16th – 19th February – Weekend in Yorkshire & Nottingham

 16th – 19th February – Weekend in Yorkshire & Nottingham

The idea behind this trip was a weekend getaway to Yorkshire, staying in the shared house in Wakefield (which I used back in September) with a focus on disused railways on the Saturday and a canal walk on the Sunday.  Originally, I was going to head home on the Sunday but due to engineering works on the ECML & around Wimbledon, combined with needing to use up the last few days of annual leave before the end of March I decided to stay an extra night in Wakefield to head home on the Monday instead (at the time not noticing the ECML block included Monday as well).

16th February – Rescued by a voyager.

The trip began with the usual 17:59 from Grateley towards London Waterloo with a busy 159014.  I arrived at Grateley in good time to see a GWR IET passing on an ECS service from Eastleigh to Westbury (then onwards to Paddington) which was a bit random seeing it pass before the 159 rolled in.  This service lost time around Farnborough due to an emergency speed restriction and after Woking due to congestion caused by an earlier all line block with arrival being around 14 minutes late, annoyingly just short of the magic 15 minutes where money can come back (all the padding between Clapham Junction & Waterloo not helping things).  

As the weather was dry and I had just under an hour, I decided to walk to Kings Cross heading towards Holborn before heading towards Judd Street to reach Kings Cross.  Close to the station I looked up RTT to see what platform the 20:33 Leeds train was due to depart from, only to see the dreaded “C” word.  Cancelled due to earlier signalling issues.  The main option given was to wait until the 21:33 service to Leeds which not only called at every station to Doncaster, but it was also looking quite busy when I went to reserve a seat.

A GWR IET passing Grateley

However, there was an alternative option, which when I visited the ticket office the person behind the counter said “It wasn’t worth it” when it got suggested which was to take the 21:00 Newcastle train to Doncaster, changing to a Leeds bound XC service to get into Wakefield 45-odd minutes earlier than waiting for the 21:33 service.  The guard on the Newcastle train (formed of 801230) said it was OK for me to travel (as well as many other passengers from the cancelled 20:33 service) as it headed north along the ECML calling additionally at Grantham (where a new barrier alongside the disused edge of platform 3, the bay, had appeared, I presume for safety).  At Doncaster it was a short 15-minute wait before a very quiet 220007 rolled in from the Sheffield direction and I got a seat for the short run to Wakefield Westgate.

Good thing I did this unusual move, getting rescued by the voyager as the 21:33 service lost around 15 minutes reaching Doncaster and hence followed a stopper from Fitzwilliam getting into Wakefield 20-odd minutes late.  Anyhow at Wakefield I headed towards the shared house I used back in September near Silcoates Street (northwest from Westgate).  This place does have a couple minor flaws (mainly with the blinds) but was a good price when I booked.  Sadly, it seems the management company has since hiked their prices for this place as even looking ahead to October, they now want £55 a night which isn’t worth it in my eyes).  Anyhow I located my room on the top floor and sorted out my bag ready for the morning.

220007 at Doncaster Station

17th February – Wetherby & Ripley railway line walks

The original idea for this trip was to just do the old railway line path from Harrogate towards the village of Ripley, followed by linear hopping at some of the stations I want to revisit on the North Yorkshire section of the Harrogate loop as my photos are not the best.  However, like with most of my ideas, things change when I noticed an old railway line path in the Wetherby area allowing for ideas to start forming for another walk as both ends required buses.  The weather forecast changed from being dry to having rain in the evening but thankfully the daytime was due to be dry, so I set out for the first trip to the settlement of Boston Spa on the outskirts of Wetherby.

I had 3 options, including a direct bus from Wakefield to Boston Spa, but due to having no toilet paper in my room (located some in the shared kitchen area in the morning with a little nosey) and not being sure what options existed near the bus station for food, I decided to head to Westgate station for 331007 to Leeds, a service I nearly missed due to the gate line at Wakefield being in operation and the ticket office being closed.  As I wanted a West Yorkshire Day Trainsaver, this couldn’t be purchased from the LNER TVMs (and is quite hard to buy on the train as it’s listed as “WY Daysaver”).  Thankfully the gateline member of staff saw sense and allowed me through to buy it on the train.  What is the point with having a gateline in operation when the person in charge doesn’t do revenue?

