Trips in February 2023
February was a quieter month
than January for overnight stays and longer distance trips, as I made use of
the £2 bus single fares to have cheaper day trips due to going slightly over budget in January
4th February – Kennet & Avon Canal Walk
I had a short day on the first Saturday of the month, needing to be home to head out for a show in the evening at the local theatre (Pete Firman) so decided to make the most of the dry weather to head towards Hungerford to walk along the towpath of the Kennet & Avon to Thatcham, connecting up with the walk in January.
With one eye on having to be home on the 17:06-odd arrival at the latest, the day began with the 06:59 service to Basingstoke, popping out for a quick supply raid at Sainsburys before heading on a 165 (Turbo) to Reading, seeing a steam train charter picking up passengers, before a pair of 387s took me to Newbury, then finally changing over to another Turbo on the Bedwyn shuttle service. Hungerford isn’t the quickest to reach!
800313 departs Hungerford Station
After a couple photos my walk began with a little loop in the town centre picking up the canal towpath to walk east. A path of variable quality, ranging from mud, mud with straw on top, loose stones & tarmac, not the best path for February time, but at least the mud was mostly dry with no flooding this time. On the bright side the scenery was quite nice, and it was peaceful in places with only the roar of the passing train for company. I got very lucky being in a good place for when the steam charter passed as there was break in the trees.
I continued my walk passing Kintbury, Newbury town centre and onto the worse part, trying to cross a busy road on the eastern edge of Newbury, it didn’t even have a little centre reservation so both ways needed to be clear. Anyhow I continued my walk along the towpath, reaching the turf sided lock at Thatcham (Monkeys Lock), before heading to the station for a pair of busy 387s to Reading.
LMS Jubilee Class 5699 Galatea alongside the Kennet & Avon Cana
I had arrived at Thatcham earlier than I had planned, giving me the chance to get home earlier (and to rest my foot as I think a stone/bit of mud got between my heel & the side of the boot causing a nasty blister). I couldn’t quite make the Basingstoke stopper due to a late arrival into Reading, so it was onto a pair of voyagers to Basingstoke. They arrived a couple minutes before a late running Exeter train arrived, so I decided to jump on the Exeter train for the run to Andover. This was solely because I find Andover a nicer station to fester at and the train was lightly loaded in the rear coach.
The Turf Sided Monkey Marsh Lock in Thatcham
At Andover I spent the 30 minutes fester sitting in the little waiting room before a busy single 159 rolled in from London, I spent the 6-minute journey sitting in the fold down seat in the vestibule area to avoid trying to find a seat with some groups of people heading out for the night. I arrived at Grateley, walked home and relaxed before enjoying the show.
5th February – Buses in Oxfordshire
This was a random day making use of the £2 bus fares to do a couple bus routes within Oxfordshire which looked interesting. The day began with the 07:39 service from Grateley which I took to Andover, stepping back to the Reading service (because it’s easier to change at Andover as it’s the same platform). This 159 took myself & my mum to Reading, where after breakfast at Wendys it was to the bus stop for the Thames Travel X40 service to Oxford City Centre, we got prime seats at the front of the top deck for this route which went towards Oxford via Wallingford (where a group of teenage school girls boarded talking nonstop about who was shagging who at their school). The bus got busier the closer it got to the terminus of Westgate shopping centre in Oxford where we had a gentle walk via the Castle Mill Stream to where it met the Thames, before heading north towards the Sheepwash Channel (where the Oxford canal connects with the Thames). Passing the former railway swing bridge before heading towards the station for the next bus route.
The next bus was running late (I presume due to heavy traffic) and was a Thames Travel “X2 Connector” route, this bus took us out of Oxford a different route, via a park & ride site. After a short section of running along the A34, it reached Abingdon, before carrying on towards Didcot Parkway station (via Milton business park). Sadly, due to the late running of the bus and a couple train cancellations we bailed at Didcot Parkway station rather than riding the bus all the way to the end at the Orchard Centre.
Due to engineering works at Swindon, Didcot – Reading was reduced to 3tph, with the next fast service from Oxford being cancelled and the one in 30 minutes time being a 3 coach 165 (which I would dread to think how busy it would be), so it was onto the hourly stopper to Reading. Better to have a seat on a 387 stopping at many places than standing on a 165 (or even a 5 coach 800). At Reading we exited the station, swinging via Sainsburys for a late lunch before heading to the bus stop where the Reading Buses “Jetblack 1” bus started from.
