Kite goes Exploring, Trip Reports

[Kite159]

Trips in November, Part 2

24th November – Coastal Path Walking in Kent

The Sunday was spent heading to Ramsgate with the novelty of a diverted South Eastern 395 via Canterbury East due to engineering works and an evening with my good friend Dan having a good catch up staying overnight in a hotel near the Westwood Cross shopping centre. After we had breakfast and said farewell, I had a stroll towards Ramsgate station and onto a pair of 375s to Birchington on Sea where I had an enjoyable stroll along the coastal path towards Herne Bay via Reculver and remains of St Mary’s Church. After visiting the pier at Herne Bay, I headed to the station (complete with a new footbridge with lifts) for 395002 to St Pancras for some High Speed before making my way to Waterloo (via Thameslink & South Eastern due to the weather being a bit more damp in London) and to Grateley to get myself ready for a few days in the North East as this was my week of autumn annual leave.

Remains of St Mary's Church at Reculver (3) by Kite, on Flickr

25th November – Tyne & Wear Day 1

The day started early with a run into Waterloo and a gentle stroll to Kings Cross to board 180106 on the morning Grand Central service to Sunderland, once more it departed London quite busy in the rearmost coach, lost a handful at Peterborough before losing 75% of the passengers at York. I continued for the trip via the Durham coast to Sunderland where after buying my Tyne & Wear Metro Day ticket, headed to East Boldon for a short disused railway line walk towards Tyne Dock. One of those walks which had been on my list for this area, but one not worth shouting about, reasonable quality path but not a lot of evidence of the former railway line.

At Tyne Dock, I headed to South Shields to do the ferry across the Tyne to North Shields before another short walk heading towards the Royal Quays Marina, doing a loop of the marina towards Chirton Dene Park before heading towards Redburn Dene Park (climbing up the hill for some nice views). After a detour to the Newcastle Quays retail park, the rain started so I soon made my way towards Percy Main station, my original aim was to continue a bit further as I've got some walking ideas for paths in the area circled by the Metro. This was a week where the Metro wasn't the best in terms of frequency with missing trains causing long gaps, thankfully I didn't have to wait for long for a pair of older units to take me to Whitley Bay where I got checked into the accommodation I used earlier in the year, even getting an upgrade to a double bed rather than the single bed I paid for.

Metrocar 4029 near East Boldon Station by Kite, on Flickr

After checking in and emptying out my rucksack, I headed back out to take a 555 to Haymarket for a little stroll in the busy city centre before a spot of 555 hunting getting 004, 006, 017 & 018 into my book before heading to the Regent Centre to visit the large Asda for some supplies before making my way back to Whitley Bay to relax for the rest of the night as it was getting cold!

26th November - Derwent Valley Walk

The cold day started with a run towards Monument (via North Shields) on a pair of older Metro units, before I made my way to the Eldon Square Bus Station for the next X45 bus towards Consett, which I took as far as Blackhill on the northern edge of the town, where in the summer time I had a change of plan and instead of walking towards the Metrocentre I ended up walking towards Durham. The Derwent Valley Walk is a path along (mostly) the route of the former Derwent Valley Railway branch line, and soon as I left the built-up area around Shotley Bridge, being careful with some icy patches (especially on some minor road crossings where it was a sheet of ice), the views opened up.

The path runs high in the hills overlooking places like Ebchester & Hamsterley, it even had the remains of a few stations’ platforms, certainly an enjoyable walk for scenic views and of forests. At Rowlands Gill the route of the old railway has been lost forcing a detour via the roads before re-joining the old railway route in woodland heading towards the Derwenthaugh Park, an area with many walks where the cycle route leaves the old railway to follow the river Derwent itself. The old railway line walk ends in Swalwell where I switched to following a path in the Derwenthaugh Riverside Park alongside the river to take me towards the Tyne & the railway bridge over the Derwent.

Remains of Lintz Green railway station on the Derwent Walk (1) by Kite, on Flickr

The last section was a cycle path which ran close to the railway line towards the Metrocentre, I was going to head towards Dunston but the last section of this path after the former Cross Lane was flooded so I headed to the Metrocentre station itself to take 158849 into Newcastle, changing onto 156496 on the next train to Ashington to visit the recently opened station at Blyth Bebside. After a couple of photos (the rain had returned), I took the same 156 back to Newcastle changing over to 156475 to take me to Sunderland via the King Edward Bridge, where I jumped onto a 555 to Park Lane and onto winner 555038 which was delayed for some unknown reason, moving forward into Sunderland station for a further delay before setting off towards Newcastle. I bailed at Pelaw deciding it wasn't worth hanging around due to various issues and took 555018 all the way to Whitley Bay, where I visited Spoons for something hot before relaxing for the rest of the night.

27th November – Deerness Valley Railway & Bishop Auckland Walk

Today I got a bit carried away with my walking due to the reasonable weather, for my original idea was to finish in the Langley Moor area (on the outskirts of Durham). The Derrness Valley Railway path runs from the town of Crook towards Broompark where it meets up with the Lanchester Valley Railway route & the railway route towards Bishop Auckland via Brandon. The day started with winner 555012 to Central Station where I boarded 802209 on a TPE service which unusually departed from platform 1 to head via the High Level Bridge (and the former station at Gateshead), to take me to Durham where I had a short walk to the bus station (getting lost along the way at signage is a bit rubbish), before jumping on an Arriva run X46 bus to Crook Market Place.

Crook looked to be a nice little town as I followed some roads to pick up the start of the railway path to the north of the town centre. The first section was a decent quality footpath but had a long climb, something I wouldn't have expected from a railway line. The path took me towards Stanley Crook and Waterhouses via some nice countryside & woodland. After Waterhouses it was a short section towards Esh Winning before the woodland returned with the section towards Ushaw Moor and finally Broompark where I reached the point I reached earlier in the year. I turned right onto the cycle path towards Bishop Auckland, down a steep hill to cross over the River Deerness before a steep climb back up to the route of the old railway line, the former bridge (I presume) has been lost to history.

I was now on the path towards Bishop Auckland via Brandon, where I decided on an extension towards Willington as it was only an extra 5 miles. Some detouring around Langley Moor & Brandon due to the route of the railway being lost under modern development before the countryside opened out & I reached the site of the former Brancepeth station. Although no evidence of the station remains other than a sign saying "the station was here". Continuing along the path and I reached Willington where once more I decided to extend the walk as it was only an extra 3 miles to Bishop Auckland.

River Deerness near Broompark by Kite, on Flickr

In the Willington area, the route of the railway has been lost so it was a case of following the signs for the cycle path before joining up with the route of the old railway line for the last section towards Bishop Auckland the path ending at the northern edge of the town with the old railway line now part of the A689 road, including the Newton Cap Viaduct over the River Wear. I had the option of either a bus towards Durham (or Newcastle) or using the train. Based on the crowd waiting for the bus I decided to head towards the railway station via the town centre, after buying my ticket to Newcastle I took a seat on a delayed 156487 to Darlington as darkness was falling and 801212 to Newcastle.

At Newcastle I decided to jump on a pair of 156s on a Whitby service to take me to Sunderland where after a glance of RTT saw there would likely be a long wait for the next northbound Metro (as the previous couple of services hadn't run) I escaped onto another 156 back to Newcastle, heading to the Metro grabbing winner 555035 to Gateshead Stadium and onto 555018 (again!) to Whitley Bay, where once more I ended up in the pub for food. A long walk (17.8 miles!) but it was worth it for the views and the decent quality paths.

555018 at Whitley Bay Station by Kite, on Flickr

28th November – A stroll in Blyth

A later start than the previous couple of days as I checked out of the accommodation, certainly a place I will use again if the price is right. After grabbing breakfast I jumped onto an Arriva route 308 bus to Blyth bus station, doubling back towards Ridley Park to pick up the England coastal path heading towards the Quayside before heading inland due to industrial units along the bank of the River Blyth. I soon re-joined the riverside picking up a cycle route running alongside (mostly) the southern bank of the river. I headed underneath the A189 road (where the coastal path heads across the river and towards Cambois) and the railway viaduct heading towards the Dene Park near the former Bedlington Ironworks.

I continued my walk close to the river Blyth heading towards Bedlington finishing at Attlee Park, where I joined the roads to walk towards Blyth Bebside station, arriving with good timing as the rain returned a few minutes after I boarded 156444 for the run to Newcastle. An enjoyable little stroll from Blyth town centre towards the new station, going via Bedlington. Once in Newcastle I grabbed some lunch items before getting a seat on 801205 on a semi-fast London service, getting very busy after York due to issues at Wakefield.

Bedlington Viaduct over the River Blyth (2) by Kite, on Flickr

Once I reached London, I headed towards Waterloo via Thameslink & South Eastern to take a pair of 159s to Grateley to rest for the rest of the evening, sorting out my rucksack & making a start with the many photos taken during my trip.

29th November – A trip to Eastbourne

The weather had turned a bit damper and colder, and after a busy week I fancied a quieter Saturday. I headed towards Woking, changing onto winner 701033 to Clapham Junction where I spent the next couple of hours grabbing 701048, 701026 & 701050, including a stroll from Fulwell towards Teddington as a time-wasting stroll during a break in the rain.

After finishing with the 701s I headed across to Waterloo East, jumping onto a pair of 375s for the run to Hastings on a semi-fast service, changing over to 387127 to Eastbourne on a Brighton service and onto 387209 & 387203 on a Victoria service to take me to East Croydon, an area of the country I hadn’t visited for a while. At East Croydon I headed to the tram platforms, noticing how much different it looks since the former Post Office building has been knocked down (and all the new high rise tower blocks springing up).

40 or so minutes later, just as I was about to give up, tram 2561 rolled in on a service to Beckenham Junction which I took to Blackhorse Lane to clear it for a mile, returning to East Croydon on tram 2541, all the active trams in Croydon now cleared for a mile (I missed out on the tram which was involved in the accident which I believe has been written off). Back at East Croydon it was a case of jumping on the first available train towards London, which was 377203 & 377431 to Clapham Junction, heading into Waterloo on a pair of 450s to get a decent seat on 159019 back to Grateley. A reasonable productive day with the wet weather where I didn’t have the drive to head to the underground due to the time of year.

London Tram 2561 at Blackhorse Lane by Kite, on Flickr

30th November – A Trip to Portsmouth

For the last trip in November, I didn’t want a late finish due to starting work on an early shift on the Monday, so after a quick play on RTT I drove to Andover to take 159103 & 158886 to Clapham Junction going via Isleworth. After a short wait at Clapham Junction, it was onto 377442 & 377410 on a Portsmouth Harbour service which due to engineering works was diverted via Dorking, a line I hadn’t been along for a while.

I left the 377s at Havant for a short wait before former GWR 387173 rolled in on a Portsmouth Harbour service from Brighton, which sadly got cut short at Portsmouth & Southsea due to signalling issues near Portsmouth Harbour. After a short stroll in the city centre, I jumped onto 444028 & 444008 which was starting from platform 3 (due to the signalling issues) on the next fast service towards London, a train which got busy at Guildford due to the limited service towards London due to the works near Wimbledon. At Woking I jumped onto another pair of 444s to Basingstoke before a pair of 158s to Andover, calling it a night with a visit to the big Tesco for some supplies. I might not have been successful in getting a 387 to Portsmouth Harbour, but Sundays are probably the best day due to the units interworking between Portsmouth & Southampton.

387173 at Portsmouth & Southsea (2) by Kite, on Flickr

Anyhow, thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr Here

 

[Rover]

Another good read, thanks.

 

[Kite159]

Another good read, thanks.

Cheers, hopefully I will finish writing up December tomorrow evening

 

[Kite159]

Trips in December 2025

5th December – Peak Forest Canal & a muddy bypass

The day started with a single 158 on a peak time London service, which being Friday coped with the crowds (would dread to think how busy it would have been on a Wednesday), where I had a little stroll to Euston to jump on 390047 on a Manchester service via Crewe to take me to Stockport as today was the day I was hopefully going to put a large dent in the Peak Forest Canal, I will still have a short section to walk in the Bugsworth Basin area, but I’ve got a plan for that area. At Stockport I headed to the bus station to jump on the next route 330 service for Ashton which was a busy service, however I couldn’t help thinking that the timings of some of the traffic lights at the end of bus lanes could have been better as it felt like the bus was waiting on the Portwood Roundabout for a fair while.

Anyhow I alighted from the bus at Apethorn Lane on the edge of Hyde, walking the short distance along this lane towards the disused railway path I walked earlier in the year from Godley, and joined the canal where I headed south via the Apethorn Woods towards Woodley. I continued along the reasonable towpath (bit flooded in places but nothing that serious), going through the tunnel, and skirting round the edge of Romiley. Urban gave way to rural before a short bypass due to the Hyde Bank tunnel not having a towpath. I joined the canal the other side of the tunnel, heading towards Marple Aqueduct and started the climb via the Marple Locks towards Marple itself. The towpath switching sides a couple of times during the climb where I reached the junction with the Macclesfield canal (a job for the spring/summer time due to the towpath being a bit more rural in places). I left Marple behind and headed into the countryside where the views of the peak district started to appear, until reaching a swing bridge between Marple & Strines where the towpath was closed for winter improvement works.

Peak Forest Canal in Marple by Kite, on Flickr

I won't repeat what I said as it was a bit rude, as I looked at the map, picking out a couple of footpaths which I was hoping would allow me to get back on the canal the other side of the block, heading towards Turf Lea and a very muddy & flooded footpath via woodlands, where thankfully I was able to re-join the canal to head towards Disley and finishing at New Mills, where I headed to New Mills Central to board 195006 from Sheffield. I was surprised to get a seat considering this was short formed, however the train did fill up along the way into Manchester, where the rain had returned. I made a tight connection onto 390016 on the next Euston service, getting a seat in a busy coach C, settling down for the fast run to Euston, where I had a little stroll to Waterloo for a triple 159 to take me back to Grateley. An enjoyable, if not annoying canal walk, I suspect when the time comes to do Macclesfield to Marple I will extend the walk towards Strines to cover the section I missed.

6th December – Tour of Toton

When I noticed that both Cross Country & East Midlands were diverting via Toton (although at the start it wasn’t XC due to the strike but that got called off) I came up with a rough idea, even trying to fit in a sample of one of the shiny new 810 units from Nottingham. Anyhow the day began with the first train of the day from Grateley to take me to Waterloo, where I headed to St Pancras via South Eastern & Thameslink to take a seat on 222013 on the Sheffield train, the lack of Derby showing on the departure board looked a tad strange. Anyways, a couple of hours later I was at Sheffield, felt strange going via the Erewash Valley line without stopping, and I transferred to 150007 on the next Leeds via Moorthorpe stopper to take me to Bolton Upon Dearne for a little stroll.

Today's stroll, in the changeable weather was along the long distance Trans-Pennie Trail, as I headed south from Bolton Upon Dearne to pick up the path near the River Dearne for a stroll towards the Barnburgh Colliery Woodland and onto a footpath alongside the River Dearne to the south of Harlington before picking up the route of the former Dearne Valley Railway line towards Denaby Ings before heading towards Conisbrough where I followed an unofficial path (which was a bit muddy in places) to lead towards the River Don & the Mexborough Low Lock on the Kilnhurst Cut of the River Don Navigation.
I followed the waterway, dodging some of the larger puddles and trying not to slip on mud, as thankfully the towpath did improve as I reached Mexborough, running close to the railway I did have the option to bail at Mexborough station but decided to carry on, crossing the waterway on a bridge alongside the railway and headed onto the roads, as there was no towpath. I was toying with doing another short section of the towpath in the Swinton area but the timings didn't work out. Swinton might get 2 trains an hour towards Sheffield, but what doesn't help is they are less than 10 minutes apart. When I was close to the station, I followed part of the towpath along the disused Dearne and Dove Canal before heading into the centre of Swinton to visit a handy Co-Op for some supplies (and also to waste some time). After visiting the Co-Op I headed to the station, making use of the toilets within the building before squeezing onto 150008 to take me to Rotherham Central where I managed to see the 2nd of the trams out on the Rotherham route (as I still need one of the 399s for a mile). After this I caught a busy 150273 into Sheffield, I dread to think how much revenue is disappearing due to overcrowding and the stations being open.

150007 at Swinton (Yorkshire) Station by Kite, on Flickr

This is where I noticed there was a few cancellations due to an incident around Kettering, with the next EMR being cancelled, so I jumped onto 220005 & 220016, easily getting a seat near the front of the train for the trip towards Derby via Toton, where I was considering boarding the EMR service which was starting at Derby but it was the time where football fans had arrived, complete with countless police officers so I decided not to bother with the 222 and staying on the voyagers to take me towards Birmingham New Street, where I transferred to 390136 on a service from Scotland to take me to Euston.

On arrival at Euston, I had a gentle stroll across to Waterloo to take a 158+159 combo back home to Grateley, where I dried off and relaxed. I wasn't planning to do the canal section as my plan was to head towards Doncaster via the Trans-Pennie Trail, but that can be done on another day. The Sunday was spent in London, hunting down various Piccadilly & District line units for a mile, as I decided to ditch my hotel stay in Torquay due to the weather being a bit rubbish.

8th December – Saying Farwell to the HSTs on GWR

This was a bit of a short notice plan due to ditching my hotel booking in Torquay due to the weather being wet, although even my original plan was thrown in the bin due to the Exeter – Penzance HST getting cancelled due to a train fault. Anyhow I took a pair of 159s from Grateley towards Exeter St Davids on the 08:31 service, where I made the connection onto a pair of voyagers on the next Plymouth service. At Plymouth I braved the rain to head to the large Sainsburys for some lunch items before taking a pair of 158s to Truro for a short wait before 43093 & 43198 rolled in on a Plymouth bound service, my last GWR HST service.

43093 arriving into Truro by Kite, on Flickr

At Plymouth, I transferred onto 802111 on the next London service to take me to Exeter St Davids where I joined a busy single 159103 on the next Waterloo service, getting very busy at Central due to being college kid time, I took this to Salisbury where I swapped over to another 159 for the run back home to Grateley. An enjoyable if short day in the wet South West.

16th December – Return to the Tarka

I spent the 15th December in London, with a short walk following the Crane Park from Twickenham towards the Feltham area after roping in another 701 before clearing the active DLR units for a mile (I missed out on one of the older units outright due to being withdrawn before 2014 and one more for a mile as it was an early withdrawal). Anyhow with the weather being suitable for walking I decided it would be a good chance to return to the Tarka trail, splitting the section from Meeth to Bideford at Great Torrington.

The day started with an early morning drive to Salisbury and onto a pair of 159s to Exeter Central, where they arrived near enough on time allowing me time to dash to the Co-Op outside the station (positioning myself near the front to beat the college students), before walking down the hill to St Davids due to conflicting information regarding bus stops. I took a seat on the Stagecoach route 5B service which eventually gets to Barnstaple. This route was quite pleasant for views, even on a grey day. As it headed away from Exeter, heading towards Crediton (never realised how large the town is), Copplestone, North Tawton, Winkleigh, Dolton and finally Great Torrington where I alighted in the town centre area (as I could have alighted at the former station now a heritage railway)

My walk began heading south towards a steep footpath dropping towards the River Torridge, where I ran into a blocked footpath, forcing a short detour along a slightly muddy path alongside the banks of the river, before picking up the closed Rolle Road towards the railway viaduct over the river, climbing up onto the old trackbed and heading to the site of the station, now home to the short Tarka Valley Railway (complete with pacer rotting away).

Path along Rolle Road in Great Torrington (3) by Kite, on Flickr

I continued along the route of the Tarka Trail, as it crossed over the River Torridge a handful of times with signs pointing towards an old canal. The decent quality path continued running close to the A386 so not the quietest of paths, but still pretty with the woodland as it headed towards Landcross (passing the remains of the Rolle Canal Tide Lock down in the valley). In Landcross there was a short tunnel before the path breaking away from the main road and crossing the Torridge for one last time on an Iron Viaduct and into the Seven Oaks Nature Reserve. The walk ended a mile (or so) later at the former Bideford station and I dropped down onto the road to pick up a busy bus on a route 21A service to take me into Barnstaple.

My original idea was to have a little stroll in Barnstaple as there is an old railway line to the east of the station, but as the following train was shown as cancelled, I gave that a miss and headed to the station to jump on 150238 to take me into Exeter St Davids, where I had a stroll towards a nearby Spoons to meet up with Stu for a little catch-up before I returned to the station and onto a pair of 159s to take me back to Salisbury. Another short section of the Tarka Trail complete, I got lucky as I was originally going to walk from Meeth on the 8th December, but when I joined the old railway at Torrington, I saw a sign saying the path was closed towards Meeth for improvement works.

River Torridge from the Tarka Trail between Landcross & Bideford by Kite, on Flickr

17th December – An unexpected stroll on the Capital Ring

Today didn’t get off to a good start, due to signalling issues at Salisbury the 07:27 at Grateley was cancelled (the train ran nonstop Salisbury – Basingstoke) and with the following service being delayed by around 15 minutes I decided to jump on the school kids express to Salisbury (thankfully some of the schools in Salisbury had already finished for the year so I was able to get a seat!) I made it at Salisbury before the next London train rolled into the station with the announcement that it was only calling at Andover on the way to Waterloo (so getting lucky considering it was freezing cold this morning!). A busy 3 coach unit, where it felt very strange passing Basingstoke, bringing back memories of the timetable from a few years ago where there was a handful of Waterloo – Salisbury services which were nonstop Clapham to Andover.

Thankfully I made it into Waterloo with time to spare to stroll to Euston to get 730222 into my little book with the run to Watford Junction, however it was running late so the connection with the Southern service was missed (as I was going to take that Southern service to Imperial Wharf for a short section of the Thames Path on the north bank of the river). For the lack of a better idea, I took the next Overground service (710379) to South Kenton to have a walk on the Capital Ring, something I had been wanting to do more of this year (well 2025) but never got round to it.

710379 departs South Kenton by Kite, on Flickr

I decided to head east, towards Preston Park and via the roads passing Preston Road Underground to reach Fryent Country Park and the Barn Hill Open Space. A bit muddy in places (and steep) but it was quite nice with the woodland. After crossing the A4140 road I explored a bit more of the Fryent Country Park (although a bit of guess work at the route of the Capital Ring in the maze of footpaths). I left the country park and into roads in the Kingsbury area, reaching a cycle path alongside the Brent Reservoir in the Welsh Harp Nature Reserve. This took me towards Hendon, crossing over the M1 and headed north to Hendon station where my walk ended.

The next section of the Capital Ring in north London will be Hendon towards East Finchley underground, but who knows when I will get round to doing that. I was toying with the idea of taking 700053 all the way to Herne Hill to have a little stroll around Brockwell Park but decided to alight from the train at West Hampstead Thameslink, for a little visit to Tesco for a late lunch before heading to West Hampstead Overground station, hoping for a 710 to Richmond but sadly that was a 378, before taking 378203 to Clapham Junction, finishing the day with a single 159 back home to Grateley, where I could relax and get ready for the next 7 early shifts at work.

Jubilee Line Set 96087 heading towards Wembley Park, near Fryent Country Park by Kite, on Flickr

27th December – A Day of frustration in South Wales

For my final walking trip of 2025, I decided on a trip to South Wales, originally my idea was to head towards Pantyffynnon to walk towards Gowerton, which changed the night before when I noticed TfW had decided to axe half the services on the Heart of Wales, deciding instead to walk north from Gowerton towards Pantyffynnon which would be reasonably tight but I would have a bus route to fall back on.

The day started with 159008 taken to Reading (due to the block between Clapham & Waterloo), grabbing some supplies for breakfast from a limited choice in the Sainsburys closest to the station before taking a seat on 800032 on a Carmarthen train, all was going well until it lost 15 minutes near the junction to the south of Yate due to a points failure, and a further 10 minutes at Bristol Parkway due to waiting on a signal (the signaller [or most likely the hopeless Automatic Route Setting] giving preference to an ECS service for Temple Meads. With the delay being at 25 minutes I decided to cut my losses and bailed at Cardiff Central, it would have missed the connection at Swansea for Gowerton (although it would have made it, due to that train being late as well).

After grabbing my Valleys Day Ranger, I headed across to platform 7 to board a late running Treherbert service with the aim to visit the reopened (and rebuilt) Ynyswen station with 756117 for this service running around 30 minutes late, where it ran all stations to Pontypridd before running limited stop to Treherbert, calling at only Dinas Rhondda & Ystrad Rhondda. I decided against visiting Ynyswen due the following service getting spun part route, and instead took this 756 towards Porth with the aim to walk the path towards Maerdy. The first section was via Wynshir & Wattstown, where it was nice in places it's certainly a path I wouldn't rush back to. When I reached Tylorstown, at the part where it was old railway, I ran into an unexpected closure of the path in the shape of a large fence. I headed via the roads to another access point near a surgery but that was also closed, which was a bit annoying, but thankfully I was close to a bus stop to take a Stagecoach route 132 service towards Pontypridd (one reason for buying a Valley Day Ranger was the validity on Stagecoach routes in the Valleys).

Blocked off section of the Rhondda Fach Path near Tylorstown by Kite, on Flickr

At Pontypridd I got lucky with the next southbound service being winner 756001 which cleared the class with the run to Cardiff Central, where I changed onto 231004 to take me to Aber, I was hoping to get to Energlyn & Churchill Park but TfW weren't having a good day on this route, cancelling half of the services meaning it would be a 30-minute wait for the next train calling at Energlyn & Churchill Park. My goal was to walk the old railway line path towards the village of Senghenydd, so after going via the roads towards the Hendredenny Park area I picked up the "Aber Greenway", which was quite scenic (although uphill). I reached the village of Abertridwr, and once more I found my path blocked by a fence forcing an early finish to the walk as I headed towards the village centre and onto a route B bus towards Caerphilly bus station (which quite helpfully is next to the railway station).

