10th & 11th April – North West Trip Part 2

 10^th & 11^th April – North West Trip Part 2

 

Sunday:

 

The day began with checking out of the accommodation, a place I will use again as its handy for Crewe (and quite reasonably priced).  The idea for today was to have a nice walk before hunting down some required trams in Manchester.  My deadline was the 19:30 service towards Shrewsbury from Manchester as that connected in with the Birmingham International Hippo at Crewe.

 

First train of the day was a 323 on the stopper to Manchester Piccadilly, after watching the unusual sight of a 150+153+153+158 combo departing towards Chester.  One of these days I will understand why the guard comes through after Crewe checking tickets but disappears in the back cab afterwards (and hence ignoring anybody boarding at the intermediate stations).  Anyhow I purchased my “Train + Tram” ranger from a Metrolink TVM I had a short wait before a busy 319 on a Liverpool stopper which I took to Patricroft, where my walk began.

 

175107 passing Patricroft

 

From looking at the map there is a few options for a walk starting at Patricroft, heading north towards Bolton on the old railway line (via Walkden Low Level), towards Leigh along part of the old railway line (then guided busway), on the Port Salford Greenway path, or head south along the Bridgewater canal.  All featured in my head for potential ideas, but in the end, I decided on the Bridgewater Canal towpath.  Access to the towpath from the station was reasonably easy (all signposted), and soon I was heading in a mostly south-easterly direction towards Barton, where the canal goes across the Manchester Ship Canal in a wonderfully engineered Swing Aqueduct.

 

Barton Swing Aqueduct.

 

Evidence on the ground of the tracks of the former Trafford Park railway system (which I believe used to be quite large in the olden days).   I crossed over the Manchester Ship Canal via the road swing bridge, re-joining the canal for a leisurely walk under the trees.  It was peaceful for a time before the industrial units started appearing.  I passed the Trafford Centre shopping centre and went underneath the Metrolink bridge (pausing for a photo of a tram crossing the canal).  I continued my walk along the canal reaching the area I was in on Friday evening near Trafford Park station where the Manchester branch of the canal heads towards Manchester. I had another pause to get a photo of a pair of 195s crossing the railway bridge before continuing.

 

Trafford Centre bound Metrolink Tram 3121 crossing over the Bridgewater Canal

 

 

The canal had a large turning around Stretford as it goes towards the south west and got a lot busier with other walkers/cyclists/dog walkers.  I guess as the Metrolink runs close by it’s popular for linear walks, anyhow I continued along the towpath crossing the River Mersey and going underneath the M60 near Sale.  My walk continued along the canal, with a little detour along a path next to the Sinderland Brook for a little change of scenery.

 

Tram Across the Mersey... Doesn't have the same ring to it.

 

After my little detour, I was back on the canal towpath, going underneath an old railway bridge for the disused line which ran from the Glazebrook area towards Timperley (which I judge by looking at Google Maps, part of the old line is walkable towards the Ship Canal, but the old Cadishead Viaduct is off-limits.  I had another little detour via the West Timperley Nature Reserve before returning once more to the canal to head towards a road bridge to leave the canal towpath.  The next section was a walk along Navigation Road which led towards Navigation Road station (and who could have predicted that?).

 

I had good timing as the first tram towards Altrincham was a sub mile 3051 which was pushed over the mile on the run to Altrincham.  I had a tight connection to board a 150+156 on the Manchester bound (former EMR 156401), where I made a beeline to the toilet.  I alighted from this busy pair of units at Navigation Road, crossing back over to the Metrolink platform to board the return of 3051 which was standing room only (and it only got worse as it went on).

 

"This is the East Midlands Railway service to... ;)"

 

I alighted from this tram at Cornbrook, with the next tram behind being winner 3131 so my deckchair wasn’t even unfolded as I was on the St Peters Square bound.  A short (5 minute if that) break before 3137 arrived from the Airport.  This took me to Manchester Victoria where I remained on board to ride it back towards Shudehill to push it over a mile, along the way I noticed a sub mile tram on a Whitefield terminator (would have been Bury but there was engineering works).  I decided to have a little break away from the trams so walked to Manchester Victoria, where the gateline staff got confused by my ranger ticket.

 

First up was a 150+156 combo on a Wigan North Western service via Bolton, crossing over to Wigan Wallgate to board another 150+156 back to Manchester, this time via Walkden.  This 156 was a former GA unit and looked very tired inside, but soon enough I was back in Manchester, and back to the trams.  I was going to head towards Whitefield as I hadn’t been on that line for a fair while but required 3134 popped up on an East Didsbury tram, so I took it to Deansgate.  I returned to Victoria via Market Street where I spotted another low mile tram on a MediaCity tram, but didn’t give chase as I landed at Victoria, for a small deckchair session.

 

The newest tram on Metrolink (well until 3138-45 enter use)

 

I noticed Northern had strengthened a Leeds service to be a 150+158, for that platform when it rolled in was very busy (TPE strike day).  Anyway, eventually sub mile 3063 rolled in which I took to Piccadilly Gardens pushing it over a mile, and with good timing the next tram was sub mile 3129 (plus friend) which I took to Holt Town.  Due to the kickball finishing at the Man City ground I decided to make a quick getaway by foot, following a path which went via the River Medlock path.