I was originally hoping to do this bus route on the Saturday, but the timings didn’t quite work out, as this bus heads towards Newbury via Thatcham, a bit slow getting out of Reading, but did have some speed sections along the way. What I like about using bus routes is that I get to see parts of the country I wouldn’t otherwise see if I used the train, heck I didn’t even know that Thatcham was so large (and that the station wasn’t in a good location to the town centre).
Jet Black (Reading Bus) at Newbury Wharf
Anyhow this bus arrived at the Newbury Wharf bus station, and we had a gentle walk (had plenty of time due to Newbury – Reading being 3 trains per 2 hours on Sundays). We arrived at Newbury station (which has changed a lot since my last visit, in terms of location of the gateline), and after 25 minutes of waiting managed to board a 2 coach 165 from Bedwyn on a Reading service, for it was quite cosy!
At Reading we exited the station, swinging via Wendys for dinner, before boarding a busy pair of voyagers on a Basingstoke service. At Basingstoke we had a short wait before a 159+158 combo rolled in from the sidings, but they were delayed by around 10 minutes due to waiting for a late running Weymouth train. This service took us back to Grateley, followed by a gentle walk home. An enjoyable little random day, covering 3 bus routes I wouldn’t have probably done had it not been for the £2 single fares.
A photo of a random voyager at Basingstoke.
10th February – Onwards to Aberdeen
My only big weekend away this month, a trip back towards Inverness to visit the recently opened Airport station. I decided instead of going direct to Inverness to use the trip to tick a couple more things from my list, mainly the new sleeper stock to Aberdeen, hopefully a HST on the Aberdeen – Inverness line & an Azuma from Inverness towards Stirling (and via the Durham Coast). So, a rough plan was formed, tickets purchased, accommodation booked (even if I swapped it over for another place closer to the city centre which I originally didn’t book for the lack of free cancellation).
The trip began with the 17:59 service from Grateley to Basingstoke, a single 159. At Basingstoke it was over to platform 4 to board a pair of 444s from Weymouth, the front unit looked very busy when it rolled in. I boarded near the rear (coach 8) and had a private table seat for the run to Waterloo. As I had time to waste in London, I headed for a walk towards Euston swinging via Temple & Chancery Lane underground stations for some photos, arriving at Euston around 20:45 so plenty of time to visit the toilet, walk to the front to confirm that it was 92033 leading on load 16 (half term week getaway, the sleeper I think was fully booked).
11th February – Aberdeen, Inverness, Nairn
After a so-so sleep, the sleeper arrived at Aberdeen around 20 minutes late (it lost time between Dundee & Carnoustie due to signalling issues), 73969 was in charge and originally I was considering a little day return to Inverurie for some better photos but the Inverurie terminator which was following the sleeper was getting cancelled at Aberdeen (for itself was running late), so instead of taking a busy looking 3 coach 170 on the next Inverness train I decided to go out for a gentle walk (after swinging via the little Sainsburys outside the station for breakfast).
This walk took me via the industrial area of the harbour to the Footdee area of the city, where industry gave way to a lovely beach front. I took the path towards the Beach Ballroom heading inland, over a large hill (some nice views from the top of the hill) and towards Morrisons for lunch items before returning to the station, sadly not via the Union Terrace Gardens as they were closed for rebuilding. I returned to the station with time to spare for the next Inverness train which the inbound from Edinburgh was running late (there was issues with a broken rail in the Forth bridge area meaning it called at nearly every station to Dundee rather than nonstop to Leuchars).
The HST with 43003 leading arrived around the time it was due to depart, I located my reserved seat (not like any labels were out due to the short turnaround), but the sockets in that coach weren’t working so I relocated to another coach where the sockets were working to give my phone a quick boost of electric on the run across the country to reach the freshly opened Inverness Airport station, where I alighted.
