11 – 16th August Trips (North East, Staffordshire, Kenilworth)

 11 – 16th August Trips (North East, Staffordshire, Kenilworth)

I booked a guest house in Whitley Bay for 3 nights with multiple ideas for walks, some of those ideas got put back on ice due to the hot weather forecasted, but like always with my North East trips I changed my mind more times than a weather vane in stormy weather.

11th August – Onwards to Newcastle & Newburn Riverside

With my rucksack packed, I left the house to walk to the station for the 06:57 service to Waterloo with 158883 & 159009 on this busy short formed (5 coaches instead of 8) service.  At Waterloo I had my usual stroll across the city to Kings Cross arriving with time to spare before boarding 801225 (the one with Eleanor Rigby vinyl) working the 09:30 Edinburgh fast service.  As usual I had reserved a seat in coach G which wasn’t that busy (private table to York where I was meant to be joined with 3 others who didn’t show up).  A speedy run to Newcastle where my walk began.

I had decided it would be a good day to walk the cycle path alongside the north bank of the Tyne which turns into an old railway line path (the original route of the Tyne Valle line which used Scotswood Railway bridge).  Exiting the station at Newcastle I made my way down the steep hill towards the Tyne and cycle route 72 joining the path near the Metro bridge.  I paused near the railway bridge for a photograph of an Azuma crossing the river before continuing along the busy path (it was a sunny day and it was lunchtime).  This side gave some nice views of the Dunston Staiths before the cycle path moved away from the river front in the Benwell area of the city.

A LNER Azuma crossing the King Edward VII Bridge in Newcastle

The next section was a path alongside Scotswood Road before picking up the former railway route, heading further inland with some woodland before dropping back down towards the road (and also the Tyne).  I headed underneath the A1, reaching the Newburn Riverside Park, a path which follows the river round a bend with office & industrial buildings on the right-hand side.  The riverside path ended in an industrial estate area, which I followed a short cut to join the route of another old railway line heading towards Lemington, passing the point I joined this route earlier in the year where I randomly decided to walk to Prudhoe in the drizzle.

This old railway line path ended near the A1 (where I believe the railway used to go into a tunnel which has since been sealed up), and I followed another path to cross over the A1 into Denton Burn Dene Park (and the football ground of Newcastle Blue Star FC) before heading north via a very nice woodland area (a bit hilly but beautiful woodland).  After leaving the woodland I followed the path via Denton to reach Stamfordham Road, near the Stagecoach depot at Slatyford.  I jumped onto a stagecoach run route 62 service towards the city centre (would continue towards Killingworth, part of me was tempted to stay on to Four Lane Ends but I bailed near Monument.

Denton Dene, Scotswood, Newcastle

 

I headed towards the metro station and onto 555003 to take me towards Whitley Bay (via South Gosforth) to get myself checked into the guest house, going via Iceland to pick up some supplies of bottles for the following days.  After getting checked in, emptying out my rucksack (and relaxing for 10 minutes) I headed back out, going via Morrisons for some bottles of flavoured water and back to Whitley Bay, annoyingly just missing a winner 555 heading to South Shields (if I had gone towards Monkseaton Metro I might have caught it).  I jumped onto 555019 on a St James service to take me towards Monument (via North Shields) where I spent the next hour (or so) with my little red pen, finishing the day with 555033 back to Whitley Bay.  After visiting the local Spoons for dinner (I was going to have a burger as it was Tuesday Burger Club night, but they had fish & chips on a special offer).  After dinner I headed towards the waterfront for some photos when it was quieter (I dread to think how busy the beach would have been during the day).  When I got back to the guest house, I relaxed thinking about options for the following day making a decision to reverse the direction of a planned walk.

12th August – Hart to Haswell & Bedlington

I had decided to walk the Hart to Haswell Walkway path which roughly follows the route of the “Hartlepool Dock and Railway” route from Hart (north Hartlepool) towards Wingate, Shotton Colliery & South Hetton, where it would meet up with a walk I did earlier in the year from Seaham towards Ryhope.  My original idea for this walk was to catch a bus to South Hetton (3 buses an hour from Newcastle) to walk south & east towards Hartlepool, but I decided to swap the direction so the sun would be behind me.

The day began leaving the comfy bed in the guest house to Whitley Bay Metro to catch 555031 to Central Station, where after grabbing some breakfast items I jumped onto 802218 working the first available service towards Durham, before making my way to the bus station for an Arriva run route 24 service bound for Hartlepool for an enjoyable trip across the county.  This bus ran via Sherburn, Haswell, Shotton Colliery towards Peterlee, then towards Hartlepool via Horden & Crimdon.  I left the bus in the area known as Hart Station (named after the former Hart railway station where the disused railway path connected with the Durham Coast line.  A walk via a housing estate led me towards the railway path.

Hart to Haswell Walkway (Cycle Route 14) at Hart Station (Hartlepool) (From footbridge over railway)

The first section ran alongside the existing railway before the railway branched northwards towards Crimdon and I carried on towards a very pretty wooded nature reserve area.  The sound of traffic soon disappearing as I entered countryside, the path was decent all be a bit narrow in places.  I reached Hesleden close to a land regeneration site before returning to countryside & Castle Eden.  After going underneath the busy sounding A19 the path turned direction towards Wingate where it joined up with the Castle Eden Walkway old railway line path from the Stockton direction.

I was now following cycle route 1 as well as route 14, skirting round the edge of Wingate before having to detour to cross over the A181 ro
ad (which wasn't the nicest of road crossings).  After re-joining the route of the old railway I continued towards Shotton Colliery with a planned detour to a nearby Co-Op was foiled by a locked gate near a footbridge over a cutting.  I continued along the busy path (other walkers, joggers & cyclists, thankfully not many idiotic dog walkers as it was far too hot to take dogs out).

Junction between the Hart to Haswell Walkway (Cycle Route 14) & the Castle Eden Walkway (Cycle Route 1) in Wingate

Near Haswell the route of the original Hartlepool Dock and Railway carried straight on, with the cycle path following a NER built chord towards the Durham and Sunderland Railway route to Seaham Harbour.  This took me towards South Hetton where the walk came to an end near the former South Hetton Colliery.  I was lucky and didn't have long to wait for the next Go North East operated X1 service to Peterlee which headed to the town centre bus station via Easington.  I headed towards a nearby Asda for a late lunch as well as getting something cold to drink.  Returning to the bus station gave me multiple options, either a fast service (X10) towards Newcastle via Heworth or a fast service (X6) to Sunderland.  As it was a X10 up first (from Middlesborough) with a double decker complete with comfortable table seats (even if it was a bit warm upstairs).   This bus route took me away from Peterlee and on the A19 dual carriageway, detouring via Dalton Park Shopping Centre before resuming the fast run along the A19 towards Boldon & the A184 towards Heworth & Gateshead where I decided to bail, an enjoyable limited stop fast run (and who doesn't enjoy travelling on a double decker on a dual carriageway!)