 

This was actually a pretty path for woodlands, and came out near Fairfield street, where I had a walk along the road underneath the railway line, and to Piccadilly station, jumping on a busy 9 coach Pendo to take me to Stockport.  My theory was to intercept the late running 175 at Stockport, to remain on board during the turnaround at Piccadilly.  This turned out to be a good move as it soon filled up due to the next London Pendo getting cancelled [so those with flexible tickets jumped on the 175 to change at Crewe].

 

Unusual place for a 323, in the little used Stockport bay

 

I said farewell to Manchester Piccadilly as the overcrowded Hippo left passengers behind at Stockport, but a handful did alight at Wilmslow allowing those passengers there to board.  Emptied out quite well at Crewe, with most heading over to platform 5 for a London train.  I headed out of the station to buy something to eat from Tesco to waste time, before returning for a short wait for 175102 to roll in from Llandudno Junction on the novelty of a TfW Rail service via Stafford, something which is getting axed from the May timetable change.

 

The train was lightly loaded, and remained so all the way to Birmingham International, where I had a short wait to return towards Birmingham New Street on a pair of 350s, walking to the Travelodge at Newhall Street.  The end of an enjoyable day featuring a canalside walk, some 156s & some trams ticked off.  I only need one more tram for a mile, plus trams 3138 onwards whenever they might enter service.

 

175102 at Birmingham International

 

Monday

As usual I had a few ideas for today, the first was to head towards Bletchley to see if any of my required 230s were out on the Marston Vale line, but that idea went into the bin due to some of the services getting cancelled the night before.  So I decided on another canalside walk, deciding between the options I had from starting at Newhall Street (I could either go along the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal towards Aston (or branching onto the Digbeth Branch Canal to head towards Small Heath) or head towards Wolverhampton.

 

After flipping a virtual coin in my head I decided to head towards Wolverhampton, only as far as Sandwell & Dudley station, but even that gave me options due to the multiple canals in the Birmingham area,  So I checked out of the hotel, swung via a Tesco Express close by for breakfast before heading onto the canal towpath, following a similar route as I did back in February, but this time I carried straight on at Old Turn Junction where the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal meets the Birmingham Canal.

 

Sheepcote Street Bridge over Birmingham Canal

 

There are a few loops away from the main canal, however only some of these are accessible to the public, some have no access, others are for private moorings where the towpath is gated off.  I stayed on the main canal, passing the sight where there used to be a railway bridge to carry the long closed Harborne Railway over the canal.  When the Soho loop came back onto the main canal, I took a little detour along this loop towards All Saints Park, returning on myself to carry along the main canal, passing close by to Soho depot where a couple 323s were resting.

 

A 350 crossing the Soho Loop of the Birmingham Canal

 

 

At this point there was towpaths on both sides of the canal, I decided to stay on the path on the northern side and reached Smethwick Junction where the canal splits into the Old Main Line & New Main Line.  I decided to pick the Old Main Line, going up some locks, passing the so called “Engine Arm” which crosses the “New Main Line” on a nice looking aqueduct, one probably better to get photos from the low ground on the New Main canal.  Around Smethwick Rolfe Street I decided to do a detour towards the station for some better photos, before returning to the canal, where a lovely old pumping station was between the two canals.

 

Galton Valley Pumping Station

 

After the pumping station the old line turned quite rural (and towpath went a bit muddy in places).  Although the rural section soon changed into a section where the canal was underneath the M5.  The canal split with a short “Spon Lane Locks Branch” which seemed to be inaccessible from the towpath on the southern side which messed up my rough plan as I continued towards the multi-level Stewart Aqueduct where the M5 crosses the railway line which itself crosses the Old Line Canal which crosses the New Line canal.  All the bridges!

 

*

A 350 near Stewart Aqueduct

 

Thankfully at this point there is a link between the two canals, all be quite steep.  Now I was on the “New Line” I carried on underneath the M5 doing a short detour at Bromfield Junction, crossing one of the locks to bypass a fence for the little branch (which looked like the water level was very low in between locks).  I did a U-turn and carried on along the canal, reaching the A4034 road bridge which links the canal to Sandwell & Dudley station.

 

I could have easily continued (to maybe Dudley Port or even Tipton), but I had one eye on the clock, as I fancied doing the afternoon 68 move from Moor Street, abet only to Solihull.  The next train towards Birmingham was a single 2 coach 170 from Shrewsbury, which was a bit cosy. This took me to Birmingham New Street, where after grabbing lunch from Tesco I headed towards Birmingham Moor Street.  68015 was sitting on the buffer stops on platform 4, so I took a seat in the coach next to the loco for the extra noise.  The trip to Solihull was short but was good enough for the time being.

 

Soli Cat

 

I had a short wait at Solihull for a late running XC to pass, followed by a 70 hauling containers then finally a pair of 172s to take me to Smethwick Galton Bridge.  A 350 on the next stopper took me back to Birmingham New Street but when I saw the next London train was a pair of 350/2s I decided against taking them to Watford Junction for a spin on the St Albans Abbey line (good thing I did as the Abbey Line fell over with it getting replaced by buses).  For a time wasting move I had a gentle walk in the city centre before returning to the station, waiting on the platform for the next London Euston LNR service to roll in.