43135 departs Inverness Airport Station
I had around 30 minutes here, so had a little explore at the various exits, having lunch before the same HST returned to take me to Nairn where I was going to have a little explore. This explore took me along a woodland path towards the River Nairn, crossing over Firhill Bridge before following the river northbound to the harbour. I walked along the central beach path before heading back to the station via a Co-Op for some more drink and a short wait before the next Inverness train (another busy HST) rolled in. I wanted to do this particular train as it loops another train (an Elgin bound 158) at Inverness Airport and hence uses the new loop (my BLS hat was firmly on). Thankfully it did the loop as booked and carried on to Inverness itself.
The day was at an end for trains for me, as I set out on another walk, this time heading to the River Ness, following it towards Ness Islands, then via Whin Park to pick up the Caledonian canal which I walked the towpath heading north towards Telford Street, getting to the road just as daylight was fading so good timing as the rest of the walk was in the dark along the roads. Earlier in the day I got a text from my accommodation asking for my estimated arrival time and to go to the Armadale Guest House which was next door to the place I had booked (Dunskaith Villa). At the time I didn’t think anything off it, thinking that it was a case of both guest houses run by the same person with all the admin carried out in the Armadale house (with Dunskaith effectively as an annex building, similar to the Premier Inn at Stockport).
When I arrived to get checked in, I had a pleasant surprise, of a room upgrade to a room at Armadale rather than Dunskaith, a room with an ensuite (as I did book a shared bathroom on grounds of cost). After dropping my bag off, getting changed into fresher clothes and headed out to Spoons for dinner (on grounds that I couldn’t think of anywhere else for a burger). I got lucky to grab a table for 2 (with one of the chairs missing), and after eating made my escape from the noise (it was the day Scotland thrashed the Welsh in the egg chasing). After a small loop via the Co-Op, I spent the remainder of the evening in the room catching up with various bits & pieces before collapsing into a deep sleep.
Holm Mills Bridge over River Ness, Inverness
12th February – Highland Chieftain
As this trip was more short notice, tickets for the flights to London were over £100 for anything other than the early morning flights (the sort which require staying at the airport hotel or a taxi) or late night (don’t fancy getting into my house at 1am the following morning) with a single on the train being £70 (reduced frequency of hourly beyond Edinburgh due to the Durham Coast diverts) so I booked onto the train.
After departing the guest house, I went via Spoons for breakfast and also Morrisons for some lunch items (more as insurance in the event I couldn’t get weekend first). 800107 was the unit on the Kings Cross service today and I located the train manager to ask if weekend first was available (as from experience sometimes it gets withdrawn on the busy trains). Thankfully it was and I took one of the very few available seats in 1st class, up in coach M (going for a solo seat rather than a table of 4, mainly for the views). £45 well spent for a 9 and a bit hour journey.
Soon after departure of Inverness, breakfast was served, I had a waffle as I enjoyed the scenery of the Highland Main Line, it had been a few years since I did it all in daylight and I had forgotten how beautiful it is in parts. The coach I was in slowly filled up along the way south. After Edinburgh lunch orders were taken and I had a sausage roll (and it was a lovely sausage roll indeed, just needed a bit of salad to go with it I reckon). At Newcastle the train had a 15-minute dwell, so I had a quick walk along the platform to see how bad it was in standard class. I didn’t count that many empty seats with passengers sitting on luggage in the vestibules.
Anyhow the train headed towards Sunderland from Newcastle, a bit slow as it caught up with a Metro service before gaining speed after Sunderland with an enjoyable trip. I noticed the rebuilt platform at Hartlepool is coming along well, after Northallerton darkness had started to arrive so I departed looking out of the window into watching stuff on my tablet for the fast run into London. Arrival was around 10 minutes late so not bad for the distance from Inverness.
I headed to the underground with a Hammersmith train taken to Baker Street followed by a Jubilee to Southwark station. I had the time and wanted to have a little walk after being sat down most of the day, so walked to Waterloo to grab a seat on a single 159 which after Clapham was full & standing until Woking. I relaxed for the trip to Hampshire, followed by a gentle walk home. An enjoyable weekend trip, covering all the bits on my wish list. Hopefully the next new station will be slightly easier to reach from the south of England!
18th February – Jurassic Coast Buses
Today was a day of playing with the X51 & X53 bus service (branded as Jurassic Coaster) between Axminster & Weymouth, they go different routes between Weymouth & Brigport (X51 goes via Dorchester, X53 via the coast). The day started with the 08:30 Exeter train from Grateley, a single 159 which attached to another unit at Salisbury on a trip to Axminster where me & mum made the transfer from the train to a waiting double decker, sadly both front seats had already been claimed (one became available at Lyme Regis, so we grabbed it).