I jumped on 555017 to take me to Gateshead Stadium to enjoy the fresh-ish air and broke out my little deckchair before winner 555020 rolled in to take me to Central Station, where I came up with an idea as I wasn’t getting into the groove of Metro hunting, taking 555013 to Haymarket where I transferred to the bus station and onto an Arriva run X21 bound for Newbiggin.  Earlier in the year I had some unfinished business around Bedlington Station.  This warm double decker took me towards Bedlington itself via the Regent Centre & Hartford Bridge.  Plessey Woods Country Park & Northumberlandia (Lady of the North) have gone onto my list to further investigations.  Anyhow my walk began as I headed towards Netherton Lane and onto a footpath heading towards the A1086 & towards Millfield, one of those mysterious paths which looks interesting on the map.  After detouring via a housing estate, I picked up a cycle path which ran alongside the River Blyth (which is still beautiful).  This took me towards the site of the former Bedlington Ironworks before I followed the north bank of the river underneath the railway viaduct and onto cycle route 1 on a path alongside the railway towards Bedlington station itself.

A Northern 156 crossing the Bedlington Viaduct

It wasn’t a long wait for 156483 to return from Ashington to take me towards Newcastle station (in hindsight I should have bailed at Northumberland Park) and onto 555013 to Whitley Bay, where sadly the cloud cover had arrived blocking out sight of the eclipse (although it did get dark during the main event).  Afterwards I went via Spoons (for lack of a better idea for dinner) and relaxed in the guest house, complete with a cool shower to wash away the sweat.  Once more I was thinking about options for the following day as I was toying with doing the long bus route to Berwick (the X18) but didn’t fancy being on a double decker on a potentially warm day.  Some buses are better than others when it comes to windows, but I decided that the X18 could wait for a cooler day.

13th August – Stockton & Darlington plus Auckland Way

The day began slightly earlier than on the Wednesday, with 555035 to Monument via North Shields (as I had just missed a train via South Gosforth), followed with 555020 to Central Station (one of those moments where it would have been quicker to walk).  After grabbing breakfast, I boarded 802205 on the 08:03 TPE service to Manchester Piccadilly to take me to Darlington to tick off the recently opened platform 5 on a new up loop to save trains heading towards York from having to cross over the down fast line into the old station building.  After a little explore at the new buildings, it was onto 156451 from bay platform 6 to take me to Dinsdale where the first of today’s walks began.

I followed the roads in Middleton St George (where Dinsdale station is located) towards the roundabout with the A67 (similar walk I did back in 2018 when I walked to the since mothballed Tees-Side Airport Station).  This time I turned left and onto a cycle path which ran along the route of the original Stockton & Darlington Railway.  It was already getting a bit on the warm side as I followed the path towards the site of the former Fighting Cocks station (couldn't get any photographs due to workmen being in the way), and once underneath the A67 the path headed into woodland before crossing the A66 on a modern bridge with the railway path ending near an industrial estate.  The route of the railway since being built over by Tornado Way with a walking route alongside the main road separated by hedges.

802205 departs Darlington Station

This path was followed until I reached the Red Hall residential area of Darlington, cutting via the housing estates to reach a path alongside the River Skerne, which I followed towards the Rockwell Nature Reserve (very pretty).  After the nature reserve, I headed underneath the ECML and followed the river towards the world-famous Skerne Bridge finishing the walk at North Road station (detouring via Morrisons for some supplies considering as I had the time).  This station was quite busy for the Saltburn bound service (everybody going to the beach?) as I waited for 156448 to roll in to take me to Bishop Auckland where the second of today's walks would begin.

Leaving the station at Bishop Auckland, I headed via the Asda to reach the cemetery, before following a path across the river Gaunless and onto a woodland path leading towards Auckland Park where the Auckland Way railway path began.  This is a path along the route of the closed Byers Green Branch of the Clarence Railway, once away from Auckland Park the path headed into the countryside with a bit of woodland, giving the occasional glimpse of a beautiful scenic view (for this part of the country is beautiful)

156484 at North Road Station

This path doesn't really go close to any settlements, passing the site of the Byers Green station (complete with old platform) before turning east (joining up with the route of the main Clarence Railway).  I felt the sun more on this section as it was to my right rather than behind me, as this section was more open countryside.  I soon reached the town of Spennymoor, with a little detour via the Asda for a cold drink (I partially like the Dom Simon branded Lemon & Raspberry Juice Drink, and not because it's blue), before heading to a bus stop on Cheapside.  It seemed the Newcastle bound bus was a no-show as the first bus was an Arriva run route 6 with a warm service towards Durham bus station, where I decided to sample the fast X20 Go North-East route towards Sunderland via the A690 road, detouring to serve Carrville, Houghton-Le-Spring & the south western suburbs of Sunderland).

The bus took me to the Park Lane Interchange, where I had a gentle stroll to Sunderland railway station for some fresh air, in my mind Sunderland needs a lot more signage on the platform to tell passengers which end of the long platforms trains actually stop.  I took 555018 to Pelaw where I decided to have another short walk, as on a previous trip to Newcastle I had spotted a walk near Pelaw station along what seems to be an old railway, signposted as the Angel Cycleway for a short walk towards High Heworth where I was toying with catching a bus but decided to walk towards Heworth station instead where I spent the next couple of hours having a little Metro hunt, although the only score being 555039.  I ended up with 555041 to Whitley Bay via North Shields, where after dinner I headed to the waterfront for a last night at Whitley Bay photograph on the sands.

Down on the Beach at Whitley Bay

I returned to the guest house to get myself sorted ready to check out in the morning, returning the mobile house to the rucksack and deciding on an idea for the Friday.  An enjoyable (if a bit warm!) day with varied scenery.

14th August – Visiting Newbiggin by the Sea

For my last day (boo) in the North East, I was originally thinking to head towards Sunderland to walk the old railway line path near University towards Ryhope via Silksworth to position myself for the mid-day Grand Central service however as usual I changed my mind.  So, after checking out of the guest house, I made my way to the bus stop on Park Avenue (outside the little Sainsburys Local which sadly doesn’t open until 8am) onto the Arriva run route 57 service to Ashington, with a double decker (the allocations for this bus route seem to be quite varied).

This bus took me away from Whitley Bay via Monkseaton and Earsdon towards Seaton Delaval & Cramlington.  After a detour via a hospital site, the bus continued towards Bedlington & Ashington where my walk began as I made my way to the nearby Asda for some breakfast & to make use of the toilets.  Afterwards I followed the pavement alongside the A197 at the northern edge of the town, running parallel with the existing freight line towards Lynemouth with a couple of foot crossings (giving access to the Queen Elizabeth Country Park).

Freight Railway Tracks in Ashington (near the Queen Elizabeth Country Park)

The pavement turned into a separate path away from the road going via some woodland before crossing the A189 alongside a roundabout before the old railway line path towards Newbiggin started.  A reasonable quality surface path with some rural views as it headed towards the seaside.  Once I reached Newbiggin, I followed the road towards Church Point where I joined the path alongside the Promenade for an enjoyable stroll by the waterfront.  After the Promenade I followed the Coastal Path route towards the Sandy Bay Holiday Park, detouring via the holiday park due to coastal erosion making the coastal path unsafe.  This took me towards the Wansbeck Estuary and another path alongside the river Wansbeck, underneath the A189 with the long-distance England Coastal path heading south towards Cambois and I continued along a curvy hilly path towards the Wansbeck Riverside Country Park where the path quality did increase.

