8th May – A damp day in Hertfordshire
The weather forecast for the day was a bit mixed, and kept on changing when I looked during the week, but on the day it looked like the rain would go away after half eleven or so which allowed me to dust off a plan to walk the “Alban Way” path between St Albans and Hatfield which follows the old railway line. Also would allow me to revisit a couple stations on the Abbey line I needed for photographs.
The day began with the 07:30 service towards London (retimed due to engineering works west of Salisbury meaning it was only hourly between Salisbury & London), which I alighted at Clapham Junction for some time wasting (connections at Watford Junction from ‘fast’ Euston trains to the Abbey Line are a tad poor) with a 378 taken to Willesden Junction before a 710 took me all the way to Watford Junction (been years since I went via the Watford High Street loop). At Watford Junction it was a short walk over to platform 11 (which looked like it has been resurfaced since my last visit) as the 319 rolled in.
The new and the slightly less new Overground stock at Watford Junction
I took the 319 to Bricket Wood, before returning to Watford North before finally heading to St Albans Abbey where the rain has indeed ended, so I fired up my OS Map app & Strava to start recording my walk, but before I reached the start of the railway path I swung via Sainsburys for some food items & one last visit to the toilets. In a way I was lucky I went via Sainsburys as if I went the direct route it would have been a divert due to a path closure. Anyhow after crossing the railway line I joined the tarmac path which led towards Hatfield
It was a nice enough path, tree lined in places, all tarmac and other than a couple points mostly all off-road, the former stations still have platforms in situ with information boards detailing the history of the station and at other parts along the line. At the Hatfield end there was a bit of road walking to cross over the A1(M) road but soon the path picked up the former railway alignment, but with some ups and downs as parts of it has been built over. Soon enough I reached the point where the railway would have headed towards the right to join up with the main ECML but the footpath curves to the left, crossing the ECML before heading along the road to reach Hatfield station where my first walk of the day came to an end.
Nast Hyde Halt
After purchasing my single to Crews Hill (via Stevenage), I jumped on a 717 to Welwyn Garden City before a 700 took me to Welwyn North where I exited the station and headed down the hill to try and get some photos of the viaduct. Sadly the grey sky meant the trains blended into the sky, but a worthwhile walk down. After heading back up the hill towards Welwyn North I continued heading north (and uphill some more) to reach a footpath which comes out on top of the tunnel and follows the route of the tunnel.
An Azuma on the Welwyn Viaduct
A very scenic wooded area, before I came out into an area of open ground with good views of the section of railway between the two tunnels, although somewhere to take a camera with a decent zoom for better photos. Anyhow the footpath continued north, giving views of the southern portal of the Northern tunnel before the railway disappeared under the hill and the footpath goes over the hill, through some more lovely woods (lots of bluebells).
Soon I reached the village of Oaklands before carrying in a northern direction into Mardley Heath, another scenic wooded area (connecting with nature), certainly a pretty area to live as I crossed the woods to come out on the other side for a footpath which ran alongside an edge of a field to reach the ECML (which was on an embankment) before walking towards Knebworth, reaching the village and I headed towards the station. Although for my semi-fast walk was for nothing as the next northbound train had been cancelled! (My first delay repay claim for the year!)
Although the extra 30 minutes at Knebworth was spent relaxing on a bench at the northern end of the station, with the odd photograph of passing trains before a 700 arrived to take me to Stevenage, where for my 20 minute fester I popped out to the nearby Tesco Extra for dinner items, returning to the station, but heading to the new platform 5 area, for I wanted to tick off the bay platform and also the new track used by the Moorgate trains. I boarded the 717 for the trip to Alexandra Palace, stepping back to a train from Welwyn to Highbury & Islington giving me around 40 minutes to reach Waterloo.
This is where things went wrong as the Victoria line had fallen over due to a broken down train at Finsbury Park, so to make my escape I headed to the “East London Line” platforms with a low mileage 378 taken to Dalston Junction for a short fester before another low mileage 378 arrived into the bays on a New Cross service. The run to Canada Water wasn’t enough to clear it, but I had one eye on the time as I headed to Waterloo on the Jubilee Line, before heading towards the sprinters working the 20:20 service. I was an hour later than I had hoped but never mind.
After the sprinter based noise, I walked home, the end of an enjoyable day with two walks carried out. I would recommend the walk between Welwyn North & Knebworth, also for the walk between St Albans & Hatfield.
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A 378 in one of the bays at Dalston Junction
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9th May – Back to the Thames Path
It was another Sunday trip towards the River Thames, this week I was going to walk the section between Cookham & Marlow, but instead of doing it linearly I had plans to do a circular walk going into the hilly area around Winter Hill. Also I had planned to walk part of the old railway line between Bourne End & High Wycombe, which had been turned into a footpath.
Similar to a couple weeks ago, the 08:56 took me straight to Reading, where I changed onto a 345 for the run to Maidenhead, popping out to the nearby Sainsburys for lunch items, before the 165 took me to Cookham. I set off on my walk heading along a couple footpaths to reach the “Chiltern Way” long distance path, following that across the Winter Hill Golf Course, heading uphill but the views were worth it when the trees gave way.
View from top of a hill near Bourne End
I followed the path joining the road for a short section to reach the top of “Winter Hill”, although this one was a bit more disappointing as there wasn’t that many views due to the trees (reminded me of last year when I walked up to Bury Hillfort near Andover). I carried on, heading downhill, quite steep in places but quite scenic for woods. I reached the busy “Quarry Wood Road”, crossing over into Bisham Woods for a short section before heading across a field to reach a storm drain underneath the Marlow Bypass, before another field before I reached the road, the end of the first section, as I headed towards the River Thames at Marlow Bridge.
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| River Thames from Marlow Bridge |
Going via the side streets following the signs of the Thames Path, I swung via Marlow lock for a photo, before having lunch on a bench. After lunch I carried along following the Thames Path, which mostly was between a line of trees (on the river side) grass on the left with the railway line in the distance, only slight issue was with mud around the many “Kissing Gates” along the way. The path was quite busy in places as it reached Bourne End going via some boat clubs before I came away from the Thames Path at the Bourne End Railway bridge, swinging towards the station to walk part of the old railway line.
Not much evidence that it was a former railway line, other some railway style concrete fence posts, but a scenic walk through the trees coming to an end near Wooburn, the old railway line continued but over private land, so after a couple photos I did a U-turn and headed back towards Bourne End, coming off the railway line to walk along the road at one point for a short-cut. I re-joined the Thames Path, with some congestion around the steps to climb up to the footbridge (which is attached to the railway viaduct), but eventually the crowds moved away from the Thames Path (I would guess a few were heading towards “Cock Marsh”.
I continued my way along the Thames Path, this section being better for views of the river (less trees in the way), and soon Cookham was in sight as I followed the path away from the river to the roads through the village of Cookham and out of the other side to walk back towards the station, via Cookham Moor (which car park looked pretty much full). I arrived at the station with around 10 minutes to spare before heading back to Maidenhead (running into an impatient person who tried to board the 165 at Maidenhead with his bike (held sideways) before I even had a chance to alight [and I was standing by the doors]).
A required 345 took me to Reading, where I changed onto a pair of voyagers to Basingstoke to pick up a KFC dinner, before the sprinters arrived from Reading to take me home. Arriving home as the rain started, but good timing as it only got heavier as the evening went on, another section of the Thames Path walked on a variable day of walking surfaces. No idea when I will get round to walking the next section as the next few weeks I’m busy (hotels reopen and I’m using up some Travelodge vouchers just to get rid of them).
A Purple Train at a quiet Reading
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