An enjoyable bus route, especially on the nonstop section (can’t see much demand for some of those bus stops) between the town of Brigport & Dorchester with some steep hills on the main road, giving excellent views of the countryside. The new development of Poundbury on the outskirts of Dorchester looks amazing, just for the building designs to make it look old (gives it more character). After a trip via Dorchester town centre (and Dorchester South station) the bus went on a faster route towards Weymouth, reaching the bus stop near Kings Statue.
In Dorchester the bus I was on was following a route 10 which was the First “Pride” bus, so I hung back to grab a photo of that bus when it eventually arrived, as it did look good. Anyhow with just over 2 hours until the next X53 service, we went via Tesco and a gentle loop of the RSPB Radipole Lake before heading back to the bus stop (via the beach) before the next X53 rolled in which had good loadings.
The Pride Bus of First in Weymouth
This route goes more via the coast, and the bus was worked hard over some of the steep hills, at one point heading into fog. It gave some fab views of the water & of the countryside, swinging via West Bay where the old railway station has a couple old carriages (and I believe part of the trackbed can be walked to Brigport). A 10-minute dwell at Brigport allowed me time to pop out for a photo of the bus at this small town before it continued towards Axminster. The bus driver worked hard with the narrow steep streets around Lyme Regis, I can imagine during the summer time that time keeping would be dreadful due to traffic.
Anyhow the bus dropped us off at Axminster station in good time to catch the next London train, mum decided she wanted Chinese for dinner so after a quick search in both Sherborne, Gillingham & Salisbury I went for a place in Gillingham because they had a website which showed the menu. So we alighted from this London train at Gillingham, swung via Asda for some more drink before ordering a Chinese, eating it sat on the station bench at Gillingham waiting for the following London train, which called at Grateley (rather than the previous one which was the last semi-fast London train after Salisbury, so the hour in Gillingham only cost us 30 minutes, the place I was thinking off near Salisbury station which I used a few years ago was closed).
Anyhow back at Grateley, it
was a gentle walk home, and relax after an enjoyable quiet day. I recommend both the X51 + X53 bus routes for
views of the sea & countryside. I will try and do the Poole - Weymouth bus later in the spring where hopefully it gets more frequent.
19th February – Loco Hauling to Peterborough
Originally my idea for today was to abuse the £2 bus fare with making use of one of the few Reading Bus Route 702 services from Reading to Victoria Coach Station before a day in London (probably playing with some more buses) but since the scheme got extended to the end of June, that plan can wait for another trip. Also due to West Coast Railways running a 47 hauled set from Liverpool Street to Peterborough as a blockade buster service due to the ECML & WCML being closed.
The day started with the 07:37 London train which I took to Andover, stepping back to the first SWR train for Reading (originally, I was going to take the London train to Waterloo, but due to engineering works it was due to sit at Basingstoke for 30-odd minutes, not arriving in Waterloo until 09:50. The 159 to Reading arrived early which made the connection to a London Paddington 802 a lot easier. This was a busy train (from Bristol), but I managed to get a seat for the trip to Paddington, even going via the Acton Dive Under (I guess engineering works on the main line). I arrived at Paddington, swung via Sainsburys for both breakfast & lunch items before making my way to the Elizabeth line platforms.
An Elizabeth line train soon arrived which took me to Liverpool Street, meeting up with my good friend Dan at Tottenham Court Road (complete chance we ended up on the same train as we had planned to meet up at Liverpool Street). We exited the Elizabeth line at Liverpool Street, heading towards the platform where the 47s were located with 47813 at the country end, and 47815 at the buffer stop end. We took a seat in declassified 1st class, in the 2nd coach from the front, settled down for an enjoyable trip towards Cambridge (all be it quite slow due to congestion, including a pathing stop in a loop just beyond Broxbourne station).
47813 at London Liverpool Street
After Broxbourne though the train did pick up speed, pausing at Cambridge for a busy looking 170 to depart first, followed by a Great Northern 387 for Kings Lynn, before the 47 continued heading towards Peterborough. At Peterborough we swapped coaches (so I could sit on the opposite side of the train for more looking out of the window), and with 47815 in charge the train departed back towards London.