I headed underneath the railway viaduct, even pausing at a reasonable location for a photo of a passing 158, only for the sun to decide to pop out from behind the clouds making the photograph not the greatest.  Anyhow I continued along the riverside path, quite busy with other path users, finishing near a car park and I made my way up a steep hill towards the roads of Ashington and via the suburbs to reach the station, arriving at the same time as 158816, which was lucky as the following service had been cancelled.  This 158 (which got busy along the way) took me to Newcastle where I had time to visit Sainsburys for lunch before boarding 801219 on a fast London service, even getting lucky to get a seat at a table which was reserved from Edinburgh to London but had nobody sitting there.

Beach at Newbiggin by the Sea

An uneventful trip towards London, where I felt the temperature rising the further south to the point that Kings Cross was quite toasty, certainly not the day to walk 2 miles to Waterloo nor get cooked on the underground, so I headed to St Pancras for 700022 to Blackfriars for the shorter walk to Waterloo.  After going via Iceland for something cold to drink I boarded a roasting hot 159007 & 159013 which was so hot it was limited speed due to the driver needing the window open to get air in the cab, to the point where I needed to leave at a busy & chaotic Basingstoke as it was running nonstop to Salisbury due to being around 30 minutes late.  Sometime later 159022 & 159015 arrived on another service, still quite hot but not as hot as the last pair, these took me to Grateley to end my North Eastern adventures.  Farewell Whitley Bay, for I will be back next month.

15th August - Churnet Valley Line

I was considering heading towards Cricklade today to finish the Thames Path, but I decided after a busy week to have a shorter walk.  After looking at various options I decided on a visit to Staffordshire to walk the path along the route of the Churnet Valley Line between Leek & Rushton Spencer via Rudyard Lake.  The day began with the 05:27 service from Grateley to Waterloo with 159016, as I made my way to the Northern line with 51613/51612 taking me to Euston where it was a fast walk to make a connection onto the 07:13 Manchester service with a lightly loaded 390155 to take me to Stoke on Trent (just to save hanging around Euston for an extra 40 minutes for a 9-coach Pendo).

At Stoke on Trent it was a short walk over to the bay platform and onto 323205 for the speedy run to Macclesfield, departing ahead of a late running XC service and surprisingly didn’t get looped at Macclesfield for the XC to pass.  I had a gentle stroll towards Macclesfield bus station via a Tesco for some supplies and waited for the Aimee run route 109 for Leek with an old Solo (YK05 CCN) on a busy service.  It dropped a couple of passengers off near the football club at the southern end of the town, before following the A523 via some nice countryside and I left the bus in the village of Rushton Spencer where my walk began.

323205 at Stoke on Trent Station

The first section was along Station Lane to reach the old station (now a private house) and onto a section of old railway heading north west which is part of the Staffordshire Way.  The railway path ended at a road bridge close to the River Dane (the route continued but was heavily overgrown and is a dead-end since the railway bridge over the river is long gone).  I doubled back towards Rushton station, passing a pub and small car park to re-join the route of the old railway.  The car park had evidence of an old platform but it was overgrown and had vehicles parked so I couldn't get a decent photo nor investigate.

The second section of today's walk was leaving Rushton Spencer behind on a path which had a reasonable quality surface, not one to do during winter months as I suspect it would get muddy in places.  It was very woody, and soon I reached the northern edge of Rudyard Lake, a large body of water built to supply the Caldon Canal.  The path in this area was now mostly tarmac and quite busy with other visitors to this large lake, where the water level looked to be low due to exposed dried mud at the edge, the lake being hidden from view by trees but it was a delight to see it with gaps in the trees.

Rudyard Lake

My walk continued heading towards the southern edge of the lake, and I reached Hunthouse Wood Station on the narrow-gauge Rudyard Lake Steam Railway, a railway line which ran alongside the path towards the Dam at the southern edge of the lake.  Leaving the lakeside behind I soon reached Rudyard Station complete with a very busy steam service ready to depart and was soon back in the beautiful countryside.  The path took me towards the town of Leek, ending in the Westwood area of the town (the railway itself used to continue via a tunnel which has since been filled in).  The last section of the walk was via the suburbs to reach the town centre and the bus station.

The first available bus towards Hanley was the First run Route 18 service which follows the A53 via Endon & Stockton Brook to reach Stoke on Trent and Hanley Bus Station.  I had a gentle stroll towards Stoke on Trent station, relaxing before 390148 rolled in to take me to Euston with a trip on the Northern line with 51647 & 51648 to Waterloo where I managed to make a connection with a Salisbury service for 158890 & 159105 to take me back to Grateley to end a short-day trip to Staffordshire.  A walk worth doing for the scenery and a little steam train

Rudyard Station on the Rudyard Lake Steam Railway

 

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16th August – Kenilworth Greenway

Another day where I changed my mind as originally, I was considering heading towards Wakefield to walk the Aire and Calder Navigation towards Castleford, but I decided to put that on ice (and a good thing I did considering the ECML fell over in the afternoon!)  I decided to change my plan for a short walk along the Kenilworth Greenway.  A walk where I was in two minds about doing due to the last couple of miles being a temporary route due to HS2 construction however even when the original route of the greenway gets put back, it won’t be the same as it used to be, for it will Never Be the Same Again (as Mel C once sang).

The day began with 159020 & 159016 to take me to Andover, stepping back onto 159006 on the Reading train.  At Reading I popped out of the station to grab some supplies for breakfast before taking a seat on a lightly loaded 221130 & 221125 on a rare 10 coach XC formation to Leamington Spa, where I made a fast walk to the bus stop for the Stagecoach run X17 service to take me to Kenilworth, as I didn’t noticed that the inbound for the next Nuneaton train had departed late from Coventry.

After detouring via a large Sainsburys to make use of the toilet, I headed towards the Castle Farm Leisure Centre to follow a path alongside the Finham Brook towards Abbey Fields.  Crossing Abbey Fields I detoured via the remains of the Abbey & the church before picking up the cycle path alongside the brook once more taking me to Kenilworth Common.  An area on my list to revisit on another trip (as part of an explore of the route towards Coventry via the University campus.  I reached the starting point of the greenway path, running alongside the railway near Kenilworth loop before branching away in a north western direction.

Remains of St Mary's Abbey, Kenilworth

 The first section was a bit urban, but once away from the housing the path soon opened out with countryside mixed with woodland.  A very busy path with cyclists, dog walkers, joggers for a sunny Sunday.  The old railway line path ends in Burton Green where the start of the HS2 related diverted temporary path, a path which has a decent surface and well-constructed fences as it weaves its way across some fields towards Balsall Common where Berkswell Station is located.  Not much in the way of viewing of HS2 itself (I think this section it is mostly going to be underground).  I made it to Berkswell station with plenty of time before the next London train.  One thing I will say is where the Birmingham bound platform has quite a lot of bench seats along the length of the platform, the Coventry bound platform has a couple small shelters but nothing else.

It was onto a reasonably busy 350407 & 350405 to take me to Rugby where I made a tight connection onto a late running Crewe service which was a quite busy winner 730227 & dud 730222 to take me to Nuneaton (a connection I wouldn’t have otherwise made had it not been running 5 minutes late, another 730 into my little book).  On seeing how busy that northbound service was I decided to turn down the next southbound LNR service (owing to the previous train running fast due to late running) and head towards Asda for a little potter.  I returned to the station to relax, turning down a Pendo from Manchester for 222601 from Stirling for my first taste of Lumo’s West Coast operation.