331007 at Leeds Station

Anyhow at Leeds, having purchased my ranger from the guard I popped to the Sainsburys Local on the concourse to grab something for breakfast before returning to the trains with 195101 on the next available train to Garforth.  A station which has changed since my last visit as the old footbridge has gone as a new bridge with lifts is getting constructed with a temporary footbridge installed at the eastern end.  I left the station area to head into the town centre area, swinging via a Greggs to make use of my O2 Rewards App to grab a free sausage roll (because it was free) before waiting at the bus stop for the 2 hourly Arriva run route 174 to Wetherby (the other option available was a Harrogate Bus Company route 7 from Leeds).  The bus rolled in with the driver having a short break with an ADL Enviro200 fleet 1002 on a lightly loaded journey away from Garforth then towards Barwick in Elmet, Aberford before following a road which ran alongside the A1(M).  A bit of a farce happened with a junction of this motorway near the A64 as the road towards Bramham was closed forcing an unexpected detour along the motorway for one junction before heading direct into Wetherby bus station, skipping Boston Spa.

One passenger kicked off big style about the bus missing Boston Spa, even saying it was shown as serving a prison near Thorp Arch (yes it does on a weekday but not at weekends, not the drivers fault you can't read a timetable).  Eventually the bus set off going via the Prison to drop the lady off and the driver dropped me off in Boston Spa before going on the diverted route back towards Garforth & Wakefield.  An enjoyable route looking out of the window in an area of West Yorkshire I haven't visited before.  I was happy to get dropped off at the roundabout before the A1(M) with a short walk towards the village centre due to the issue, the driver was amazing in keeping his cool with that lady though.

Construction work at Garforth Station

My walk began with a little detour towards a path alongside the river Wharfe doing a little U-turn at the northern end (in hindsight I should have walked from the starting point even if was a bit longer as it looked like a nice woodland path).  I followed this river path towards the Thorp Arch bridge and continued as it turned a bit more rural and went underneath the disused Newton Kyme railway viaduct.  The path came to an end with a farm-track which was the worse section with mud & large puddles, but I reached the road near Toulston for a short walk along the A659 (nice pavement) to pick up the start of the Wetherby Railway Path.  A mixed used path which makes use of the former Church Fenton - Harrogate railway line closed in the 1960s by the doctor.

The first section was decent quality tarmac as it passed a modern housing estate before crossing the Wharfe on the viaduct I walked underneath earlier with a small detour towards the Thorpe Arch Estate before returning to the route of the old railway line as it headed towards a deep cutting (with a crossing of Walton Road).  This area ran close to the training ground of the Leeds kickball team (sounded like training was happening with all the noise from that direction).  Other than that noise it was very pretty with woodland, no real evidence of the former station at Thorpe Arch.  Another busy road crossing at Walton Road before heading into a quiet section with woodlands near the racecourse.  The path went underneath the A1(M) on the outskirts of Wetherby where the first section came to an end.

Wetherby Railway Path between Thorp Arch & Walton

The next section was lost to modern developments requiring some road walking before picking up the old railway route, this section now being branded as the Harland Way.  I did the triangle of old railway lines where the former Cross Gates - Wetherby line joined up with the Church Fenton - Harrogate line, the former Wetherby railway station (Linton Road) now being used as a car park.  After this little detour the path left Wetherby and turned rural, the path quality had changed from tarmac to more hard-core with some mud in places.  Quite a scenic route again being peaceful as it crossed over into North Yorkshire.  A bit of road noise from the A661 road in the distance when the path came out of a deep cutting.  Annoyingly when I got closer to the end of the walk in Spofforth I must have misread the bus timetable for the Wetherby - Harrogate bus as it was only hourly on Saturdays (half hourly during the week) with a gap around 1pm...