 

Desiro Roulette was kind to me as it was a 350/1 leading a 350/2, so no prizes at which unit I sat in for the run towards Watford Junction, getting up some nice speed on the nonstop run from Milton Keynes to Watford.  I had a short wait at Watford Junction for a trio of 319s to roll in from Euston, this will be my sort of farewell to the LNR 319s as they must be on borrowed time, I can’t see them lasting until the end of the year, with a little shuffle of 350s to cover the limited services the 319s operate.

 

I took a seat in the motor coach for the run to London Euston, pausing only at Harrow & Wealdstone.  At Euston I decided to have a walk towards Waterloo, to waste time before the 19:20 service back home.  Nothing out of the ordinary in terms of route (no detours to visit green spaces etc), and I soon arrived at Waterloo with time to spare.

 

On Borrowed Time? LNR 319s

 

The last train of my long weekend was short formed to 5 coaches instead of the usual 8, so was a bit busier than I suspect it would have been.  Soon enough I had alighted at Grateley to walk home, to spend the remainder of the evening relaxing.  A busy few days meant I had a lazy day on the Tuesday (went to see a film in the cinema).

7th – 11th April, A long weekend in Cheshire (Part 1)

 7^th – 11^th April, A long weekend in Cheshire (Part 1)

The idea of this trip was to have a long weekend, based in the accommodation in Crewe from the Thursday to Sunday, with Sunday night in Birmingham.  It had been a long time since my last day of annual leave from work (back at Christmas time) so I was looking forward to getting away for a few days as the last 3 months had dragged at times.

7^th April

 

I finished work on the Thursday evening and it was a speedy drive home, picking up my bag to drive (in mum’s car as she was with me to take the car home after doing some shopping) to Andover station for the 17:38 service to London (I know in theory I should be able to make the 19:46 Crewe train from Euston with an arrival at Waterloo for 19:20, but it will be a bit tight in case of any random delays).  I made it to Andover station with around 8 minutes to spare so I had a nice slow walk over to the London bound platform to await the train.

 

An 8 coach Sprinter lash-up, as usual the front coaches were busy, but the rearmost coach was quiet.  At Basingstoke Stu boarded on his way back from the Isle of Wight allowing us time for a good catch-up for the run to London.  We went via Tesco outside Waterloo before a Northern Line service to Euston, where we said farewell as he went to try to get onto a Manchester train as his booked train towards Preston had been cancelled.

 

For me, it was a spin of Desiro Roulette, this time it landed on a pair of 350/1s for the Crewe train.  Delayed by around 20 minutes due to issues elsewhere (think this was the day a track broke near Birmingham causing countless chaos), but eventually the train departed.  It didn’t make back much time along the way so arrival into Crewe was around 15 minutes late.  At Crewe I made my way towards the accommodation (best way to describe would be an Air B&B style shared house), picking up my room key from the keypress outside the room, and made myself at home for the next 3 nights.

 

350106 at London Euston

 

Friday 8^th

 

The rough idea was for the Friday to head towards Liverpool to hunt down my last trio of Merseyrail units needed for 10 miles, plus to see if anything else on my wanted list was around.  I was either mad or being cheap when I booked up on the direct Crewe – Liverpool service which goes via Manchester calling at every station along the way (paid just over £4 for the 07:13-odd departure, which got me into Liverpool for around 09:25, an ideal time for the start of off-peak).

 

I had followed this service on RTT over the last couple weeks and it seemed to be a solid 319 turn, so I wasn’t surprised when 319367 rolled in.  I managed to get a seat in the motor coach (where else would I be?) for the run towards Manchester Airport, reversing to carry on towards Piccadilly,  The train did get busy along this section, and remained busy pretty much throughout the remainder of the journey.  Sadly, a group of loud passengers heading for the horse racing at Aintree meant I put in my earphones to listen to music rather than the motor noise.  Yep I picked a good day to head to Liverpool with the racing on, doh!

 

Heading to Liverpool the slow way round!

 

Along the way I had a rough plan formed with the knowledge of where 2 out of my last trio of Merseyrail units were (the 3^rd would come out later as a late allocation), with the bonus of both my remaining pair of TPE 802s out in Liverpool.  After buying my Saveaway from the Northern ticket office (issued on glorious paper, not the smartcard you get if you buy from Merseyrail), I headed to take a seat on winner 802208 on the next Newcastle train.  I took this to Newton Le Willows, changing platforms to board a novelty of a 5 coach 175 lash-up (although the rear 2 coach unit was locked out of use) for the short run to Earlestown, deciding to walk back towards Newton Le Willows rather than gambling on being able to board the next Manchester train (a single 158).

 

Back at Newton Le Willows, the next TPE rolled in, and it was very busy.  I was lucky to get a seat for the run back to Lime Street, where after a short walk took me to Liverpool Central to take the next Southport service.  I will admit doing one of those Aintree fasts was tempting (nonstop Moorfields – Aintree) but decided against it.  A pair of 508s arrived from Hunts Cross to take me towards Ainsdale, where I changed platforms as low mileage 507008 rolled in along with another 508.

 

507008 arriving into Ainsdale, 1 down...

 

I took this set towards a very busy Sandhills, in order to take the next Kirkby shuttle (due to the Aintree extras, Kirkby had been reduced to a shuttle service), which was low mileage 507016 to clear the 507s.  A run to Kirkby & back pushed this unit over ten miles (was previously on only a mile).  Next up was a pair of 508s to Moorfields where after a long walk landed me on the Wirral line platform with a 507 taken for the spin out to Hooton.  By doing this move meant I missed out on the 323 towards Warrington Bank Quay, but that train ended up getting cancelled, so nothing was lost there.

