21st – 23rd March – Trip to the North West
This idea came about when an idea popped into my head the previous Monday when walking along the canal in Wigan to randomly search to see if my usual place in Crewe was available for a long weekend, although little did, I know it would be my last time (as since my stay I’ve received a message saying they are selling the house due to rising costs & issues with cleaners, so no more biscuits).
21st March – A Canal Sandwiched between Two Railways
The day started with the 05:20 service from Grateley with 159104 & 159105 taking me to Waterloo, where I had my usual stroll towards Euston arriving with time to spare before taking 390117 on the 07:30 service for Glasgow, losing time on the outskirts of Euston due to signalling issues. I took this Pendo to Preston where I had a bit of a fast walk to the bus station to catch the Blackburn Bus Company’s Route 152 service. Branded as “Hotline” with bus 512 (Enviro 200). This bus took me away from Preston going via Higher Walton, Hoghton towards Blackburn. After a driver change in Blackburn it was towards Rishton, Clayton-Le-Moors & Altham to where I alighted on the outskirts of Padiham near the Shuttleworth Mead Business Park where my walk began.
I picked up the start of the Padiham Greenway, a mixed used path making use of the route of the former Great Harwood Loop, passing by the business park heading towards the town centre where I hit an issue as the viaduct over the river Calder was closed (and from the looks of it, had been closed for a while). With another footbridge closed over the river at the Memorial Park I had to do a large detour towards the town centre (although making the most of it by going via Tesco for lunch). After getting across the river I headed back towards the route of the greenway, walking to the opposite end of the viaduct before heading towards the path away from Padiham towards Rose Grove, climbing up a steady gradient.
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Padiham Greenway in the Padiham Memorial Park |
The path came to an end near the M65 so I switched to the Leeds & Liverpool Canal to walk a short section I had walked earlier in the month towards Hapton, this time staying on the canal as it made it's curving way across the countryside with some lovely views but it did feel a bit exposed. The towpath quality was quite variable along this section, changing from tarmac to grass, to dried mud & loose stones. The sound of traffic from the M65 was never too far away as I passed the remains of Clough Bank farm (good time to pause for lunch) and soon the wilderness gave way to urban of Clayton-Le-Moors,
The canal headed south, underneath the motorway into another area of countryside before reaching Church and the halfway marker, this is when I decided to end the canal path, heading via the roads towards the Hyndburn Greenway path which passed close to the station before running alongside the railway towards Accrington Station. After a detour via the large Tesco I continued along this path as it picked up the route of the former East Lancashire Railway route towards Bury. One of those paths I randomly discovered when looking at the maps.
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Half-Way Marker on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal in Church |
Once it was outside the built-up area, this path was beautiful with woodland. Although walking up the Baxenden Bank wasn't the best idea as it was quite steep in places (especially in areas where bridges had been removed at road crossings). The path came to an end with the remains of Baxenden Station and a narrow path taking me towards the A680 road where I had three options of either a bus towards Accrington, a bus towards Rochdale or a bus to Manchester. I went for the Blackburn Bus Company run X41 "Red Express" with bus 1869 (a Wright Eclipse).
A busy bus as it headed towards Haslingden & Ramsbottom before picking up the M66 for a short distance before being forced to detour due to the motorway being closed, heading via Whitefield. This bus terminated at the Shudehill Interchange, one of those routes I would love to do one of the afternoon peak services which goes nonstop to Ramsbottom via the motorway, although the fast Burnley bus goes the same way (WitchWay).
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Hyndburn Greenway (Former East Lancashire Railway) |
I had a gentle stroll from the bus station towards Piccadilly station, jumping on 390119 to take me towards Crewe, where I noticed I had misplaced my phone charging cable (I suspect I pulled it out of my bag without noticing when getting something else out) which was a bit annoying as this time of night options were quite limited. I was toying with doing the Avanti service to Wrexham but that was cancelled beyond Crewe so that gets ditched (again!) and I headed to the shared house going via the big Tesco in Crewe to buy a new cable which didn’t cost the earth.
Once at the accommodation, I sorted my rucksack out and relaxed for the evening. A nice enjoyable stroll in East Lancashire, another section of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal done as well as two short old railway line path. The weather forecast for the Saturday wasn’t looking promising for a hopeful walk in the Peak District so I came up with an alternative idea.
22nd March – Trip to North Wales
The day began with 805008 on the first train to Holyhead from Crewe, grabbing a seat in the driving coach for the benefit of not having an engine underneath (makes for a quieter ride) as I headed into North Wales for the first time in a while (at least in daylight), looking out of the window on the speedy run. A quick turnaround at Holyhead and I was heading to Llandudno Junction on the same train for a short wait before 197049 rolled in from the Conwy valley line which I took to Deganwy for a random revisit (such a lovely station for views), stepping back onto 197124 from Manchester to take me to Llandudno itself.