At the railway station it was a short wait before 231001 rolled in to take me towards Cardiff Central where I had a bit of a wait for a late running GWR service (which was so late it was terminating at Reading). Eventually 800003 & 800016 rolled in nearly an hour late, I managed to grab a seat near the rear of the train, which lost more time around Bristol Parkway, terminating at Reading around 70 minutes late (where it formed a service towards Weston). After a short wait I boarded 159015 for the run back to Grateley to end the day. A bit annoying to have to cut short walks once, yet alone twice (these were marked up cycle paths, so not minor footpaths), but at least I cleared the 756s.

Anyhow thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr for December Here, not the most productive months for walking due to the poor weather.

 

[Rover]

You certainly get about Kite. Loved the photo of the Peak Forest Canal and the Reliant Robin you don't see many of them these days.

 

[Kite159]

Trips in January 2026, Part 1

4th January – Walking in East Devon

With the railway closed in the Basingstoke area, it limited my options for my first day trip of 2026, deciding to head west to walk an old railway line path from Exmouth to Budleigh Salterton. The day starting with the 08:30 service from Grateley to take me to Exeter Central, where I had time to dash to the Co-Op for some supplies before taking 166220 to Exmouth and a walk to the bus stops on the Parade for a filthy stagecoach bus on a route 157 to Sidmouth, forcing a little rethink as I decided to take the bus to the village of Otterton.

Leaving the bus, I soon picked up national cycle route 2 heading via the village (up a steep hill) and onto a former road (Park Lane) for an enjoyable stroll heading south towards the Otter Estuary giving some nice views of the river and another footpath running alongside the river (ideas for the future). I reached the end of Park Lane, crossed over the river and departed from the route of the cycle path and onto a footpath which formed part of the long-distance Coastal path, running towards the seafront with some lovely views of the estuary marshlands. I reached the sea and after a little trip to the mouth of the river I headed along the seafront at Budleigh Salterton, finishing the walk near Cliff Road (maybe one of these days I will return to this area to walk the coastal path all the way towards Exmouth, so much to do, so little time).

Budleigh Salterton Beach. by Kite, on Flickr

The next section was via the roads (and a small area called the Green) to head towards Knowle, where I picked up cycle route 2 along the way and headed onto the off-road section on what was called the Budleigh Salterton - Exmouth Greenway, picking up the route of the former railway line for a gentle stroll in the countryside (with some traffic noise at times), heading towards Exmouth. The next section involved some roads due to the route of the railway being lost under modern developments, before picking up the railway line again to take me towards Rhear Park where I was considering heading towards Lympstone but decided instead to head towards Exmouth station as the clouds were getting darker. At the station I jumped onto 166218 to take me to Exeter Central where I had a nice connection onto 159101 & 159002 to take me back to Grateley, walking home in the snow. An enjoyable day of riverside path, a seafront path & a smooth former railway line.

5th January – Avanti via Settle.

The plans I had for the Monday & Tuesday completely changed on the Sunday night due to the forecast of heavy snow, as I was originally going to stay overnight in Chester on the Monday night after doing a walk, doing the novelty of an Avanti service via the S&C line on the Tuesday (heading back to London via Newcastle), even the hotel got changed in the morning from Chester to Birmingham as I decided Birmingham offered more options for the Tuesday than Chester, deciding on the Easy Hotel for less than I had paid for a Travelodge in Chester (making use of paying extra for free cancellation).

Anyhow the overnight trip began with a walk in the snow to Grateley station and onto 158881, 159004 & 159101 for the run into Waterloo, where I had a stroll to Euston (where I made my decision to switch hotels). Onto the 09:30 service to Preston formed of 390009, after noticing there was no power in coach C I changed to coach D with plenty of options on this lightly loaded Pendo for the run towards Preston, all was going well until it got diverted via Northampton due to another train having issues on the route via Weedon, causing a 20 minute delay, it managed to get back some of the lost time before sitting outside Wigan for nearly 10 minutes for a stopper to depart and reached Preston where thankfully Avanti control had held the connection (I was glad to have grabbed food when in London), and I grabbed a seat on 805009 which eventually departed, thankfully ahead of the Colne stopper and passing the Clitheroe stopper at Blackburn. A trip looking out of the window at the snow-covered scenery. The 805 reached Carlisle around 25 minutes late, cutting down time to grab supplies (especially since that handy Tesco near the station closed).

805009 at Carlisle Station by Kite, on Flickr

I returned to the station, after visiting Booths and M&S (mmm doughnuts) and grabbed a seat in the driving end coach (aka standard premium due to not having an engine underneath), sitting on the opposite side for the trip back south, daylight giving way near Settle so I spent the rest of the trip watching videos. The train was delayed on the outskirts of Blackburn for some unexplained reason, which had it following the stopper to Preston. I think there were a few annoyed passengers when the 805 arrived into Preston for a delay as it attached to another unit as a fast London train pulled out before the doors were released. Thankfully this didn’t affect me as I was waiting for the via Birmingham service which eventually arrived and departed around 10 minutes late with 390153, losing more time around Crewe to arrive at Birmingham around 25 minutes late.

The temperature had certainly dropped when I got out of the station and made my way to the Easy Hotel to get checked in, well I would have done if I could actually check in as there was nobody at the front desk, with the phone ringing and a crowd building. Eventually a member of staff did pop up to clear the crowd and I made my way to my room to empty out my rucksack and relaxed. 15 minutes later I headed back out to the freezing cold air, swinging via Tesco for some late evening munchies and onto the 22:00 service to Worcester Shrub Hill, which had winner 196010 leading 196005. I wasn’t expecting to get 010 until Oxford – Milton Keynes opened up as its one of the half dozen leased to Chiltern rather than West Midlands, but I guess it’s been sub-leased back to the West Midlands until the Oxford – Milton Keynes service start to operate.

196010 at Bromsgrove by Kite, on Flickr

I took this 196 to Bromsgrove, changing over to the opposite platform for 196102 back to Birmingham New Street, which even featured a ticket check! (I wonder how many tickets that guard sold). At Birmingham New Street, my phone was reading minus 5C as I made my way back to the hotel, trying to be careful with ice, and got myself warmed up. The novelty of Avanti via the S&C line was done as I began to think trying to decide what to do on the Tuesday.

6th January – Walking along the snowy Tame

After a reasonable sleep (could have done with another pillow) I departed from the hotel, grabbing some breakfast from Tim Hortons and headed to the station. I was still in two minds between heading to Perry Barr or to university for a walk, keeping the snowy conditions in mind (it wasn’t snowing this morning but the ground had snow on it). Deciding to head to Perry Barr, jumping onto 730031 on the Walsall stopper.

After leaving the station (first time using it since the building was rebuilt for the commonwealth games) and headed towards the large "One Stop" shopping complex, I picked up a path which headed towards the Perry Hall Park and followed the River Tame. I followed this path round the park, going underneath the railway and towards the Hamstead area. A short section of walking along the roads followed before I picked up a footpath alongside the Tame (being careful with any hilly areas), this led towards the Sandwell Valley area, picking up cycle route 5 near Forge Mill Lake (complete with signs warning that this area was part of the flood plain so to stay out if the lights were flashing).

River Tame in Sandwell Valley, Birmingham (4) by Kite, on Flickr

Following the path, now between the River Tame & the Lake, I headed underneath the railway line once more with the path coming to an end in the Newton area. A short section along a road followed before picking up a path which headed towards the Tame Valley Canal, near to various bridges related to the M5. I followed the towpath of the snow-covered canal (which did look very pretty) towards Tame Bridge Parkway station where I managed to jump onto 730035 on the next Birmingham International service (I was aiming for the 196 which was following, but it was a bit cold now I had stopped walking). An enjoyable little stroll, one of those walking ideas which had been on my list for a while, one of these days I might even walk the footpath towards Bescot Stadium, but that will probably be best done in the summer time.

Once I reached Birmingham city centre, grabbing a late lunch & other stuff, I decided on a little time-wasting stroll towards the Jewellery Quarter. On arrival I took 172345 & 172214 to Moor Street giving me plenty of time to grab a couple of photos of the next Chiltern service. 68013 was on the buffer stop end with DVT 82305 at the London end, as I got a decent seat in for the former 1st class area for a little personal farewell to the Mk3 coaches on Chiltern before they get replaced by the bone shakers. Always nice to have a nonstop run after Bicester North to London, reminding me of the days when Chiltern offered competition to the WCML with an hourly fast service.

DVT 82305 at Birmingham Moor Street by Kite, on Flickr

At Marylebone, the temperature was a lot colder than it was in Birmingham, as I headed to the Bakerloo line for my first spin on the Bakerloo of the year (3262 & 3536) to Waterloo, to finish the trip with 159107, 159017 & 159005 on a train to Grateley, getting home to relax and getting ready for the week ahead.

13th January – An overnight trip to Lincolnshire

The aim for this trip was to do a couple of little novelties which required staying in Lincon overnight, a city which can be quite expensive for accommodation in the tourist season so I was happy to pick up a room above a pub close to the station for £40 (although I completely forgot there was a Travelodge in the city centre). I had a few ideas for walks in the general area, all depending on the weather (which was quite changeable), with the day starting with the 06:16 from Grateley to Waterloo with 159004 & 159106, followed by a gentle stroll towards Kings Cross where I had a few options as I wanted to be in Lincoln to catch a bus departing at 13:00.

In the end, I decided to give my eyes a break from the red and boarded 802302 on a Hull Trains service to take me to Doncaster (in the rain, where I noticed the Leeds stopper is back to being a 3 coach 331). After grabbing some supplies from Sainsburys I boarded 170513 on the next Lincoln bound service, going from platform 2 (bringing back memories of how it took me 3 attempts to get this bay platform a few years ago). I always forget how remote this line gets in places, as it arrived into Lincoln near enough on time, giving me plenty of time to make my way to the bus station for the next P&C Coaches run route 30 to Horncastle via Bardney service to take me to Bardney. Via Washingborough & Heighington with some fast running on the remote countryside section.

170513 at Doncaster by Kite, on Flickr

My walk today was part of the former Lincolnshire Loop Line, now branded as the Water-Rail Way. The first mile was along a farm track (as the route of the railway has been lost), a bit muddy & flooded in places, but thankfully the path did turn into smooth tarmac as it headed towards the former Southrey station site. The path was running close to the River Witham as I continued towards the former Stixwould station, not the busiest of paths, but was very relaxing with the only sound being aircraft above the clouds.

The walk ended in the Kirkstead area of Woodhall Spa, with the platforms of the former Woodhall Junction station visible but fenced off, beyond this point the railway line disappears into private land with the Water-Rail way using country lanes until the Langrick Bridge area where it goes off-road following the Witham River into Boston itself, a place which at a glance has limited bus services but needs more research. Anyhow I left the cycle path and headed onto the roads to reach a bus stop for a Brylaine Travel run route B5 service to take me towards Lincoln where darkness had fallen

Remains of platforms at Southrey Station by Kite, on Flickr

On arrival at Lincoln, I decided the best thing would be to head to my accommodation, to get myself checked in (although it was self-service check-in with access codes emailed the day before), after going the wrong way via the university campus (I failed to see the path near the railway level crossing on Brayford Wharf, ending up crossing over the railway on a footbridge to find the Swan pub (which google was suggesting is temporary closed), access via a passageway by the side and I found my room with a good view over Brayford Pool. After dropping off stuff from my rucksack I returned to the outside, heading to the station via a Tesco for some dinner items and onto 170532 on the 17:39 service for Crewe. When I arrived at the station at 17:35 I was expecting to have to stand (owing to the time of day), but I was completely surprised that the train was barely half full, I even had a private table seat on the slow train to Nottingham, calling at nearly every station.

I will also admit to forgetting about the 810s as my original idea was to head to the tram stop for a short tram hunt, for lack of a better idea, until I noticed on RTT I could get in my first 810 with a run to Loughborough with an outside chance of making a minus 1 connection onto the 2nd diagram. Anyhow after buying my day return to Loughborough, I took a seat on 810006 for the run to Loughborough, getting lucky with the connection to jump onto 810010 heading back towards Nottingham, where I sat around on the platform to await the arrival of the 20:45 service for Boston, a warm 158864, for a farce to start.

810010 at Nottingham Station by Kite, on Flickr

A pair of 3 coach 170s rolled in on platform 1 heading to Norwich, but were having some sort of issue as they just sat on the platform with the signal changing back from green to red to allow some ECS shunts to happen, the Boston train getting delayed in case the Norwich train was ready to depart due to the long signal sections on the line towards Grantham. 15 minutes later the stopper departed (with the Norwich train still sitting on platform 1), calling at a few stations along the way, reversing at Grantham and taking me to Sleaford where I was connecting onto the last train towards Peterborough, which was formed of a refurbished 170, 506. Quite a decent job with the new seats, carpets etc, the plug socket coming in handy to charge my phone when I was watching videos with the run to Peterborough, going via the dive under. The next service was one of those novelty trains with the 23:09 service back towards Lincoln, for it used the Sleaford avoiding line (I presume due to the signal box at Sleaford being closed that time of night). I didn’t need the track as I’ve done it on charter trains and diverted long distance services when the ECML has been closed, but it’s a novelty to do it on an EMR service, to see the calling pattern being Splading then Ruskington.

Anyhow an hour or so later, the 170 arrived in Lincoln after doing the unusual track, the ticket barriers still being in operation was a bit of a surprise (although I suspect more to do with keeping people out of the station than revenue), as I made my way to the pub (going the right way this time!) and relaxed ready for an early start on the Wednesday.

14th January – Walking Peak Rail & Cromford Canal

Today was one of those days where I had a few options in my head, a couple of the rejected options included a walk in Derby from Spondon, walking from Long Eaton into Nottingham via the Trent or even returning to Bardney to finish the old railway path with the 9 and a bit mile into Lincoln alongside the river. In the end I decided on a trip to Matlock with a couple shorter walks linked by a bus. Anyhow it was an early start with a walk to the station (via a Tesco for some breakfast items) for the 06:40 service towards Nottingham, a service which continues to St Pancras, as Lincoln gets 2 direct trains a day to St Pancras but with nothing going in the other direction.

222019 eventually rolled in running quite late (the ECS being late from Nottingham, and I will admit to staying in bed until it actually departed as it would seem pointless heading to the station to find the service cancelled. I got a seat in the rear coach, which was empty until one of the stations after Newark Castle (and was off the platform at all the various stations), the section between Swinderby & Nottingham being new coverage for a 222 (as back in 2019 I managed to do a 222 to Swinderby from Lincoln back when East Midlands Trains had a DMU shortage and used a 222 to cover some Lincoln – Leicester services). Anyhow back to the present day and I alighted from this 222 at Nottingham, heading towards Tesco to grab some supplies (I would have used the Co-Op but it was cash only and membership discounts weren’t getting applied).

222019 at Lincoln Station by Kite, on Flickr

I retuned to the station and onto a busy 170513 to take me towards Matlock (ironically the same unit I had to Matlock last year!), where the first of today’s walk began. Leaving the station, dodging some icy patches due to the temperature dropping overnight, I joined the Derwent Valley Way path running between the river and the A6 with some nice views of the river before going underneath the A6 as I reached the area of the Matlock Riverside station (Peak Rail), going underneath the railway bridge and up some stairs to reach a permissive path alongside the railway heading towards a cycle path which forms part of the long distance White Peak Loop, alongside the railway. Quite a busy path with walkers (and a couple of cyclists) with some nice views of the countryside, I would imagine on days where Peak Rail are running steam trains it would make for some good photos.

The path splits away from the railway near Darley Dale, and runs alongside roads towards the station before going via Whitworth Park (once I managed to get the gate open!). After the park, the path returns to running alongside the railway track as it headed towards their base of operations at Rowsley South, although no real chances of photos due to the path moving away from the tracks to the south of the station area. I continued along the path as it passed a council depot and moved onto the route of the old railway line (which used to continue towards Buxton, with a short section towards Rowsley itself, the walk ending at a bus stop outside the outlet shopping mall at Peak Village. (The cycle path continues along the A6 towards Bakewell and the famous Monsal Trail)

Darley Dale Station (Peak Rail) by Kite, on Flickr

I didn’t have long to wait for the next High Peak ‘Transpeak’ bus service to take me back towards Matlock, where I stayed on towards Matlock Bath & Cromford, alighting from the bus near High Peak Junction for the second walk was going to be the Cromford Canal. I previously had walked from High Peak Junction towards the wharf at Cromford last year when I did the High Peak Trail from Parlsey Hay so it made sense to start the walk here, considering the bus stopped there. The towpath was quite reasonable, a bit muddy in places but overall reasonable as I headed towards Whatstandwell via a short tunnel. Some nice views along the way as well. Once more the towpath was quite busy with other walkers enjoying the sunshine (even if it was a tad chilly) and soon I reached Ambergate, staying on the towpath to the end of the canal, the section between Ambergate & Langley Mill being lost to history, although parts of it are still walkable.

Anyhow I reached Ambergate station just as 170532 was rolling in on the next Matlock service, which I took to Matlock to visit the large Sainsburys next to the station, making use of the extended turnaround time the Matlock trains now have compared to before December. I took the same unit back towards Derby where I changed onto the next London bound service, formed of a shiny 810013 on its first day of service, I found a seat and relaxed with the run towards St Pancras, the train losing time in the Luton area due to a points failure causing some congestion, so it arrived into London around 10 minutes behind schedule.

End of the Cromford Canal, Ambergate (2) by Kite, on Flickr

I decided to walk to Waterloo owing to the weather forecast on the Thursday being a bit wet, arriving with time to spare to board the 17:23 service to take me to Grateley, the end of a little overnight trip to Lincolnshire (and Derbyshire), both novelties I wanted to do got done, I’ve made a small dent into the Water-Rail Way path, plus a couple more walks on the Matlock branch line. The Thursday I had a lazy day at home, only popping to Basingstoke for some shopping before meeting up with a dear friend, I was toying with having a spot of 701 hunting but alas lady luck wasn’t on my side. Thanks for reading, more photos can be found here, next week hopefully sees a hopeful return to Scotland, weather dependent.

 

[Kite159]

21st January – 25th January Trips

The idea for this short break from work was a 4-night trip based in Edinburgh to do some odds & sods within the Scottish capital & surrounding area, with 1 night in Haymarket & 3 nights in Cameron Toll Travelodge (to the south of the city, with a lot of bus routes). The reason for the split in hotels was due to originally booking 3 nights only to extend to use up a day of annual leave (got to use it or lose it), with the Travelodge in Haymarket being cheapest for the Wednesday night. However, to quote Robert Burns, the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry, the weather forecast was looking a bit wet causing a few hours of weighing up options before making the “Go/No-Go” decision on the Tuesday, cancelling (good thing I was on flexible rate) the Cameron Toll hotel but keeping the Haymarket hotel as I could still do a couple of random things.

21st January – Twilight of the Innocent (Railway)

Originally in my longer stay, this was going to be a bit of a later start to do the 12:24 Lumo service all the way from London to Glasgow Queen Street, however as the weather forecast in Edinburgh was suggesting it would be dry until around 4:30pm giving me a couple of ideas for some shorter walks in Edinburgh. The day started with the 06:57 service from Grateley (158887, 159105 & 159106) on this busy peak time service to Waterloo, where I had a stroll to Kings Cross, gambling on the weather remaining dry didn’t quite work out as it started to rain when I was in the Brunswick Square area, but I carried on to Kings Cross.

I was a bit smart the night before when I was thinking up with this idea to get myself a seat reservation for the 09:30 service to Edinburgh to avoid the rush to grab one of the few unreserved seats in the small area of coach C, so when the train came up as available to board, I headed towards coach G of 801203 which was around a quarter full on departure on the new ECML timetable with an hourly fast service calling at only York & Newcastle, arriving into Edinburgh around 13:35 after a timetable wait outside the station area for a London bound train to depart. The on-time arrival meant I had a chance to make an unofficial connection to a Tweedbank service formed of 170429 to take me to Brunstane (complete with revenue staff checking tickets before boarding as it went from an open platform).

170429 departing Brunstane Station by Kite, on Flickr

When I reached Brunstane, I had to decide between two ideas which I had, deciding to head west (the other idea was to follow the Brunstane Burn Path towards the waterfront and walk towards Leith via Portobello beach). After crossing over the railway, I picked up cycle route 1, which my Strava was calling the "Innocent Path" as it followed the small river towards Bingham, not the most exciting of paths due to the urban environment but thankfully it did open up a bit in a green area as the path headed towards running alongside the Edinburgh Suburban freight line in the Duddingston/Craigmillar area of the city. A short while later I started the Innocent Railway path, a path on the route of the closed Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway route to the former St Leonards Goods station.

Mostly uphill as it passed Duddingston Loch and giving some nice views of Arthur's Seat before heading into a tunnel leading to the St Leonards area where the path ended. I was toying with the idea of catching a bus towards Corstorphine to walk the short branch line towards Balgreen tram stop but was wary of the time (as I wasn't sure what time twilight would fall in Scotland). I put that idea back on the shelf for another trip and continued my walk heading towards The Meadows green area (which was quite nice, but also quite busy) and the University area before heading into the city centre area, wasting some time visiting a couple of shops before heading to the station for the Lumo.

Innocent Railway Path in Edinburgh by Kite, on Flickr

In December, Lumo extended a couple trains a day to Glasgow Queen Street and it had been a while since I last had a 803 (since my last trip, the seat coverings have been replaced with a new material). 803003 rolled in, and nearly emptied out in the rear coach as I got settled in for the slow trip to Glasgow Queen Street, might only call at Falkirk High but there were some congestions caused by delays to ScotRail services. In Glasgow it was quite wet as I dashed to a nearby Poundland to grab some supplies before dashing back to Queen Street, not much point hanging around with the dark weather, I'm pretty sure the trio of Subway units I need haven't entered service and are being kept back for testing of the new signalling.

Back at Glasgow Queen Street, I jumped back onto 803003 as it was the next service back towards Edinburgh (runs to London, whereas the 2nd service goes back ECS). Early arrival into Falkirk due to the service it was meant to follow being late, however the train lost around 10 minutes in the Edinburgh Park & Haymarket areas due to congestion, as I left the train at Haymarket to locate the Travelodge. I'm pretty certain I used this hotel back in December 2014 as a random memory, an older building where the rooms had proper keys as I had a single room. For the lack of a better idea (for it wasn't even half seven) I settled in with a movie on my tablet, listening to the rain. An enjoyable day, I'm glad to have done one disused railway line in Edinburgh with a fast run on LNER.

803003 at Haymarket Station by Kite, on Flickr

22nd January – A trip to Dundee via Perth

Due to engineering works, the line via South Gyle & the Forth Bridge were closed this week with a limited direct service from Edinburgh to/from Aberdeen diverted via Perth, this was a day I was hedging my bets on what the weather would actually be doing on Tayside as the forecast was predicting heavy rain from 9am, another forecast it was from 11am. I checked out of the Travelodge, making my way to Haymarket station (via a handy Tesco Express for some breakfast items) and onto a lightly loaded Aberdeen bound HST formed of 43168 & 43148. My first long-distance trip on a Scottish HST for a few years (pretty sure it was back in February 2023 when Inverness Airport station opened) so I had forgotten how nice the interiors are (compared to what they were like on GWR).

Although the run towards Dundee was in darkness as it paused at Stirling & Perth for staffing stops, daylight only breaking on the approach to Dundee, I decided to carry on to Broughty Ferry which was local door only on this 2+5 formation to start my walk. It was dry but that wind was strong (and chilly). The walk along the mixed use path which follows the Tay from Arbroath towards Dundee has been on my oversized list of things to do for a while so today felt like a good chance to make a small start with the section towards Dundee as I made my way to the waterfront to pick up the path which ran between the railway line & river, before moving inland to run between the railway line & a large fence securing Dundee Docks (noticing a little café which had a separate area for walkers/cyclists & for dock workers.

43148 departs Broughty Ferry Station by Kite, on Flickr

I soon reached Dundee Marina, following a couple of paths to cross the water near HMS Unicorn to reach the Tayside near a modern housing development on Marine Parade. I carried on my walk alongside the Tay, going underneath the Tay Road Bridge and detouring inland near the RRS Discovery (and the V+A) before picking up the path as I had time to kill before the next London train from Dundee station and where it had threatened to rain nothing had come of it, other than drizzle. Passing the Premier Inn I headed towards the railway bridge, before making my way back towards the station via a park path, reaching the station just as the rain returned. After a visit to the little Tesco Express located within the station building (how very handy), I headed to the platforms to await 800110 to roll in on the next London Kings Cross service.

Once more, I was a bit smart to have reserved a seat in coach G (forgetting this was a coach which didn’t have an engine underneath, which was a nice bonus). I spent the next hour (or so) looking out of the window, at the rain and of the scenery as the Azuma ran through Perth nonstop, slowing around Dunblane to change over to AC power before carrying on towards Haymarket & Edinburgh where the coach I was in did empty out a bit. As a bonus, due to the increased journey time at going via Perth, the Azuma slotted into the path of a fast London (rather than the path of the semi-fast), with coach G never really having more than a dozen passengers in with calls at Newcastle & York before heading into London.