 

A short wait before the sound of victory as 508125 rolled in from Chester, to clear Merseyrail.  This busy service took me to James Street, where I exited the suburban station to go for a gentle walk.  This walk took me towards the waterfront, passing all those lovely old buildings, towards the former docks area (mix bag of old warehousing in use and in disrepair) and to the Leeds & Liverpool Canal.  I followed the canal towpath going underneath the railway line in the Vauxhall area, turning left to follow the path towards Sandhills.

 

Royal Liver Building

 

At Sandhills I had a short wait for another 508+507 combo which took me to Liverpool Central, where I had a gentle walk back to Lime Street, buying a GM Wayfarer from the ticket office, before taking a seat on winner 802205, my last 802, for the run to Manchester Victoria. At Manchester Victoria I took a seat on a pair of 185s for the run round the chord to Piccadilly, returning to Oxford Road on a busy single 185.  I changed over to a pair of 156s on the Liverpool stopper for the run out to Humphrey Park (needed a better photo, although the angle of the sun wasn’t the best for the departure photo).

 

802205 at Manchester Victoria.  802s Tick

 

Time for a little walk for me, as I followed the streets towards Trafford Park station, before heading towards the Bridgewater Canal, following the Manchester branch as it went via Trafford Park industrial estate, then passing the Old Trafford Kickball Ground (I will admit to be surprised at there not being any sort of links from the Canalside to at least one of the car parks to allow visitors to walk along the canal from Manchester when visiting, unless I missed one somewhere.

 

My walk continued along the canal towpath, swapping over sides near Pomona Metrolink station.  The path continued with the Metrolink tracks on my far left, the canal to my left and railway line to the right.  Although looked like some local people had been out with spray cans of paint trying to do “art” on the walls (looked disgusting if you asked me).  I passed a fenced off access point (near Cornbrook station), continuing along the path (which was reasonably busy with other walkers, cyclists & the odd dog walker).

 

I reached the Castlefield area of Manchester, where the Rochdale canal branches off which heads to Rochdale (and beyond!).  I carried on via the Castlefield basin where the canal comes to an end, and just with good timing as it started to rain again as I headed towards Deansgate Castlefield Metrolink stop to have a break after an enjoyable walk.  I decided to jump on the first tram towards Cornbrook to take a break for a tram hunt.

 

A pair of Trams on a viaduct in Castlefield area of Manchester

 

A short wait with winner 3121 followed by a sub-mile 3082 back to Cornbrook.  I decided to call it a day and head slowly back towards Piccadilly (and to get away from some undesirable youths hanging around Cornbrook).  Although when I got to Piccadilly Gardens the tram behind me was winner 3125 which I took to Holt Town to push it over a mile.  Back to Piccadilly where I left the tram network, and towards a 323 on a Crewe stopper to take me to Wilmslow for wanting to do the novelty of an Avanti Pendo on the airport avoiding line (in the pre Covid timetable, the only service which did this from memory was the extra Manchester service which was set-down only at Crewe).

 

However due to issues, this train was around 30 minutes late, so without wanting to risk a connection to the 22:30 TfW Rail service back to Crewe (the next train wasn’t until the 23:45-odd stopper), I decided to cut my losses and give that Pendo a miss, taking a 3 coach 175 to Crewe. In hindsight, a good thing I did cut my losses as it appears that Pendo got routed via Stockport instead of Heald Green.  At Crewe I had a short walk back to the accommodation to relax for the remainder of the evening.  I was happy with the results of the day, my main aim of getting my last 3 Merseyrail units was done, with the bonus of my last duo of 802s.  Shame none of my required 769s or 397s were out and about but that couldn’t be helped.

 

Where a Pendo was meant to have been...

 

Saturday 9^th

 

I was on a Cheshire Day Ranger today, with the main idea to walk the Middlewood Way.  A mixed used path mostly on the trackbed of the old Macclesfield, Bollington and Marple Railway line.

 

As I finished earlier on the Friday than I was originally expecting, I decided to head out earlier to do a bit of a novelty, of boarding a Northern service at Longport.  First train was 350124 going from platform 2 at Crewe (also known as the pier for it’s a long walk!) to Alsager for a short wait for a 156 to Longport (probably the last time I will be alighting from an EMR service here, as from May I believe EMR goes down to limited service with the Birminghan – Crewe LNR services calling regularly).  With some time to waste I did a little loop towards the Trent & Mersey Canal, before following a footpath leading to a footbridge over the railway line before returning to the station.

 

A Pendo passing Longport

 

A pair of Northern 323s were up next to take me towards Macclesfield where my walk began.  The route has good signposting from the station as I went via Tesco to get bits for lunch & some more drink.  The first mile or so the path goes via some green spaces close to a dual carriageway, before the path goes over the A523 which is where the main path began (in terms of being on the old railway route).  The route is quite scenic in terms of trees lining the path (which is mostly in a cutting), the first detour was in the Bollington area due to the original alignment being lost to an industrial estate.

 

I carried on, going past the site of the old Bollington station (no real remains), and over the Bollington viaduct, before carrying on heading towards Marple.  The path around this point splits into 2 rough parallel paths (one is a footpath, the other a bridleway) which was slightly unusual as at times the paths were separate by a low fence.  The next area of old railway infrastructure was the remains of Higher Poynton station, before crossing the Buxton line at Middlewood  (no real remains of the former Middlewood Higher station).