I swapped over to 197049 once more (with the guard checking tickets before boarding, mainly to get any request stops onto his list), grabbing a decent seat before the masses boarded at Llandudno Junction as I headed towards Blaenau Ffestiniog for the first time since 2021, and such a beautiful line, full of changing scenery from the river, to the trees & after the tunnel into the slate wilderness of Blaenau Ffestiniog itself. As the train arrived a few minutes early, I decided to dash to the nearby Co-Op for some supplies.
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197049 at Blaenau Ffestiniog Station |
Returning to 197049 sitting on the opposite side I had another enjoyable looking out of the window trip towards Llandudno Junction where I decided to change my plans as the forecast heavy rain seemed to had changed, so jumped onto 197115 for the run to Abergele & Pensarn to begin a little stroll. Back in 2022 (time flies!) I walked the coastal path from Abergele & Pensarn towards Prestatyn. This time I headed west, along the coastal path, the sound of traffic from the North Wales Expressway never too far away, heading towards Llanddulas, then towards Old Colwyn and finally Colwyn Bay. A couple steep climbs along the way due to the layout of the land but some beautiful coastal views on a sunny day. The section from Colwyn Bay towards Llandudno will need to be done on another day. I headed towards the station, jumping onto 197121 working the next service to Holyhead, grabbing a seat in the standard premium area of the train (for that bit of extra comfort), taking the 197 all the way to Holyhead and remaining on the same unit back to Chester. I was toying with taking it towards Shrewsbury but decided against it owing to the time of day and that it would likely be dark by the time the train departed Wrexham.
I did have a look at a couple of 777s on Liverpool services on the off-chance a required unit was out, before making my way across to platform 1 to board a busy 197001 & 197011 on the Crewe shuttle, to take me to Crewe where the rain had begun. I headed to my accommodation via a pizza takeaway, spending the time listening to the rain and relaxing. An enjoyable day looking out of the window in North Wales, along with a lovely coastal walk.
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Seafront in Old Colwyn |
23rd March – Return of the Coventry Canal
To be honest I had several ideas of walks I could have done today, ranging from old railways in Patricroft to canals. In the end, keeping one eye on not wanting a late finish and the replacement buses, I decided to head towards Staffordshire to make a return to the Coventry Canal. A later than usual start for me on the Sunday as I departed the shared house (for what turned out to be the final time) making my way to the station via Tesco Express for some breakfast.
The first southbound LNR service was a 12-coach service with 350238 leading 350241 & 350250 for this triple 350/2 goodness, although not like I had much choice where to sit as I needed to be in the front unit for the short platform, but I was in the former 1st class area for that bit of extra comfort compared to the 3+2 seating. Soon I was at Atherstone to begin my latest section of the Coventry canal, quite easy to get to the canal as it runs very close to the station at this point.
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350250 departing Atherstone Station |
Once on the canal I headed underneath the A5 & the railway, into the countryside. Dropping down a flight of locks towards the Bradley Green area, the railway never being too far away at this point with the towpath being reasonable, a bit wet in places but nothing major (although not one I would want to do during the winter months). I headed underneath the WCML once more, entering the large village of Polesworth, famously the station being served by 1 train a day due to the WCML upgrade work removed the footbridge. One of those stations which I reckon if it was served hourly would generate extra custom as the village is quite large and close to the station (not like one of those stations situated half a mile away down narrow country lanes).
Anyhow the canal skirted round the edge of the village and towards the scenic Pooley Country Park, going underneath the M42 heading towards Alvecote with the sound of steam trains (which I presume weas coming from the direction of the railway at Statfold Country Park). Countryside gave way to the Tamworth urban area (Amington & finally Glascote) where I met up with the point I joined the canal last August, near a branch of the "Tamworth Co-Op" which I grabbed some late lunch from. My original idea for this walk was to include some of the paths in Tamworth but with one eye on the time I headed direct to the station & the bleak southbound platform.
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A 390 crossing the Coventry Canal near Polesworth |
I positioned myself nearer the northern end of the platform, away from the masses at the southern end as 350266 rolled in with 350259 in the middle and 350242 on the rear. I got lucky with getting a seat in the former first-class area of the middle unit of another triple 350/2. Anyhow these triple set took me towards Euston where I headed to the underground (due to it being quite wet) with 51600 & 51601 to Waterloo where I headed towards a busy 444030 on a Poole train to take me to Basingstoke. This turned out to be a very wise decision as the replacement buses for Salisbury were very oversubscribed to such a degree the 17:15 replacement coach departed 10 minutes early due to being full, and that was before the official connection train arrived from London. The coach was from Barnes (of Swindon), BU18 YMH and was reasonable. A fast run along the M3/A303 to Andover where I got met by mum as we headed to a local fish & chip shop for some dinner before heading home.
An enjoyable weekend away in Crewe, some nice walking in the sunshine as I got myself ready for a week of late shifts. As ever thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr.