2nd – 4th July Weekend
The idea of this weekend was to visit the wonderful Cambrian coast, mainly to visit the country’s newest station of Bow Street, revisit a couple stations I needed for photographs and to take in the beauty of the line. This being the first weekend where the line was reopened after a 6 week closure to replace a bridge near Machynlleth where leisure hotel stays in England was allowed.
I managed to get a booking in the Premier Inn at Wolverhampton (the one next to the station) for the standard rate which was a bonus, and got booked on the 21:03 service from Euston to Wolverhampton for some Pendoling.
Friday- The trip to Wolverhampton
Nothing really exciting, with a single 159 taken from Grateley to Basingstoke, followed by a pair of 444s to Waterloo, I was toying with the idea of walking towards Blackfriars along the River Thames, but it had gotten very humid so headed across to Waterloo East to take a South Eastern service to London Bridge, followed by a couple Thameslink services to St Pancras (stopping at Blackfriars to keep my eye out for anything needed for mileage).
After St Pancras, it was a gentle walk across to
Euston, locating the platform the Pendo was sitting on to get my reserved seat
for the run towards Wolverhampton, my first decent run on a Pendo for a few
months. At Wolverhampton I decided to
take a risk with a late running train from Holyhead which was meant to go via
Bescot, but due to how late it was the 158 went via the regular route (via
Sandwell) both ways [it was more for the novelty of a Welsh unit on the tour
via Bescot]. That was a waste of £2.60 (although I have no idea why I bothered purchasing a ticket due to the Welsh guards hiding away in the rear cab and not doing revenue at the moment)
Returning to Wolverhampton for the 2nd time, I headed out towards the hotel, getting checked in and making myself at home for a couple nights, although it didn’t last as due to a cock-up at reception they had somehow given me the wrong room and someone else entered it around 1am, but soon left after noticing that someone else was in there. At the time of writing I’m still waiting on a response from Premier Inn about this incident as it did wake me up.
Saturday – Cambrian Coast
The main event of the weekend, something I had been looking forward to because the Cambrian Coast is beautiful (in parts) as the 158s make their slow way along the coast to reach rural communities & towns on the way to Pwllheli & Aberystwyth. The day began with a walk to a wet Wolverhampton station to board the first train towards Aberystwyth, formed of a single 158 calling at the usual stations towards Shrewsbury where it reversed before carrying on into Wales, getting busier along the way but emptied out at Machynlleth (for a connection for a coastal service).
I remained on board and alighted at Bow Street, the newest station in this country, featuring a nearly empty car park and a busy road. Nice scenery from the station but with only 20 minutes before the unit would return, I didn’t go exploring that far before I returned to the basic platform taking the same 158 back towards Machynlleth where I had a ~ 50 minute wait before the next train for Pwllheli, time I spent having a walk to a Co-Op in the town centre (lots of 2nd hand book stores) to pick up both a late breakfast & also bits for lunch.
A 158 departing Bow Street
Back at Machynlleth station I had a short wait before the next service arrived, front unit going towards Aberystwyth, middle unit to Pwllheli with the rear unit going out of service, I took a seat in the middle unit, making sure I was on the left hand side in the direction of travel (all the better for sea views). It was a few minutes late departing but the delay was made up along the way. The train was well used with passengers heading towards Barmouth, and then towards Harlech and a couple other stations along the upper section before the 158 arrived at Pwllheli pretty much on time giving me around 20 minutes to have a gentle walk around. This is an area I will return again for a decent look around because the line is beautiful, one of the best in Great Britain in my eyes
End of the Line for this 158
I returned to the 158 for the trip back south, this time taking a seat on the land side for some different views from the train, before alighting at Fairbourne for a spot of walking back towards Barmouth, going via the coastal path, which comes out near Morfa Mawddach station. A nice walk with good views, before I joined the path leading towards the Barmouth viaduct, which was quite busy with both walkers & cyclists, a few people parking in a car park near Morfa station and walking across the bridge to visit Barmouth to avoid the long detour due to the river I would imagine.