 

Remains of the former Higher Poynton Station

 

The path quality was quite reasonable, I was expecting it to be a bit muddier in places, but other than a handful of short parts (mostly where the path narrows, or when it runs alongside a stream) it was solid, the northern section was more popular with walkers/dogs/bikes.  My walk continued passing the former platforms at High Lane station, carrying on along the former railway line, still with some nice views.  I reached the outskirts of Marple, and the Middlewood Way came to an end as I headed towards Rose Hill Marple station.

 

My timing was near enough spot on, as a 195 was just arriving as I crossed the car park, seeing a 195 seems odd considering the last time I was here it was on a pacer.  I took a seat on the 195, plugged my phone on charge and randomly checked RTT for options, noticing a required 397 had swapped from heading to Liverpool to heading towards Manchester.  I stayed on the 195 all the way to Piccadilly and headed over to platform 13 for a short wait for winner 397001 to arrive.  Onwards to Manchester Airport once it emptied out, time I spent looking up a rough idea for the rest of the day.  Sadly, none of my last 3 Northern 769s were out, but another 397 was due to arrive in around 4 hours.

 

Last time I was here, it was on a Pacer.

 

A pair of 331s took me back towards Piccadilly where I headed over to board a 156 on a Buxton service to take me towards Chapel-en-le-Frith.  A station I had only ever visited late night in 2015 as a time-wasting move, and it’s a very scenic area (and peaceful).  20-odd minutes later a pair of 150s arrived to take me towards Woodsmoor for a gentle walk towards Davenport, where it seems I had missed the rain judging by puddles on the platforms.

 

 

View from near Chapel En Le Frith Station

 Next up was another pair of 331s to take me towards Deansgate, where with time to kill I headed out of the station, towards the disused part of the Castlefield viaduct (the work to turn it into an urban linear park is slowly coming along), then did a loop via Potato Wharf (and the reconstructed walls of a roman fort).  I went towards the entrance of the Rochdale canal to walk along the Rochdale canal towpath, going past Deansgate stations, coming away from the canal near Chorlton Street to reach Manchester Piccadilly, arriving with time to spare before winner 397007 arrived from Preston to take me towards Manchester Airport for a second time of the day (only one more 397 left to get).

 

158813 passes Davenport station

 

Once more I headed towards the Blackpool train for a pair of 331s, this time alighting at Oxford Road to head over to the bay platform for a pair of 156s to take me to Irlam, but before-hand I watched as a 5 coach 222 slowly passed Oxford Road, working empty to Liverpool to form a Grand National Extra Nottingham train.  I will admit being a bit tempted to head towards Liverpool for the novelty factor of a 222 via Warrington Central, but decided against it due to the potential of it being overcrowded.  Anyhow the 156s took me to Irlam, for a short wait before the novelty of an EMR service calling there.  These 158s took me to Warrington Central where I had a short walk to Warrington Bank Quay to await the next Chester train.

 

A 222 on a little holiday towards Liverpool

 

This was a busy 2 coach 175, thankfully I was only on it to Runcorn East, having a short wait before a pair of 195s rolled in from Leeds to carry on towards Chester.  Runcorn East being one of those stations where I had a photo but wanted more photos (if that makes sense).  At Chester I had a short wait before the next Crewe train, watching as a single 507 rolled in from Liverpool and the crowds emptying out (mostly heading towards a single 158 heading towards North Wales!)

 

508108 at Chester

 

A reasonably loaded 158 took me to Crewe (although one where the windows were quite dirty), and I headed over to board a 350 to Kidsgrove to take a look at the new footbridge.  Next up was 170531 which I took to Stoke, for a connection onto 170273 back to Crewe to end the day.  Unusually this 170 went into the pier platform, and I had a gentle walk back to the accommodation swinging via a pizza place.  I noticed that a little Sainsburys Local had closed down (although I’m not surprised as it was located down a side street, but a bit of a shame as I was going to visit it on the Sunday).

 

An enjoyable day, I would recommend the 10 mile walk from Rose Hill Marple to Macclesfield to anybody who enjoys an old railway line walk.

 

Sunday & Monday to come later

1st – 3rd April, Trip to Manchester & Yorkshire

 1^st – 3^rd April, Trip to Manchester & Yorkshire

 

Friday (1^st April)

It's time for another weekend getaway to the North, originally I was going to book 2 nights in the Manchester area but hotels for the Saturday night were just silly money (£60 for ones with limited public transport options) so I looked further afield, ending up booking the Travelodge in Bradford for the Saturday night, with Stockport on the Friday night.  The weather forecast looked reasonable for walking (i.e. no rain) so I was looking forward to getting away once more.  Also I was looking forward for my first decent fast run on a Pendo from Euston for a while, but maybe I spoke too soon!

 

The trip began with the 17:59 service from Grateley to Basingstoke, a reasonably busy single 159.  At Basingstoke I changed onto a pair of 444s from Weymouth which were busy in parts (and quiet in others) for the fast run towards Waterloo, calling only at Clapham Junction.  After visiting Tesco for some dinner items, I headed up the many stairs to Waterloo East, jumping on a pair of 707s to London Bridge.