You can probably guess the time I reached the village of Spofforth and the end of the Wetherby railway path, with a 50-minute gap for the next bus towards Harrogate.  Instead for a little time-wasting move (and to get out of a short rain shower) I jumped on a Leeds bound route 7 bus run by the Harrogate Bus Company (bus 1856) back towards Wetherby then onto Walton (a village between Boston Spa & Wetherby).  I changed buses here for another route 7 service (bus 1838) to take me all the way into Harrogate bus station where my second walk of the day started.

Harrogate Bus Company Bus FJ58 LSU in Walton on a route 7 to Leeds

This walk was along the Nidderdale Greenway path, a path which makes use of the former Leeds – Northallerton railway then onto the Nidd Valley Railway towards the village of Ripley.  After a visit to an Asda to make use of the toilets, I joined the start of the path with the section which runs alongside the existing railway route before crossing the railway with a footbridge and heads towards the Bilton area of Harrogate.  Quite a nice path as it curved in some woodlands.  At the former junction where the line from Starbeck joined the greenway I turned to head towards Starbeck to reach the end of the Greenway, doing a U-turn to head back towards the junction and carrying on out of Harrogate and towards the Nidd Gorge Viaduct.

After the viaduct, the path turned quite rural with the former junction where the Nidd Valley line branched away from the mainline is clear as the path continued along the Greenway heading downhill via some beautiful woodland (would love to do this again in autumn time).  The path dropped down to run alongside the river Nidd as it reached the A61 to the south of Ripley.  I had good fortune as it just started to rain as I crossed the road to head towards the bus stop near the roundabout, arriving with a few minutes to spare before the next route 36 bus (Ripon - Harrogate - Leeds) rolled up with double decker 3640.  I headed upstairs and was surprised with the 2+1 seating which was quite nice as I put my phone on charge and settled down as the bus headed towards Harrogate then onwards to Leeds bus station.  The rain had finally arrived along with darkness so after Harrogate I gave up looking out of the window and relaxed.

Nidderdale Greenway in Harrogate (Starbeck Arm)

This bus took me to Leeds bus station, so after a walk via the busy city centre (all the drinkers) I arrived at the railway station.  I had a West Yorkshire Day ranger and wanted to get some more use out of it, so it was onto a busy 170476 for the short hop to Burley Park for some better photos returning to Leeds a few minutes later with 150271 & 150270 on a Harrogate starter.  Back at Leeds it was a short wait before boarding 333002 to get welcomed on to the Skipton train for my first 333 of the year and I had forgotten how fast they get on the run to Shipley.  I changed at Bingley due to the next Leeds train showing as cancelled (typical Northern) and so took 333010 to Shipley changing to 333006 from Bradford to Kirkstall Forge for a short wait before 331006 arrived from Ilkley.  Due to the line being closed via Baildon the Ilkley trains were calling additionally at Kirkstall Forge to allow passengers to change trains to head towards Shipley & beyond without the need to go via Leeds.

Back at Leeds once more, I headed towards the Wigan train formed of a busy 158795 & 158868 for the single stop to Morley, solely to revisit this station since it got relocated with new platforms being built (similar in a way to Rochester & Bromsgrove).  As of the old Morley station part of platform 1 remains with the old waiting shelter, bike rack & parcel collection point, the new station looked reasonable, even had proper seats in the waiting shelter which is a nice bonus in an era where waiting shelters tend to get those horrible (in my eyes) perch style seats.  I had a short wait before 158869 & 158901 rolled in from Wigan to take me back to Leeds where it was a short walk over to platform 16 to board the final XC service of the night for the hop to Wakefield Westgate (originally picked up as being formed of 8 coaches).  220011 rolled in with 220034 on the back, yes it was 8 coaches but 220034 was locked out of use so it was the usual XC crush in 220011 for the run to Wakefield.  To give the driver credit, they did stop at the usual 4 coach point at Wakefield to save people a long walk and to save chaos with passengers trying to board the locked-out unit.