222601 at Nuneaton

I ended up (completely by chance) in the former 1st class coach which has been reseated with similar seats to the refurbished voyagers, managed to get a seat (reservation screens not working) with a ticket check soon after departure.  Arriving into Euston near enough on time, I saw the other coaches looked very busy judging by the numbers alighting from them, as I headed across to board 710378 on the next Watford service to take me to Willesden Junction where I made a swift connection onto 378231 on the next Clapham Junction take, even getting a seat near the back of the train.  All was going well until it terminated at Shepherd’s Bush for some unknown reason, making the platform very busy.  An already busy 377703 rolled in from Watford (complete with drunken kickball fans) soaking up some of the crowd (but even that left folk behind).  At Clapham Junction, it took a few minutes for the crowd to head down the stairs on P17 as I made my way to jump on the first available Waterloo train (better than hanging around Clapham Junction for longer than required), this turned out to be winner 701015.

At Waterloo, I made my slow way towards the 17:45 service formed of 159016, 159020 & 159011 to take me to Grateley to end the day trip to Warwickshire.  An enjoyable former railway line walk.  The Monday was a little restful red pen day scoring a trio of 701s & getting 701002 over ten miles after a visit to the dentist.  A quieter day to end the time away from work, allowing myself to catch up with admin & the many photos.  Those photos can be found on my Flickr *here*, thanks for reading, my final trip of August is planning to be an overnight trip to the North West.

7 – 10th August Trips (Lancs Canal, Worcs & Staffordshire Canal, South Wales)

 7 – 10th August Trips

I had managed to use up some annual leave days to bridge the gap between two long weekends on the roster to give myself 12 days off, time which I needed after a crazy week at the start of August.  The 6th August was spent with a day trip to Thanet in Kent to ride the open top route 69 tourist bus route with my good friend Dan to give myself a quieter day before all the walking!

7th August – Lancaster Canal in rural Lancashire.

Making use of the no peak fares from London on Fridays meant I could have a day trip to Lancashire to walk part of the canal between Preston & Lancaster, parts I’ve already covered on previous trips.  The day started with the 05:22 service from Grateley to Waterloo with 159107 & 159016 followed with a stroll to Euston to grab a seat on a busy 390103 on the 07:30 Glasgow train for some high-speed Pendo travel to Preston.  The start point of the canal walk would be near the junction with the Ribble Link in the Ingol area of the city, around 2 and a half miles away from the station.  I decided to be a bit lazy and catch the route 44 Preston Bus service for Cottam alighting on Barry Avenue in a residential area of Ingol, crossing the canal on Cottam Mill Bridge and onto the towpath close to the junction.

The first section of the canal was a solid tarmac towpath as it forms a cycle route towards the sports area of a university (on the left-hand side) with housing on the right-hand side.  The canal itself was green.  The cycle path ended near the end of the housing in Cottam with countryside appearing on both sides of the canal, the towpath still being quite reasonable at this point.  I headed underneath the A582 bridge and soon the sound of traffic reduced heading west towards Salwick (giving some views of the railway line at times).  The limited served station of Salwick isn't that far from the canal towpath which turns to head north into a woodland cutting.

A Northern 331 heading towards Liverpool from the Lancaster Canal near Salwick

Now in Salwick village centre (if you could call it that), passing a pub, the towpath changed from a solid surface to a more rural surface (which to be honest I was expecting to see a lot sooner), a mix of grass & sand-like dirt with the sound of traffic increasing as I headed underneath the M55.  The canal did another turn, this time heading east, passing a few moored boats (I only saw one boat actually moving on this walk).  I was now in the Blackleach rural area, still with fields to both sides with the sound of traffic from the right.  In the Swillbrook area the canal turned from heading east to heading more north-east, along a peaceful towpath.

I paused for lunch at a handy bench seat near Moorside Lane before carrying on, now heading more north, crossing the New Mill Brook on Hollowforth Aqueduct.  Still with some beautiful countryside on both sides (I do like my rural canal walks for the sense of isolation), I headed towards the village of Bilsborrow where I needed to decide as I could have easily kept going for the next 4 (or so) miles to reach the southern area (Bonds) of Garstang but I had one eye on trains heading back south as there was a couple of cancellations to the fast services to be wary off.

Lancaster Canal in the Salwick area

In the end I decided to stick with my original split point for this canal, passing through Bilsborrow, crossing over the River Brock and heading towards the large Barton Grange Garden Centre, crossing underneath the A6 with the canal swinging through another 90-degree bend with the WCML appearing, the walk ending with a fast stroll alongside the A6 as a bus was due shortly (one of those walks where I kept on turning back for any sight of the bus).  I reached the bus stop before the next Stagecoach route 41 service rolled in with a nice double decker to take me back towards Preston.  Sadly, this bus did get caught up with some heavy traffic in the Fulwood area, but Moor Park looked like a nice place to explore.

Arriving into the bus station gave me options for trains, as I made my way to the railway station, the next London via the West Midlands service was cancelled at Preston with the following fast service from Glasgow being formed of 9 coaches and was at the time half an hour late.  A Lumo was running nearly an hour late, so not wanting to hang in Preston for 90 minutes I managed to jump on 195118 for a fast run towards Manchester Piccadilly, where I made a nice connection onto 221115 on a Bournemouth service, as there was issues on SWR.  Coach B on this voyager getting busy at Stoke on Trent, emptying out at Wolverhampton, surprisingly departed Birmingham New Street with at least a dozen empty seats that I could see, filling up again at the Airport, and slowly emptied out along the way.  The voyager lost time around Kenilworth due to a late running Manchester bound service.

Lancaster Canal between Woodplumpton & Bilsborrow 

Annoyingly the train I was hoping to connect into at Basingstoke was running on time, with the following service running late, so I headed out of the station for some fresh air before boarding a busy 158885 for the short run back to Grateley to end the day trip.  An enjoyable trip to the Lancaster canal, deciding that when I do the section from Barton Grange Garden Centre (Brock) towards Galgate, it would be better to stay overnight in the general area, just to save the hassle of a late finish.

8th August – Kidderminster to Stourbridge by Canal

Today I decided to head towards Worcestershire to finish both the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal and the Stourbridge Canal.  The day began with the 05:59 service from Grateley with 158883 & 159010 to Basingstoke, changing onto 220034 & 221128 with the front 4 coaches locked out of use (I have no clue if they came into use at any point, I made my usual bee-line to coach B on the 221 which was at the rear of the train).  Arriving into Birmingham New Street near enough on time, gave me the chance to grab some breakfast from Tim Hortons before making my way to Moor Street to board 172003 & 172340 on a Kidderminster terminator (I’ll be back!)

At Kidderminster my walk began, passing the steam railway station (reminds me that one of these days I will take a train from there towards Bridgnorth).  Heading via the town centre, going via Tesco to grab lunch items and some more water as it was a bit warmer today compared to Friday.  I joined the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal alongside the Tesco superstore car park, heading north going underneath a tunnel formed with the St Marys Ringway road, the towpath swapping sides at the lock (giving some nice views of the church).  This section of towpath was reasonably busy with other users and a nice solid surface as I headed via the suburbs before heading into the countryside, the towpath being quite changeable going forward.

I continued my walk in the countryside, reaching Wolverley, the canal being a bit curvy at times heading towards Cookley and a short tunnel.  After leaving Cookley I returned to the rural area, the sound of traffic from the A449 not being too far away, heading north to the Kinver area, the canal skirting both Kinver & Dunsley, curving east via another short tunnel before curving north towards Stourton, reaching the junction with the Stourbridge Canal.  An enjoyable walk with some nice countryside.

Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal between Kidderminster & Wolverley

Turning right onto the Stourbridge Canal, it was a short walk within Stourton before that headed into the countryside, with some nice woodland at times, heading towards Stourbridge itself and the junction with the Town Arm.  Another canal onto the completed list, as I made my way along the town arm towards Wollaston Road, before following the roads towards Stourbridge Town station and onto 139001 for the spin up the hill to Stourbridge Junction.

I made a tight connection onto 172332 & 172215 to take me towards Birmingham Snow Hill, where I had time to go via the Co-Op to grab some supplies for dinner before making my way to Birmingham New Street and onto a late running 221116 which had lost time around Stafford.  I managed to grab a reasonable seat in coach B and relaxed as the train emptied out at Coventry, losing more time in Kenilworth loop for the Nuneaton service to pass on the single-track line.  Thankfully it departed Reading before a GWR stopper to reach Basingstoke around 20 minutes late, being thankful I grabbed food earlier in the afternoon in Birmingham as I waited for 158886 & 159002 to roll in from London.  An early finish, but I didn’t fancy hanging around Birmingham as the city centre was just chaotic.

Ozzy the Bull at Birmingham New Street

9th August – Return to South Wales

I had a hotel booked in Cardiff (Travelodge on Queen Street) with a lot of potential ideas for walks, some went back on the pile due to engineering works north of Radyr.  The day started with 159015 & 159106 for the short hop to Andover, followed with 159013 to Reading (with an extended pause at Reading Green Park waiting for an engineering works block to get lifted, allowing time for a photo).  After grabbing some breakfast related items, it was onto a late running 800036, which I suspect might have been running on diesel as it kept on losing time towards Swindon where it turned left at Wootton Bassett Junction to go nonstop via Chippenham & Bath Spa towards Bristol (the London bound train it passed at Bath looked very busy!)  The unit took Dr Days curve onto Filton bank to Bristol Parkway where it crashed into 800010 to become 10 coaches.

Reversing at Bristol Parkway, now running 50-odd minutes late, it headed into Wales and I alighted at Newport with a nice connection into a very busy 197026 on a Chester train to take me to Pontypool & New Inn, a station I could swear used to have a much better Sunday service than the 2 hourly it sees these days.  Spend countless millions on a brand-new car park with access from the A4042 dual carriageway and lifts to access said car park but not to exit the station by foot but still have a rubbish frequency.  Anyhow like all the others who alighted from the train, I left the station via the original stairs onto the roads, crossing the dual carriageway and reaching the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal.

197026 departs Pontypool & New Inn Station

The first of today's walks was along this canal towards Cwmbran, meeting up with a walk I did back in October 2024 (long time ago!)  As expected, as part of a cycle route, the towpath was decent quality as I crossed over the Afon Lwyd passing Pontymoile basin (which at one point used to have another part of the canal branching off).  Going underneath the A472 & an old railway viaduct (the former GWR route towards   Blaenavon, this canal was quite urban with the towpath being busy (dog walkers, joggers, cyclists). I continued mostly south via Griffithstown & Sebastopol reaching the limit of navigation, and the Cwmbran tunnel where annoyingly the canal towpath was blocked due to housing developments.

A reasonably signposted diversional route was followed via the modern housing development (says something about how new it is, when it doesn't even show on Google Maps!), joining the route of the canal on Five Locks Road, dropping down the remains of the locks towards the Cwmbran area, putting a bit of a fast pace along the road to reach the station as I was a bit short on time, making to make it in time for 197002 & 197011 to take me to Cardiff Central, where after popping out of the station to grab a late lunch (and more liquids) I met up with my good friend Jules who was down in Cardiff picking up his bike from getting serviced.

Cwmbran Tunnel Portal on the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal, Cwmbran

We jumped onto 197011 to take us to Tondu to start my second walk of the warm day.  After grabbing a photograph of the 197 heading into the hills with the Tondu signal box, we followed the road to pick up the route of cycle route 4 leading towards the large Parc Slip nature reserve (on the site of a former colliery).  This was very rural & beautiful, passing a memorial to those who lost their lives in an explosion in 1892, certainly an area we could easily return to again for a bigger explore.  We continued as the cycle path ran alongside the mothballed Tondu - Margam freight line (massively overgrown in a couple of places with foot crossings & a level crossing over a minor road).  This path took us towards Bedford Park and onto the route of the former Llynvi and Ogmore Railway route towards Porthcawl.  This was another beautiful area heading towards Kenfig Hill, the path ending near a small park.

197011 heading towards Maesteg after getting the token from Tondu Signal Box

We headed via the roads (and a little Premier shop for cold drinks) to reach Pyle station, a station which doesn't have much in the way of seats and onto winner 197041 on a Manchester bound service, amazingly for a 2-coach TfW special we managed to get seats for the trip to Cardiff Central.  Dinner was at the Great Western Spoons before we said farewell with Jules heading back towards Hereford with his bike and I decided to have another walk (because I was crazy!)

Remains of Margam - Tondu freight line from a foot crossing between Parc Slip & Bedford Park (Bridgend)

I headed along the Taff Embankment, thinking about how long before the east side of the river is full of high-rise accommodation blocks, crossing the river on Clarence Road bridge and into Hamadryad Park.  This led me towards the Cardiff Bay Wetlands with some beautiful views of the bay from a little jetty.  I followed the path towards some old docks, passing the Mount Stuart Spoons into the busy Mermaid Quay area (lots of eateries).  After doing a loop in this area I followed the Canal Park path within Butetown with the option of heading to Cardiff Bay station but the timings didn't work out (this was the time of night where service levels dropped to every 30 minutes so if I headed to the station, I would have had a 25-minute wait) so headed back towards the city centre via Dumballs Road.

Cardiff Bay from Wetlands View Platform

This road took me back towards the Cardiff Central area (passing a handy looking Co-Op) as I headed via the city centre to locate the Travelodge near Queen Street (located on The Friary), a pedestrian area as I got given a warm room on the front of the hotel on the 4th floor, a noisy room from a nearby nightclub.  A hotel where I suspect outside noise depends which side of the building you get a room, similar to the Travelodge nearest Cardiff Central.  Anyhow I did manage to get some sleep once the nightclub closed up, but beforehand I was trying to decide on what to do on the Monday, not wanting too late of a finish.  An enjoyable day with 3 different walks.

10th August – (David) Tennant Canal in Swansea

In the end I decided to head towards Swansea to walk the path alongside the disused Tennant Canal towards Neath.  After checking out of the hotel I made my way towards Queen Street station (it seems that Tim Hortons has closed) and onto 231004 for the short junction to Cardiff Central, making an easy connection onto 800312 for the speedy trip to Swansea where my walk began.  I headed out of the station towards the city centre, passing the remains of Swansea Castle, dropping down a hill to head towards the Parc Tawe Retail Park to get some more water from the Food Warehouse.  After getting water I headed towards the River Tawe, crossing over the river on the Sail Bridge.

I followed signs for cycle route 4 for a path alongside the Fabian Way Road leading towards a busway along the route of the disused Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway, crossing over Fabian Way on a bridge (with the busway heading towards a park & ride site).  This took me towards the Port Tennant area of the city before the urban area gave way to woodland with the occasional glimpse of where the canal would have been (mainly a ditch).

