennium Greenway), where I caught an Arriva bus back into the city centre (had I missed that bus I would have probably walked it via the roads considering it's only hourly and not even clockface, I guess in hindsight I should have caught the bus to Mickle Trafford to walk back to Chester so I could take some more time.

805003 at Chester (from Hoole Way bridge) by Kite, on Flickr

After grabbing some bits in Chester city centre, I headed to the station and onto 777018 to Liverpool Lime Street and onto a late running 807008 on a Euston service (departing 15-odd minutes late) enjoying a private coach until Milton Keynes where it did fill up. Once in London I headed home, after an enjoyable random day trip.

Part 2 to follow at some point, but more photos can be found on my Flickr album Here

 

[Rover]

I very much enjoy reading your reports, thank you.