 

376017 at Waterloo East

 

In my view South Eastern have done a good job with the insides of the 707s they got from South Western, new seat covers & colours inside.  They also look quite smart in the dark blue, shame I was only on them for a few minutes.  At London Bridge I crossed over to the Thameslink platforms, jumping on the first train towards Blackfriars, stepping back to board the following train to St Pancras.  I just love the view of the River Thames at night from Blackfriars station.

 

At St Pancras I walked over to Euston, a station in a bit of chaos due to damage to the overhead wires at Rugeley, I did ask staff if I could board an earlier train to Manchester (the heavily delayed 20:40 Manchester, I was booked on the 21:36 Manchester) but they said no (I’m sure in the Virgin Trains days when issues like this happened, they would have relaxed any ticket restrictions to get people moving, even if they were on an earlier train).  The train to form the 21:36 was on the platform, but there was no staff, so it was a case of keeping eyes peeled for when it would get announced (doesn’t help that the screens next to the seats near the toilets at P1 were broken).

 

390009 at London Euston

 

Eventually the train got announced for boarding around 22:26 with the expected rush of passengers heading to try and claim an unreserved seat (or the sort who were lazy and just sat down at any old seat before moaning when they were asked to move).  The train departed around 22:45 but due to engineering works was put onto the slow lines until south of Leighton Buzzard where they went onto the fast lines.  I was surprised this train didn’t call additionally at Milton Keynes as the 21:00 service got cancelled [the one before hand went via Crewe, not much help for any Stoke or Macclesfield passengers].

 

When on the 2-track section via Weedon, the train slowed down, coming to a stop due to a track circuit failure up ahead, which cost us another 25 minutes of delays before the train cleared the area.  At Rugby we got lucky as the mainline towards Rugeley had been reopened after the incident earlier in the day when a 350 decided it wanted to become a 91 and eat the wires (mmm yummy overhead wires).  I dread to think how much later the train would have got if it went via Birmingham, although it did loss more time due to being on the slow line from Nuneaton towards Lichfield (now a mere 115 minutes late).

 

The train went via Colwich, passing Stone, which is where things went wrong once more, this time with the level crossings at the ghost stations of Barlaston & Wedgwood.  Another 15 minutes lost before the train arrived at Stoke (where it did empty out).  Thankfully for those wanting Macclesfield the train went as booked via Macclesfield (for a moment I was worried it would be forced to go via Crewe due to Macclesfield being closed for overnight works).  Arrival into Stockport was at 01:51, a mere 134 minutes late, needless to say I was glad to get off that train on what felt like the journey from hell, getting to the hotel.  Thankfully I had no issues checking in, so went straight to the room, turning off the heating (putting on the AC on full as it was sauna like), before crashing out.

 

Stockport Viaduct

 

Saturday

 

Thankfully unlike other times when I’ve come to Stockport, I didn’t really have a plan, other than a canalside walk from Mossley.  When on the train heading to Stockport I noticed a required 769 was allocated to the 09:06 Southport service so that formed the basic of my plan when I woke up around 8am.  After a quick scan of RTT highlighted neither of my remaining 2 769s were out, nor were my last 2 TPE 802s gettable I decided on a Tram & Train Ranger, just to save some money over getting a Wayfarer.

 

The day began with visiting Sainsburys for breakfast, before picking up my ranger from the ticket office (finally making use of a voucher I got from SWR last year when they overcharged me for parking at Romsey!).  I headed up to platform 1-2, noticing that platform 2 was very busy (at first I was expecting them to try and fit on a 3 coach 175 for Wales but most remained in place, so I would imagine it was either London or a Nottingham train).  As for me, it was onto a 769 for the lead to Cheadle Hulme to make a 5-minute connection to required 769424 coming the other way.

 

769442 at Cheadle Hulme

 

Why Cheadle Hulme?  Just to clear it for ten miles by the time it reached Salford Crescent to save time.  A short wait at Salford Crescent for a busy 3 coach 331 to take me back towards Piccadilly (noticing a 3 coach 195 was on a Wigan – Leeds service, which looked a bit out of place).  At Piccadilly I had a short walk across to platform 1 to take a seat on a 185 working the next Huddersfield stopper which took me towards Mossley, going via platform 3 at Stalybridge (which did confuse me at first as I was expecting the more usual platform 4).  Anyhow I alighted from the train at Mossley and started my walk.

 

Down a steep hill from the station to reach the bridge over the River Tame, followed by the bridge over the Huddersfield Narrow Canal, where I headed down a narrow path to join the towpath.  A very pretty tree lined canal were my impressions as I walked along the towpath, although walking through Scout Tunnel was interesting as there wasn’t much headroom, and the tunnel gave walkers a free shower!  Low bridges were a feature on this canal in places, but nothing too major (just needed to remember to walk close to the edge, watching my foot).

 

Who doesn't love an old canal tunnel?

 

I continued my walk along the canal, the rural nature giving way to industrial & residential as it reached Stalybridge, passing a Tesco & noticing the volume of litter & other fly-tipping had increased the closer I got to the town centre.  I carried on along the towpath crossing over the River Tame on an aqueduct reaching the Ashton area where I had to leave the towpath to pass an Asda (the canal goes via a short tunnel here).  The path running alongside the railway viaduct at this point, giving some nice views of the river on the opposite side.  I feel the road crossing could have been improved as it did include a small dogleg before re-joining the towpath.