2 and a bit hours later the 47 arrived back at Liverpool Street, a bit slow at times due to congestion but the West Anglia line is only 2 tracks and trains have to fit with the Overground at the London end. We headed towards the underground with a Met line to Farringdon, followed by a Thameslink service where I said farewell to Dan who was heading to Luton and I jumped off at West Hampstead Thameslink for a gentle walk towards Finchley Road underground station (via Finchley Road & Frognal overground making use of a footpath which follows the North London line, including a bridge over the Midland Main Line.
222015 approaching West Hampstead Thameslink
At Finchley Road, originally, I was considering taking the Jubilee to Kilburn to walk to Kilburn Park on the Bakerloo, but time wasn’t on my side, so I took a Met line service to Great Portland Street for a short walk along the busy road to Regent’s Park underground for a Bakerloo to Paddington. I decided (randomly) to cover the connecting passageway to the Elizabeth line platforms before taking a busy 9 coach 800 to Reading (standing even in the front coach). At Reading I transferred to a 159+158 on a Salisbury service (as SWR were running all the Salisbury stoppers to/from Reading due to engineering works at the London end).
This SWR service took me back to Grateley, where after a gentle walk home I relaxed for the remainder of the evening, catching up with my photos & logs from both days. An enjoyable catchup with Dan on trip to Peterborough & back, plus both 47s I needed for my book so an extra bonus.
24th February – A random trip to Swindon
I had a half-day of holiday left to use up before the end of March, so decided to use it today solely for the novelty of an IET via Melksham, followed by a bus journey for some more looking out of the window. The trip began with the 13:07 from Grateley to Salisbury, featuring some revenue protection officers checking tickets (and I presume issuing penalty fares to those who think payment is optional). A short wait at Salisbury made longer due to platform congestion before a busy 165+166 combo rolled in to take myself & mum to Westbury arriving around 13 minutes late, nothing that major as we did have a 40-minute wait, so it cut it down to 26 minutes, enough time for a photo of a double headed Freightliner from one of the quarries.
800306 rolled in a couple minutes late (congestion) and I was surprised that it was quiet in the coach we boarded, no issue with getting a table seat for the trip towards Swindon. It felt unusual being on a train skipping Trowbridge before heading towards Melksham (diverted due to a long engineering block in the Newbury area, most of the local services were replaced by buses due to the single-track section not having enough paths for both diverted long distance passenger trains plus freight). A bit of rain around Chippenham was quite unexpected as the IET rolled into Swindon near enough on time, allowing a quick visit to the toilets before making our way to the bus station.
Swindon bus station could do with some TLC (although it was functional), we located the bus stand for the route 55 service for Chippenham. My first time on a Stagecoach Gold service (with leather-like seats) on a reasonably busy bus (although it was running around 10 minutes late, time keeping on this route doesn’t seem to be the best as there were a couple times were two Swindon bound buses were close together). A bit slow exiting Swindon before heading towards Chippenham via Royal Wootton Bassett, Lyneham & Calne with some nice views.
Stagecoach Gold Bus at Chippenham Station
The bus arrived at Chippenham rail station, via the bus station which looked quite rubbish. Yes, it had a canopy but no sides, so I suspect a cold (and potentially) wet place to wait for a bus if there is a wind. Anyhow at Chippenham station we went via Sainsburys for dinner before boarding a busy pair of 800s on a Bristol service (Bath were at home in the egg chasing plus usual Friday night party goers), we were lucky to get seats as some passengers simply boarded and stopped in the vestibule area instead of going into the seated area.
Thankfully we had a longer connection at Bath due to a Portsmouth train running late as it took nearly 10 minutes to change platforms due to the large number of passengers exiting the station, and it was onto a single 166 for the trip back to Salisbury (being lucky with a seat in the former 1st class area). Also, thankfully the train made up a couple minutes of late running to allow a connection to be made at Salisbury into a Basingstoke bound 159 (which itself got delayed by a few minutes). A gentle walk home to relax for the remainder of the evening, an enjoyable little random afternoon/evening trip out.