Dundee Harbour (5) by Kite, on Flickr

As London was a bit wet, I headed to St Pancras, jumping on 700144 to London Bridge and onto the first available South Eastern service, which happened to be a service from Tunbridge Wells formed of 465155, 465164 & 466035 for the short hop to Waterloo East, where I made a tight connection onto the 17:53 service formed of 159106 & 159018 where I ended up standing until Basingstoke (because after-all it was prime commuter time and I boarded the train at the very last minute). This pair of sprinters took me home, where I spent the rest of the evening relaxing and trying to figure out a plan for Friday, eventually deciding on a London day due to the poor weather forecast (ending up grabbing 3 more 701s & a 730 for my little book)

24th January - Trans Pennine Trail on the South Yorkshire Railway

Today my plan was to head towards South Yorkshire to walk along a disused railway path which used to form part of the South Yorkshire Railway network, a walk I’ve postponed a couple of times previously due to poor weather or changing my mind. The day began with the 05:27 service to Waterloo with 159004 doing the honours, where I switched to Waterloo East with 376026 & 376019 to London Bridge, followed by 700149 to St Pancras. Felt strange skipping Farringdon as due to LU engineering works, Thameslink weren’t calling there today.

After grabbing some food from Tesco near Kings Cross, I headed to the EMR platforms at St Pancras and onto 222018 on the next Sheffield service for the speedy run to the steel city and a 30 minute break (good time to head up the hill to grab lunch from one of the shops) before 150206 rolled in fresh from the sidings to take me to Silkstone Common where my walk began.

150206 departing Silkstone Common Station by Kite, on Flickr

The first section of my walk was around the route of the Worsbrough branch line, which used to run between Penistone (connecting with the Woodhead route) and a junction in Wombwell. However around Silkstone Common there are a couple of tunnels which have been blocked off, forcing a mild detour via a slightly muddy path as I headed towards a tiny country lane (Blackergreen Lane) near to where the junction used to be located (although this section the mixed used path was high on an embankment with the occasional glimpse of the former railway route, including a tunnel portal). I doubled back towards Silkstone Common and headed east as the path dropped down onto the route of the old railway where thankfully the muddy path turned into a smooth surface made of tarmac mixed with old rubber tyres (judging by some information boards).

My walk continued, as I left behind Silkstone Common and headed into the countryside with some beautiful views, with the occasional glimpse of Wentworth Castle as the path skirted round the southern edge of Dodworth with the railway path crossing the M1 before heading towards the southern edge of Worsbrough, passing close to the Worsbrough Mill Country Park. After a quick break I resumed my walk headed away from Worsbrough back into the countryside with this section of path being quieter in terms of other users, crossing underneath the Barnsley - Meadowhall railway on a large viaduct (sadly mostly hidden by the trees) with the path continuing, joining up with the route of another disused railway (pretty sure part of the Blackburn Valley Line, or else another colliery branch) with the branch line ending at a junction on the northern edge of Wombwell with the former South Yorkshire line between Mexborough & Barnsley.

Path along the remains of the South Yorkshire Railway (Mexborough - Barnsley Branch) (Trans Pennine Trail) in Wombwell (27) by Kite, on Flickr

The next section of my walk saw myself heading in a general south eastern direction skirting round the edge of Wombwell passing the site of the former Wombwell Central station (no evidence remaining) heading underneath the A6195 near Brampton where I turned onto what was signposted as the Elsecar Greenway. A bit noisy as the first section ran close to the Dearne Valley Parkway, close to Cortonwood Shopping Park before moving away from the route of an old colliery railway to follow an old canal (the Elsecar branch of the Dearne & Dove Canal). Another busy path this as it skirted close to Hemingfield before heading towards Elsecar itself. I ended the walk at the basin rather than the Heritage Centre (somewhere on my list to visit), followed with a steep uphill climb to the station, arriving with a few minutes to spare before 158870 rolled in from Leeds to take me to Sheffield.

I turned down the first available St Pancras train because boarding a 222 with minutes to spare on a Saturday is a bit crazy, so hung around before 222007 rolled in on platform 8, grabbing a seat in coach D and settling down for the run to London, where amazingly it arrived near enough on time. I headed to the Thameslink platforms to take 700101 to London Bridge (again speeding through Farringdon felt strange, as Thameslink were changing to DC at City Thameslink today, although I had to laugh at some of the responses of some youngsters pretending to be gangster like panicking as they probably didn’t have tickets (and were planning to touch into the oyster network at Farringdon). Anyhow at London Bridge I jumped onto the first available South Eastern service to Waterloo East, tonight this was 377523 & 377514 from Maidstone, and after grabbing some dinner headed across to board 159104 on the 19:50 service to Salisbury before the masses boarded.

222007 at Sheffield Station by Kite, on Flickr

This 159 lost some time outside Woking due to congestion, but otherwise was uneventful as I got home, and relaxed. An enjoyable walk in South Yorkshire, nice to break the 13-mile mark for the first time this year, and other than the area near Silkstone Common a decent surface in some sunshine.

25th January – An unplanned trip to King’s Lynn

Originally I was going to head towards Birmingham today, solely for the novelty to do a West Midlands 196 from Birmingham Snow Hill towards Worcester via Kidderminster doing a large loop, however I was very much on the sidelines due to the WCML being closed as doing a Chiltern service which would be busy, especially as some of the hired in staff at Marylebone are a bit unpleasant to the point I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed a triple turbo formation, so I looked into other ideas for a lazy day trip (as I didn’t fancy having a day in London with the weather being a bit changeable).

The day started with a stroll to Grateley for 159003 to Waterloo, with the usual Sunday morning crawl at the London end, which gave me just under an hour to get to Kings Cross. Thankfully it had stopped raining allowing me to walk to Kings Cross, the rain only returning when I was near Euston Road waiting for the traffic lights to change, however I shouldn’t have rushed as the next Great Northern service for King’s Lynn was delayed as the inbound was running late, eventually it rolled in as I took a seat near the front (where it was quieter) on 379006, with 379017 in the middle & 379010 on the rear.

379006 at London Kings Cross by Kite, on Flickr

I had forgotten how nice the interior is on these former Greater Anglia units, considering I hadn’t ridden one since 2021. Good to see them having a second life on Great Northern as the train headed towards Cambridge, going via Hertford North due to engineering works. A bit of a short delay at Cambridge station (where the front coach got busy due to being the closest to the entrance) with 379010 detaching, the train continued across the fens to reach King’s Lynn (delaying a London bound service at Downham Market as Sunday the trains pass there instead of at Littleport). At King’s Lynn I made use of the time to pop to the nearby Morrisons for some supplies & lunch trying to decide between jumping off at Littleport to walk towards Ely alongside the river or changing at Cambridge. I decided the river walk would probably be better done in the spring time in the event of mud (or even flooding), so returned to the station, switching to 379017 for the ride back to Cambridge.

A short wait at Cambridge before the next Stansted Airport service rolled in, formed of 755403 which did empty out and I managed to get a decent seat for the ride towards Stansted Airport, making a cross platform change onto a busy 745105 on the next Liverpool Street service, calling only at Bishop Stortford (and Tottenham Hale), so nice to get a bit of speed before it caught up with a pair of 720s I would have caught from Cambridge had the 755 been cancelled (and the interior of the GA Flirts is a world apart from the 3+2 seating on the 720s). At Liverpool Street I had just under an hour to make it to Waterloo, thankfully the rain had stopped allowing a gentle stroll towards London Bridge & Southwark to reach Waterloo, probably not the quickest route but I wanted to go via London Bridge as a backup in case it started to rain again.

745105 at Stansted Airport by Kite, on Flickr

At Waterloo, I took a seat on a busy triple 159 set bound for Exeter (159004, 159007 & 159002) to take me to Andover for a 30-minute fester before 158882 & 158890 rolled in from Reading to take me the final 6 miles to Grateley, deciding that Andover made for a nicer change than Basingstoke (for at least it would be the same platform). At Grateley I strolled home in the light drizzle to get myself ready for the week ahead and sorting out my photos. Anyhow thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr Here, a shame my Scottish trip had to be cut short with the weather, but travelling in January always carries risk of poor weather.

 

[Kite159]

10th – 13th February – Trip to the North East

When I was reviewing my work shift pattern last year, I noticed for my rostered winter leave, I could use a couple of days of regular annual leave to bridge the gap between some rest days after a run of 7 early shifts to give myself nearly 2 weeks off work, a good way to use up my annual leave before it gets reset at the start of April. After doing some research, I decided to head to Newcastle for a few days in the first week and Liverpool in the second week. I will admit my heart sank when checking the weather forecast for my little getaway to the North East, changing from being dry to mostly damp, but the show must go on, after-all my accommodation only had free cancellation until a week before the stay (something I will also admit to having overlooked when booking a place in Whitley Bay but hey-ho). The rough plans I had for some longer distance strolls in County Durham being put on the shelf and instead it was going to be a case of playing it by ear.

10th February – The Mist on the Tyne

Had the weather been more favourable I would have caught an early train into Waterloo to catch the Grand Central service towards Eaglescliffe to head towards either Dinsdale or Bishop Auckland (I couldn’t decide), but with the weather not being that favourable, the trip started with the 06:57 service to Waterloo, giving just over an hour to stroll to Kings Cross to catch 801219 on the 09:30 Edinburgh service, my trick with reserving seats on LNER is to shift the default coach to coach G (on a 9 coach) as I find that is one of the last coaches to get reserved. In this case I had a private table in a coach with half a dozen passengers until York.

Once the train arrived at Newcastle, I headed to the Metro to buy myself a day ticket (probably wasting money getting a “TNE Day Saver” rather than a Metro-only ticket, but I wasn’t quite sure what the afternoon would have given me), and headed underground to jump on 555017 to Heworth where I started a little stroll along the Keelmans Way. Last year I did the walk from Heworth towards Hebburn so it was nice to do the section towards the city centre area, with the potential of bailing out early if I felt like it.

The first section was via roads of an industrial estate, passing a paint factory (bit smelly) before reaching the Tyne near the Rivers Hotel (a place I've seen pop up a few times when searching for accommodation so nice to see where it actually is). The next section was alongside the Tyne, although it was quite misty, even with the damp weather the path was quite busy with dog walkers & cyclists. I soon reached a section where the path moved away from the Tyne before it reached another industrial estate. This soon changed into the various buildings on the Gateshead water front, reaching the millennium bridge.

River Tyne from the Keelmans Way Path in Gateshead (2) by Kite, on Flickr

I decided to continue with my stroll, going underneath the various bridges, picking up a path running alongside the river rather than a road, with a seemingly disused busway on my left hand side (shown on Google as Pipewellgate, I guess it was built before various roads got changed making access harder). This area was signposted as the Gateshead Riverside Park with various modern houses next to the path (once the busway moved away) and I soon reached the remains of the Dunston Staiths, a large structure built to transfer coal from train to ship back in the industrial age of coal mining. Something I will need to return to in the summer months when it's open.

Leaving the Tyne behind, I soon jumped the "Teams Cycleway" path, along the route of an old railway route heading near Dunston station and onto a section I walked a couple years ago when I did the Tanfield Railway path. The repeat coverage wasn't for long before I headed towards a community sports area after crossing the A184, heading towards another section of the Cycleway, along another old railway line, all be a bit short. After this path I reached the Gateshead Riverside Park again, this time at a higher level following a path going underneath the Redheugh Bridge & railway tracks leading me to Askew Road with the final section going across Wildmill Hills park to reach Gateshead Metro station, a good place to end the walk as I was a little bit damp with the drizzle. An enjoyable walk, other than the industrial estate sections.

A voyager crossing the King Edward VII Bridge over the River Tyne by Kite, on Flickr

I got lucky with the first train being winner 555013 on a coast bound service, and it felt like a good time to head towards Whitley Bay to get myself checked in, losing some weight from my rucksack as I took this to Whitley Bay. A short walk to my accommodation to get checked in and sorting myself out before I returned to the Metro with dud 555028 to South Gosforth, taking 555017 to Regent Centre to visit the large Asda for some supplies. After visiting the shop, I returned to the station and onto 555017 for the 3rd time for the day to Haymarket for a spot of Metro hunting, grabbing winners 555001, 555007 & 555041 with runs to West Jesmond before calling it a night with winner 555040 back to Whitley Bay where I headed to the local Spoons for a juicy burger.

After food was consumed, I returned to my guest house to relax for the remainder of the evening, getting myself ready for an early-ish start the following morning with a trip to the west.

11th Feb – Whitehaven & Caldew Cycleway

The weather on the east of the country was looking quite wet, on the west it wasn’t so bad (at least only light rain rather than heavy rain), it had also been a while since I last headed to the northern section of the Cumbrian Coast line. I headed to Whitley Bay station and onto 555041 for the run to Central Station, where after grabbing breakfast and my ticket (pretty sure it’s the first time I’ve used a Hadrian Wall Country Ranger) I boarded 156484 on the next Carlisle limited stop service.

I spent the next hour or so looking out of the window at the passing scenery before arriving in Carlisle with time to make a quick dash to Boots for lunch before boarding 156438 which I took to Parton, at one stage I was considering alighting at Harrington as there is a short disused railway path in that area, but decided that could wait. After a couple of photos at Parton station, I climbed down the steep stairs, followed some roads and reached a mixed used path which runs above the railway line, following the route towards Whitehaven, moving inland around Bransty before joining some roads, which I used to head to the station.

Cycle Route 72 path between Parton & Whitehaven (5) by Kite, on Flickr

Due to the tunnel issues, only the bay platform is in use at the moment, the other platform has been fenced off with evidence of a further security fence within the tunnel itself. The doors on 156438 were released and I boarded, sitting on the coast side for the views. This particular service is a bit strange in not calling at Harrington or Flimby (instead it has extended dwells at Workington & Maryport). I suspect I will return to this area later in the year as there are a few disused railways walks to explore, plus more of the coastal path. So much to do, so little time. I decided to alight from the train at Dalston to walk the Caldew Cycleway path, as the weather was only drizzly.

I followed the roads in Dalston before picking up the start of the mixed used path near a school, the first section wasn't that interesting as it was mostly fences with industrial buildings before reaching the countryside. The path was quite decent tarmac with the occasional glimpse of the river Caldew. There were more footpaths available which followed the river a bit closer, but as they went across grass I decided not to follow, in fear of walking into a marshy bog due to the recent rain. One section of this path ran alongside the railway line, going underneath a road under construction. After crossing underneath the railway at a viaduct the path moved away from the railway towards the Cummersdale area and a large open area (where again I followed the tarmac path rather than being more adventurous). This took me towards the Denton Holme area of Carlisle, with the path turning more urban and onto the route of an old railway line (I think) crossing the river on an old viaduct coming to an end near a car park close to the WCML.

156448 alongside the Caldew Cycleway between Dalston & Cummersdale by Kite, on Flickr

After joining the roads, I headed towards Carlisle station going via the city centre, discovering a little Tesco Express (close to the Boots, but a bit further round the bend), allowing me to grab some supplies for dinner before making my way to the station and onto 156443 on the next Newcastle Limited Stop service (Haltwhistle, Hexham, Prudhoe, Metrocentre, Newcastle only) with darkness falling by the time I reached Newcastle. Heading to the Metro for a short hunt, I soon scored winner 555019 with a trip to Gateshead Stadium, spending the next 30 minutes underneath the ramp looking at the rain (and getting quite chilly with the wind). Eventually winner 555010 popped up to take me back into Central Station, where I jumped onto 156423 on a Carlisle stopper (pretty sure this one called at every station) to Prudhoe where I had a little walkabout, not going that far due to the rain returning.

20 (or so) minutes later 156484 rolled in on a Prudhoe terminator, which forms a service back towards Newcastle using the crossover at the Newcastle end of the station. Back at Newcastle I headed underground once more, jumping on winner 555016 to South Gosforth and dud 555001 to end the day with the trip back to Whitley Bay where I could get into the room to relax & warm myself up. An enjoyable little day trip to Whitehaven with a couple of shorter walks, although it’s added a few more walks to my list (Brampton Town branch & the South Tynedale route from Alston towards Haltwhistle (part running alongside the heritage line).

12th Feb – Waggonways

After a more relaxing start to the day compared to the day before, I headed to the metro with various ideas, jumping on 555010 to Benton as I had decided to split a walking idea I had up into two sections (Benton to South Gosforth via the Coxlodge Waggonway and towards city centre alongside the Ouse Burn could wait for another day) After leaving Benton station, I followed a footpath alongside the Metro line which I was going to take towards the ECML to see what evidence of the former curves remained, however I soon turned back after coming against a bridge under the former Benton - Cramlington being flooded. Even I'm not that crazy to navigate a flooded underbridge without knowing how deep it is! Anyhow I returned towards Benton station, dropping down onto station road, following some roads leading towards the Newcastle Utd training ground (with various signs saying "players won't stop for autographs") and onto a slightly flooded bridleway path (more like a farm track), crossing over the ECML, passing many modern houses leading to the Rising Sun Country Park.

This is where things got a bit uglier as the solid surface path just disappeared, heading towards grassland which was a bit boggy in places as I headed over Beacon Hill (a place I will return to during better weather where I'm sure the views would be worth it). Thankfully the solid path returned as I reached the "Rising Sun Colliery Waggonway" path heading east. I decided to cut down my walk as I was originally going to walk the route of the Killingworth Waggonway across the country park towards Palmersville area (returning via another path) as that could be done on another day. Countryside soon gave way to urban as I headed underneath the A19 and reaching the Silverlink Retail Park. The last section of this walk was along a path next to the North Tyneside Steam Railway leading to Percy Main station.

Path on the edge of the Rising Sun Countryside Park, Newcastle (2) by Kite, on Flickr

I didn’t have long to wait at Percy Main before 555001 rolled in to take me into the city centre, alighting at Monument where I headed the wrong way as I was going to aim for a bus towards Darras Hall to walk an old railway path in the Ponteland area (leads to Newcastle Airport), instead I jumped onto a Stagecoach run route 62 service to North Walbottle, picking up the "Walbottle Waggonway", the first section heading north towards Callerton (where it tried to snow) with some beautiful views of the countryside. After doubling back, I headed south towards the A69 where the path detours via an underpass near Blucher. A short section of mud before solid ground returned as I headed towards Lemington, dropping down. My original concept (developed when on the bus) was to do part of the old railway route towards Newburn, returning via another path and to end up in Denton and a bus stop near the Slatyford bus depot.

I reached the mixed use path along the route of the former North Wylam loop of the former Newcastle & Carlisle Railway, heading towards Newburn where I decided to carry on towards Wylam. Near Newburn the route of the old railway is lost under modern developments with the cycle path following the River Tyne in the Tyne Riverside Country Park before re-joining the route of the old railway (cycle route 72). This section was quite nice for woodland & quietness, passing the house where George Stephenson lived. I soon reached Wylam where annoyingly the train I was going to catch was cancelled (grr), so I decided to continue towards Prudhoe, crossing over the fast flowing Tyne on the Hagg Bank Bridge where the former railway route came to an end.

Hadrian's Cycleway Path (Cycle Route 72) crossing the Wylam (Hagg Bank) Railway Bridge (Former North Wylam loop line) by Kite, on Flickr

The cycle path continued into some beautiful woodland running between the railway & the Tyne, eventually coming to an end near Prudhoe station. I headed to the station and had a short wait before 156463 rolled in on the next Newcastle fast service, a crazy walk but one I was quite happy with, for it was a very pleasant route to do. In Newcastle I headed to the Metro and got lucky as the next South Hylton bound service was a pair of older Metro Cars (4085 & 4024) as I jumped on for the run to Sunderland as a farewell to the old stock as who knows by the time I return to Newcastle all the older stock could have gone.

As I needed to visit a toilet, I jumped onto 158796 on the next Newcastle service to take me to Heworth, and transferring onto 555027 to Gateshead Stadium where I resumed my position underneath the ramp, watching the weather, I saw a winner unit head towards South Shields so that was going to finish the day, just a case of looking at the passing trains for anything else I needed for my little red pen, before winner 555034 rolled in to take me to Whitley Bay. Once I reached the Bay, I headed towards the local Spoons for something warm & back to my accommodation to relax.

Metrocar 4024 at Sunderland Station by Kite, on Flickr

13th Feb – A failed attempt to revisit Benton

After a good night’s sleep, I checked out of my accommodation, a guest house I would use again if the price was right, heading towards Monkseaton station (owing to the Sainsburys Local in Whitley Bay town centre being a bit bare boned for breakfast related items, and I detoured via the Morrisons). Annoyingly I purchased my zone BC single ticket before finding out that due to overhead wire damage services were suspended between South Gosforth & Shiremoor. My idea for this morning was to do the second part of my Benton area walk to finish in the city centre area for a train to London & then home, however that needed to be changed, as I came up with a quick revised idea for a walk, something which was on my rough list.

It was onto 555013 for the run via the coast towards Wallsend station to begin my little walk. Back in 2022, the weekend trip when I visited Reston I walked the former North Tyneside Loop. So the first section along the former railway line was a revisit heading in a southern direction towards the Walker area of the city and a junction where the cycle path divides. I followed the downhill section, with a couple of switch-back turns before reaching the Walker Riverside path for another walk alongside the Tyne. This was quite nice, giving views of the industrial area on the south bank, peaceful as well. Soon I reached a little marina area where the riverside path ends and I followed the signs alongside roads to reach the outlet of the Ouseburn. I returned to walking alongside the Tyne in the quay, another section I did back in 2022, but nice to retrace older ground.

Passing the millennium bridge and going underneath the Tyne, Swing & High Level bridges I reached the point I picked to be the end point of this walk near the metro bridge, as I switched to walking onto the roads up a steep hill (Forth Banks), going underneath the railway tracks, discovering a back entrance into Newcastle railway station near the car park at the Life centre, leading alongside the disused platform 12. With time to kill I headed into the city centre, getting lost trying to locate a Poundland, before returning to the station and onto 801207 working a London bound fast service.

Junction on Hadrian's Cycleway, Cycle Route 72, Walker (Newcastle) by Kite, on Flickr

Once again coach G was pretty much empty, as I settled into my reserved seat and relaxed. The train lost some time heading towards London due to congestion caused by issues around Wakefield, arriving around 19 minutes late (not like you would have known considering the complete lack of announcements from the Train Manager). As the weather in London was a bit on the wet side I headed to St Pancras, jumping onto 700148 to London Bridge and across to the Charing Cross bound platforms onto 465033 & 465155 for the short leap to Waterloo East. I headed across to Waterloo itself, located the next diesel service, taking a seat on 159020, 159108 & 159018 on an Exeter service, which took me to Grateley, and a gentle stroll home to get myself sorted after an enjoyable few days in the North East (other than the weather being a bit wet at times, but it is February after-all). Thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr Here.

 

[Techniquest]

As always some great reading and I’m a bit jealous of the massive amount of exploring you got done Not to mention all the Metro action, I’ve got to get organised and get back to Newcastle this year. So much walking to do still as well as cycling, the trains will take up a lot of time too of course!

I really must get myself organised and book a few days off I think. I should have done it today, but what to tackle on my extremely long list? Talking of, I’m actually making list this year for things I’ve been going to make lists for. Too many lists to make to remember them all, all in good time though My bus route wishlist is being made currently, having been inspired by my recent adventure.

 

[Kite159]

Trips 14th February to 22nd February

14th February – Llanelly Railway at long last!

The walk I had planned today I’ve been wanting to do for a while, but all the previous times I’ve had to call it off due to poor weather or TfW changing the timetable removing services on the Heart of Wales line. Back in 2023 when I was staying in Llanelli on a long weekend, I walked the section of the former “Heart of Wales” line from Gowerton towards Blackpill on Swansea Bay, noticing there was also a path heading north. With the sun finally popping out I had an early start for 159007 on the first train from Grateley to take me to Basingstoke, connecting into 165113 on the stopper to Reading. Giving me time to pop out to grab something to eat and a safer connection to the Carmarthen train than the XC service.

I got a reasonable seat on 800013 on the GWR service, all was going well until it stopped between Didcot & Swindon as there was some signalling issues meaning trains to London were using the bi-directional signalling on the “down” line, causing around a 15 minute delay before the 800 could proceed to Swindon, although this did mean after Cardiff the TfW to Milford Haven which would have been behind was in front, taking up the passengers for the likes of Neath or Swansea from Cardiff. At Swansea it was a short walk to board 197018 on that Milford Haven service which had divided from a 3-coach unit (it’s a long walk from the concourse to the stop mark when services attach/detach). I took this to Gowerton with a last-minute change of mind as I was originally going to walk south but a play with the timings saw a northbound walk being possible.

197018 at Gowerton Station by Kite, on Flickr

Since my last visit to Gowerton the closed path on the platform 2 side had both reopened and been upgraded to a nice smooth tarmac route to the area that side of the railway, it might have even used part of the old railway alignment. I picked up the start of the mixed used path from Alder Way, being careful to dodge any icy patches (as it did get cold overnight). A decent quality path, certainly looks to have had some money spent on it in the last few years, with a short detour near the A484 (featuring some slippery wooden bridges over waterways). I soon reached the town of Gorseinon, the path skirting the eastern side of the town coming to an end near a storage yard for some fairground equipment.

After a short section along a road, I was back on the mixed used path, passing a large Asda and soon leaving the town behind and into the wilderness. A busy path this with other walkers, dog walkers, joggers, cyclists & even a dog riding a cycle (ok I might have made the last one up), I was glad in a way to walk north to avoid walking in the direct line of the sun, the only slight downside being a spot of road noise from the M4 which was close by (similar to the Bridgewater Canal near Chat Moss, the sound travels across the empty land). I passed the site of the former Grovesend station (and colliery) and soon reached the end of the old railway route where it meets the Swansea District Line. It was onto the road, crossing both the Swansea District Line & the M4 (this point a dual carriageway), heading towards Pontarddulais.

Path along route of former Llanelly Railway between Gorseinon & Grovesend (7) by Kite, on Flickr

After the Pontarddulais show park, I diverted onto another mixed used path, heading towards the Coed Bach Park woodland, making a mistake to follow Strava which was suggesting there was another decent path along the old railway close to the station, which turned out to be a rubbish unofficial path (bit muddy) and ran into a dead end forcing a double back towards the playing fields to head towards Pontarddulais station, going via the Tesco to grab lunch (and to waste some time). At the station, I requested for the Swansea bound service (been a while since my last request stop!), formed of AT02 (153353 & 153528) and it was quite busy with a limited choice of seats.