 

The next area of interest was Portland Basin where the Peak Forest Canal branches off to head towards New Mills.  Also, at this point the Huddersfield Narrow Canal turns into the Ashton Canal for the next stage towards Manchester.  The towpath runs close to the Guide Bridge Freightliner depot with a separate path coming away to head over the railway line (something on my list to do on another day).  I carried on my walk passing Guide Bridge station, going underneath a motorway (and a freight line).

 

Ashton Canal

 

I carried on my walk along the canal towpath as it carried on heading towards Manchester, going via Droylsden & Openshaw (where the old Stockport canal branched off which I walked last December).  The canal reached the area where the Commonwealth Games were held in 2002 (and where Man City play their kickball).  The towpath got busier at this point as I continued heading towards Manchester city centre, passing some older buildings & some newer buildings, crossing over the area near New Islington tram stop.  I carried on as the buildings close to the canal were now mostly residential.  I crossed another aqueduct (this one going over a road) as I reached the end of the canal as it ran into the Piccadilly Basin.

 

Now onto the Rochdale Canal I was in two minds whenever to continue along the canal to reach Deansgate, but I decided enough was enough for today and headed towards Morrisons (which has certainly changed since the last time I visited, in terms of store layout, although the baguettes weren’t as nice as they normally are).  I ended the walk at Market Street Metrolink, the city centre was very busy, so it was time to go play with some trams, hunting down both some of the newer batch which have slowly been entering service in the last few months (3121 and above) plus to see if any of my “Sub-Mile” trams would pop up.

 

In the words of Moby, Lift Me Up

 

First up was a pair of trams which I took to St Peter’s Square, before in a linear fashion scored 3128, 3124, 3127 & 3133 ending up at Sale Water Park (making a splash!)  I headed back towards Morrisons at Chorlton (use of the toilet and also to grab some drink), before a few sub-mile trams were ticked off, with new trams 3135 & 3132 also ticked off.

 

 

Tram 3133

 

I was at Cornbrook and had an idea earlier on to head towards Victoria to try and catch the 17:55-odd Wigan service for the slight novelty of a 195 on the line via Swinton, got that idea got binned as I headed towards Harbour City on winner 3130.  A short walk followed towards the Imperial War Museum stop to try and intercept a low mileage tram, but due to a mistake on Google Maps suggesting a path was available (where in fact it was private and was gated) meant I missed it (so gave chase to Barton Dock Road on the following service).  The area around the docks is on my list to visit (I have a lot of things on that list in the Manchester area).

 

Old Railway Bridge in Salford Docks

 

The revised plan was successful as I grabbed low mileage 3030 back to Village, returning to The Trafford Centre on the following tram, solely to tick off the opposite platform (the preferred platform got switched a few months back), also for the novelty of a pair of trams to the renamed stop.  Certainly, felt like it needed pairs out with the shoppers heading back to the city centre!  At Cornbrook my plan changed again (was going to head towards Piccadilly to take a train out towards Woodsmoor for a better photo) but required tram 3136 was heading towards East Didsbury.  However a good thing I checked train times as there was nothing towards Manchester for the next hour so I bailed at St Werburghs Road.

 

Back towards Manchester, however I mistimed as the kickball at Old Trafford had finished so the tram got very busy at Trafford Bar tram stop and I made the mistake at changing at Cornbrook (should have stayed on to Deansgate).  I eventually squeezed onto a double from Trafford Centre which was terminating at Deansgate (guess that makes sense, considering the centre platform is available again).  I gave up with the trams and headed across to Deansgate station to catch a busy 331 to Piccadilly, making a tight connection onto a pair of 185s on a Cleethorpes service.

 

End of the Trafford Centre Branch

 

I was shocked that when I boarded the front coach was empty, a family followed me on board (and like me they were only going to Stockport).  I was expecting the train to be a bit busier (it was busier in the rear coaches though).  At Stockport I had a short wait before a bit of a novelty in the shape of a pair of 323s from Stoke (first time having a pair of Northern 323s, although very common in Birmingham).  I took these back to Piccadilly, where I grabbed dinner before heading to the Metrolink platforms for a tram to Victoria.  I made a tight connection to a pair of 150s heading towards Salford Central, allowing me to board a 3 coach 158 on what should be my booked train to Bradford (the theory in boarding at Salford was in case there was a large crowd waiting for it at Victoria).

 

A rare Electric Train calling at Salford Central

 

158752 rolled in from Wigan to terminate at Victoria, a Brucie bonus in this unit having USB sockets fitted (allowing me to charge my phone up) and where it was busy on departure (calling additionally at the stops before Rochdale to cover for a cancelled train) it soon emptied out.  Soon enough the train had reached Bradford Interchange, where I had a short walk to the Travelodge outside Forster Square station (I could even see a 333 from my room window!).  No issues with getting checked in and soon enough it was time to relax (after a much-needed shower).  An enjoyable walk along the canal towpath, seeing parts of Greater Manchester I’ve not seen before, followed by a good tram hunt.

 

View from room at Bradford Travelodge. Spot the 333!

 

Sunday

 

The original idea for today was to walk the old railway line from Low Moor towards Dewsbury, however due to the TPE strike I changed my mind.  As I did a canal walk on the Saturday I didn’t want to do another canal walk from Shipley towards Leeds (or towards Bingley & beyond), so I settled on the old railway line walk from Castleford towards Garforth as that had stations at both ends (rather than needing to use buses like a couple of the other disused railway line paths in Yorkshire).  This line closed in the late 80s and looking at Wikipedia was mainly used by freight & coal trains from the various Collieries.