158868 at Morley Station

Time on the trains finished for the day as I fancied a pizza, which Wakefield seemed to have a range of takeaway options which I had narrowed down to a couple of potential places based on the menu online.  I ended up buying one from a place called Freddies on the A642, walking back to the shared house on a path which ran alongside Wakefield prison.  It was quite yummy, certainly filled a hole I had in my stomach, a place I would use again if ever I was in Wakefield overnight again.  After the pizza I relaxed for the remainder of the evening listening to some rain.

18th February – Canal Walking in West Yorkshire

This area of West Yorkshire has several canals on my wish-list to explore (Leeds – Castleford, Castleford – Knottingley, Castleford – Wakefield & Shipley – Skipton) in the end I decided on finishing the Calder & Hebble Navigation from Brighouse towards Sowerby Bridge and continuing towards Hebden Bridge with the Rochdale canal, but before that I had something I wanted to investigate which I had spotted on RTT with Castleford.

Before I headed to Wakefield Westgate station, I did a loop from the shared house towards the Alverthorpe meadows along a path which did suggest an old railway route, after the meadows I headed towards the station swinging via a small Sainsburys local for breakfast and ticking off another couple of paths on my list in this general area, arriving at Wakefield Westgate to find the ticket office closed (no staff?) with 3 members of LNER staff sitting in the customer help point who just said to buy my ranger on the train (would it be too hard for one of those members of staff to relocate to the ticket office or even have a portable ticket machine to provide customer service for those whom can’t use the hopeless LNER TVMs?).  Anyhow it was onto 150203 for the short trip to Wakefield Kirkgate changing to a busy 150210 to Castleford into a large crowd waiting (I presume this would be the first train to Leeds from Castleford on a Sunday).

I hung back a few minutes before 150222 rolled in from the Knottingley direction, being happy when it rolled into platform 2, the recently rebuilt platform (which allows the TPE service from York to call).  I took this 150 to Leeds where I changed onto a reasonably busy 802209 on a TPE service to Liverpool Lime Street which was diverted via the Calder valley line so called additionally at Brighouse (for replacement buses to Huddersfield), which was quite handy.  After exiting the station and swinging via the Sainsburys for lunch items (and to visit the toilet) I started my walk.

150222 at Castleford Station

I soon joined the Calder & Hebble Navigation to walk west leaving the town centre area with the River Calder on my left hand side of this busy towpath.  There was a couple of times the towpath switched sides near a fishing lake in Cromwell Bottom.  My walk continued along the tarmac towpath heading towards Elland and underneath the railway line & busy looking A629 road.  This is an area where my walk left the side of the canal due to a long-gone footbridge near Elland wharf.

The canal was soon re-joined, and I continued my walk towards Halifax (the Salterhebble area of the town) with another detour required due to the construction of a new road bridge closing part of the towpath.  I passed a guillotine lock at Salterhebble (I presume built due to being close to the road bridge and not having space for usual lock gates) and headed up to the top lock where the Halifax branch of the canal branched off, which is where I turned to follow the branch canal.

A TPE 802 crossing the Calder and Hebble Navigation in Elland

This was a short branch as most of it has been lost under modern development, the canal coming to an end with a small basin alongside an old looking Premier Inn (Halifax South) with the path continuing as the Hebble Trial which was quite scenic with the trees, passing the remains of an old lock and an old canal bridge.  At the end of the old canal section, I did a U-turn to head back towards the canal and junction with the main Calder & Hebble Navigation.  There is another section of this path on my list to do near Halifax station but that is a job for another day.

Back on the main Calder & Hebble Navigation, I went underneath the railway bridge (carrying the Halifax – Brighouse line), heading towards Copley where on finding a nice bench seats I decided to sit down for 10 minutes to have lunch whilst listening to passing trains on the nearby railway.  After lunch I continued along this scenic canal walk, going underneath the Copley viaduct (carrying the Halifax – Sowerby Bridge line).  A couple of miles later I reached Sowerby Bridge itself where the Rochdale Canal meets the Calder & Hebble Navigation near Sowerby wharf, switching onto the Rochdale canal where the towpath wasn’t quite as nice (hard-core with some cobbles).  At the first lock I crossed over the canal to explore part of the Sowerby wharf to finish the canal before returning to the Rochdale canal.