I was toying with bailing at Llanelli to do a short walk towards some retail parks, but decided that could wait for another day (as I didn't fancy trying to board the next Cardiff bound service as it was showing as a 2 coach 197), so I remained on the 153s to Swansea, giving me time to change onto 802109 on the next Paddington service, which I took to Cardiff Central to step back a GWR service. I've not seen Cardiff Central that busy in ages, it was like December in terms of passenger numbers. Anyhow it was onto 387143 & 387156 for something a bit different, not costing me anything timing wise due to poor connections at Reading. These 387s took me to Reading, where after popping outside the station for a couple bits I jumped onto 221139 on the next XC service to Basingstoke and finishing the day with 158890 & 159108 to take me home to Grateley. An enjoyable stroll between Gowerton & Pontarddulais, certainly one I would recommend.

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

16th February – Return to the Cole Valley Path

Back in February last year I had a nice walk with my good friend Jules between Marston Green & Stechford via the Cole River path, ending the walk early at Stechford due to sore feet. The second section between Stechford & Yardley Wood/Shirley has been on our list to try and do at some point. I was originally going to be spending Sunday night in Birmingham, but called it off due to the heavy downpours forecasted, however with Monday looking better it was a good chance for a good catch-up and to finish the walk.

The day began with the first train of the day from Grateley to Waterloo with 159106 & 159013 to Waterloo, where I had a little explore on the way to Marylebone by foot (another London terminus to London terminus station walk complete) before boarding some Mk3 coaches with 68014 at the business end of the train (and DVT 82309 at the rear), as the first coach was busy (start of half term) I took up a seat in the former business class area for another farewell to the Chiltern Mk3s, even if the PIS was a bit iffy, only announcing stations as the train doors opened rather than on the approach.

68014 at London Marylebone by Kite, on Flickr

Along the way I decided to switch the direction of the walk, as the timings were slightly better, even if it did involve a tight connection at Birmingham Moor Street requiring a fast walk from platform 3 (I even relocated towards the front of the train after Solihull to make things easier) to platform 1 to board 172331 & 172005 on a Whitlock’s End terminator for the slow run to Shirley where the walk began. Heading out of the station, following a couple of roads to reach Green Lane Park, following the river Cole north towards Colebrook Road, where after a failed detour to follow a path which Strava was suggesting existed ended up with a tall fence (clearly had there been a path there once, it was no longer passable), we followed the roads to rejoin the River Cole path near a ford on Slade Lane. The next landmark was the Trittiford Mill Park and its lake, before a short detour alongside the Chinn Brook, following the tarmac path rather than anything on the grass. We doubled back towards the River Cole near Yardley Wood station and onto a section which wasn't tarmac but plastic grippy squares set in the mud, not the easily to walk along but thankfully the tarmac soon returned as we entered the Shire Country Park.

Our walk continued mostly heading north and thankfully the rain had ended with the sun coming out, enjoying the countryside within urban Birmingham, crossing the busy A34 road and onto a section which was a bit flooded in places, all that recent rain. We reached a industrial estate area with a random former Military plane alongside a office block (completely random that). After crossing the busy A41 road, and via another industrial area we once more followed the river passing an outdoor ski slope and a steep climb towards the Grand Union canal which we dropped down onto for a short section, going underneath the railway and towards the Tyseley Park. This section whilst it had a decent path wasn't the nicest due to heavy littering and heavy traffic noise from the A45 running close by.

66572 crossing the Grand Union Canal near Small Heath by Kite, on Flickr

Thankfully once we left the main road behind, we entered the southern section of the Kingfisher Country Park, following the path heading north towards the Stechford area, hitting a section which was quite muddy going underneath the railway viaducts and near a lake, I was glad this section was the last bit and not the first section as it wouldn't have given the best first impression. We reached Station Road to complete the walk, and with time in hand we headed to Lea Hall to clear a 3-hour challenge. Getting lucky when at the station to see a 37 passing towing a 730. Other than the section near the railway viaducts, quite a reasonable walk, hard to tell at times we were in Birmingham!

At Lea Hall station, we jumped onto 730016 to Birmingham International, when I popped to the ticket office to get a change of route excess for my return journey (something I was hoping to have done at the ticket office at Lea Hall, but it was closed), although it was a case of not needing to rush as the next London train was delayed due to earlier trespassers around Watford (or another reason, which I can’t remember). We jumped onto 390134 grabbing a seat in coach E which was reserved from Birmingham but had nobody sat in, bidding farewell to Jules at Coventry as he went in hunt of food and I settled down for the slow run to Euston, it might have been non-stop but it was slow due to congestion.

37800 passing Lea Hall Station by Kite, on Flickr

I decided to head to the underground, it might have been raining, with Northern line sets 51632 & 51631 taken for the short distance to Waterloo, where I had some time to kill before taking 159003, 159007 & 158883 back to Grateley to end the enjoyable social day, not much in the way of trains but a nice walk. Another walk I can remove from my West Midlands list.

17th February – Merseyside Day 1

I randomly booked a room in a shared house in Edge Hill, not the place I’ve used a couple times before but a different house, but managed by the same company (judging by the style of emails), with the idea of doing some exploring, although in hindsight booking it for 3 nights would have been better than 2 nights as it would give 2 full days without carrying the mobile house. The hardest thing was trying to decide what to do as my list of potential walking ideas for this area of the country is quite long, although some ideas were sidelined straight away due to being more summer walks (canals). Eventually I came up with a rough idea of my walking ideas, as thankfully the weather was looking dryer compared to the previous week.

The trip began with the 07:27 service from Grateley with 159017, 159105 & 159018 for the speedy trip to Waterloo where I had my usual walk to Euston to board the 09:43 service for Liverpool Lime Street, grabbing a seat in the standard class section of 807004 (empty other than one other passenger who alighted at Milton Keynes and some staff travelling), first time I’ve called at Liverpool South Parkway on a 807, with an uneventful trip north, arriving near enough on time allowing a fast walk to the Merseyrail platforms to jump onto 777025 to West Kirby where my walk would begin.

The first section was via roads to reach a path which ran alongside the railway line towards Hoylake with some nice views on the right-hand side. At Hoylake I followed the King's Gap Road to reach the seafront, heading along the path at the top of the sea wall for some coastal views. I continued along this path towards Meols before the road disappeared as I entered the North Wirral Coastal Country Park. A busy path (due to being half term), as I followed the route passing the Leasowe Lighthouse and a posh looking hotel near a golf club.

Leasowe Beach (3) by Kite, on Flickr

My coastal walk continued with a short detour round the edge of Leasowe Beach heading towards Wallasey, the road making a return for the final section towards New Brighton, reaching the shopping centre area where I walked towards Seacombe last year. I jumped onto 777037 for the short journey to Wallasey Village to start another walk as there was a path which was showing on the maps which looked interesting. The first section was alongside the road towards Leasowe to pick up a cycle path in the Links View Playing Fields which headed towards a housing estate, this is where things went a bit muddy as Strava (and Google) suggested the path headed across a slightly muddy field to pick up a path alongside a minor waterway which was quite muddy. Thankfully a hard surface resumed near a crossroads with a path across a golf club heading towards Bidston area and an unmarked access path to the housing estate I had just circled round. I continued the stroll as I reached the Birket river, following the path towards a road near Leasowe station and on towards a road near Moreton station, doing a little loop towards the Lighthouse for some better photos. The walk ended at Moreton station where I jumped onto 777017 for the run to Hoylake station to visit a recommended Spoons.

Leasowe Lighthouse (1) by Kite, on Flickr

After dinner, I returned to the station and onto 777049 for the run back towards Liverpool city centre, transferring onto a very busy 323226 on a Wigan stopper to take me to Roby (for lack of a better idea and for some better photos), jumping onto 331102 from Manchester to take me to Edge Hill, where after a detour to a nearby Farmfoods shop I followed the route towards the shared house, which was located on Marmaduke Street, near a Tesco. Once I managed to get the door to open (what didn't help is the digital access code was an unfriendly 9 digits long), I located my room on the first floor, next to a toilet/shower area, getting myself sorted out for the following day and relaxing. Sounded like I was the only person in the house on the Tuesday night as I didn't hear anybody else, room was at the rear of the house so didn't have much in the way of outside noise, just the window blind was a bit small. OK during the winter months but I suspect during summer when it gets light early not going to be ideal. Anyhow, it was a good first day, that coastal path in the Wirral had been on my list for a while, I just need to research the path options heading alongside the Mersey heading towards the Eastham area.

18th February – Scratching the surface of the old Railways in Greater Manchester

My original idea for today was to do the old railway path from Adlington towards Red Rock followed by a route skirting round Wigan towards Platt Bridge and finally towards Tyldersley however the timings from Liverpool didn’t quite work out so that went back on the shelf, instead I dusted off a plan I worked on for January time to do some old railways within the western side of Greater Manchester.

The day began with a stroll towards Liverpool city centre to grab some breakfast before taking 777150 to Headbolt Lane, switching to former EMR 156408 and 150110 on a Blackburn service, the 150 being locked out of use due to short platforms on this route. I took this combo to Swinton where my walk began, it had been a while since I last did a train from Headbolt Lane towards Wigan and towards Swinton. The first section was via the roads (and Morrisons for lunch items) to go via Victoria Park to pick up the "Swinton Greenway", along the route of the closed London & North Western route from Patricroft & Molyneux Brow via the Clifton Hall tunnel. Although that tunnel is long since filled in. I headed along the path, underneath the East Lancashire Road with some nice views along the way, ending up in Monton (close to Eccles) where the rest of the railway route has been lost to history.

150110 departing Swinton (Manchester) Station by Kite, on Flickr

A short section via the roads followed before I picked up the "Roe Green Loopline", a path making use of the route of the former Tyldesley Loopline. This was a little gem of a path for some nice woodland as I headed towards Worsley, going underneath the M60 and reaching Roe Green where the path split. One side heading towards the former Walkden Low Level station & Bolton and the other side heading towards Tyldesley. I went underneath the East Lancashire Road on a skew bridge, still with some nice views heading towards the Ellenbrook area, where the former railway line path came to an end on Newearth Road. The remainder of the Roe Green Loopline is high on my list of things to walk.

The next section of the walk was alongside the Leigh Guided Busway (which was bult along the old railway route, with a good quality mixed used path alongside it. I continued the walk heading towards Tyldesley, the path swapping sides a couple of times. After Tyldesley the countryside returned as I headed towards Leigh, where both the guided busway and old railway ends (I believe there is a short section the other side of Leigh heading close to Pennington Flash but that needs more research.

Roe Green Loopline Path, Roe Green (1) by Kite, on Flickr

I headed towards Leigh bus station where I did have quite a few options at bus routes to get me back to the railway, in the end picking a route 582 service to Bolton. Going via Howe Bridge, Atherton & Hulton to reach Bolton bus station, a high frequency (every 10 minutes) urban route. Along the way I was looking at options as I was on a Lancs Day Ranger and wanted to do a bit more exploring, so it was onto 150135 on a Blackburn terminator service to Blackburn before boarding 150114 for the trip to Salford Crescent, the long way round! This 150 got very busy along the way and I was glad to get off at Salford Crescent as it was peak time. A short wait at Salford before 769448 rolled in on a Southport service as I sat in the motor coach to listen to the motors making that nice noise, switching over to diesel at Ince. I left the train at Wigan Wallgate, switching over to North Western with the idea to take a Pendo to Preston for a TPE 397 towards Liverpool, but the WCML had fallen over due to a broken-down train around Lancaster so that idea was ditched as I jumped onto 323220 working the next Liverpool stopping service, taking this service to Edge Hill, to call it a night.

I got back to the shared house (detouring via the Farm Foods shop & Tesco), and 15 or so minutes later it sounded like the rain had arrived. Unlike the previous night I wasn’t alone in the house with one other person on the 1st floor and at least 2 people on the 2nd floor (those above were quite noisy). An enjoyable day along some decent quality paths, and nice to have finally walked the Leigh busway path.

19th Feb – Merseyside Coastal Walking

After checking out of the shared house, I made my way towards Liverpool city centre and towards Liverpool Central to board 777015 & 777034 on a Southport service to take me to Seaforth & Litherland where my walk began. Leaving the station, I followed the roads to enter the Rimrose Valley Country Park, although I soon ditched the idea to follow a path due to be going into mud, and headed towards the roads. Soon I reached the Waterloo Marine Lake within the Crosby Coastal Park. This was quite a nice lake as I soon reached the waterfront and headed north with the waterfront (Irish Sea?) on my left-hand side.

One stage I needed to walk along the actual beach as the waterfront path had been eaten up by sand dunes, but soon I returned to more solid ground enjoying the views and the seaside air. I continued north with the built-up area disappearing and the path moving in land a bit due to unstable cliffs (or so the signs said) with the sandy beach disappearing, replaced with broken bricks & other rocks, this was the Crosby Blitz Beach (according to Google Maps). I soon left the waterfront completely behind as the cycle path went inland towards Hightown.

Waterloo Beach (Crosby Coastal Park) (6) by Kite, on Flickr

I followed the roads within Hightown and soon reached a cycle path which ran between the railway & the Altcar Training Camp, one of those paths which had been on my list for a while, although it wasn't that interesting (unless you like fencing). I did pass the remains of an old station which once served the camp. After crossing the River Alt, the path moved away from the railway and towards Formby, the walk coming to an end at Formby station where I had good timing as I didn't have long to wait before 777005 & 777010 rolled in to take me back south.

Jumping off the train at Sandhills, I decided to do another short walk, to do something which had been bugging me for a while with the Leeds & Liverpool canal, as when I walked from the city centre area to Sandhills back in 2022 I didn’t do the short Vauxhall basin. After leaving the station at Sandhills, I soon picked up the canal towpath, heading south towards the Stanley lock flight, crossing over the lock and continued along the canal towards Vauxhall basin. After reaching the end of the canal I followed the roads towards the city centre area, reaching Lime Street with time to grab lunch from Tesco and onto 390126 on one of the newer Liverpool – London services which call at Runcorn, Lichfield & Tamworth.

A pair of 777s crossing the Stanley Flight on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal by Kite, on Flickr

On departure, I had a private coach in coach G, which remained empty until Tamworth where I was joined by another couple of passengers, after Runcorn I headed to the toilet and noticed that coach U was also completely empty, such a waste of a 11 coach Pendo. Anyhow an uneventful run towards London, even though it was crawling along the slow lines after Colwich in order to call at Lichfield & Tamworth (getting passed along the way). At Euston I had a gentle stroll towards Waterloo to finish the trip on 159021, 159010 & 159002 on an Exeter bound service, to take me to Grateley. An enjoyable couple of days in the North West, so much to do, so little time. Sometimes it feels like I’m a kid in a candy shop being told they can only buy one sweet.

20th February – Capital Ring & a random trip to Alton

Originally I was planning to head to Lincoln to finish the old railway path from Bardney, however during the night the weather did a complete change and instead of being light rain from around 3pm it was now forecasted heavy rain most of the day, so after my alarm went off and I did a final check of the weather I went back to bed, waking up a hour or so later. I headed into London with 158885 & 159013 on a bit of an unplanned day.

The first task after grabbing breakfast was to take a seat on winner 701038 on a Kingston rounder which I was going to take to Twickenham but decided as it wasn’t raining to bail at St Margarets to do a bit more of the Capital Ring. Leaving the station, I followed various roads (and a footpath) to reach Twickenham bridge over the Thames, dropping down to head underneath the bridge with the river on my right-hand side. I passed Richmond lock (and the footbridge), heading towards Isleworth moving away from the Thames with a marina. A poorly signposted junction was missed as I ended up doing a loop near a private gated housing estate, after this double back I continued along the path, passing a pub and reaching the Duke of Northumberland's River. A short distance later I came away from the Thames, and towards Syon Park, passing Syon House & a garden centre. I soon reached Brentford with a short walk along the road to cross over the Grand Union canal towards the town centre, swinging via a modern Morrisons for some supplies (as I had the time). After my supply raid I headed along another road towards Brentford station (which had little or no signage from the town centre), passing a lovely library building.

Syon House, London by Kite, on Flickr

It was now onto a bit of an unplanned stuff, deciding on taking 701060 all the way to Weybridge, jumping onto 450027 & 450054 to Surbiton on a semi-fast from Basingstoke (getting lucky as this train was running a couple of minutes late as connections at Weybridge are rubbish. A short wait at Surbiton before I jumped on 701031 to take me to Guildford as the rain started, as I transferred to 450042 on a Farnham service and onto 450054 & 450027 for a second time with the run to Alton. I crossed over to the opposite platform at Alton to take a seat on 444003 & 444006 for a pair of 444s had escaped onto the Alton branch. Just one of those little novelties.

I took these 444s to Brookwood, changing platforms to board 450007, 450040 & 450049 on the Basingstoke stopping service, yes, I could have stayed on to Woking for a 25 minute wait for a Salisbury train, but from experience the middle of the day Salisbury stoppers are best avoided boarding at Clapham & Woking due to being quite busy until Basingstoke (if only the XX:35 Weymouth trains called at Basingstoke). At Basingstoke it was a short wait for 159017 to roll in, emptying out as I managed to grab a decent seat for the run to Andover where I was met by mum as I wanted to do a couple bits of shopping after visiting the local Spoons for some dinner.

21st February - Marriott's Way (Part 1)

The Marriott's Way is a long distance (25 mile) path running between Norwich & Aylsham linking two disused railways, the Norwich branch of the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway & the Great Eastern Railway, linked by the sharp, Themelthorpe Curve. Due to the distance involved I decided to split the walk at Lenwade which was roughly half-way along the way and enjoyed a half hourly bus service from Norwich (heading towards Fakenham). The trip began with the first train of the day from Grateley with 158887 on its own to Waterloo, this didn’t get as bad as expected (I would imagine Southampton area being closed reduced passenger numbers). At Waterloo I headed to the underground with 51602 & 51717 taken to Tottenham Court Road and 345056 to Liverpool Street where I had around 20 minutes to waste, so I popped to the Tesco close to the station for lunch items to save a job for later.

I took a seat on 745006 working the 07:30 service to Norwich, getting myself comfy as I spent the journey looking out of the window. Arrival at Norwich was on time and I headed towards the city centre towards the Castle Meadows bus stops to board the next First bus run X29 service for Fakenham. It had rained quite a bit overnight judging by the state of the roads. This bus went via the Norwich suburbs, towards Drayton before heading into more rural lands as I requested the bus to stop at Lenwade, near Porters Lane (and also near the ROARR! theme park). The first section was along a footpath alongside the lane, giving some nice views of the Wensum before reaching the Marriott's Way. This walk was quite rural, with some excellent views of the countryside. The downside being the path being a bit muddy in places, a walk probably best suited for spring/summer time, but this didn't cause too many issues. I passed the former Whitwell & Reepham station, with some track laid for a short heritage line.

Remains of Whitwell & Reepham Station (2) by Kite, on Flickr

I continued my walk with the former railway path heading in a north western direction in the countryside, reaching the Themelthorpe Curve (one of the last bits of track built by British Rail according to an info board). The path conditions near the curve was the worst for mud & floods, but thankfully it did improve as I headed east, passing the remains of Reepham station (with a station café now in the building). A short section along the roads in Reepham followed before resuming the railway walk as once more it was into the countryside, heading towards Cawston where the path diverted away from the route of the old railway (now an industrial estate). Soon I re-joined the old railway path with the last few miles in countryside before reaching Aylsham.

The path comes to an end near a Tesco and also near the Bure Valley Railway station, I didn’t have long to wait for the next Sanders Coaches run X41 service towards Norwich, I was also considering heading towards Cromer but the timings didn’t work that well with the train. This was a fast bus and soon I was back in Norwich city centre, heading to the station via the Morrisons as a time-wasting move. At the station I took a seat on 745003 on the next London train, taking it to Stratford and to Waterloo on the Jubilee line with 96110 & 96109, taking a seat on the next Salisbury stopping service which got very busy, even in the front coach (emptied out at Basingstoke) with 158885 & 159019 to take me back home, where I relaxed for the rest of the evening. Who knows when I will return to walk the second section!

The Sunday (22nd February) was spent with mum doing some random bus routes within London, including a trip on the Woolwich Ferry, ending up in Crystal Palace, a relaxing way to spend the last day before heading back to work for 6 more early shifts. Anyhow thanks for reading, scary to think February is nearly over. More photos can be found on my Flickr here.

 

[Techniquest]

I hear you on February being over already. Some parts of it dragged in my opinion, however I’m also finding the year’s accelerating away quite fast now. I’m also in agreement with that feeling of being a child in a sweet shop and being told to choose just one thing. The choice of where to go and what to do can be immensely difficult!

I certainly found that this week, having to be ultra selective on where I go on my days off was hard. It won’t be much easier next week I should imagine!

Definitely in agreement on the Roe Green Loop Line, that was a nice and pleasant surprise. Like yourself, the rest of it towards Bolton is way up there on my list, indeed I nearly went to Manchester on the next adventure for that reason. Maybe next week!

Good memories from the report on the Marriot Way, I rode part of that during a heatwave in 2021 and that seems like an eternity ago now. Over 4 years ago, I don’t know if that heritage railway site has open days or not, it would be good to research

As always, good reading there and here’s to some fantastic adventures soon! Quite, I’m looking forward to our planned Old Hill to Selly Oak walk, which has reminded me of an idea for next weekend featuring an overnight stay in either Northampton or Banbury!

 

[Kite159]

March Comes In like a Lion – 1st & 2nd March Trips

Originally, I was going to head to South Wales for a couple of walks (A bit more of the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal on the Sunday & the Amman Valley Way on the Monday) the weather forecast didn’t look promising on either day so on Saturday afternoon I cancelled my hotel booking and looked for alternative plans based on the weather being dry (or at the very worse light rain).

1st March – Trans Pennine Trail in Doncaster

The walk from Doncaster towards Conisbrough had been on my list for a while, in terms of getting researched, but for various reasons I've not got round to doing it. So, I decided it would be a good chance to do the walk on a Sunday owing to Conisbrough still having an hourly service on Sundays as it does during the week, a covid era cut which has never been restored. The day began with a drive to Andover to catch the 07:02 service formed of a lightly loaded 159019, 158886 & 159107 on a semi-fast service towards London, I bailed at Clapham Junction to jump onto 701039 on a suburban service owing to the diesels sometimes taking a day and age to reach Waterloo (normally get put across onto the Windsor lines), but just my luck today the time saving was minimal.

I set off on foot towards Kings Cross, getting lucky with hitting a break in filming for something on Waterloo Bridge just as I approached allowing me to cross with a lot of other walkers & cyclists (saved a detour towards Blackfriars or Charing Cross), arriving at Kings Cross with good time as I was originally aiming for a LNER service to Edinburgh to take me to Doncaster, but made it with time to spare to jump onto 802305 on a Hull Trains service, even getting a decent seat in the front coach. All was going well until the Peterborough area where there was a loud bang as the Pantograph dropped and the train came to a stop. 10 minutes later the train was back on the move, but running on diesel with overhead wire tripping being blamed as the cause of the delay. The train switched back to electric during an extended dwell at Grantham, but meant the delay was around 18 minutes, and unusually it went into platform 3 from the south.

802305 at London Kings Cross by Kite, on Flickr

My walk began as I left the station, making the wrong turn along the way and having to cross the main road twice before heading over St James's Bridge into the Hexthorpe area of the city, walking along the roads to reach Hexthorpe Park which was quite delightful. After some photos within the park, I reached the riverside footpath which was quite muddy in places (but thankfully not flooded which was a worry). This path runs alongside the south bank of the Don, mirroring the walk I did back in December 2021 where I ended up on the north bank. I reached the railway viaduct carrying the Doncaster avoiding freight line and the viaduct which used to carry the "Hull and Barnsley and Great Central Joint Railway" (if my research is correct), which has been turned into a mixed used path carrying part of the long-distance Trans Pennine Trail). I managed to climb from the river to the former track bed (before noticing the stairs on the opposite side, doh!)

Crossing the Don, I dropped down back to the riverside to walk more of the slightly muddy path, going underneath the A1(M) heading towards Sprotbrough (skirting round the southern edge). After getting a couple photos of the lock, the path thankfully changed from mud to tarmac after Mill Lane. I continued along the path, with the river on my left-hand side (although not the best for photos due to trees & fishermen) with the Sprotbrough Flash on my right, it felt like a perfect day with the sun out. I moved away from the river a couple of times into some woodland before returning to the river side passing a loading wharf for what looked like a quarry (the River Don is a working river with barges). I headed underneath the railway on the so-called Rainbow Bridge (no clue!), heading towards the Conisbrough Viaduct which used to carry the Dearne Valley railway, meeting up with a walk I did back in summer 2022.

Conisbrough Railway Viaduct by Kite, on Flickr

Climbing up the steep hill from the river side to reach the route of the old railway I followed the Trans Pennine Trail path (which I don't think follows the route of the old railway in this place), passing the path towards Conisbrough station (and onto new ground) as I continued as it skirted round the edge of an activity centre and towards a bridge over the River Dearne to meet up with a walk I did in December last year, doubling back over the hill to reach the access path, crossing over the river Don and to Conisbrough station where I had around 15 minutes to wait. I was in two minds at which way to head back to London, either towards Doncaster & the ECML or towards Sheffield, but sadly there wasn't any 810s out so decided to head towards Doncaster on 150271.