Sail Bridge over the River Tawe in Swansea City Centre

The path quality was reasonable at this point however it changed from a smooth tarmac path to something more bumpy & rough when the canal appeared with water (certainly suitable for a Mountain Bike, not for a road bike).  I reached Jersey Marine with the towpath flipping sides with the canal being on my right-hand side, although at times you couldn't see it due to being blocked with vegetation.  This section was very rural, certainly not one to do during winter, it was also very quiet and pretty.  I headed underneath the (mothballed?) railway line which heads towards Swansea Kings docks, the landscape turning more industrial and traffic noise picking up with the arrival of the M4.

I headed underneath another railway bridge, carrying one of the curves towards the Swansea District Line, underneath the M4 with the unexpected sound of a passing train on the line towards Neath Riverside (looked yellow so maybe that Network Rail 950 unit).  The path quality in this part was reasonable, not the best but nothing impassable.  After going underneath, the main Swansea District Line (all the railway bridges!), the towpath flipped sides onto a particularly bad section of towpath (bit overgrown).  Thankfully it did improve once underneath the A465 skirting the edge of Skewen and reaching the delightful Neath Abbey, a worthwhile detour for the ruins.

Neath Abbey

I returned to the canal, the towpath flipping sides once more with the landscape changing into more countryside before going underneath various bridges with the A465 and slip roads with the River Neath making an appearance on my right-hand side.  I was in two minds about continuing towards Aberdulais where the Tennant Canal meets with the Neath canal but decided that could wait for another day and made my way towards Neath station via Morrisons for food.

At Neath station and it was onto a busy short formed 800014 (5 coaches instead of 10) to take me to Cardiff Central and onto a warm 166214 which got caught up with a farce of a 197 on a Holyhead bound service being late departing, eventually the 166 departed around 20 minutes late, increasing the lateness with a slow run towards Newport where it got overtaken by a sloth.  Eventually it picked up speed after Newport and headed towards Bristol before following a stopping service after Bath Spa with no hope of making a connection at Salisbury I bailed at Westbury into the fresh air and onto a cool 158884.

Swansea District Railway Bridge over the Tennant Canal between the M4 Bridge (Skewen) & Neath

This took me to Salisbury where I relaxed before boarding 158888 & 159005 on the 16:47 service to take me to Grateley to complete the trip.  I got home to sort out my rucksack ready for my Tyneside Adventures, which feels a suitable place to finish this blog.  As always thanks for reading, more photos (including from a trip along the Avon Valley footpath at the start of the month & from the Thanet trip) can be found on my Flickr *Here*.  Have a good evening.

Day Trips 28th & 29th July (Macclesfield Canal & Thames Path)

 Day Trips 28th & 29th July (Macclesfield Canal & Thames Path)

28th July – Macclesfield Canal Part 3

Having walked from Congleton towards Marple (via Macclesfield) over 2 trips in May, I decided it would be a good day to finish the canal with the section from Congleton towards Kidsgrove.  Due to a reasonable finish time for my week of late shifts, I decided to make use of a tactic I used last September to avoid the potential of overcrowding on the first off-peak Manchester train (since Avanti are not running the 09:33 service from London, the first off-peak train is the 09:53).  The day started with the 06:19 service from Grateley, with 159010 & 159106, getting quite busy after Andover as the previous service broke down. It was also quite lucky I did this service rather than my more usual 06:57 service as that didn’t call at Grateley due to signalling issues at Tisbury, the next departure was a delayed 07:27 which didn’t get into London until after 9am.

Anyhow in London, I had my usual stroll to Euston, dodging the cyclists on hire bikes who think red lights are optional, and onto the 08:46 London Northwestern service for my first pair of 730/2s for a few months with 730225 & 730208 for the speedy journey to Rugby.  My fester at Rugby was extended due to the Manchester train being delayed as a mostly empty 390121 rolled in for the nonstop run to Stoke on Trent (coach U had 5 other passengers on this ‘peak time’ service from London).  After visiting the toilets at Stoke station, I boarded 323236 on the local stopping service to Congleton, delayed by a couple of minutes due to another late running Manchester bound Pendo.  At Congleton my walk began.

323236 at Stoke On Trent Station

Unlike in May I joined the canal via the access from the opposite side of the railway (rather than a path & steep stairs near a pub), heading underneath the railway and west towards a Roving bridge over the canal (designed to allow a horse to cross over the towpath without the need to be unhooked).  The towpath was quite reasonable quality along this section, a bit narrow in places but nothing that major.  I crossed over Canal road on a nice looking aqueduct, passing the remains of Congleton Wharf, swapping sides of the canal once more near Lamberts Lane as the urban area started to give way to countryside (on the right hand side at least).  The towpath changed from a solid smooth surface to something a bit more rougher, still solid but something you wouldn't want to take a road bike along.

Leaving Congleton behind, passing the Astbury Golf Club before heading into peaceful Cheshire countryside with the occasional sound of a train on the nearby railway, the towpath now being more rural in nature (certainly one not to do during the winter months, unless you like mud).  I continued passing an old hall (Ramsdell Hall) heading towards Scholar Green with the sound of traffic returning from the A34.  The canal skirted round the edge of Scholar Green (the settlement being on my right hand side with the railway reasonably close on the left hand side), the towpath returning to more solid ground as I reached the Hall Green Stop Lock where the Macclesfield Canal ends and the Hall Green branch of the Trent & Mersey begins (something I only found out when researching this walk, as I had assumed it was the Macclesfield Canal all the way to the junction at Kidsgrove.

Hall Green Stop Lock between the Macclesfield & Trent and Mersey Canals

I continued along the canal towpath reaching Red Bull, gaining wings with a crossing of the Liverpool Road (via an aqueduct) and crossing the main Trent & Mersey canal.  The towpath swapped sides once more with a sharp 90-degree bend.  This section was a bit overgrown in places (I suspect most people will drop down onto the main canal at the aqueduct).  I soon reached another sharp bend where the Hall Green branch ran into the main Trent & Mersey canal, the last section taking me underneath the railway towards Kidsgrove station where I had a couple of options, either head to Stoke or head to Crewe.  Due to the timetable for this line being a bit unbalanced (yes, that's the word) I had just missed a LNR service to Crewe so had a short wait (which was made longer due to running late) with 170516 to Crewe (at least the late running meant it didn’t have to sit at the junction protecting the single line for 7 minutes).

Annoyingly earlier in the day 197041 was showing as running on Crewe – Wrexham services, but when I checked when heading to Crewe, I saw it had disappeared somewhere at Chester and replaced with another 2 coach 197, so that unit escapes me once more, so with little else to do at Crewe I boarded a lightly loaded 805013 on a service from Chester for a speedy journey towards Euston, arriving near enough on time.  I had an option of going after a winner 730 on a Tring stopper, but the connections to get towards Clapham were a bit rubbish, and I didn’t fancy trying to board a short-formed sprinter at Waterloo so decided to leave that 730 for another day (not like it will be going anywhere).  I had a gentle stroll in the heat to Waterloo and onto a hot 159106, 159010 & 159019 which wasn’t that busy in coach 3 of 9, even after Clapham Junction.  This took me back to Grateley arriving near enough on time and I had a gentle stroll home.  An enjoyable day trip to Cheshire, even if I did get a bit warm at times.  Looking at the chaos out west I’m just glad I didn’t decide to change my plan to head towards Cornwall to finish the Camel Trail.