Due to the next northbound train being delayed, it allowed me the chance to grab a photo of it crossing over the viaduct, before I continued towards Barmouth where the weather had turned to be a bit drizzly, but it didn’t stop me carrying around walking towards the beach area, although I did turn back before reaching the end of a breakwater for it was a bit wet with the waves, before I reached Barmouth station I went via the Co-Op to grab bits for dinner before waiting at a very busy station. The 158 arrived and did empty out before filling up again, but by Fairbourne the majority of the crowds had gone [emptied out a bit at Morfa as well].
A 158 crossing the Barmouth Viaduct
The 158 arrived at Machynlleth pretty much on time, and passengers for stations towards Shrewsbury were told to change to the opposite platform for it would form a slightly unusual service in being non-stop to Aberystwyth (tight turnaround at Aberystwyth so it can’t call at the likes of Dovey or Borth). I alighted from the train at Aberystwyth and had another little walk around the town (doing a little loop) before returning to the station to await the last train which goes towards Shrewsbury and it was quite busy with people who have had a bit too much to drink. It departs Aberystwyth around 15 minutes down, and even with a random set swap at Machynlleth by the time it reached Shrewsbury it was back on time.
It was another enjoyable trip with good scenery, and it did quieten down due to the kickball game, but I was glad to alight at Wolverhampton as I was a bit on the tired side, so I walked to the hotel, went to the room I was in the night before but the card didn’t work, so back to reception where the issue from the previous night where I got given the wrong room came back and it took 45 minutes (sitting in a warm reception area) before they gave me a room (and my clothes back). On the bright side this room was on the side away from the station (overlooking the restaurant) so it was a bit quieter, but not the best way to end the day. At the time of writing I’m still waiting to hear back from Premier Inn about these issues as I was expecting a better experience.
The Afon Rheildol in Aberystwyth
Sunday – Back to Grateley, the long way round
The idea for my return home came from a knowing that there is a Castle-set (2+4) HST set which works Worcester – Bristol services on Sundays only, which allowed me to make a rough plan to also visit a couple of the stations I needed on the line between Hereford & Shrewsbury, so with a plan in my head I departed the hotel and headed to Wolverhampton station for a West Midlands stopping service towards Shrewsbury, at least I got a decent seat on the 170 for the slow journey, as some of the seats have collapsed due to overuse.
Canal near Wolverhampton Station
At Shrewsbury I had a short wait before a 3 coach 175 arrived from Manchester which took me to Leominster, heading back one stop on a busy 150 to Ludlow for an hour break at this lovely little town (which is quite hilly). After visiting Tesco and walking to a bridge over a river for some photos, it was back to the station where the rain had returned, before a 158 took me to Hereford where I met up with a good friend for a general chit-chat as I headed across to Worcester Foregate Street on a pair of 172s (terminating at Worcester due to engineering works).
River Teme from Ludford Bridge, Ludlow
Sadly the weather was still poor not to allow a walk towards the viaduct (no point getting soaking wet in the rain), so it was a case of waiting for the HST to arrive from Bristol (I got lucky as the other HST diagram was replaced with a 166) taking up a seat for the trip to Bristol Temple Meads (I was ignoring the instruction on my advance ticket to change at Filton Abbey Wood as I didn’t fancy a 45 minute wait at a station which doesn’t have much in the way of comfortable shelters, whereas Temple Meads has nice benches under the canopies and even waiting rooms.)
43172 at Worcester Foregate Street
My time at Bristol Temple Meads passed as a pair of 165s arrived on the Portsmouth train, quite busy until Bath where it emptied out for the enjoyable trip to Salisbury where I headed to a nearby Pizza place to order a takeaway pizza for dinner, returning to the station to eat the pizza on an isolated bench before a pair of very busy 159s arrived from Exeter to take me the one stop up the line to Grateley, the end of a varied day and an enjoyable weekend (other than being messed around by the Premier Inn at Wolverhampton).
View from footbridge at Machynlleth station
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