I popped out of the station to visit the Sainsburys for some supplies before returning, with the train from Hull running late due to issues at a level crossing, when I saw 802305 (again!) was lightly loaded in the rear coach (unreserved seats) I climbed on board, only for my plan to backfire due to an extended dwell at Retford for a LNER from Leeds I was going to catch passed (causing further delays to the 802 due to that Azuma calling at Newark). At Kings Cross it was to the underground with the Victoria line taken to Oxford Circus (11075/11076) for a Bakerloo to Waterloo (3256/3561), where it was onto a pair of 450s (450114 & 450117) working a Basingstoke terminator (engineering works at Winchester & Eastleigh), where I made a swift connection onto 158882 & 158887 from Reading to take me back to Andover to finish the day.

It was nice to finally clear that walk from my list, more of the Trans Pennine Trail path needs to be researched to which parts I could walk, but that can be a job for another day.

Hexthorpe Flatts Park by Kite, on Flickr

2nd March – Dudley & Stourbridge Canals

After a night trying to decide between heading towards Birmingham or heading west for one of the old railways walks in Devon, I decided on a canal walk in the West Midlands (again based on the weather forecast which was predicting heavy rain in Devon and a worry about flooding). I've walked quite a few of the canals within the West Midlands area, leaving the Dudley & Stourbridge canals which is a bit wavy within the Dudley & Brierley Hill area. My research (mainly using Streetview) suggested the towpath was mostly tarmac making it safe for an early spring/late winter walk.

The day began with the 05:55 service from Grateley into Waterloo with 159105 & 158887, where I transferred to the Bakerloo line with 3541 & 3267 to Marylebone, giving me time to grab some supplies before making my walk to the 08:07 to Birmingham which had 68020 up front and some former TPE coaches, the days of the comfy smooth Mk3s will be missed as these modern coaches are awful (hard seats, ride worse than a pacer, rubbish positioning of AC vents), certainly in the future if I was doing such a move I would aim for a 168 (and that’s saying something!).

68020 at London Marylebone by Kite, on Flickr

Just over 2 hours later I arrived at Birmingham Moor Street, transferring to platform 2 to board 172337 on a Kidderminster terminator, relaxing in the comfy seats for the run to Old Hill where my walk would begin. Heading down the stairs from the platforms and across the car park, I soon picked up the Number 2 line of the Dudley Canal near enough outside the station, following the tarmac towpath mostly in a northern direction with some history signs along the way. This section of the canal started quite industrial before turning more urban (housing etc) as I followed the path towards Windmill Junction where the canal met up with the Netherton Tunnel branch (I still remember walking that tunnel, still a spooky experience) & the Bumble Hole Branch Canal.

I turned in a south western direction, passing a little café & visitor centre, doing the first of 3 planned detours, following the short Bumble Hole Branch Canal, as it skirted a lake into a nature reserve area returning to the Windmill Junction with a short branch, crossing over the canal again I passed the little café again and carried on my walk, the towpath changing from tarmac to being a bit muddy in places along the way, especially around the Netherton/Lodge Farm Reservoir. This section however was very pretty (and quiet). One thing I did notice with this canal is the number of old basins which have been infilled, from the days where it was a working canal.

A mile or so later, the No 2 line canal met with the No 1 line at Parkhead Junction, where I had my second detour along the route of the No 1 line, going up a couple of locks, underneath the former South Staffordshire line viaduct (future route of the Midland Metro) and towards the Parkhead Portal of the lengthy (and narrow) Dudley Canal Tunnel, so narrow that diesel engines are banned (and one of the reasons why the canal companies built the Netherton Tunnel).

Parkhead Viaduct over the Dudley Canal (2) by Kite, on Flickr

Doubling back on myself as I returned to Parkhead Junction, passing the Blowers Green Pumphouse, crossing over the canal. With a return to industrial buildings with the sun shining as I continued my stroll of this wavy canal, passing the Round Oak steel terminal and towards the Brierley Hill Waterfront complex with the canal overlooking the tram works and the massive Merry Hill shopping complex, reaching the Delph Lock flight, dropping down and the Dudley Canal turning into the Stourbridge Canal (not like you would have noticed). I headed underneath the Round Oak freight line with the canal once more heading north, following the contour lines.

I soon reached another canal junction with the Stourbridge Canal Feeder branches off where I had my 3rd detour, following the short feeder canal towards "the Dell Stadium" near Bromley. I did a short loop via a nature reserve to cross over the rails of the 'mothballed' Wombourne Branch and along the remaining section of the Stourbridge Extension Canal, returning towards the main canal, with another flight of locks. Following the towpath, I passed the glass museum within Stourbridge and reached the junction with the Town Branch, the Stourbridge canal continues for a couple more canals where it meets the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal at Stourton.

Dudley Canal (No 1 Line) in Dudley (4) by Kite, on Flickr

The town branch as the name suggests heads towards the town centre (used to connect with the railway before that got cut back to Stourbridge Town station), again a decent towpath although the last section was gated off due to being a marina, but with some nice old buildings at the Old Wharf. I crossed over the High Street and onto a mixed used path, following various paths to reach a car park and a short walk to reach the interchange where I jumped onto a busy 139002 to take me up the hill to Stourbridge Junction.
At Stourbridge Junction it wasn’t a long wait before 172103 & 172335 rolled in on the next Whitlock’s End service, quite busy with school kids as I alighted 8 and a bit miles later at Smethwick Galton Bridge, heading downstairs to jump onto a late running 196111 to take me into New Street (because I was being Fabulously Lazy and didn’t fancy the walk from Moor Street/Snow Hill to New Street). A short wait at Birmingham New Street before 390127 rolled in from Scotland on the next Euston fast service, as I grabbed a decent seat in coach U (being thankful when I purchased my ticket in the morning, I excessed the return portion from a “Via High Wycombe” to the more expensive “Via Birmingham” to allow me to use Avanti for the speed.

139002 at Stourbridge Town by Kite, on Flickr

Arrival into Euston was a few minutes late, congestion on the busy WCML, as I headed to the underground with the Northern line to Waterloo (51533 & 51534) and headed towards the 18:23 service for Exeter, grabbing a seat near the front of the train (because generally speaking the coaches furthest from the ticket barriers are quieter) with 159003, 159019 & 159016 taken for the speedy run to Grateley, where I had a gentle stroll home to relax. Today was a very enjoyable walk, mostly a decent quality towpath with some nice scenery along the way, glad to be back on the canals after the winter months, so much history.

Thanks for reading, as always a lot more photos can be found on my Flickr here, back to work for some late shifts before some more rest days, where will I end up next!

 

[Techniquest]

Some more good reading there, good to see how different your adventure was to mine Got to love a good canal walk and yes, you’ve inspired me to have a look at my canal wishlist. With a backup plan if the weather changes of course!

Ouch to the bad experience on the MK5s though, I’m going to try them out for a long ride soon and I’m hoping they’re not too bad. Mind you, said journey would probably also include a First Class upgrade so that would help

You’ve sure got the trip planning part of my brain in overdrive this morning, nothing quite like a good trip report to do that Where will you end up next? If I was to guess, I’d say it’ll be on a 159 to London, to connect to Liverpool Street with the intention to finish the Marriott’s Way. Just a guess, because I know I’m interested in doing it

 

[eastwestdivide]

...Sprotbrough Flash on my right, it felt like a perfect day with the sun out. I moved away from the river a couple of times into some woodland before returning to the river side passing a loading wharf for what looked like a quarry (the River Don is a working river with barges).

if you're lucky at Sprotborough Flash, you might see a kingfisher from one of the bird hides there.
Was the coffee van still at Sprotborough itself, near the bridge?
And that loading wharf for stone - I don't think it's used any more. I saw a barge there once maybe 10+ years ago. There is occasional commercial traffic as far as Rotherham (oil products, and in the last few months a couple of loads of scrap).

 

[Kite159]

Sprotborough Flash was nice to look at from the various bird hides, I do like a spot of nature.

 

[Kite159]

10th & 11th March Trips

10th March – A bit more of the Capital Ring Exploring

My car was booked into the garage for its annual service & MOT giving me a few hours to waste, I was toying with either heading towards Poole or even Hamble for a disused railway walk (followed by a coastal stroll), but in the end decided to head towards London as both active 701s I needed were out on all day services. After dropping my car into the garage in Winchester I strolled to the station for a short wait before taking 444013 & 444026 towards Clapham Junction for some high speed 444 action. I enjoy the scenery between Winchester & Basingstoke as it’s quite pretty in places.

At Clapham Junction it was a short wait before boarding winner 701011 which I took to Fulwell to get it over ten miles, making the connection onto 701048 to take me back towards Kingston and Wimbledon where I swapped platforms. I dislike Wimbledon station as the narrow staircases are not fit for purpose. Anyhow it was another short wait before winner 701006 rolled in to take me to Hampton Court, where after a photo I remained on board to take me to Earlsfield where I almost headed towards Wandsworth along the Wandle Trail but decided to do another section of the Capital Ring, a long-distance London area path which I want to try and finish this year.

701006 departs Earlsfield Station by Kite, on Flickr

With my OS Maps app open, I set off following the path which was mostly along suburban roads (I dread to think how much some of those houses in Earlsfield are worth!), the first bit of interest was heading into Wandsworth Common, heading alongside the lakes before joining the roads again the other side of Wandsworth Common station near Balham. After some more suburban London (interesting in a way to see the various styles of housing) I reached Tooting Bec Common which was quite scenic, certainly a place I wouldn't mind returning to for another little explore.

After leaving Tooting Bec Common behind, I crossed over the Brighton Main Line, following another suburban road, passing the beautiful building of the Streatham Common Pumping Station, before going underneath a couple more railway lines near Streatham station for the last section to Streatham Common station itself. Not the longest of sections but with the next section towards Crystal Palace being another 3 miles (at least according to the signposts) I decided that could wait as I had a deadline to be back at the garage by half four.

Tooting Bec Common (Capital Ring) (5) by Kite, on Flickr

At Streatham Common station, it was a short wait before 377418 & 377461 rolled in on a Victoria service from Epsom Downs to take me towards Clapham Junction for a 10 minute wait before 444024 & 444009 rolled in on the next Weymouth service for the fast run towards Winchester, where I had a stroll back to the garage to pick up my little car which thankfully passed it’s assessment with only a couple remarks regarding the suspension rubbers needing replacing at some point (it’s getting to that age). Not the longest of days out today, but certainly a bit more productive with 2 more 701s into my book.

11th March – “Neston, 3 Miles”

For my second rest day before heading back to work, I decided to head to North Wales (well just over the border) to walk a path which I was considering doing on my Merseyside trip last month, as the weather looked reasonable. The day didn’t start off that well with the 06:57 from Grateley cancelled due to signalling issues at Tisbury, the same issues which had the 07:27 formed of only 6 coaches instead of the booked 9. 159007 & 159022 got rather busy after Andover, but thankfully arrived near enough on time to allow me a gentle stroll to Euston arriving with some time to grab a sausage bap from the Sainsburys Local before taking a seat on a very busy (as the first off-peak trains all are from Euston due to the cliff-edge pricing between peak & off-peak) 390042 on a Manchester service to Crewe.

At Crewe it was a short wait on platform 10 for 197119 to arrive on the shuttle to Chester, getting lucky with the posh seats being at the Chester end for a little bit of extra comfort, before swapping over to 197102 on a Llandudno service from Manchester to take me across the border to Shotton where my walk began. I followed the path alongside the railway towards the River Dee & Hawarden Bridge station, signposted as the Chester Millennium Greenway (as it leads towards Chester along an old railway line), at a triangle I turned left to follow the tracks towards the former north curve (now part of cycle route 568) and towards the Deeside Industrial Complex. The next part of the walk wasn't the most scenic as it was between two high fences with hedges on the right and wasteland on the left. The fences gave way to the road and a gentle stroll passing various industrial units to pick up a path close to the A548 road, going underneath this dual carriageway next to the railway line, before dropping down to go underneath the main railway. After leaving a minor road, I headed underneath a bridge carrying a disused siding) on an access road to the MOD Sealand ranges.

Waterway on Cycle Route 568 near the Deeside Industrial Estate by Kite, on Flickr

The cycle path parted way from the access road to head closer to the railway line as I crossed the border into England, marked with some large rocks with the path becoming very scenic with the Dee Estuary Marshes on the left-hand side and countryside on the right. Had the wind not been so strong it would have been a glorious day. The path was quite busy with other walkers & cyclists as I had a short section of walking on a minor road near Burton, passing a little café. After the roads the countryside returned as I reached Little Neston and the quayside.

Sadly, the section of footpath (as the cycle path moves inland at this point) was closed near the site of the former Neston Colliery) so my little stroll came to an end earlier than expected as I headed on the roads in suburban Little Neston. Good thing I checked timings of trains at Neston as one service was cancelled and the following Bidston service seemingly not departing Wrexham, so I cut my walk short near a handy bus stop near West Vale Shops for an Arriva run route 487 service to Liverpool. Oh, and the name of the report relates to various signs along the way which said Neston was 3 miles away.

Dee Estuary Nature Reserve in Little Neston (3) by Kite, on Flickr

This was an interesting bus route for the views of a part of Cheshire & the Wirral I've never previously visited, as it headed towards Neston town centre picking up a few passengers from the bus stop outside the railway station before heading towards Thornton Hough. Passing Clatterbridge Hospital crossing the M53 as it headed via the suburbs of Bebington & Tranmere to reach Birkenhead before taking the tunnel to terminate near Hood Street. A short walk took me to Liverpool Lime Street where annoyingly I hit a gap in the 2 trains an hour London timetable so I took 350108 to Crewe for a tight connection (unofficial at Crewe, official at Stafford) to a quiet 805004 from Chester for the run to London Euston.

I decided to take the underground to Waterloo, rather than walking back, although this almost went wrong as the entrance escalators were roped off for some unknown reason, eventually they were opened up allowing the built up crowd to head down below and I jumped onto 51578/51577 to Waterloo, swinging via Sainsburys for some warm chicken nuggets for dinner and onto the 18:23 service formed of 159016, 159015 & 159108 to take me to Grateley, to end the little day trip to Cheshire/North Wales. Annoyingly part of the route was closed but at least I managed to do the bulk of the walk with some nice weather. Certainly, put me in a better mood ready for 7 early shifts at work.

A TfW 230 alongside Cycle Route 568 between Deeside Industrial Park & Denhall by Kite, on Flickr

As always, thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr *Here*, have a good day.

 

[Techniquest]

Ooh I’d forgot about the seemingly endless signs with the same mileage on up there. It’s been an eternity since I did a Gran Fondo up there, in fairness. A nice little adventure overall though

You have reminded me that I have some walking adventures to do up that way, soon I will make it happen!

 

[ChrisC]

That section of the path north of the quayside at Little Neston was almost impassable when I was there 3 years ago in May 2023, so I’m not surprised that it is now closed. I had the visited Ness Botanic Gardens and began my walk north along the cycle track near Burton. I really liked that section by the marshes past the little cafe. After passing the quayside moving from the cycle track onto the footpath it became more and more waterlogged and muddy. There were some sections where I was having to stride over deep mud balancing on planks of wood. It took me ages to negotiate this and reach Parkgate. I’d really had enough by the time I reached Parkgate and got a bus up into Heswall and then back to my hotel in Liverpool.

Also when I was staying in Liverpool I did the walk you recently did north from Crosby along the cycle track towards Hightown. On another day I walked around West Kirby and Hoylake. All lovely coastal walks so close to Liverpool. Last week I was walking short sections of the coastal path in Kent including Margate to Broadstairs and Herne Bay to Whitstable. I did the section past Reculver a few years ago. I’m afraid as I get older and approach my 70th birthday my walks now are no longer than about 6 or 7 miles and avoiding too many steep hills. I’ve booked a hotel in Dundee for next month and plan to do some coastal walking up there especially along the Fife Coast south of St. Andrew’s.

 

[Kite159]

Merseyside does have some nice coastal paths which can be broken up in smaller parts due to the railway running close by. I still need to do the Kent coastal path from Margate heading towards Broadstairs, like most things it's on my oversized list.

Fingers crossed the weather will be reasonable for your visit to Dundee Chris

 

[Kite159]

March Trips, 19th - 22th March

Due to needing to use up my last few days of annual leave before the holiday year ends in March, I bridged the gap between two long weekends of rest days to give myself a short break at the end of March.

19th March – A return to the Tarka Trail

Having walked the former railway section of the Tarka Trail between Torrington & Barnstaple last year leaving the final (and slightly harder in term of public transport) section from Meeth to Torrington, I decided it would be a good chance to head to Devon. The day starting with a drive (wasn’t expecting to have to de-ice my car!) to Salisbury for the 06:10 service to Exeter St Davids formed of 159022 & 159002 to take me to Exeter Central, where I popped out of the station to grab some supplies from the Co-Op before returning to the station to board the 08:34 service for Okehampton formed of 150238. The next station on the outskirts of Okehampton looks to be coming along well and I suspect will be well used from the start due to the number of houses on that side of Okehampton.

It says something when the last time I was in Okehampton the bus service towards Tavistock was operated by Dartline, but these days it is Stagecoach. Anyhow I walked down the hill towards the town centre, grabbing some extra liquid as the temperature had started to rise and headed to the bus stop on West Street to await the Stagecoach run route 317 service to Bideford with a modern Solo (48166) running it. This was quite a nice route for scenery as it climbed out of Okehampton towards the A386, detouring to serve the town of Hatherleigh before I alighted at the start of the Tarka Trail in Meeth (which is a tiny village). The start of the path is next to the former Meeth railway station with the route split with a footpath running along a slightly muddy path and cycle path making use of the access road to the Meeth Quarry Nature Reserve, I was a bit sensible to stick to the road before the cycle path branched away from the route of the old railway line to head into the woods.

Remains of Meeth Halt (Tarka Trail) (2) by Kite, on Flickr

The path was decent quality as it skirted around the former quarry with some beautiful woodland, very peaceful as well. I soon re-joined the route of the former railway as I headed in a general north westerly direction passing the site of the former Petrockstow station. The path continued to be very nice in terms of scenery as I continued, passing the Sibelco quarry but otherwise this was very rural in terms of other settlements. I passed a café near the remains of Yarde station which was a good place to break for lunch (the café was closed, but there were seats nearby).

After lunch I continued back into the wilderness heading towards the former Watergate Halt, crossing a busy B-road with the last section of the walk towards Torrington station (now the site of the Tarka Valley Railway). With time to hand, I followed the so-called "Station Path" up the hill towards Great Torrington, finishing the walk near the church where as luck would have it, I had timed my arrival with the Stagecoach run route 5B service to Exeter for another scenic run towards Exeter. Although complete with a bit of a strange character who was wearing a thick coat & thick woolly hat slamming closed any windows on the slightly warm top deck (my phone was suggesting it was around 18C outside). Even stranger as every time a police car passed, he would duck down, like he didn't want to be spotted. Anyhow this bus took me to Exeter bus station, giving me time to grab some supplies for dinner before making my way to Exeter Central station.

River Torridge from Tarka Trail Viaduct, Torrington (2) by Kite, on Flickr

A very enjoyable walk in rural North Devon, probably my favourite section of the long distance Tarka Trail (the disused railway section). Anyhow back to the trains, as I noticed the inbound for the 17:25 service running late due to issues at the London end of the network, getting held at Honiton for the 16:25 service to pass it there instead of Pinhoe, so as I had expected it was spun at Exeter Central, the first time I’ve used the bay platform here for quite a few years (and certainly the first time on a SWR service). It was the return of 159002 & 159022 to take me back to Salisbury followed by a gentle drive home, for it was time to give my little car a break.

20th March – Water Rail Way in Lincolnshire

After doing the first part of the off-road section of the Water Rail way path (between Lincoln & Boston) in January, I decided it would be a good chance to plug the gap between Lincoln & Bardney. The section between Langrick Bridge & Boston will probably be done later in the year. The day began with 159018 & 159013 to Waterloo, followed by a gentle stroll across to Kings Cross to board the 08:47 LNER service to Lincoln formed of 800201 for the uneventful trip arriving around 10:30 giving me plenty of time to head to the bus station for the 11:00 departure of the PC Coaches run route 30 service to Bardney (this being a short run only to Southrey, rather than to Horncastle. Departed Lincoln with around 10 passengers on board with the tour of Washingborough & Heighington with nobody else boarding or alighting before the bus headed onto the fast rural section towards Bardney as I alighted at the first bus stop just beyond the bridge over the Witham.

800201 at Lincoln Station by Kite, on Flickr

Like with the Tarka Trail walk the day before, the path of this mixed used path was pretty decent tarmac with the River Witham running on my left hand side before it crossed underneath to reach a lock, starting the section where I had the river Witham on my right hand side (although hidden at times with trees & bushes) and a smaller Drain called "South Delph" on my left hand side, the former railway path being stuck in the middle. Another path where the scenery was quite nice, flat fenland with the occasional sound of a RAF plane taking off or landing at the nearby Waddington RAF base.

Unlike with the path the day before, this was more straight with only one main bend near Fiskerton Fen with the path heading mostly west. No evidence of the former Five Mile station, just a bridge over the river giving access towards Fiskerton village and a small car park. I continued along the mostly featureless path towards Washingborough where the old platforms remain near an access point on Ferry Lane. This section was nicer in terms of woodland as I reached the point the old railway left the riverbank to join up with the existing Lincoln - Sleaford railway route. The path headed underneath the modern Lincoln Eastern Bypass with another access point coming in from Washingborough, with the path turning quite busy with other users. Both dog walkers, joggers and some idiotic cyclists who were trying to break the land speed record.

Remains of Washingborough Station (Water Rail Way) (1) by Kite, on Flickr

The rural section of the path came to an end on the outskirts of Lincoln, the path ending in the car park of a business park, to run alongside a busy road (doesn't help that I seemed to have hit the time of day where people were going home for the weekend). I crossed over the Witham on the Titanic Bridge near Stamp End Lock, staying with the northern bank of the river (with a small detour to cross over the Broadgate dual carriageway), to reach Brayford Pool, just to clear a small gap (and to waste some time). With the walk over, I headed back to Lincoln station, going via a little Tesco for some supplies and taking a seat on a busy 800208 on a London Kings Cross service for another uneventful run to London.

At Kings Cross I headed to the underground, to take the Victoria Line (with set 11093/11094) to Oxford Circus to transfer to the Bakerloo line, but when I saw the next service would be 8 minutes later, I headed back to the Victoria line to jump onto 11031/11032 to Vauxhall, transferring onto 701030 for the short run into Waterloo in order to board 159011 & 159002 for the fast run to Grateley. An enjoyable at times walk in Lincolnshire, not as nice scenery wise as Devon but still a good way to clear the head, and another old railway path removed from my oversized list.

21st March – Return to the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal

With the weather looking good, I decided it would be a good chance to visit Staffordshire to walk another section of the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal. The trip starting with the 05:59 service from Grateley (with 158885) to Basingstoke where it terminated due to engineering works in the Wimbledon area. Next up was a long trip to Birmingham New Street on 221138 which only got busy after Coventry (with the vast majority of those whom boarded at Coventry leaving the train at Birmingham New Street). After a trip to Tim Hortons, I made my way towards Moor Street to board 172005 on a Kidderminster service for the run to Stourbridge Junction, the guard doing good business with ticket sales to those who think payment is optional.

At Stourbridge Junction, I transferred to platform 1 to take 139002 down the hill to Stourbridge Town where with around 30 minutes to waste I headed into the town centre before returning to the bus station, where I noticed the toilets are free to use. Next up was the Diamond run route 242 service for Kinver which took me out of Stourbridge towards Wollaston, doing a loop of a housing estate before heading towards Stourton, I left the bus at a bus stop near the junction between the A458 & A449, where my walk began.

139002 at Stourbridge Town Station by Kite, on Flickr

First up was a short section along the road before picking up the canal near a lock, dropping onto the towpath. Soon I reached Stourton junction where the Stourbridge Canal began and continued along the main Staffs & Worcs canal into a woodland paradise, crossing the River Stour on an aqueduct and heading into an area where the only sound was the birds. The towpath was quite reasonable, a few minor spots of mud but nothing major. This section of canal was quite curvy as it made it's way in a general northern direction in the countryside, passing a garden centre, the first settlement passed was Greensforge which had a large marina.

I continued the walk in the countryside, reaching Hinksford and Swindon, the towpath switching sides a couple of times. After Swindon, there was quite a few fishermen as I continued reaching Wombourne, the rural landscape changing to more urban before reaching the Bratch staircase Locks with some pretty buildings. At the top of the locks, I decided it would be a good place to pause for lunch at a handy bench. After lunch I continued along the canal, the towpath which had been decent to this point turning a bit more rural, not a towpath to walk during winter as I suspect there would be a bit of mud.

Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal at Hinksford (1) by Kite, on Flickr

The countryside had returned with some lovely views, passing some lakes at Dimmingsdale. Sooner than expected countryside had been replaced with the suburbs of Wolverhampton (Tettenhall Wood) and I reached the A454 road in Compton where I had reached last year when I walked from Penkridge. I headed towards the bus stop at Compton Square and within a minute or so an Arriva run route 9 service popped up which I took towards the bus station, I knew the buses were half hourly but I didn’t look up the actual times so that was good luck.

At Wolverhampton I headed to the station to jump on 197042 & 197026 to Birmingham New Street before waiting for the next Bournemouth bound XC service (I decided it would be safer to board at Birmingham than risk the potential of being unable to board at Wolverhampton), with 221119. I managed to grab a seat during the turnover, with coach B being quite full until Coventry where it emptied out. I relaxed as the train took me towards Basingstoke, getting busy again at Oxford (emptying out again at Reading). With time to kill in Basingstoke, I popped to a nearby KFC for a burger before taking 158880 back to Grateley. An enjoyable stroll along the canal, some beautiful scenery and weather.