Rochdale Canal Zero Mile Marker, Sowerby Bridge

I soon reached Tuel Lane tunnel requiring a detour onto the road network, passing a busy looking Wetherspoons, coming onto the canal near Tuel Lane lock (deepest lock in the country) as the canal continued, the river Calder not being that far away.  Some lovely views of countryside from this canal as well as some views of woodland.  I would love to do this canal in autumn time when the trees are all in various colours.

The canal continued away from Sowerby Bridge towards Luddenden Foot turning quite rural, but still quite busy with other walkers & joggers.  I continued my walk towards Mytholmroyd and Hebden Bridge with another little detour due to the Fallingroyd Bridge underneath the A646.  I soon reached the end point of my walk (with my legs letting me know they were suffering) and I headed to Hebden Bridge station for a 20-minute wait for the next Leeds trains (during which time a diverted pair of 185s passed as well as a GBRf 60 hauling biomess).  The canal itself was very scenic in places, an enjoyable walk and unlike some canals very peaceful in terms of road noise.

60095 passing Hebden Bridge Station

The next Leeds bound service formed of 195130 rolled in and I managed to get a decent seat to put my phone on charge and relaxed with the journey towards Leeds, where I boarded 170472 for the run to Horsforth for some better photos of this station.  The difference in acceleration between a 195 & 170 was quite notable and soon I had alighted at the border station (beyond the line goes into a place where there be dragons, also known as North Yorkshire).  After a quick visit to Tesco for a quick nosey I returned to the station to take 170475 back to Leeds and headed towards the 18:45 LNER service to Peterborough, which was formed of winner 800206, which happened to be my final 800 to ride on.  A very quiet train (3 other passengers in the middle coach) as I took it to Wakefield Westgate, returning to Leeds on a late running 331007 on the stopper from Doncaster.

I was feeling hungry after a long walk and ended up walking to “The Cuthbert Brodrick” Wetherspoons to have a mixed grill. After food, I headed back to the station for 150275 on a Knottingley train to take me to Pontefract Monkhill (via Wakefield), another station on my list I wanted to revisit for a better photo (although I might come back again for a walk).  I had 15 minutes before the sprinter returned from Knottingley to take me to Wakefield Westgate to walk back to the shared house for my final night of this current stay.  An enjoyable day with the canal walk with the bonus of my last 800 (just leaves half a dozen 9 coach 801s for the LNER fleet before the new trains arrive).

800206 at Leeds Station

19th February – A trip to Nottingham

When I originally extended this stay in Wakefield I was puzzling at how to get back to London with the ECML closed south of Peterborough, I could either head towards Crewe making use of a northern freebie single ticket for a cheap LNR ticket to London, in the end I looked at the fares from Nottingham to London using the sale, picking up a reasonably priced split advance from Nottingham on EMR as well as a cheap Northern ticket from Wakefield to Nottingham.  The idea to head to Nottingham was to hunt down some sub mile trams and see if either of my last couple of 170s I needed for ten miles were floating around.

I checked out of the shared house heading out into the light rain, passed the prison and towards Wakefield Kirkgate station going via Sainsburys for breakfast, a bit tighter than I would have liked due to wasting time waiting for traffic lights to change as 195009 was rolling in just as I arrived onto the platform, amazingly I found a seat (after asking someone to move their oversized handbag) and settled down for the run towards Barnsley, Sheffield & Nottingham, the train getting quite busy after Langley Mill.  Along the way I used RTT to form a rough plan to get both my remaining 170s as both were due to be in Nottingham around the same time.