 

After a decent sleep, I checked out of the hotel, going via McDonalds for something warm to eat for breakfast before heading to Forster Square station to buy a West Yorkshire Train Day Ranger and waited for the first train towards Leeds rolled in from Leeds, where I was welcomed onboard (the 333s are ever so polite).  At Leeds I swung via Boots to grab some bits for lunch before heading to platform 14 to take a 158 forming a Selby stopper to Garforth, where todays walk was starting.  I decided to swap direction of walk to avoid a longer fester at Leeds.

 

"Welcome to the Leeds Train"

 

 The first section of the walk was on the streets around Garforth before picking up a footpath which led towards to the former trackbed.  I did a small double back to Ninelands Lane where the trackbed (known as “The Lines” path) ended, to be honest it would have been easier to reach this point from East Garforth but never-mind.  I returned to follow the path in a mostly southern direction, going via some woods (which were quite pretty), passing the site of the long-closed Kippax station (no real evidence other than the road being called “Station Road”).

 

Old Garforth - Castleford Railway Line

 I carried along the path reaching the area where Bowers station used to be (again no evidence that it existed), where I turned away from the mainline onto another mixed used path leading towards the former  St Aidan's opencast mining site, which has been turned into a lake & RSPB Nature Reserve.  It was rather beautiful, lots of birds flying around and I did a nice gentle loop around the main Bower’s Lake, pausing at the old Walking Dragline machine (called Oddball due to being built in America).  Certainly, this is an area I wouldn’t mind revisiting again for a decent explore.

 

Bower's Lake (RSPB St Aidans)

 

I returned towards the old railway route (still with tracks in one of the roads), and headed towards another lake, this time Lowther Lake.  It wasn’t as pretty as Bower’s Lake, made worse as the path I was following was muddy in places (also it was tree lined so options to view the lake were limited to walking onto fishing pontoons for photos).  Soon enough I was back on my outward journey re-joining the main line around Bowers, to continue along the path to reach the settlement of Allerton Bywater.

 

This Railway Path Walk Terminates Here

 

 

This is where the former railway path comes to an end, the route has been partly built over before disappearing (in terms of public access).  I headed onto the road, pausing at a little Tesco Express to grab a bottle of pop before heading towards Newton Lane, for a spot of on-road walking to reach a path which ran alongside the edge of RSPB Fairburns Ings, another pretty area of wetland.  This path came out going underneath the Castleford viaduct (where the old railway route went over the River Aire on a large viaduct) to join a path which runs alongside the River Aire, before following the Aire & Calder Navigation to reach a road bridge to head towards Castleford itself.

 

Castleford Viaduct

 

I had one eye on the time so didn’t really slow down during the last section via Castleford high street to reach the station with 5 minutes to spare.  Since my last visit there is a new station building (very fancy), and it looks like the former 2^nd platform is getting restructured (future engineering works maybe?)  Anyhow the train from Sheffield rolled in, a 150 attached to a 158.  Sadly the 158 was locked out of use due to short platforms at a couple of the stations on this route so it was everybody into the 150.  I got lucky to get a seat in the luggage area, unlike those who boarded at Woodlesford who had no such luck.

 

The train arrived in Leeds a few minutes early, giving me a couple hours to waste before my booked train home, so I headed over to a busy 333 on a Skipton service which I took to Saltaire (I needed some better photos), returning to Shipley on another 333.  I changed over to board a 331 on an Ilkley service, changing my mind to bail at Menston to take the next Bradford train (another 331) to Bradford Forster Square.  Solely because it had a power socket and also to clear the Leeds Electrics network for 331 coverage.

 

331110 departs Menston

 

I had a gentle walk across the city centre to reach Bradford Interchange, where I noticed a 195 for Manchester looked quite cosy, but I was aiming for a 150+158 combo from Huddersfield.  The 158 was nice and quiet as I took it back to Leeds, to finish my time with the Northern trains for this trip.  I headed out of the station at Leeds to change my socks and also to grab dinner from Boots before heading to my booked train to London.

 

Winner 800201 was leading dud 801105 on the 16:45 service to London, which due to engineering works around Wakefield, was going via the Hambleton East – South chord (near South Milford).  It felt strange departing Leeds heading to London going via Neville Hill!  Acceleration on the 800+801 combo was a bit slow on diesel (the 801 being dragged by the 800), but soon enough the wires were reached on the ECML and it switched over to electric.

 

800201 at Leeds

 

A short delay at Doncaster on this busy service, but that delay was made back up with calls at Newark & Peterborough, arriving at Kings Cross near enough bang on time (if not a minute or 2 early).  I went straight to the underground with the usual Victoria line followed by Bakerloo to Waterloo, heading towards the 19:45 Salisbury service which SWR had very kindly sent out a single 158.

 

I boarded it around 19:25 (so 5 minutes after an Exeter train had gone) and it was already busy.  It only got worse as time went on, but not as bad for overcrowding as some trains as the aisle wasn’t full (but every seat looked like it was taken, even in 1^st class).  An hour and a bit later I alighted from the train at Grateley to walk home, the end of an enjoyable weekend.  Two nice walks in decent weather.

 

Time for a walk Oddball!