22nd March - Abingdon Branch & Oxford Canal

I was in two minds about what to do today, either a trip towards Oxfordshire or a trip towards South Wales, in the end Oxfordshire won. The Abingdon Branch was a short railway linking the town of Abingdon with Radley, closing in the early 1960s with part of the track bed now part of cycle route 5. The trip began with 159015 & 159007 taken for the short journey to Andover, stepping back onto 159107 to take me to Reading where I had time to pop out of the station to visit the little Sainsburys near to the station for some supplies before catching a very late running 800312 to Oxford (over-running engineering works at the London end), this gave a nice connection into a very busy London bound 800026 which I took to Radley station where the first of today's walks would begin.

800026 at Radley Station by Kite, on Flickr

I turned down my original plan to follow cycle route 5 via the roads towards Radley Lakes as I had noticed an interesting looking path on the opposite side of the railway, a permissive path labelled as the "Sounding Bridge Path". This path took me across a couple of fields towards the railway, where I soon picked up a section of the branch line, following this into Abingdon with cycle route 5 joining a short distance along the walk. Within Abingdon I headed towards the Abbey Meadows detouring via a short section of railway route (now buried underneath the car park of Waitrose).

After visiting the town centre of Abingdon I soon picked up the route of the Ock Valley River Walk, which followed the River Ock westwards, coming to an end near a large Tesco Extra. I returned towards the town centre via the road, finishing the walk at the bus stops on Stratton Way which gave me a few options to reach Oxford. I decided not to go for the faster option, instead board a Oxford Bus Company run route 35 towards Westgate with a modern electric double decker, going via Radley & Kennington to reach the city centre, where my second walk began.

Abingdon County Hall by Kite, on Flickr

The Oxford canal is a canal on my wish-list to try and do, although it won't be done this year due to multiple long-term closures (one related to HS2 construction), however it would be nice to make a start. I left the bus near the Westgate shopping centre, making my way towards the canal basin near the station, a busy section towards the Isis Lock (connecting the canal with the Sheepwash Channel & River Thames). I headed north in the Jericho area of the city, the canal reminding me a bit of the Grand Union in Uxbridge in terms of the number of boats moored up.

I continued along the towpath (which was decent tarmac as this section was shared with a cycle route) leaving the city centre behind, passing the grounds of a large posh looking school, before going underneath the Chiltern line towards Bicester Village, the canal running near enough alongside the railway at this section towards the Wolvercote area. I headed underneath both the Western & Northern By-Pass roads before having a short detour along the path of the Duke's Cut canal, a short link between Oxford Canal & the Wolvercote Mill Stream (linking with the Thames). This was another section heavy with moored boats (with the bridge underneath the A40 flooded), with the towpath randomly ending in a field near the Mill Stream, as I doubled back towards the main Oxford Canal

Duke's Cut Canal (North of Oxford) (3) by Kite, on Flickr

Back on the Oxford Canal with countryside appearing as I headed towards Kidlington, the cycle path leaving the canal on Woodstock Road with the towpath changing from tarmac to a more rural feel straightaway, a case of taking care at times due to erosion leaving some nasty looking gaps. The towpath skirted round the edge of the town of Kidlington, and I called an end to the walk as it went underneath the railway near Roundham Lock, crossing the railway on a foot crossing with a short walk to Lyne Road where a handy bus stop was located (how handy!). I had a short wait before the Stagecoach run route 2A with a modern electric double decker rolled in to take me towards Oxford city centre via Water Eaton Park & Ride (alongside Oxford Parkway station). Thankfully traffic was kind with the bus terminating on Magdalen Street allowing a fast walk towards the station, arriving with a couple minutes to spare for 802107 to roll in from the Worcester direction.

I got a decent seat in the rear coach with the run to Reading, transferring to 159016 on a Salisbury service to take me back to Grateley, the day ending as I needed to get my rucksack packed ready for a trip to Newcastle with Mum. Two enjoyable walks with decent weather, although the last section of the Oxford Canal the clouds did start appearing. The three closures I mentioned earlier seem to be located in the Cropredy area, Wormleighton area (for HS2) & near the WCML in Ansty. So, I suspect I will be able to walk from Kidlington to Banbury (breaking it in 2 parts at Heyford) and the section from Braunston to Rugby, but who knows what I will end up doing later this year, certainly I don't!

Anyhow, as always thanks for reading, a lot more photos can be found on my Flickr Here Hopefully it won’t be long before I get round to writing out the adventures from the 2nd week.

 

[Techniquest]

I won’t lie to you, some of those walks I am a little jealous of. Very much noted with the Oxford Canal, hoping to do some more of it myself later this year.

Likewise with not knowing what’s coming up, hard to believe Q1 2026 is already gone and there’s just so much to do this year. My Welsh adventures are mostly waiting until the 398s enter service now, not that it’s helping me focus my efforts too much

 

[Kite159]

March Trips - 23rd – 30th March

The first few days of this week I was with mum taking her for a little holiday (and a day trip), the second part of the week was an overnight stay in the West Midlands.

23rd March – Onwards to Newcastle

The day began with the 05:55 service from Grateley formed of 159108 & 158888 which we took to Clapham Junction, changing over to board 378234 to Willesden Junction & 710376 into Euston. Mum doesn’t like the underground and my theory of going via the Overground was it being less busy than the Thameslink option. With time to kill we headed across to Kings Cross, going via the Spoons at St Pancras for breakfast (which was quite busy). After breakfast we headed to Kings Cross to board 801206 on the Newcastle semi-fast service at 09:33 (when I was booking tickets for mum, this service was a lot cheaper than the 09:30 to Edinburgh, to a degree that it would have been cheaper to buy a 70 minute ‘flex’ ticket for the 09:33 and use it on the Edinburgh. Needless to say, this train was quite busy even in coach G, with no spare seats after Stevenage, although it did slowly empty out along the way.

At Newcastle after grabbing lunch, we headed to the Metro buying a TNE Day Saver and putting some money on my new POP PAYG card (as I was experimenting with it), first up was 555011 for the trip to Sunderland. Not my mum’s first experience with the Metro as she rode it a couple years ago when we broke in Newcastle coming back from Inverness, but that was on the older stock. My original idea was to do the ferry across the Tyne but that was out of action due to storm damage so I had to come up with a new wing-it plan, which involved a modern Stagecoach electric bus (73058) on the route E6 to South Shields.

This was an interesting route (for there are quite a few bus routes in this area I wouldn't mind riding for the different scenery you get from a bus compared to the train). Leaving Sunderland city centre, crossing over the Wear, heading towards Monkwearmouth (and the opposite side to that big Tesco near the Stadium of Light), it headed towards the sea front at Seaburn (reminding me that I need to research the walking idea I had for Sunderland towards South Shields via the Coast). At Whitburn the bus headed away from the A183 onto the narrow Lizard Lane giving some nice views of countryside before urban returned with the bus heading towards South Shields interchange via a shopping street which featured at least 10 barber shops.

Seaburn Beach (from bus) by Kite, on Flickr

At South Shields, we jumped onto the next Metro service formed of 555038 for the long run towards Whitley Bay (which for me clears the Metro network for coverage on a 555), where we had a little stroll towards the seafront before heading towards the town centre bus stops to board a Gateshead Central Buses run route 351 (branded with the Nexus B symbol) to take us towards Haymarket Bus Station. Another interesting route as this was a lot slower than the more direct Arriva or Go North East services from Blyth as it went via the houses, going via Earsdon, Shiremoor, Holystone before taking the A1058 towards the city centre (with its 10,000 car parking spaces!).

We headed underground once more, taking 555027 towards South Gosforth, the idea was to take this to the Regent Centre for another bus but when I saw it would be a 30 minute wait for the next Q3 so I ditched that plan and instead headed to Gateshead on 555013 where we connected onto the Go North East circular route 54 “Volta” service with electric bus 8804 taken for the short distance back over the Tyne alighting at the bus stop on the Quayside. We headed to our accommodation, the Easy Hotel which was surprisingly reasonably good value for money for a proper twin room. After checking in, we headed towards the nearby Spoons for dinner, before relaxing for the rest of the evening. At one point I was considering heading out on my own for a spot of Metro hunting but the last few days of walking had caught up with me and I was a bit tired.

24th March – Onwards to Whitby

I managed to bag a couple of bargain (£3) advance fares for Newcastle to Whitby in that rail sale earlier in the year, but before a trip to Whitby I headed out of the hotel early morning to walk up the rather steep hill towards the station, boarding 156479 for the short run to Metrocentre. Where I transferred across to a route X73 bus from the bus interchange, for this was the time of day where a handful of buses use the “Centrelink” busway. So, after a trip via Dunston & Teams, the double decker turned onto the busway for a speedy trip alongside the Tyne, crossing over the river on the Swing Bridge. I left the bus at the Close, near the Spoons, happy that I've covered that underused busway (I guess designed to allow buses to bypass traffic on the Redheugh Bridge in the mornings).

After swinging via the hotel to pick up mum, we headed out heading towards the station via the stairs, where after breakfast (we couldn’t help notice how many people use the Sainsburys as a cut-through to get to the station carpark), we headed across to board 158848 on the next Middlesbrough semi-fast service, which was a bit busier due to an incident at Durham. An on-time arrival at Middlesbrough gave us time for some fresh air before boarding 156449 on the Whitby train for the scenic run towards Whitby, arriving in the light drizzle.

156449 at Whitby Station by Kite, on Flickr

After a little walk around the town centre area, we headed towards the bus stop to board the Leeds bound 840 Coastliner service to take it to York via the scenic (even if a bit misty) trip across the Moors. We alighted from the bus in York at the Stonebow bus stops (where it waits 5 or so minutes) giving us around 90 minutes to get to the station for our booked TPE service to Newcastle (another Rail Sale bargain at £5 each). After a visit towards the historic city centre, we headed towards the Monk Bar gate on the city walls, as when I visited York back in January 2025, this section of the city wall path was closed for maintenance. Thankfully it was open, as we climbed up to the wall to walk the path towards Bootham Bar, near the York Art Gallery. This gave some nice views of the Minster. We headed towards the station going via the Museum Gardens and the railway bridge carrying the Scarborough line. I need to research into the various paths heading towards Skelton, so much to do, so little time!

We arrived at the station in good time, as a few minutes after arriving the rain started, bouncing from the roof of a Northern 195. 802206 rolled in from Liverpool to take us towards Newcastle, complete with some idiotic youths boarding at Durham who didn’t have tickets and were having a chat with the police at Newcastle as they attempted to push through the barriers. Arriving at Newcastle we had a gentle stroll to a bus stop to board the circular Go North East route 53 Volta service with electric bus 8802 taken down the hill to quayside. The 53 operates clockwise with the 54 operating anti-clockwise. After dropping some bits into the hotel, we headed to Spoons (again!) for dinner. An enjoyable day, even if the weather didn’t play ball at times.

25th March – Farewell Newcastle

A later start this morning, as we had breakfast in Spoons before taking the route 53 Volta service towards Newcastle city centre, the long way round. Crossing the Tyne on the Swing bridge it headed towards Gateshead centre then towards Bensham, skirting round the edge of Saltwell Park (which gains an entry onto my "list to explore") before heading towards Newcastle. An interesting little route, the premier inn on the Teams business park looked massive!

I had a short notice change of plan and instead of heading towards the station for a train to Ashington (where I was planning to catch a bus back towards Newcastle), we headed towards the city centre to board a route 21 service (with a modern electric decker 6803) to take us to the famous Angel of the North, where on the map I noticed a potential walking idea labelled as the “Angel Cycleway”. Anyhow tourist hat on, as we visited the Angel, still very impressive but I think mum was blown away by the scale.

Angel of the North by Kite, on Flickr

We headed back towards a different bus stop (as the Angel is located midway between two bus stops) to take another route 21 service back towards Newcastle city centre & Eldon Square bus station (going via the Tyne Bridge). A gentle walk towards the station and it was onto 158853 for the round trip to Ashington, remaining on board back to Newcastle station, where after grabbing lunch, it was onto 801207 with the semi-fast London train starting from Newcastle. An uneventful journey south, where we had a couple of options to reach Waterloo, walking towards Euston for a bus was ruled out due to the rain, so it was to St Pancras to jump on 700024 to Blackfriars (solely to look at the Thames) followed by a busy 700135 to London Bridge. A quick change saw us onto 376029 & 376006 for a very slow trip towards Waterloo East (as something had happened on South Eastern with a lot of delays). Another quick change saw us onto the 19:20 service from Waterloo with 159107, 159005 & 158881 getting lucky with a decent seat in the 158.

The sprinters took us to Grateley, where we had a gentle stroll home, the end of a little getaway to the North East.

26th March – An Unexpected Trip to Weymouth

The original idea for today was to do the random once a week route 86 bus route from Tisbury to Shaftesbury with a bus day on Go Ahead (heading to Poole via Blandford), with the day starting with the 07:51 service from Grateley, the school kids special with a very busy 159017 to Salisbury. This was originally meant to run to Gillingham but it was cancelled at Salisbury due to late running on the single track. After grabbing food from Tesco, we boarded the next Exeter bound service formed of 159014 & 159015 as I was trying to decide what we could do, either staying on to Exeter to do a Stagecoach route 2 towards Newton Abbot, then maybe towards Paignton.

However, I decided we should alight at Axminster to take the First Bus X51 service towards Weymouth, the bus working hard on the hilly section between Brigport & Dorchester. After a little walk around Weymouth, it was onto the X54 service for Wareham which went via Lulworth Cove for some more countryside views, I decided it would be better to bail at Wool station, than to continue to Wareham. I must return to Axminster at some point to sample the modern electric decker now being used on the bus towards Taunton. We used the level crossing (which comes down quite early) at Wool to board 444007 on a London service, running into the rear of 444005 at Bournemouth.

444010 at Wool Station by Kite, on Flickr

These 444s took us to Basingstoke, where we had a tight but easy cross platform connection onto 158887 & 159017 to take us back to Grateley, where we had dinner at home. I spent the rest of the evening playing catch up with my admin work and getting my rucksack packed ready for my 3-night stay in the Midlands.

27th March – Preston Guild wheel & making a start with the Lancaster Canal

I was staying overnight in Walsall for a couple of nights for a railtour, which gave me a few options at what I could do on the Friday, some options were ruled out due to forecast poor weather. Eventually I decided to head to Preston to make a start with both the Preston Guild Wheel and also with the Lancaster Canal. The Preston Guild Wheel path is a 21-mile cycle route which encircles Preston and the Lancaster Canal is a canal which runs from Preston towards Kendal.

The trip began with 159004 & 158890 for the journey into Waterloo, followed by a gentle walk to Euston for 390129 on a Glasgow Central bound service for the speedy run towards Preston, with changing weather along the way, thankfully when it reached Preston the rain had cleared with the sun making an appearance. My walk began from the station heading towards via the suburbs (passing a hotel I once stayed at many years ago), cutting via a woodland area to arrive on the banks of the Ribble. Part of the path here is closed for flood protection works, but the main reason for visiting is to cross over the old Penwortham Bridge to walk a short cycle route which runs close to the former West Lancashire Railway route towards the A582. I did a short loop back towards the bridge over the Ribble to start with the well sign posted Guild Wheel walk.

Old Railway Bridge Piers in the River Ribble, Preston by Kite, on Flickr

The first section was a path towards the modern-day Penwortham Bridge, crossing over the road before following the route of the Preston Dock branch (on the right hand side) with the Ribble on my left. Quite scenic at times before I reached the marina, crossing a dock channel on a railway swing bridge, the path heading along the road for a short distance before returning to the banks of the Ribble. A short section later I moved away from the Ribble to head towards an industrial estate area the cycle path running alongside the busy A583 "Riversway" road linking up with the older A road towards Blackpool.

Thankfully the section alongside this busy road didn't last for long as the Guild Wheel path crossed over with a farm access track, following a slightly muddy farm access path towards the Ribble Link, a modern day canal making use of the Savick Brook to create a link between the otherwise isolated Lancaster Canal with the River Ribble (where a boat can reach the Leeds & Liverpool canal on the Rufford Branch if they are brave enough). I detoured away from the Guild Wheel path to head towards a lock, the limit of walking, before making my way back towards the mostly tarmac path, pausing for lunch at a bench near a bridge carrying the A582.

Savick Brook (Ribble Link), Lea (5) by Kite, on Flickr

After lunch I resumed my walk, following the Ribble Link/Savick Brook as it passed through some countryside (and a golf club) on the northern edge of Lea & Ashton on Ribble. The Guild Wheel path leaves the canal towpath on the Savick Way Road bridge, as I continued making my way underneath the railway line (Blackpool branch line), crossing over the B6241 with the canal making a sharp turn and a steep staircase lock flight to reach the top basin where it joined up with the Lancaster Canal. At the junction I turned right to follow the slightly muddy (lots of rain had fallen recently) towpath as it headed towards the current end of navigation near the Fylde Road, the canal being cut back from its original terminus closer to Preston city centre years ago.

I followed Fylde Road via the campus of the university, crossing over the route of the long-closed Longridge branch line and making my way to the station for it was time to go play with some trains. An enjoyable walk with various scenery and mostly a decent surface. At the station it was a short wait before boarding a busy 331107 on a Liverpool bound service where I had a short wait at Liverpool before boarding winner 197023 to take me to Runcorn where I had another short break, watching a Pendo roll in for London carrying mostly fresh air followed by a busy 350118 on the Birmingham bound service, which emptied out at Crewe (if only that Pendo called at Crewe it would actually be useful, rather than crawling towards Tamworth to follow a LNR service).

197023 at Liverpool Lime Street by Kite, on Flickr

At Crewe it was another short break before I boarded winner 197025 on the Shrewsbury stopper to take me to Whitchurch for a 30-minute break (good time to have dinner when sitting on the bench) before 197011 & 197104 rolled in to take me back to Crewe, where I made a tight connection onto 390141 to take me to Stafford followed with 220026 for the trip to Birmingham New Street. I was toying with a trip towards Stourbridge behind winner 68024 but decided against it owing to the timings being a bit rubbish (especially as it would have put me onto a stopper to Walsall). So, I decided to call it a night and jump onto 730034 on a Rugeley service to take me to Walsall where it was a short walk to the Premier Inn near the canal basin. A rare event that the Premier Inn was cheaper than most of the other options in the West Midlands. After checking in with the self-service kiosks (no staff members in sight) I headed to my room and relaxed.

28th March - The Cracoe-Jack

When this tour first got announced, I was interested as it was doing the long freight line from Skipton towards Rylstone Quarry, as well as the short connection onto the Worth Valley line at Keighley. Although I will admit when the finalised timings came back near enough 2 hours later than first advertised, I wasn’t happy as it gave a +10 into the last train to Walsall at Tame Bridge (or potentially a change at Crewe to put me onto that last train at Birmingham New Street, which was something best avoided due the likelihood of it being full of drunks). Anyhow the day started with a gentle stroll to Walsall station to board 730020 on what was meant to be the first semi-fast service, but had additional stops inserted to cover for the cancellation of the last stopper.

At Birmingham New Street, I exited the station, heading to Tesco for some supplies for the day ahead before returning to take my seat on the Mk2 coaches being hauled with winner 69006 (first time I’ve had one of the rebuilt 56s), although my cheerfulness died a death when I said “morning” to the 3 others on my table to get a complete blank look, for joy of joys I was on a table with 3 people whom spoke very little (I think until the Freightliner depot in Leeds, they spoke 10 words between them). Doesn’t help that I find the low-down seats on a Mk2 coach with little legroom under the table as worse than the seats found on a Chiltern Mk5 coach, I was suffering to the point I looked up a post tour escape plan to ditch the tour at Keighley for a voyager move.

69006 arriving at Birmingham New Street by Kite, on Flickr

Anyhow, back to the tour, as it headed towards Tame Bridge via Aston, before heading towards Stafford for another pick up (and a fresh air stop). After Stafford it headed towards Crewe via Stoke on Trent for the final pick up, before heading towards Stockport, branching onto the Denton line to head towards Stalybridge (I forgot they had wired up Guide Bridge to Stalybridge, although I would imagine at the moment hardly anything uses it due to the 802s mostly heading towards Victoria). An enjoyable trip across to the building site of Huddersfield, first time I’ve headed that way for a while, lots of works going on with the TransPennine upgrade project. The tour headed towards Wakefield Kirkgate and Leeds, pausing for a while in the Midland Road area (where the large Freightliner depot is located) where the 3 others on the table suddenly burst into life taking the numbers of the various 66s & 70s. The tour bypassed Leeds via the Whitehall curve and headed towards Shipley complete with a 30-minute pathing stop in a loop. The tour passed Keighley coming to a stop the opposite side of the station with winner 57305 dragging the coaches onto platform 4 at Keighley where we would have a 90-minute break.

Time for a little explore of the town centre area, to get some supplies for dinner and other stuff before I returned to the station to take up my seat. During the break the locos had run round with 57305 hauling the train from platform 4 at Keighley towards Skipton, pausing on the opposite side of the station for 69006 to haul the train passed the disused platforms at Skipton and onto the Yorkshire Dales Railway route (which used to run to Grassington), the scenery changing to be beautiful once away from the town, with the industrial shunter “Cracoe” hauling the train inside Swinden Quarry. After the trip to the quarry, 57305 took the train back towards Skipton and 69006 to Keighley where I bailed, the idea of sitting in silence for a further 5 hours as darkness fell wasn’t a good plan and it was onto 333015 on a stopper to Leeds.

Track of the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway near the former Embsay Junction by Kite, on Flickr

At Leeds it was a short wait before 220029 & 220011 rolled in from York, as I managed to get a decent seat in the rear unit, relaxing with my phone on charge and watching some videos as the voyager headed towards Birmingham. I have no idea why I randomly looked up what a 730/2 was working, but when I saw it as a potential option which didn’t cost me much time (and the bonus of avoiding Birmingham city centre on a Saturday night), I bailed from the voyagers at Tamworth, making my way to the low level platforms for a short wait for winner 730203 leading dud 730213 to take me to Rugeley Trent Valley, where I transferred onto 730002 (which looked like it had been in a war zone with the volume of rubbish) to take me to Walsall via the Chase line. At Walsall it was a gentle stroll towards the hotel to relax. Today’s tour reminded me why I cut back on the number of tours I do, especially if it involves those Mk2 coaches.

29th March – A random West Midlands Bus Day & Willenhall Exploring

My original idea for today was to head towards Kidderminster to walk the Staffs & Worcs canal towards Stourton before heading towards Stourbridge via the Stourbridge canal, but the weather forecast didn’t look promising for the afternoon so I came up with a new idea to do a little walk in Willenhall I was planning to do when I got round to visiting the new stations. After checking out of the Premier Inn I headed towards Walsall bus station to board the frequent route 529 service bound for Wolverhampton with a modern electric decker (complete with rather comfortable seats). A busy route as it stopped at most of the bus stops along the way towards Willenhall, as I alighted at the bus stop outside the Bentley Cemetery meeting up with a good friend.

The first section of this walk doesn’t show on Google Maps, but I spotted it when looking up Open Street Maps and did some research with Street View. It was a modern tarmac path along the route of the long-closed Bentley canal (although not the best in terms of litter). After this short canal section, it was onto the roads for a short section before we picked up a path along the route of the former Wolverhampton and Walsall Railway route. Passing the site of Willenhall Stafford Street railway station, although no evidence remain. The path continued on the northern edge of the Willenhall Memorial Park before going into the Fibbersley Nature Reserve. We reached the end of the railway route on an industrial estate near Wednesfield before doubling back and having a random unplanned trip into the Nature Reserve (a "where does this path go, I have no idea").

Route of the former Wolverhampton and Walsall Railway route in Willenhall (5) by Kite, on Flickr

After leaving the Nature Reserve it was onto another path with a strong smell of oil from a nearby garage which headed towards Neachells Lane, near Portobello Junction on the railway (where the line heads towards Wolverhampton or avoiding Wolverhampton), originally I was going to end the walk on Willenhall Road but we decided to continue along Deans Road to pick up another random footpath crossing over the railway and onto another path which ran alongside the railway towards the canal at Heath Town (a path which was quite varied in surface, starting as tarmac ending up in mud). The walk ended outside Farmfoods on Wolverhampton Road for a route 59 service to take us into Wolverhampton Bus Station.

This is when I decided seeing as I had already hit the daily cap for National Express West Midlands to jump on another modern electric decker on a route 16 towards Stourbridge which was an interesting route as it headed into South Staffordshire towards Wombourne & Swindon before following the A491 from Wall Heath into Stourbridge Bus Station. I said farewell to my West Midlands friend as he headed back towards Wolverhampton after having a little explore of Stourbridge and I jumped onto 139002 to take me to Stourbridge Junction followed by 172338 & 172344 on an unusual 6 coach 172 formation to Cradley Heath where I met up with another good friend.

172344 departs Cradley Heath by Kite, on Flickr

As the wind had picked up somewhat, we decided to take the next X10 service towards Birmingham city centre (Colmore Row outside Snow Hill), going via Haden Hill, Halesowen & Bearwood. In Birmingham the rain had arrived as we headed towards the bus stop near Dale House (which is close to Albert Street Metro Stop, we even saw a tram on driving training pass us). It was onto a X1 service bound for Coventry, something which had been on our list of random things to do, even though the top deck was a bit steamy with the weather. This route headed out of the city centre towards Small Heath following the A45 road, detouring into Birmingham Airport using a bus only road near the runway (Jules was quite happy to see a plane taking off).

