March Trips - 23rd – 30th March

 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)

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.



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

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

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

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

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

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.



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

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").



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

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

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

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

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*. 

March Trips, 19th - 22th March

 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)

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

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

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)

 

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

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 in Swindon (Staffs)

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.


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

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

Railway Bridge over the Duke's Cut Canal (North of Oxford)

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.

10th & 11th March Trips

 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

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)

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

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

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

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

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

 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

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

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 

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

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

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 

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

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!