Trent & Mersey Canal in Kidsgrove

29th July – Thames Path (Part Who Knows!)

The plan for today is to do another section of the Thames Path, heading between Lechlade & Cricklade, this section being another rural section but thankfully not as long as the last section I did earlier in the month.   The day started with a drive to Salisbury, swinging via Tesco to grab some breakfast items before taking 166201 to Westbury, followed by 158766 to Swindon arriving a few minutes ahead of schedule due to other long-distance services running late.  After making use of the toilets on the station, I made my way to the “J” bus stop within the Fleming Way bus station, via Tesco for lunch items and onto the route 64 bus to Lechlade on Thames where my walk began.

Leaving the bus stop area near the church (fenced off for works so couldn't get a photo), I headed towards the River Thames at Halfpenny Bridge, dropping down the stairs used earlier in the month (when following a school group), this time turning west towards the Lechlade Riverside Park.  This area was quite scenic as I passed a few moored boats near the limit of navigation, leaving the riverside park behind for a rural stroll along the edge of a grassy area.  I reached a footbridge near to the former canal junction where the Thames & Severn Canal joined the Thames, the path heading south.  After crossing a cow filled field (moo) I reached the disused church of St John in the tiny settlement of Inglesham.

River Thames between Lechlade & Inglesham

The next section was a bit overgrown in places, but nothing that major as I soon re-joined the edge of the Thames in the countryside, the only sound being from the A361 before the river twisted and turned away from the road to head west.  I reached a point where the Thames Path moves away from following the actual river, heading alongside the edge of fields before picking up a farm track heading towards Hannington Wick.  A short section along the road before picking up another footpath, passing a couple of other walkers.  I reached the edge of the river for another short section before the Thames Path moved away to follow a minor road towards the village of Castle Eaton.

Pausing for lunch on a handy bench near the church, I resumed the walk, picking up the Thames again on the western side of the village.  Another rural section of twisting river walking along the edge of fields (some which were bumpy at times).  In hindsight maybe doing this walk on a hot day wasn't the best plan due to the very limited shade offered, but it was peaceful and quiet.  The Thames Path flipped sides of the Thames at a footbridge across some more fields, the river hiding from view from trees, before going back to the 'South' bank near Eysey.  The rural peacefulness soon ended as I headed underneath the busy A419 into Cricklade.

River Thames between Inglesham & Hannington Wick

I passed the Cricklade Millennium Green, heading towards the town centre of this North Wiltshire town.  Leaving the riverside behind for the final time I followed the roads to the High Street, detouring north to a road bridge over the river.  After this little detour I headed towards the centre, swinging via Tesco for a cold drink (and an ice-cream) making my way to the bus stop alongside Calcutt Street.  I didn't have long to wait before a Stagecoach route 51 arrived to take me towards Swindon, where after a gentle stroll in the town centre I made my way to the railway station.  It was onto 158766, which unusually was using platform 3 (rather than the more usual bay platform, which I took to Trowbridge for a same platform change onto 158959 & 158747 to take me to Salisbury to end the day.

An enjoyable day alongside the upper Thames, another section of the long Thames Path covered, leaving just the rough 13-mile section from Cricklade towards the source near Kemble (although this time of year, I would imagine it will be mostly dried out).  As always thanks for reading, I’ve got some time off work in August, with many ideas forming, a lot depends on the weather.  More photos can be found on my Flickr here.  The month started with a 158 and ends with a 158:

158766 at Swindon (using P3)

Trips 19 – 21st July, West Yorkshire & South Wales

 Trips 19 – 21st July, West Yorkshire & South Wales

19th July – Aire & Calder Navigation

I had booked a Sunday night in the Travelodge in Bradford (a lot cheaper than Leeds and has easy access to a station, which is sadly a downside of several other hotels in West Yorkshire) with the idea of doing a couple of walks.  For the Sunday I decided on the Aire & Calder Navigation between Leeds & Castleford, linking up with the Leeds & Liverpool Canal in Leeds and a tiny section in Castleford I walked a couple of years ago when doing the old railway line from Garforth.  I was also tempted with the section from Wakefield to Castleford (linking up with the navigation towards Dewsbury & beyond) but decided that could be a weekday trip.

The trip began with the 07:37 service from Grateley (159005 & 159019) towards Waterloo, where I made the mistake of remaining on board after Clapham Junction as the train lost 10 minutes between Clapham & Waterloo with the Sunday morning timetable which sees the service using the Windsor Lines, just meant my stroll towards Kings Cross was a bit faster than expected.  I took my seat in a lightly loaded coach G of 801209 on a Leeds service, first time having this 801 within England as the only previous time was between Edinburgh & Glasgow Central.   Anyhow the trip to Leeds was uneventful and my walk began.  I exited the station, heading down some stairs to reach Swinegate my route towards the Aire blocked due to Leeds Pride forcing a little detour to pick up the river near Dock Street.

River Aire in Leeds (city centre)

The first part of the walk was along the Trans Pennine Trail, passing a busy Leeds Dock, heading in a gentle south eastern direction with the river on my left-hand side, partly hidden with various trees & bushes on a decent path.  I crossed underneath the A61 heading towards the Knowsthorpe area of the city, crossing to the opposite side of the river near an old flood lock.  Industrial & residential buildings gave way to woodland and a security fence protecting the freight yard at Hunslet East with a 66 at the end of the freight line with evidence of the former bridge over the river at Knostrop Weir, marking the start of the first canal section of the Aire & Calder Navigation.

I passed the lock & Stourton Stone Circle (random) with the river on my left & canal on my right.  I crossed over the canal on Thwaite Lane into another woodland section of path heading towards Skelton Grange Road, with a minor panic when I saw signs ahead saying "path closed" but thankfully all that was closed was a section underneath a bridge with a detour leading to the road on the northern side rather than the southern side.  Crossing this bridge and down some steps (which for a cycle path was a bit unexpected) with the river once more being on my left and canal on my right, not like I could see either waterway due to the trees.

A 66 at the end of the Hunslet Branch Line alongside the River Aire

However, this section was very scenic with the woodland and peaceful with occasional glimpse of the working river at Stourton.  The peace ended near the M1 with the woodland section ending for a walk alongside the Navigation, going underneath what looked to be an old railway bridge.  I saw signs of the Rothwell Country Park giving me ideas for the future as I continued alongside the water towards Woodlesford, swapping sides so the canal was on my left-hand side skirting round the edge of the village.

After Aberford Road bridge, the canal gains paths on both sides, I decided to remain with the canal on my left as I headed towards Lemonroyd marina & lock where the navigation joins back with the River Aire and where the Trans Pennine Trail heads away from the waterside near Methley.  The next section the river disappears from view as the path on the south side comes close to the railway before going into woodland, I decided to cross over to the northern bank on one of the footbridges.  This section skirted round the southern edge of the St Aidan's nature reserve giving some nice views of the various lakes from former coal workings.  The hard surface path ended near a section of path which goes a bit wavy and gets a mention in my guidebook as being muddy in the winter months.

RSPB St Aidan's from the path alongside the River Aire (3)

I returned to the river edge on a rural section heading towards Allerton Bywater having to detour away from the river on a couple of roads before resuming the walk alongside the water heading towards Castleford Junction where the River Calder flows into the Aire and another short section of Navigation begins to bypass the town centre & a large weir.  I followed this section of canal towards the road bridge, crossing over to the opposite bank to follow a path alongside the River Aire towards the Millennium Bridge.  After leaving the water’s edge for the last time I headed via a quiet town centre (it was after 4pm on a Sunday where all the shops had closed), heading to the station to end my walk.