After the Airport this bus route followed the A45 before serving Meriden, joining the main road again before serving Allesley Green (with notes being taken for future walking ideas), finishing at the large Pool Meadows Bus station in Coventry, where we had a little break, finding a large Sainsburys which hadn't closed due to being a Sunday (it was around 16:50) allowing a little supply raid before the final bus of the day with a route 11 bound for Leamington Spa. This route headed out of Coventry city centre, passing the railway station before heading towards Canley and the University of Warwick campus (which was massive!). Afterwards it headed towards Kenilworth, crossing over the route of HS2 to the north of the town before heading towards Leamington Spa on a road which had a few Stagecoach buses operating along. We left the bus at the terminus near the station and headed towards the Spoons for dinner, going via the rather beautiful Jephson Gardens.

Jephson Memorial, Leamington Spa by Kite, on Flickr

After dinner we headed towards the station parting ways as Jules was staying in Leamington Spa and I was staying in Birmingham City Centre, and it was onto a lightly loaded 168219 for the slow trip to Moor Street, where I was reminded at how bad the local railway network is on Sunday evenings with no West Midlands services showing on the departure screen for the next 3 hours (I think there is an hourly service from Snow Hill towards Kidderminster but nothing south of Snow Hill). I headed out of Moor Street heading to the Travelodge on Newhall Street, a hotel I've used a few times as it's reasonable in terms of outside noise, relaxing for the rest of the evening.

30th March – Bourn Brook Walkway, Dudley Canal & Old Stourbridge Canal

The day began with a gentle stroll towards Moor Street to board winner 68024 on a busy London Marylebone service where I will admit to messing up as for some reason, I had Birmingham Moor Street to Dorridge as over 10 miles, but it is just under 10 miles. Ah well, mistakes happen as 68024 becomes my first entry on my “stuff needed for mileage” spreadsheet for a couple of years. Anyhow I met up with Jules at Solihull as he was busy playing with unusual track coverage with 172s (and I never knew there was a West Midlands operated Leamington Spa – Stratford Upon Avon service in the morning). We headed towards Moor Street on 172340 & 172008 heading into the city centre for some breakfast before heading towards New Street, jumping onto 170619 for the short journey to University where our walk began.

68024 at Dorridge Station by Kite, on Flickr

The Bourn Brook Walkway is a path which follows the Bourn Brook (surprising that), heading west from near Selly Oak (the starting point is pretty much half-way between both stations). A decent path as we followed it towards California and the very nice Woodgate Valley Country Park, the first section of walk ending near Lapal. The next section was along a little country lane which started off well with a pavement and hardly any traffic as we crossed the M5 before the pavement ended and traffic increased as we reached the A456 dual carriageway, darting across towards a housing estate area.

The third section of todays first walk began as we joined the route of the former Dudley Canal (No 2 Line) on the outskirts of Halesowen, discovering Leasowes Park as we followed the towpath of the disused canal (with water appearing along the way) before joining the pavement on Mucklow Hill. A small detour via the road (passing an old storage area featuring some old double decker buses), we dropped down onto the canal once more near Hawne Basin, although this section the public path was behind trees as the original towpath is private property for the marina. We crossed over the canal on a lovely old bridge, following the towpath towards Gosty Hill Tunnel, which is a steep climb for walkers to go up and over the hill. This soon led us towards the canal near Old Hill station, going underneath the railway bridge and meeting up with the point I started a walk at the start of March, so another canal can be ticked off.

A West Midlands 172 crossing the Dudley Canal (No 2 Line) near Old Hill Station by Kite, on Flickr

We had a fast walk along Station Road to a bus stop to board a X10 service to the massive Merry Hill shopping centre where we popped to the toilets and Asda for lunch, before starting the second walk of the day. We headed away from the shopping centre, picking up the Dudley Canal near Delph Locks, carrying along the canal a short distance before branching off onto cycle route 54 which I think makes use of the route of a closed section of the Stourbridge Canal. As it headed towards the Stourbridge area with some hills, crossing over the Round Oak Steel Terminal freight line on a very narrow footbridge, the walk ending near the canal basin in Stourbridge. Just one of those walks which I noticed when researching the Stourbridge canal which looked interesting. We headed towards Stourbridge Town station via the town centre, jumping onto 139002 to Junction before 172341 & 172214 to Birmingham Snow Hill.

We headed towards New Street, saying farewell to Jules as he headed towards a Hereford bound service and I headed towards a XC for Bournemouth, turning down a 9 coach Pendo on a London service owing to the cancellation of the previous service due to an incident between Wolverhampton & Stafford (which did mean 221126 was starting from Birmingham instead of Manchester with the unit rolling in from Bournemouth and getting turned back. I managed to grab a decent seat for the trip towards Basingstoke, the trip ending with 159021 & 159106 to take me to Grateley. As always thanks for reading (even if this was a longer than usual post), more photos can be found on my Flickr here.

 

[Techniquest]

You’ve reminded me there to look up that Angel Cycleway, sounds interesting

As always, thanks for sharing the trip reports I certainly enjoyed the read, as well as your company in the Midlands. I’d never find these routes without your expert knowledge!

 

[xotGD]

Ah, yhe good old 53 and 54 "Saltwell Park Circular"; I remember when they were operated by ancient Atlanteans.

68024 becomes my first entry on my “stuff needed for mileage” spreadsheet for a couple of years.

Just another 990 (and a bit) miles to clear it then!

 

[Kite159]

7th & 8th April Day Trips

After a run of 7 early shifts at work, I had a couple of rest days, deciding on a couple of day trips, although like with most day trips the hardest part was trying to make my mind up at where I wanted to head (taking into account engineering works). The weather was looking beautiful so I was happy with that.

7th April – A stroll in the countryside along the Oxford Canal

For the first day, I decided to visit the Oxford Canal to walk one of the rural sections with the theory that the towpath would have dried out and would be clear from overgrown hedges or long grass which can happen on rural canals in the summer months. The day began with the 08:27 service from Grateley to take me into Basingstoke on 159012 & 159008 where I popped to the shops to grab some supplies before jumping onto 165111 on the Reading stopping service to take me to Reading (as I had noticed the following Voyager was only 4 coaches). At Reading I connected into 800007 on a Cheltenham Spa bound service to take me to Didcot Parkway where I had a short break on a busy platform for 165105 to roll in on the stopping service to Banbury.

The Turbo departed Didcot, losing a couple minutes sitting near the junction (for I presume for the Malvern bound 5 coach IET), calling at Culham & Radley before heading into Oxford where the platform was very busy as the Manchester bound voyager was running late. The 165 departed Oxford before coming to a stop near the Castle Mill Stream bridge, held on a red for the voyager to pass 15 minutes later (I guess the signaller was expecting the voyager to have a short dwell at Oxford where in fact it was at the platform for a good 5 minutes, probably due to overcrowding). Anyhow eventually the 165 got moving and I alighted at Heyford where my walk would begin, the canal at Heyford being alongside the railway.

165105 departing Heyford Station by Kite, on Flickr

On leaving the station, I headed left to follow the canal heading towards Banbury, with the towpath skirting round the edge of Lower Heyford before the first section of countryside. The towpath passed Upper Heyford with some expensive looking houses near Allen's Lock before returning to countryside once more, the only sound being the odd helicopter, birds & occasional train. I crossed underneath the railway with the countryside opening up to be beautiful fields with the Cherwell River running close by. Certainly, this is a towpath you couldn't easily ride a bike along due to the number of gates.

There was one section in this area where the original towpath has been lost to erosion, with the path heading a bit inland up a bank with the canal hidden from view, but soon the towpath returned to the canal edge as it neared the small village of Somerton. After Somerton the towpath continued turning more woodland than open countryside in places, still very beautiful and peaceful. Although the peace didn't last as the canal neared the M40 and Souldern Viaduct (carrying the Chiltern lines, where annoyingly I was 30 seconds too late to grab a photo of a passing train. I soon reached Aynho Wharf near the site of the long closed Aynho station.

A voyager alongside the Oxford Canal between Upper Heyford & Somerton by Kite, on Flickr

I continued the walk, enjoying the countryside even if the towpath was a bit dodgy in places due to erosion, a case of avoiding the holes. It doesn't help when you get hire boats ignoring the speed limit on the canal and creating waves behind, which eat away at the banks. The towpath switched sides (so the canal was now on my left-hand side, rather than right hand side) near a lock, with a handy bench which I used for a lunch stop. The noise from the M40 increased as the canal passed underneath the motorway, heading towards the King's Sutton area. This area was probably the worse for towpath condition, nothing unpassable but some areas where I had to slow down my pace to avoid having an unexpected bath.

The canal passes the King's Sutton area, even seeing the railway station but there is no access from the canal towpath towards the village, the next road crossing being at Twyford Wharf. I continued the walk as the canal passed underneath the M40 again, heading towards the southern reaches of Banbury and a modern looking housing estate. This area was another part of the towpath which was rough which I found a bit surprising for the area. Anyhow soon the path did get better for the last section towards the Tramway Road bridge, where I made a little detour towards the Morrisons for some food before returning to the canal towpath for a time-wasting stroll passed the station towards the town centre area, a section I did walk a couple of years ago when on a railtour which had a break at Banbury.

Remains of the Lock Keepers Cottage at Lock 30 on the Oxford Canal between Twyford Wharf & Banbury by Kite, on Flickr

The walk finished at Banbury station, where I had a short wait before a busy 221134 rolled in from Manchester, passing the vestibule dwellers to get a decent seat in coach B for the speedy run towards Basingstoke, where the day ended with 159014 & 159013 back to Grateley, spending the evening relaxing and sorting out my photos. A very enjoyable rural canal walk, lots of countryside fresh air.

8th April – Wherryman’s Way alongside the Yare

My original idea for the Wednesday was to head towards Norwich to finish the Marriot’s Way path from Lenwade into Norwich, however on Tuesday night I had a crazy idea to instead have another countryside walk before the grass & hedges grow. The walk from Great Yarmouth towards Reedham via Berney Arms has been on my list to do for a while so with the weather looking good, I decided it would be nice to explore that area.

The day started with the 06:57 service towards Waterloo, being Easter Holidays the loading wasn’t as heavy as usual on 158888, 159012 & 159003, and as I had some time to kill before the 09:30 service from Liverpool Street I had a little stroll towards Liverpool Street, picking up supplies along the way (whilst dodging cyclists whom think red traffic lights don’t apply to them and smartphone zombies whom walk around eyes glued to their phone, even saw someone watching a video when walking, no attention being played to where they are walking). I made it to Liverpool Street in good time to grab a seat on 745001 for the speedy trip to Norwich.

745001 at London Liverpool Street by Kite, on Flickr

At Norwich, I transferred to 755422 working a Great Yarmouth service, one of those oddity services which head towards Great Yarmouth via Berney Arms rather than the route via Acle, which did make my life a bit easier as I alighted at Reedham where my walk began (deciding the previous night the riverside path from Cantley towards Reedham can be done on another day). The first section is along the road (only because I didn’t notice the footpath option until it was too late), passing some expensive looking houses. I soon reached the River Yare for a short distance passing a couple of cafés & some public toilets before going underneath the railway near the railway swing bridge to join Holly Farm Road following the signposts for the Wherryman's Way. Soon the farm access track gave way to a grassy embankment alongside the River Yare (with what seemed to be another unofficial path at the bottom of the embankment which I guess would be useful if the wind was strong). I spotted an ECS of the Eastern Rail Mk2 coaches heading somewhere but other than that it was very peaceful.

The walk continued alongside the river bank, although mostly the river was hidden from view due to reeds & other waterways, the first sign of life I saw was near Cadge's Mill before the wilderness resumed as I snaked my way towards Berney Arms enjoying the sunshine and countryside views. The windmill at Berney Arms came into sight and 20 or so minutes later I reached the area known as Berney Arms with a couple of isolated houses. I detoured away from the river bank following the Weaver's Way path towards the isolated station, although I did get caught out with an unexpected waterlogged path, hidden somewhat by the grass, the first I noticed is when my foot got wet. I reached the station, for a couple of photos and a lunch break sitting on a handy bench before I made my way back towards the river, attempting to avoid the waterlogged patch didn't work as my other foot got wet. Doh!

Berney Arms Windmill alongside the River Yare by Kite, on Flickr

After passing the former pub at Berney Arms (looked to be a private house) the path split with a hard surface track at a lower level with the grassy embankment, with a couple of areas where someone had cut the grass back. Still very peaceful and beautiful, the first person I saw was someone working on a sluice gate near where the hard surface track crossed the railway. I also saw a cyclist making their way towards Berney Arms (also saw them later making their way back towards Yarmouth so I have no idea if he was a local or just someone exploring the area). The path at the bottom of the embankment was more farm track like so passable on a mountain bike, but I was at the top with the views of the countryside & river.

The path continued along the north bank of the Yare, heading closer to Great Yarmouth with road traffic on the Acle New Road being nonstop, as I reached the railway near the junction. I continued along the path, alongside the railway line passing the carriage sidings now used to store various coaches owned by Eastern Rail, a mix of coaches from various operators plus a seemingly random 321434, which was quite unexpected. After pausing for some photographs, with the path circling the edge of the wide river to go underneath Breydon Bridge (which carries the A47). I detoured into the Asda store for some supplies before I made my way towards the busy station, the end of the delightful walk.

321434 stored in the Yarmouth Carriage Sidings (Eastern Rail Services) by Kite, on Flickr

I was considering taking the fast bus towards Norwich, but it didn’t save me any time, so waited for 755422 to roll in from Norwich, grabbing a seat at the front (where it was quieter) and relaxing with the run towards Norwich going via Acle, for I hadn’t been along this way since late 2020. At Norwich I made the connection onto 745002 on the 17:00 service to London (spotting a refurbished purple 158 on the EMR towards Nottingham, very purple). I relaxed for the speedy journey towards Stratford, where I transferred to the Jubilee line with 96112 & 96111 for the trip to Waterloo, to finish the trip with a busy 19:20 service bound for Exeter with 159004, 159108 & 158880. Made busier due to the part cancellation of the 18:50 service due to signalling issues (and a good thing I made this train as the 19:50 was starting from Basingstoke with no connection from London). Soon I arrived back at Grateley, to have a gentle stroll home to relax for the rest of the evening, getting ready for 6 late shifts.

Anyhow as always, thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr Here, next week sees a return to Whitley Bay, just a case of deciding which walks to do.

 

[Rover]

I enjoy reading your travels Kite, thanks.

 

[Kite159]

15th – 20th April Trips

15th April – Thames Path in rural Oxfordshire

It was back in late 2022 I reached Oxford on my exploring of the long-distance Thames Path, deciding to put the rest of the path towards Kemble on hold as the sections required bus moves due to the rural nature of where the Upper Thames (or River Isis as it’s otherwise known by) bus options were a bit more limited. When I was doing research, I identified a potential split in the settlement of Newbridge and at the time it was served by a rough 2 hourly bus shuttle between Witney & Abingdon. However, since I noted that down, the bus has increased to hourly and running to/from Oxford (to Witney) which makes things a bit easier.

The day began with the 07:57 service with a busy 158882 & 159014 taken to Basingstoke where I managed to board 220013 on a slightly late running Newcastle service to take me to Oxford, the train getting very busy at Reading with folk heading to Oxford due to this service being slightly quicker than a 9 coach IET which calls at Didcot Parkway. At Oxford I popped out to the little Sainsburys near the station for lunch items before boarding the Oxford Bus run X15 service to Witney, taking it to the bus stop outside Newbridge (which features a couple of pubs). This bus headed towards Abingdon, Marcham & Kingston Bagpuize and took a fair while. I guess in theory I could have taken a Swindon bound (S6) bus to Kingston Bagpuize to change there to save some time, but hey-ho.

The walk began as I made my way round the Rose Revived pub and onto the Thames Path, passing a few moored boats with some views of the "New Bridge" (13th Century) before heading into the peaceful wilderness. Keeping the river on my right-hand side as I followed the path as it weaved towards Northmoor Lock & the settlement of Bablock Hythe. Many years ago, there used to be a ferry across the river here as the towpath switches banks, however like a few of the Thames ferries it no longer runs forcing walkers into a detour away from the river.

River Thames (Isis) at Bablock Hythe (2) by Kite, on Flickr

The detour took me via a caravan park onto a country lane before picking up a farm track to head in a general northern direction, passing close to the Thames a couple of times before joining back up with the river at Pinkhill Lock, where there is a footbridge across the weir allowing me to cross the river so that it was now on my left-hand side. Thankfully that was the only major detour required although another short detour was needed a short distance further on due to a marina and private land. Once I passed the marina and re-joined the riverside I soon returned to the ruralness as the path headed towards the Swinford Toll Bridge, passing another lock.

I continued the walk, now entering a woodland section before fields resumed, the river changing direction a few times reaching King's Lock with the direction of the river changing to be more southernly, the sound of traffic from the A34 getting louder as I reached the A34 bridge of the Western By-Pass and towards Godstow Lock (passing the remains of Godstow Abbey). This section of the Thames Path was a lot busier than the previous 10 or so miles as I headed towards Oxford, the Port Meadow being on my left-hand side as well as the river. Sadly, this is where it started to rain as I reached the section of the Thames I've previously walked back in the summer of 2021 as a time-wasting move.

River Thames (Isis) between Eynsham Lock & King's Lock (11) by Kite, on Flickr

The last section took me towards the Sheepwash Channel, going underneath the railway, passing the Rewley Road Swing Bridge and a final push to Oxford station, arriving with a minute to spare before 221120 rolled in on time (knowing my luck had I arrived with 15-20 minutes to spare, it would have been late!). I grabbed a seat in coach B and relaxed for the trip to Basingstoke, where after popping out of the station for some supplies I returned to Grateley with 158880 & 159107 to enjoy some live comedy from Lenny Henry & get my rucksack packed ready for my North Eastern adventure. It was nice to be back on the River Thames, although I have no idea why I had it in my head it was less than 10 miles where it was closer to 14 miles, not as bad as the next section between Newbridge & Lechlade at 16 miles of ruralness.

16th April – North East Day 1, Ponteland & Wylam

Originally for this long weekend I did book accommodation in the Greenock area for a Scottish adventure, before finding out the WCML was out of action, taking the option to switch location to Newcastle instead due to the time penalty of using the ECML to reach Inverclyde, also for the same price I could have 3 nights away instead of 2. As usual for my North East trips I was staying in Whitley Bay, using a guest house I’ve used a couple of times before.

The day began with the 06:57 service into Waterloo with a busy 158880, 159013 & 159018, where I had just over an hour to stroll towards Kings Cross for the 09:30 Edinburgh fast service. As expected with the WCML being closed, 801221 was very busy, even in coach G as it took me to Newcastle calling only at York (and strangely going via platform 4 at Peterborough instead of the usual down fast line). At Newcastle I picked up a “TNE Day Saver” ticket which for £7.50 is good value for money. For it includes Metro, train between Blaydon to Sunderland and buses (not only in Tyne & Wear, but also Durham & Northumberland, making it ideal for cross border adventures). I got lucky and landed straight onto dud 555019 on an airport service to take me to Newcastle Airport where my first walk began.

555019 at Newcastle Airport by Kite, on Flickr

The Ponteland railway path runs along the old track bed of the railway line to the town of Ponteland, part of the railway was used by the Tyne & Wear Metro when it opened in the 1980s, diverting at the airport end to serve the airport. Once I made my way out of the Airport itself, I crossed over the A696 road at the airport roundabout and onto a blocked off lane (which used to serve some industrial thing). The path quality was good as I made my way in a mostly north westerly direction in the countryside crossing over the B6545 to reach Ponteland. Along the way were some information boards which is always a nice touch giving some history of the line & the area. I reached Ponteland Park, doing a little loop before picking up cycle route 10 which runs along the Darras Hall branch.

This was more woodland as it headed to the suburb of Darras Hall, I carried on for a short section reaching Western Way where it looks the railway path continues along an old colliery railway, but with one eye on the time I headed back towards the Broadway near some shops, to catch the half hourly Stagecoach run X78 service to take me to Eldon Square bus station. This bus route passed some quite expensive looking houses & the Airport heading towards Kingston Park and a fast-running section via Cowgate to reach the city centre. After grabbing some bottles of Pepsi Max from a Poundland I headed to Monument, jumping onto 555028 to take me to Whitley Bay going via North Shields as there was a large gap in services going via Benton.

Darras Hall Branch of the Ponteland Railway, Ponteland (3) by Kite, on Flickr

After checking into my accommodation, dropping off various things from my rucksack, I returned to the station, taking 555034 to Monument, once more going via North Shields, where I had a fast walk to Central Station to jump onto 158848 to take me to Wylam where I started the second of today’s walks. This walk had been on my massive list for a while, the Keelmans Way path running close to the south bank of the Tyne towards Blaydon & beyond. After a couple of photographs near the station and the signal box high above the road, I located the start of the path in the car park. Very much a woodland path giving the occasional glimpse of the Tyne at the bottom of an embankment. The surface was quite good as I headed along the Tyne skirting round the edge of Ryton golf club & Ryton Willows to reach Newburn bridge. Good to see the river being used by rowers and the path being used by cyclists, dog walkers & joggers.

After Newburn Bridge the path continued towards Stella and a modern looking housing estate with the path following the roads for a short distance before returning to the riverside and another section of woodland. I passed the start of the Blaydon Burn path which is another short path on my list (my plan is to combine it when I walk from Winlaton Mill). The walk ended at Blaydon station where there is a handy access path between the platforms & the riverside. As I only had a 7-minute wait before the next train to Newcastle I remained at the station, as the backup option was one of the frequent buses towards Newcastle or Gateshead. 156479 rolled in from Prudhoe to take me to Newcastle station where once more I headed to the Metro to take 555028 to Northumberland Park.

Keelmans Way Path between Wylam & Ryton (6) by Kite, on Flickr

This was a bit of an unplanned trip, but I made the connection onto 156451 on the next Ashington service to take me to Bedlington to tick off the line for stations visited. I made use of the time to visit the nearby Co-Op to grab some supplies for dinner before crossing the tracks via the level crossing to board 156451 back to Northumberland Park, transferring across to the Metro station getting lucky with 555015 arriving within a couple of minutes to take me to Whitley Bay, complete with security staff on board (I guess to counter some of the anti-social behaviour the Tyne & Wear Metro suffers with out of the city centre. I will return to Bedlington again at some point to walk into the town centre as there is an interesting looking path, and I can exit via a bus. Anyhow back at Whitley Bay I had a gentle stroll back to the guest house, making myself comfortable for the remainder of the evening, as I was weighing up various walking options.

17th April – A trio of old railway walks

I headed out of the guest house towards the station, jumping on 555015 for the trip to Monument via North Shields as there was a gap in service heading the other direction, at Monument I headed to Central Station on 555007 with the idea of grabbing breakfast before making a final decision at where to head to, as I wanted a walk in County Durham. That plan changed when I saw a stopper for Middlesborough being delayed as the inbound was late, and I climbed onto 156487 to take me towards Seaham, a place I’ve wanted a decent explore as I had only ever been around the station area. After-all who doesn’t like a visit to the seaside?

The first section once away from the station was to follow the route of what I believe (looking at old maps at least) to be the former Rainton & Seaham Railway towards the harbour area. A lot different these days compared to the height of coal production no doubt. I headed towards the harbour itself, climbing up the stairs to the Red Acre Point for some decent views. After enjoying the sky I headed via an Asda to grab some supplies for lunch and also something for a late breakfast (for I was getting a bit hungry at this point). After a bacon sandwich I followed some of the streets to reach the route of the former South Hetton Railway.

View from Red Acre Point in Seaham by Kite, on Flickr

This was a long climb away from Seaham passing a golf course before the urban area gave way to ruralness before I reached a section where the path detours away from the original railway due to the construction of the A19 dual carriageway, the cycle route crossing this busy road on a roundabout with the A182. This is where I could have got wrong and followed the signs for cycle route 1 which instead of following the old railway runs alongside a road heading towards the modern Jade Business Park, but I was careful and picked the route of the old railway (although not like there was any clues to the path's former existence. At Jade Business Park the original route (and cycle path shown on Strava) has disappeared under construction with an alternative path following the access road with various business units (some under construction), before the cycle path resumed on it's own with the section towards the settlement of South Hetton, which was a railway junction back in the olden days. I carried on with a link path (which wasn't the best of surface quality) to link up with the route of the former Sunderland & Hartlepool Railway, now called the "Hawthorn - Ryhope Way". I headed south towards South Hetton before doubling back, to save a job for when I get round to walking from South Hetton towards Shotton Colliery, Wingate & probably Hartlepool (although there is a path all the way towards Stockton).

The surface quality of this path was decent (for it was part of cycle route 1 according to some signs) as it headed north (ish), skirting round the side of the settlement of Murton with some nice countryside views on this peaceful path. I soon reached the small settlement of Seaton, not that far from my starting point in Seaham, crossing over the A19 once more, the next part running close to the A1018 road so wasn't as peaceful, as soon countryside was replaced with the urban environment as I reached Ryhope, located to the south of Sunderland. This path ended at the former Ryhope station, the only evidence remaining being the old footbridge (now fenced off).

Footbridge at former Ryhope Station (Sunderland & Hartlepool Railway) by Kite, on Flickr

I had the option to finishing the walk at the village green where there was a frequent bus service towards Sunderland, but decided to carry on, following some roads to reach what I think was the route of the former Silksworth Colliery Railway, heading towards the site of the former Ryhope Colliery, finishing the walk with an uphill stroll towards Silksworth, but finishing on Tunstall Bank where a Go North East route 63 rolled in, running late, to take me towards Sunderland city centre, terminating at the bus stop outside the Winter Gardens. I can only guess Go North East control instructed the driver to run set-down only once within the city areas due to late running as it was quite fast. Anyhow when I was waiting for the bus, the weather turned a bit wet (which was expected from the forecast). I was toying with ideas of what to do next as I remembered the route 56 service to Newcastle, which felt like a good way to waste some time as I boarded a double decker for a different view as the bus headed via Southwick & North Hylton (passing Hylton Castle).

