7th May – A trip to South Wales
This was a bit of a short notice day, as my original idea for today was to head towards Cornwall to revisit the last handful of stations I needed for photos, however when I found out that the very rarely used platform 3 at Bridgend (also known as the Maesteg Bay) was seeing use due to engineering works between Cardiff & Bridgend via the main-line (forcing the long distance trains to go on a detour via the Vale of Glamorgan line).
The day for me began with the 07:05 service from Salisbury (a nice 158) to take me to Westbury, where it terminated due to engineering works between Trowbridge & Bathhampton Junction, however there was a bus avoidance move available via Melksham via a 2 coach 165. I took this to Chippenham making a tight connection across the platform to a 9 coach 800 on a Bristol Temple Meads service (and I wasn’t the only passenger doing so).
66537 passing Westbury
I had planned on not being able to make this connection (as it would have been foolish to rely on a sub minute connection), so I was ahead of my rough idea. I took this 800 to Bristol Temple Meads, making another tight connection onto a 166 on a Worcester service, although I bailed at Filton Abbey Wood to step back to a Bristol Parkway terminator, as I noticed that 166 terminated in platform 1 at Bristol Parkway (little random microgrice move as normally the terminators from Temple Meads use platform 4.
Anyhow at Bristol Parkway I had a short wait for another 9 coach 800 to roll in on the Swansea bound. I took a seat in the front coach for the run via the tunnel and into Wales (sadly there is a large bush covering the “Welcome to Wales” sign). The platform at Cardiff Central was very busy, but thankfully most of the passengers boarded in the centre coaches rather than crowding out “Standard Premium”. The train was delayed a few minutes due to waiting for a route conductor to transfer from a late running London train, but the time was made up by the time the train passed Barry.
It felt strange going via the scenic Vale of Glanmorgan line on an IET, but soon enough Bridgend was reached, and I crossed over to platform 3 to board the 150 on Maesteg shuttles. Main mission of the day was complete with the run to Maesteg & back.
150251 in the lesser used platform 3 at Bridgend
Back at Bridgend and over to a very busy platform 1 where I decided to turn down a delayed 10 coach IET set from Swansea to gamble on the 2 coach 175 behind (in all fairness that IET was very busy but did soak up passengers. The 175 rolled in and was quite busy but I managed to get a seat after someone if they wouldn’t mind moving their handbag. The run started fast (felt odd calling at Llantwit Major & Rhoose on a 175 instead of the usual 150, although I guess not much fun for those passengers at those stations who normally have a lightly loaded 150. Sadly, due to the delay it caught up with a stopper from Barry Island, so the last 10 minutes was a bit of a drag.
I had a look at RTT and spotted that one of my last trio of Welsh 769s were out, allowing me to form a plan. I took the next Bargoed service (a 150) to Hengoed for a short walk along the disused “Taff Valley” railway route towards Ystrad Mynach. A nice tarmac mixed used path via lots of trees with a couple old railway bridges thrown in. At Ystrad Mynach I had a short wait before winner 769003 rolled in from Cardiff which terminated at the station to head back towards Cardiff. Another 769 into my book which was a bonus. Once the train arrived at Cardiff Central it was time for a walk.
769003 at Ystrad Mynach station
My walk took me south of Cardiff along the River Taff path towards the A4232 bridge over Cardiff Bay. The path being closed forced a divert away from the riverbank, but I soon re-joined the water side in the International Sports Village area, before heading via the River Ely (with lots of boats moored up in a marina). I passed the White-Water Centre (which I will admit looks fun) and crossed over the River Ely on the Pont y Werin Bridge. I was now in the Cogan area and saw a large Tesco which I decided to swing by to grab dinner for later (and a large bottle of pop).
After visiting the Tesco, my walk continued along the River Ely path, crossing over a lock giving access to the Penarth Marina, and coming over to the Cardiff Bay Barrage, having to wait for the bridge to lower. Once I crossed over the lifting up part, I swung via the Harbour Wall before heading back towards Cardiff on the path with the Bay on my left and the Bristol Channel on my right (it was a beautiful day weather wise as well).
Cardiff Bay Barrage
I passed the crocodile, following the road to the Roath area of Cardiff. I did a loop of the Roath Basin, before going towards the Bute East Dock, followed by the old Feeder Canal to reach Herbert Street. I went underneath the Cardiff Bay railway bridge, crossing Callagham Square to reach Cardiff Central in good time for my next move. It was an enjoyable loop walk, taking in the river Taff & Ely, Cardiff Bay/Bristol Channel & other features of Cardiff Bay area.
The Crocodile
Time to play with some trains again, as I took a seat on the 18:00 HST to Bristol Temple Meads, changing over to an 800+802 combo (first time I’ve had a mixed 800+802 formation on GWR) for the run to Chippenham. The delay to the service from Bristol Temple Meads didn’t affect my connection, all it did was to cut it down from 25 minutes to around 13 minutes. A 158 rolled in from Swindon (itself was delayed by a late running Bristol bound IET), this took me to Westbury with a group of lads getting caught out by only using one ticket for the 6 of them (clearly used the remote wide access gate at Chippenham).
Dock Feeder Canal, Cardiff
I arrived at Westbury with around 45 minutes to wait before the next Portsmouth service (still better than using the replacement coach!). The platform was quite busy with other passengers waiting for the same 158, which rolled in from the sidings but annoyingly didn’t get opened up until a couple minutes before departure. This 158 took me back to Salisbury, where I walked back to my car and drove home, the end of a successful day trip to Cardiff & Bridgend.
158745 at Westbury
The Sunday was a return to walking the Thames Path, this time from Bourne End to Maidenhead with a couple loops along the way, I managed to beat my longest single walk distance with 17.5 miles which was pleasing. Train wise the highlight being when at Reading with a pair of 47s arriving on a charter from Paignton heading to Peterborough, making a nice noise when they pulled away. Also standing near the Maidenhead Railway Viaduct as IETs passed over the grade 1 structure.
A pair of 47s at Reading
An IET crossing the Maidenhead Railway Viaduct
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