As my hotel was in Bradford I had a couple of options, either wait for a 150 from Sheffield to take me to Leeds for something to Bradford Interchange (engineering works meant Forster Square was closed) or a 185 to Wakefield for a Grand Central service.  I opted for a very lightly loaded 185139 with the AC hitting me hard when I boarded to Wakefield Kirkgate, losing time due to signalling issues (which meant anybody on board would have missed the 2 hourly train up the hill to Westgate).  I had a short wait in the sunshine before 180102 arrived to take me towards Halifax where I decided to pop out of the station into the town centre to visit the Spoons (via a steep hill!)

180102 at Halifax

After a decent meal in a nice Spoons, I headed back down the steep hill and onto 195016 & 195011 for the near 8-mile trip to Bradford Interchange, heading to the hotel via the city centre (which has massively changed since cars & buses were pushed to the edges), getting a room on the top floor overlooking a large area of wasteland with the station in the background.  I spent the remainder of the evening relaxing after an enjoyable stroll from Leeds to Castleford in the sunshine.

20th July – Huddersfield Narrow & Broad Canals

The idea for today was to complete my walking of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal from Standedge Tunnel towards Huddersfield, linking up with the short Huddersfield Broad canal.  I left the hotel making my way to Forster Square and wasn’t welcomed onto the Leeds train as 333012 took me to Leeds complete with the new announcements.  After grabbing some supplies within the city centre, I boarded 185139 for the journey to Marsden, looking out of the window at the various upgrades being taken.  Unusually this service went into the loop platform at Marsden to allow a late running Liverpool service to pass.

My walk began as I joined the towpath of the canal near the station, walking the short distance within a woodland cutting towards the railway bridge, with the canal making a sharp turn to the Standedge Visitor Centre and Marsden portal of the long Standedge (canal) tunnel.  After a couple of photos I returned towards Marsden (this time using a woodland footpath alongside the canal).  After re-joining the canal at the lock near the station I headed along the decent towpath, passing many locks reaching Sparth Reservoir.  The water level within the reservoir was quite low due to the recent hot weather (to such a point where this canal was closed for traffic due to low water levels at times).

Huddersfield Narrow Canal near Standedge Tunnel (Marsden Portal)

I continued the walk in the countryside with the sound of trains from the nearby railway line heading towards Slaitwaite and towards the outskirts of Huddersfield where the countryside gave way to the more urban area of both industrial & residential buildings.  I soon reached the impressive railway viaduct carrying the line towards Barnsley over the canal and reached the short Bates tunnel forcing a detour via the roads and some steps onto a section of towpath high above the canal (which was in a deep cutting), the towpath dropping down further on.  This is the area where the Narrow canal turns into the Broad canal (however due to the width of the Wakefield Road bridge this section is effectively a narrow canal.

Another detour was required around Aspley Wharf (near a Premier Inn) and onto a section of the broad canal which has dual towpaths.  After a little detour into a large Sainsburys for some supplies I crossed over the canal on the Turnbridge Lift Bridge in this industrial area of the town with the towpath looking like it has had some money spent on improving it recently (making it wider).  This area was a lot busier with other walkers & cyclists (plus the occasional jogger) as I made my way within the Huddersfield suburbs, passing close to the building site of Deighton station and underneath a couple of old railway viaducts (Whitacre Mill Viaduct & Deighton Viaduct).

Railway Viaduct over the Huddersfield Narrow Canal in Huddersfield

 

I continued the walk along the towpath of the Broad canal, passing various industrial units and locks, going underneath a modern railway bridge built for the line upgrades (making it 4 tracks rather than 2 I believe) with the final section heading towards Cooper Bridge lock where the canal flows into the River Calder (near a large weir).  Originally, I was going to end the walk at a bus stop on the bridge itself but saw there was a Tesco Express close by and with the next bus expected in 15 minutes I headed towards the Bradley area of the town to grab a late lunch.

An enjoyable walk with changing scenery, and mostly a decent towpath (the only section which could get muddy in the winter is near Bates Tunnel, but that wasn’t a cycle path due to the steps).  Anyhow I jumped onto an Arriva run route 229 service towards Huddersfield Bus Station having a short walk to the railway station, jumping on 185109 on the Manchester Piccadilly stopping service, turning down a late running Liverpool bound 802 as I wanted Manchester Piccadilly.  At Piccadilly I boarded the next London bound service with 390115 on a service going via Crewe.

Huddersfield Narrow Puddle between Slaithwaite & Huddersfield

An uneventful run towards Euston, arriving a couple of minutes early due to a train from Liverpool running late with issues near Runcorn.  As my legs were a bit sore I decided to take the Northern line to Waterloo making a decent connection onto a busy 159108 & 158890 on a short formed 17:53 service for a speedy trip to Basingstoke before heading to Grateley where my trip to West Yorkshire ended.

21st July – Not the Heart of Wales

My original idea for today was to take mum on a trip on the Heart of Wales line, however that plan went into the bin due to a planned part cancellation of the train from Shrewsbury we were hoping to catch (it was only running as far as Llandrindod, something which changed during the day but by then it was too late to go back).  Anyhow we drove to Salisbury with the idea of catching the 07:22 service to Cardiff Central, but as the 07:03 Bristol service was heavily delayed due to a points failure we boarded 166202, which ran nonstop to Bristol Temples Meads after Westbury due to the lateness (speedy Turbo!)

As it arrived into Bristol Temples Meads near enough on time, we made a quick connection onto 802020 on a Cardiff bound service from Taunton to take us into Wales (the back-up was going to be a Voyager to Bristol Parkway as the Cardiff train I was originally aiming for was running very late).  After picking up the Valley Explorer rangers we jumped onto 231006 towards Trefforest via Radyr, connecting onto 756102 back towards Cardiff Central (via Queen Street).  After grabbing lunch, it was onto a lightly loaded 197040 to Maesteg and back to Bridgend, where we made an easy connection onto 150252 on a service via the coastal route, getting very busy along the way.

150252 departs Barry Docks Station

We took this 150 to Barry Docks to change onto 231010 to Barry Island which was very busy with families enjoying the sunshine.  After a little stroll we jumped onto 231001 for the spin to Llanbradach (for lack of a better idea), changing onto 231002 for the trip back to Cardiff Central.  The last train of this little trip was onto 158747 & 158767 on a GWR service, which was very busy to Newport & Severn Tunnel Junction (where it emptied out, I guess the previous TfW was cancelled), filling up again at Bristol Temples Meads.  There was a late running Weymouth train in front of this service at Bath which I presume would have soaked up a lot of the waiting crowds for Bradford & Trowbridge as hardly anybody boarded at Bath Spa, although that Weymouth train did cause a 5-minute delay due to the long signal sections towards Bradford on Avon.

At Salisbury, we left the station, going via the local Spoons for dinner and headed home via Tesco for some shopping for the week ahead.  An enjoyable little day trip to South Wales with mum, even if we couldn’t do the Heart of Wales trip.  Anyhow as always thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr *Here*.  Keep safe everybody, have a dragon:

Red Dragon outside ticket office at Cardiff Central