After crossing over the A19 it passed the massive Nissan factory to head towards Concord (to the north of Washington) before heading towards Gateshead via Springwell (passing the Bowes Railway). I decided whilst I was in the area to alight at a bus stop in the Wrekenton area to walk a path along the route of the former Team Colliery Waggonway towards the Angel, picking up the Angel Cycleway path to take me towards a housing estate in the Low Fell area. I was glad I did this walk from Wrekenton as it was mostly downhill. Anyhow once more I was trying to decide on a potential bus move, part of me wanted to visit Saltwell Park, but in the end I jumped onto a route 93 bus towards Gateshead Interchange, going via the large Team Valley trading estate.

Path along the Team Colliery Waggonway, Gateshead (13) by Kite, on Flickr

At Gateshead Metro station, I headed to the platforms, jumping onto 555005 to take me to Gateshead Stadium, simply as a way to get more fresh air (as I don’t really like hanging around too long at the underground Metro stations). A short wait at Gateshead Stadium saw me score 555032 for the trip to Central Station, jumping on dud 555012 back to Gateshead Stadium, followed by winner 555030 which I took to Pelaw (nicer to hang around at than Heworth). I noticed when looking at the path a potential future walking idea from Pelaw as a winner unit rolled in on a Pelaw terminator (as this week the South Shields branch was replaced by buses with engineering works), so it was a case of waiting for 555036 to return from the sidings to take me back underground where I decided to remain on board to Palmersville as it was such a beautiful evening, felt a waste not to do a short walk.

Leaving the station at Palmersville, it was via an industrial estate to reach the Killingworth Waggonway Path within the large Rising Sun Country Park. Quite busy with other walkers (and jogger) as I followed this path via the scenic country park towards a housing estate (Addington Drive) in Wallsend. A short walk along the road followed before I picked up another path heading back towards Palmersville station, some more good views within the country park. At the station I had a 16-minute wait before 555035 rolled in to take to Monkseaton where I went via the large Morrisons for some supplies before making my way back to the guest house via the local Spoons for something warm for dinner. Today was quite productive for walks, even scoring a trio of 555s into my little book. I didn’t sleep that well for some reason. Didn’t help there was a couple of other people staying in the guest house who kept going outside for a smoke during the night and weren’t that quiet about it.

Lake within the Rising Sun Country Park by Kite, on Flickr

18th April – South Tyne Trail between Alston & Haltwhistle

This was a walking idea which came to my attention in February when I was looking at the maps around the Tyne Valley line, seeing the tell-tale green line to the south of Haltwhistle, looking at the OS Maps saw it heading towards Alston (also the same time I spotted the short path from Brampton station into the centre of Brampton). Bus options to Alston are somewhat limited to 3 buses a day from Haltwhistle, with the timings slightly nicer on a Saturday compared to a weekday, 10:52 instead of 09:14.

The day began from Whitley Bay heading towards Central Station on 555036 where I grabbed some breakfast and as I was slightly ahead of time, jumped onto 156484 to take me to Hexham for a little stroll towards a large Tesco to waste some time, before returning to take 156496 the 16 or so miles to Haltwhistle. After visiting the little Co-Op for some lunch items (as the Hexham Tesco was a bit bare boned) & the public toilets I hung by the bus stop near the station also used by the AD12 bus route between Carvoran & Hexham (a bus route which had gone onto my list to do) for the route Go North East operated 681 bus to Alston with a little Solo. A handful of passengers alighted within Haltwhistle (the bus comes from Birdoswald via Greenhead) leaving just myself and 2 other passengers to enjoy the scenic delights of this bus route.

Views from Bus Route 681 between Haltwhistle & Alston (7) by Kite, on Flickr

This was a beautiful route heading away from Haltwhistle via some small villages (Coanwood, Lambley, Halton Lea Gate, Slaggyford) with some fast running and some steep hills. Nobody else boarded or alighted from the bus as it reached the town of Alston where my walk began, going down the hill heading towards the railway station (served by the South Tynedale Railway) crossing over the River Nent. The first section was a footpath skirting the edge of the station site following the river before picking up the permissive path which runs alongside the heritage track (reminded me of the path between Hoveton & Wroxham & Aylsham).

The path quality was reasonable, probably not a path you would want to cycle along (as there were a few gates along the way), nor probably do during winter time. As soon as the path headed away from Alston the views opened up for this is one beautiful part of the country (North Pennines National Landscape), just a shame the weather was a bit changeable with some light rain a couple of times along the way, nothing that major but it did reduce the scenic views. A steam train passed me near a bridge over the River South Tyne, but other than that the path was very peaceful.

Steam engine Nakło on the South Tynedale Railway between Alston & Kirkhaugh by Kite, on Flickr

I continued the beautiful walk passing Kirkhaugh & Lintley Stations before reaching Slaggyford the current northern terminus of the railway, complete with cute little buffet coach parked in a north facing bay platform. The track ran out but the South Tyne Trail continued, with the path quality being quite changeable for the next couple of miles with some muddy & flooded patches but nothing that major. Some beautiful woodland featured still with some views of the valley on the right hand side before I reached the area of the former Lambley station, where due to the station & land being sold into private hands when the line was closed, the footpath diverts down some steep stairs to go underneath the viaduct before going up some more steep stairs to re-join the old track bed to the south of the viaduct before crossing over the Lambley Viaduct which was the last time I saw the River South Tyne for a while.

After the viaduct came some woodland and sadly a heavy downpour lasting only a couple of minutes but long enough to get wet as I reached the former Coanwood station site where cycle route 68 (which detours via the roads due to the stairs at the viaduct) re-joined the old railway line route. This area the path wasn't the nicest to walk, but that was mainly due to puddles from the heavy downpour, thankfully though the rough surface soon improved into tarmac, as did the views as I headed towards Haltwhistle in the sunshine. The old railway path ends on Plenmeller Road with a short section along the road, crossing over the A69 Haltwhistle bypass before picking up another footpath leading towards the Alston Arches viaduct over the South Tyne before the last section towards Haltwhistle station where my walk ended, had I had a bit more time I might walked back towards the viaduct for some photos from the ground, but that could be a job for another day.

River South Tyne from the Alston Arches Viaduct, Haltwhistle (2) by Kite, on Flickr

I was glad I ignored the platform information display which was suggesting the next train was running 20-odd minutes late as 156469 rolled in near enough on time with the next train to Newcastle, although this is when I noticed it would arrive into Newcastle around a quarter of a hour after the kickball had finished so came up with a revised idea to avoid the city centre & potential overcrowding on the Metro, so jumped from the 156 at Metrocentre, heading to Blaydon with 158842 to cross over the roads into the shopping centre area (although most of the shops at this time were closed). After grabbing something for dinner from Morrisons I headed to the little bus station, randomly jumping onto a route 69 service up a steep hill towards Winlaton, switching to a route 49 service on a little tour of the area to head towards Gateshead Interchange, returning to Metrocentre on the X66 shuttle (with a modern electric bus).

My last bus of the day was a busy 10A service towards Newcastle city centre, which got caught up in traffic so I jumped off at a bus stop near Central Station, heading towards the station and onto 555005 to take me to Whitley Bay, to relax for the rest of the day. A very enjoyable stroll in the countryside, a beautiful part of the country.

Whitley Bay Beach at Twilight by Kite, on Flickr

19th April – A little explore of Sunderland

With the WCML being closed, mixed with the end of Easter Holidays for some areas, I was expecting LNER services from Edinburgh to be very busy so decided to play it a bit safer and use Grand Central from Sunderland, on the 10:30 departure as I didn’t want a late finish due to going into early shifts at work, especially as there was replacement buses between Andover & Grateley today. After checking out of the guest house, a place I will use again if I’m back in the North East, I headed to the station, using my POP PAYG smartcard (as using that is £2.50 for a single ticket, compared to £5.50-odd buying a paper single). I said farewell to Whitley Bay with 555005 to West Jesmond where I was a little bit naughty and dashed to the nearby Sainsburys Local for breakfast items before returning to take 555017 for the journey towards St Peters where my little explore of Sunderland began.

I headed away from St Peters heading towards the stadium and an area undergoing redevelopment at the Riverside, which includes a modern wide crossing of the River Wear (Keel Crossing) designed to cope with the football traffic from the city centre. I need to research the cycle path which runs along the north bank of the Wear towards North Hylton, but that's a job for another trip. Anyhow after crossing the Wear, I headed towards the city centre area, detouring via the Minster before heading towards Mowbray Park.

River Wear from Keel Crossing Bridge, Sunderland by Kite, on Flickr

I entered Mowbray Park at the northern end near the winter gardens building, taking a little stroll within the park before picking up the route of an old railway line which used to link the line from South Hylton & the docks. One of those random short old railway line paths which headed towards an industrial estate. I followed the roads heading towards the Town Moor, before heading back towards the city centre, swinging via Tesco to grab lunch items for later on. I left the sunshine to head underground to get one of the unreserved seats at the southern end of 180103 when the train was lightly loaded. Departure was on time, and it was the first time I’ve called at Seaham on Grand Central, and I sat back looking out of the window with the journey towards the ECML. As usual for these trains they got very busy at York and had a nice fast run towards London.

At London I headed towards Waterloo on foot, meeting up with my good friend Jules who was in the area on a London trip for a short stroll and catchup before I jumped onto 159108 & 159101 on the next Andover service to take me to Andover where it was time to wait for the replacement bus. Previous times there has been 3 buses used at Andover, one for Gillingham only, one for Salisbury and a smaller bus for Grateley & Tisbury, however today there was a coach for Gillingham with a smaller coach (from an operator called Bugler, IIG 7705) which departed Andover leaving folk behind wanting Salisbury. The bus took me to Grateley, where I had a gentle stroll home, to sort my rucksack out after a long weekend in the North East.

20th April – A stroll along the Thames in London

For my last day of my current time-off it was an early start to get my body into early starts again, with 159106 & 159009 towards London Waterloo. I was hoping to make some progress into the latest 701s which have entered service since my last London day trip, but only 2 were out, so I came up with an idea for a little walk in the beautiful weather (originally it was going to be a path alongside the Duke of Northumberland’s River).

After grabbing some breakfast it was onto 458420 & 458425 for a time wasting spin to Barnes, followed with 701052 to Brentford, returning towards Clapham Junction on a busy 458419 & 458424 before winner 701008 rolled in on a Hounslow loop service which I took to Kew Bridge, going via Twickenham where my walk began, for today I had decided to walk along the Thames Path on the northern side of the river, I had previously walked on the Thames Path on the ‘south’ side a few years ago. After leaving the station, I swung via Sainsburys to grab some lunch items, before heading towards Kew Bridge, going underneath the bridge and heading east. The first section was along roads before picking up the riverside path in the Strand-on-the-Green area, going underneath the Kew Railway Bridge before the path headed inland.

An Overground service crossing Kew Railway Bridge by Kite, on Flickr

After walking along roads for a short distance, I returned to the riverfront near Chiswick Bridge, crossing over a yacht marina and a boat club, before going underneath Chiswick Bridge, heading towards Dukes Meadows. This path took me towards Barnes (Railway) Bridge, where I made use of a modern bridge which goes underneath the railway bridge but above the river. I was now into Dukes Meadows walking along the Promenade, the views of the river being more limited due to trees, but soon the river view returned as the Thames Path headed towards Chiswick Eyot on the Chiswick Mall path.

The next section was more walking along minor roads in Chiswick before heading back on a riverside path towards Hammersmith Bridge, where I crossed over the Thames on the closed to traffic bridge, returning to the north bank on the opposite side before continuing on a busier section of path, passing various cafes & other buildings, even going underneath one of the stands of Craven Cottage (home of Fulham FC). This led towards Bishops Park where I continued towards Putney Bridge, where I could have kept going towards Imperial Wharf but decided to call it a day as I needed to visit the bathroom.

North Side Approach to Hammersmith Bridge by Kite, on Flickr

I followed the main Putney High Street, crossing over Putney Bridge to reach Putney station, where I had timed it just right to board winner 701023 on a Windsor bound service which I took to Staines. I switched platforms fast to board 458408 & 458413 from Reading which due to late running was running nonstop to London from Feltham, although it wasn't that fast as it caught up with a stopper in the Wandsworth Town area. At Waterloo I headed towards 159012 on the next service bound for Salisbury to take it to Andover where I met up with mum as we had some food from the local Spoons before visiting Tesco for some shopping for the week ahead before driving home. Once home I got myself ready for work, which involved being in bed by 7pm for a 3am alarm for the Tuesday (and this is the time of year where those early starts are bit more painful due to trying to sleep when it's still light outside).

Anyhow thanks for reading, a lot more photos can be found on my Flickr here. Keep safe

 

[Rover]

A very enjoyable read.

 

[Kite159]

A very enjoyable read.

Ta

 

[Kite159]

Trips 25th April – 27th April

25th April – A visit to the Amman Valley

The day began with the 05:59 service from Grateley to take me direct to Reading (as there was engineering works between Basingstoke & Woking) with a quiet 158890 & 159004. At Reading I popped out of the station to visit the little Sainsburys Local for some breakfast items before taking a seat in the front coach of 800031 on a GWR service towards Carmarthen, taking the unit as far as Swansea where thankfully it arrived near enough on time, giving me around 10 minutes to dash to the little Tesco Express outside the station for lunch items and to make my way to the bus stop for the First run X6 service bound for the town of Ystradgynlais.

This bus route got quite busy at times as it headed away from Swansea via Landore & Morriston, before going via Clydach & Pontardawe, featuring some steep hills and corners before I alighted from the bus an hour later in Ystalyfera. Where my walk began, the first section was along the route of the long-closed Swansea canal on cycle route 43, featuring an old aqueduct over the Afon Twrch. Once I returned to the roads, I followed the road towards Cwmtwrch (giving some nice views of the river), as I wanted to research a path which was shown on Open Street Maps along the route of the former Swansea Vale Railway. As expected, there was no evidence of the path at the southern end near a river crossing, so I carried on towards Ystradowen, featuring a steep hill. I left the road and followed a footpath leading to the start of the Amman Valley Cycleway in Cwmllynfell (and there was no evidence of that phantom path at the northern end).

Twrch Aqueduct on the former Swansea Canal in Ystalyfera (3) by Kite, on Flickr

The first section of the Amman Valley path follows the route of the Swansea Vale Railway (if my research of old maps is correct), skirting round the edge of Cwmllynfell, crossing over the road before heading into the wilderness near Rhosamman with some beautiful views of the hills on my right hand side (as I was close to the edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park). The path detours away from the old railway route near Brynamman with a steep & twisty path towards the road for a short section before the off-road cycle route (437) resumed heading towards the river Amman and following the river towards Station Road in Brynamman.

After I crossed the road, and passed a rugby ground I was onto the former GWR Garnant Branch, heading away from Brynamman on a nice tarmac path heading towards Garnant with some lovely woodland. In Garnant the old railway line path ceases to exist (as the railway line is still in place with the freight branch to Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, although I suspect these days effectively disused). After a photo of the freight line at a level crossing I headed back towards the cycle route, as it followed the River Amman going via the Parc Golwg Yr Aman.

Amman Valley Cycleway between Cwmllynfell & Brynamman (Former Swansea Vale Railway) (4) by Kite, on Flickr

I continued the walk in the park, following the path as it headed towards Glanaman, switching sides near a football ground, as the urban area turned countryside once more with some nice views of both the river & the scenery. I had a little detour via a suspension bridge (and foot crossing of the freight line) before carrying on towards Ammanford on a very pretty section with woodland. The cycle route ends on the High Street (although I'm sure the cycle path which heads towards Pantyffynnon is also part of the path, something I walked many years ago when doing the stations on the Heart of Wales.

The last mile (or so) was via the roads as I picked up a bit of speed as I had fallen a little bit behind my target (due to stopping for photographs), thankfully getting to the station at Ammanford in time for the 15:02-odd train for Swansea. 150208 took me towards Swansea, getting delayed in the Llaneli area due to a delayed train towards Carmarthen and losing more time outside Swansea due to a fallen branch. At Swansea I had the option to take the next GWR service towards Reading but my eye caught a 2 coach 197 waiting for a 3-coach unit to attach for the next Manchester service, as it was winner 197032. Considering the large area the TfW 197s cover I decided it was worth the extra hour as I relaxed for 197105 to arrive and couple up (seemingly the practise of the trains stopping half-way down the platform to attach has ceased considering the 2-coach unit was at the buffers).

Gwaun-cae-Gurwen Branch Line from Ystrad Amman Foot Crossing (2) by Kite, on Flickr

I decided to leave the 197s at Port Talbot with the idea to head into the town centre to visit Tesco, but as the 197s were around 10 minutes late (caught behind the 150 on a stopping service which itself was delayed by the previous GWR being caught up with the branch), I didn’t go that far. Back at the station I boarded 800012 & 800024 on the next London bound service, making myself comfortable for the journey to Reading, arriving near enough on time. After popping out of the station to visit Wendys (for the first time for what felt like ages) for dinner, I boarded 159007 on a Salisbury service to take me back to Grateley and to walk home. A very enjoyable walk in the Welsh countryside. I know I could have skipped on some of the road walking at the start with an Adventure run bus to Cwmllynfell, but knowing Wales, that would have probably been £5+ (whereas the First bus was £3.10 which isn’t that bad in my eyes).

26th April – Ashby Canal & Camp Hill

This was a bit of a short notice overnight trip to the West Midlands after picking up a cheap hotel room in the city centre with the idea to visit the recently opened stations in the West Midlands (and the extension on the trams). When the day began, I was going to walk the Kenilworth Greenway path (even with its current diversion with HS2 construction) but as always, I had a late notice change of plan. Anyhow the trip began with 159106 & 159010 for the short trip to Andover where it was onto a rail replacement coach, the first coach which soaked up most of the passengers was the stopping service with the fast arriving afterwards. It was a coach from the operator called “Trafalgar” (BF24 AHV) which followed the A303 towards the outskirts of Basingstoke before randomly following the A30 via the suburbs to reach Basingstoke station where the coach got caught up in a bit of a farce.

The area outside Basingstoke station isn’t designed for rail replacement buses for multiple locations, and hence that coach departed Basingstoke around 10 minutes late as it was behind another coach (either Andover or Winchester). For me I was sitting outside in the sunshine waiting for the next bus for Reading with a large crowd building, to the point where the 09:15 service had 2 buses running. I boarded a red coach of an unknown operator (BN17 JAU) with a blue Aldermaston Coach Hire double decker behind for the run towards Reading (a route I’m pretty sure I’ve only ever done in darkness). At Reading the coach arrived with plenty of time to allow me to visit Sainsburys Local for some supplies before boarding a busy 221110 on a Manchester service (which had been diverted via Guildford).

I took this voyager as far as Leamington Spa, switching over to platform 4 and onto 196004 on the Nuneaton service, which is when I had the crazy idea to ditch Kenilworth and instead make a start with the Ashby-de-la-Zouch Canal (which for ease of writing I will call it the Ashby Canal). This is a canal linking Bedworth with Hinckley, Market Bosworth, Snarestone & Moira, although most of the section north of Snarestone is closed. The canal runs close with the heritage Battlefield Line Railway between Shenton & Shackerstone. So, with the idea to walk in the sunshine from Bedworth towards Hinckley I took the 196 to Bedworth where the walk began.

196004 at Bedworth Station by Kite, on Flickr

The first section was via the Bedworth suburbs to reach Marston Lane where I crossed over the Coventry Canal, joining this canal for a short section to reach Marston Junction where the Ashby canal begins. I followed the rural towpath (certainly not one to walk during winter!) heading in a generally north east direction, going underneath the WCML (getting lucky with a photograph of a Pendo crossing over the canal with a narrowboat going underneath). The canal passed close to Whitestone before returning to countryside, passing close to Bramcote & Burton Hastings.

The towpath condition was quite changeable; some areas were a bit tough with dried mud creating bumpy ground with the odd section where the towpath had been eroded. For a dead-end canal it was reasonably busy with boats with the towpath being popular with dog walkers & others enjoying the sunshine on this canal which was a bit curvy. The countryside came to an end as the canal headed underneath the A5 on Watling Street and into the large town of Hinckley. After passing a couple of wharfs I ended my walk on the B4666 near Whitworth Avenue where there was a handy bus stop.

A Pendo crossing a narrowboat on the Ashby Canal between Bedworth & Whitestone by Kite, on Flickr

I didn’t have long to wait before the Stagecoach run 148 service rolled in from Leicester on a Coventry service with one of the modern electric single decker buses. It headed towards Nuneaton before going towards Coventry, although in hindsight I ought to have jumped off at Nuneaton considering the bus got caught up in some very heavy traffic heading towards Coventry due to the football finishing in the stadium. The bus finishes near the large Sainsburys near the Pool Meadows bus station. I was considering a little walk around the War Memorial park close to Coventry station, but with the bus running late, I had one eye on the clock so that idea was parked for another day and I boarded 807009 from the railway station to take me to Birmingham New Street giving me around 25 minutes to kill before the next Kings Norton service. I rushed to the station to avoid a 4-coach voyager on the following Manchester service.

After a little walk to Tesco before it closed up for the day (getting a couple of reduced to clear goodies) it was onto 196108 on the Kings Norton shuttle (which is hourly on Sundays). Departure was late for some unknown reason, as I took this service to Pineapple Road, crossing over to the opposite platform to take the same unit to Moseley Village, hanging back on the same platform for a photo of a 56 passing on a BLS tour (making a lovely noise in the tunnel). For suburban Birmingham this was quite a nice station to hang around for 20-odd minutes, even had squirrels making an appearance.

56103 passing Moseley Village Station (on a BLS Charter) by Kite, on Flickr

Anyhow 196108 returned from Birmingham to take me one stop to Kings Heath, where if I had more time, I would have explored Highbury Park, but it was a short wait for that 196 to return from Kings Norton to take me back to Birmingham New Street. As a time-wasting move, I jumped onto a late running 730017 & 730040 to take me to Kings Norton, returning to Birmingham on 730037 & 730015 before taking 390008 to Wolverhampton. I had another short time-wasting walk around Wolverhampton station (making use of the re-opened subway giving easy access to the Premier Inn) before jumping onto winner 197038 to take me back to Birmingham New Street.

Once back in Birmingham city centre, I had a short walk to the Travelodge on Newhall Street, getting checked in getting a room on the 3rd floor, and relaxing for the rest of the evening. An enjoyable day, with an unexpected walk on the rural Ashby canal, ticking off the stations on Camp Hill plus getting a 197.

27th April – A Visit to Stourport on Severn & Darlaston

The day began checking out of the Travelodge and making my way to New Street station via a couple of shops, the first train for me today was the 08:26 Shrewsbury service with 196113 to take me to Willenhall. I had a little stroll in the area, passing the old station sign before taking 196107 to Darlaston station. Unlike Willenhall which is very close to the town centre, Darlaston station is a good mile out of the town centre, the large car park featuring 10 vehicles parked up. One of those stations where if the emergency walkway at the southern end of the Wolverhampton bound platform was opened up, would be more sense for anybody wanting to head into the town centre (rather than having a dog-leg via the car park to reach the roads).

Anyhow after getting various looks from the 2-security staff on duty, I boarded 196114 to take me to Wolverhampton, where I made a tight connection onto a busy 350403 on a service from Liverpool which ended up running late due to signalling issues around Dudley Port. With the weather being beautiful I decided to change my mind from visiting the tram stops & Edgbaston Reservoir to head into the Worcestershire countryside. I made my way across to Moor Street, getting treated to the sound of a 68 idling away before I boarded 172345 & 172217 on a Worcester bound service to take me to Hartlebury station where my main walk began.

Platforms at Darlaston Station from Kendricks Road Bridge by Kite, on Flickr

The first section of this walk was along the road, going underneath the A449 before joining it at the northern edge of Hartlebury, heading towards the former railway bridge which used to carry the branch line to Stourport on Severn, now called the Leapgate Old Railway Line path. This part from the A449 doesn't show on Google Maps, but unlike the path on Saturday it does exist. After climbing to the old track-bed, it was a walk into the countryside with some nice woodland and views, the surface being changeable from dirt to tarmac as a cycle path joined up near Charlton Lane. This old railway line path took me towards the town of Stourport on Severn, crossing over the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal before turning into a road, the rest of the old railway being lost under modern developments.
I followed the roads in Stourport, heading towards the bridge over the River Severn, grabbing a couple of photographs of the river before heading towards the various canal basins. After a little explore of the various basins I picked up the main towpath of the canal and followed the canal as it snaked around Stourport, going underneath the old railway viaduct. The towpath quality was quite good as this part forms part of a cycle route (this was one of those walks I was hoping to have done during the winter months).

River Severn in Stourport-on-Severn by Kite, on Flickr

Leaving Stourport behind, I headed back into countryside, heading towards Kidderminster & going underneath the Severn Valley Railway viaduct, with countryside replaced with the urban area of Kidderminster. My walk ended near the Premier Inn close to the bus station (lots of Diamond buses), and I put on a bit of speed to head towards the station to board 172219 & 172334 which was starting at Kidderminster so ran nonstop to Stourbridge & all stops to Birmingham Snow Hill.

I headed across to Birmingham New Street, getting lucky with a decent seat in coach B of 221111 on a Bournemouth bound service, which did its usual emptying out at Coventry. An uneventful trip to Basingstoke, the only time it lost time was outside Basingstoke station itself. A 25-minute fester at Basingstoke (featuring a 68 passing light engine) before I boarded 159009 & 159006 to take me to Grateley to end my little long weekend adventures. A very enjoyable walk in Worcestershire, one more step closer to finishing the Staffordshire & Worcestershire canal, plus some more stations in my book.

Anyhow as always, thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr here, what will May bring I wonder.