25th February – Walking the Cuckoo Trail (Eastbourne to Heathfield)
The Cuckoo Trail runs along part of the track bed of the former railway line which ran from Polegate towards Eridge which closed in the 1960s (the trail itself ends at the town of Heathfield, beyond Heathfield only parts of the old line are walkable). I started the day with an early morning drive to Romsey, before catching the 06:46 GWR service towards Southampton (engineering works in the Salisbury area meant the GWR services were starting from Romsey with replacement buses connecting into trains at Southampton). This 166 took me to Southampton Central where I changed over to a 377 on the Victoria train to take me towards Three Bridges, joining up with 2 more units at Horsham.
I needed to laugh though, someone who boarded at Emsworth sitting opposite me jumped over to another table seat at Barnham to put his feet on the seat opposite, a loud group joined him at the table, so his feet didn’t last for long on the sit opposite, that group got off at Crawley, so the feet went straight back up (like they were on a spring) only for another group to crowd him out. I needed to pack my little violin and could only laugh inside. Anyhow a Thameslink 700 took me to Haywards Heath changing over to an Ore bound pair of 377s. On this trip towards Eastbourne, I decided to change my mind as originally, I was going to catch a bus to Heathfield to walk southwards, but decided to do it northwards, only so the sun was behind me, so remained on board the 377s after the reversal to alight at Hampden Park (which was skipped heading south).
377148 at Hampden Park Station
My walk began swinging via the little Tesco for some lunch items before I made my way towards the start of the Cuckoo Trail near Shinewater Park (somewhere on my list to revisit when the little railway is operating). The first section runs close to the A22 road and has some poor signage near a junction where walkers need to turn right to go over the railway (the signs pointed left which carries on underneath the road to loop towards the lakes). I carried on turning left onto what I would imagine was the alignment of the former Eastbourne avoiding line. A short section of road walking followed as I went via an old railway bridge before following Levett Road to pick up the next off-road section which took me towards a junction near Polegate station.
An old railway bridge near Polegate
I headed north, onto what I think was the old railway route (as it was before it got closed in the 1960s), heading towards the small town of Hailsham where another short section of walking on the roads followed before picking up the old track-bed again. There were a few sections where old bridges have been removed meaning the path dropped down to cross a road, some of those roads were little more than single track lanes, the busier ones had traffic lights to help cross. The old railway line path continued northwards, passing the remains of Hellingly station (now a private residence) before going quite rural for the next couple of miles, where at times the only sound I heard was the wind.
The path reached Horam, passing the remains of the station, restored to what it would have looked like before the line closed. I continued north, passing via Maynard’s Green before reaching Heathfield. The end of the trail is around a Waitrose where the station site has been built over, there is access to the southern portal of the tunnel (which has been closed up due to anti-social behaviour & crime). I went via Sainsburys to grab some items for dinner before making my way to the bus stop at Streatfield Road.
"The next walker to arrive at Horam station is the service from Hampden Park"
I took the 16:03 route 51 service when it rolled in from Tunbridge Wells as a route 252 service, gaining the front seats after a few stops as it headed southwards towards Hailsham, then towards Polegate (where had the £2 flat fare not been on, I would have bailed) before Eastbourne, arriving at the station a few minutes ahead of schedule allowing me to catch an earlier Brighton train. This Brighton train was one of the Gatwick Express 387 units so a bit of an unusual action as I enjoyed the speed as it headed towards Brighton, getting busier the closer it got.
At Brighton I headed across to platform 2, grabbing a table seat on a 377/4 (lovely plug sockets) before it filled up, departing full & standing (even in the front coach). I settled down for the slow trip on the West Coastway, calling at Uncle Bert’s Shed along the way, the train only emptying out at Chichester. I took this to Portsmouth & Southsea for an easy cross platform change to a Romsey bound 166 to take me back to Romsey sitting in the former first-class area. The train did empty out at Southampton for the replacement bus for Salisbury + Warminster, but there was at least one passenger who didn’t hear the announcements and alighted at Romsey looking for the bus (I guess he would have had to wait for the SWR run stopper bus which in the morning was a “More Bus” service bus).
I headed to my car to have a nice relaxing drive home on quiet roads. Before relaxing for the remainder of the night for I had uncle duties on the Sunday. February was a good month, not busy for long distance overnight trips but some nice walks mixed up with some bus routes. More photos taken during February are available here (Flickr Line), thank you for reading my random mutterings. :)
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