170424 departs Bulwell Station

But first I had some time to waste so after heading to the tram stop to buy a Robin Hood day ticket, I jumped onto 170424 (one of the former Southern/Scotrail units) to Bulwell and headed across to the tram platforms getting lucky with sub mile tram 206 being the first service to roll in which I took to David Lane for sub mile 225 behind it which I took to High School (was originally going to bail at the Forest but changed my mind).  Another sub-mile tram was following with 230 which I took to Lace Market followed by a short wait before taking 209 to Nottingham station to head downstairs to return to the big trains.

It was onto 170510 on the next Lincoln train which I took to Newark Castle, forgetting just how slow this line feels.  Lots of flooding in the fields near the line but soon I had arrived at Newark with just over an hour before what should be 170423 coming back so I headed out of Newark Castle to walk towards the river Trent path, heading towards the town lock, watching the fast flow of water and flooding of the towpath in places.  After reaching the weir I did a U-turn to cross over the river and back towards the remains of the castle and carried on along the south bank towards a footbridge near the A46 Newark bypass.  Had I had more time I would have continued the path as it goes underneath both the Nottingham – Lincoln & ECML railway lines (although I wouldn’t have been surprised if those bridges were flooded).  I crossed over the river and onto a muddier path on the northern bank, dodging some flooding and going underneath an old railway bridge which looking at old maps used to carry a curve linking Newark Castle to the ECML.

Newark Castle on the banks of the Trent

More solid ground was reached near the marina for the walk back towards the station, only to be greeted with that horrible C word again.  The train back to Nottingham was cancelled ‘due to a person hit by a train’ so I was expecting the next Lincoln train to get terminated at Newark to work back to Nottingham (assuming the line was blocked between Newark & Lincoln) but that departed without issue.  So, with some time to waste I took a seat, had my lunch and waited for 170206 (still in Greater Anglia colours) to arrive from Crewe to terminate and form the next semi-fast service back to Nottingham.  3 coach trains don’t quite fit at Newark Castle, so it was SDO for the front 2 coaches before I walked to the rear coach, sadly it wasn’t the end with the former 1st class seats in but ah-well, the front looked very busy.

Sadly, that cancellation meant 170422 had buggered off to Skegness by the time it arrived in Nottingham (delayed further by an emergency stop around Burton Joyce due to an idiotic dog walker misusing a foot crossing).  Once back at Nottingham, I headed to the trams once more with 224 taken to Royal Centre & 205 to Nottingham Trent University, arriving at a time where the university had finished for the day (judging by the number of students floating around ignoring the big tram bearing down on them as they walked across the road face looking at their mobile phone).  I knew one more sub mile tram was out (as I saw it earlier at the station before my trip to Newark) with one potentially being on an afternoon peak throw-out from the depot (as I saw it on the entrance track).

Nottingham trams 205 & 223 at Lace Market

I kept my eyes peeled at the trams, but sadly that luck I had in the morning had run out before 237 arrived from Hucknall to take me back to the station (just over a mile).  I returned towards the city centre with 225 for another short section before calling it a day with 224 back to the station.  Had my legs felt a bit more alive I was toying with the idea of a walk along the canal from the station towards Beeston, but I think after the 2 days of long walks they were a bit sore.  Anyhow back to the big trains again with 170514 taken to Netherfield (for a random revisit) with a fast walk to Carlton to beat the level crossing to board a busy 170505 on the next Newark Castle terminator to take me back to Newark Castle.

Wasting some time, I popped to the Waitrose to have a look for any reduced to clear bargains, picking up a couple of items before returning to the station to find the next Nottingham train was delayed for some reason.  I noticed the next Lincoln train (a 2 coach 170) depart looking rather cosy as the previous Lincoln train had been cancelled.  Eventually 170423 rolled in and I headed to the former 1st class area at the back of the train for the nonstop run back to Nottingham.  One more 170 into my book for ten miles (previously only had this unit on a Haymarket leap before it transferred to Southern getting turned into a 171 of either 2 or 4 coaches.

170514 at Netherfield Station

Due to the delay, I was originally going to take this unit to Beeston to intercept something coming back the opposite direction, but that was ditched as I headed to grab dinner from the Tesco Express outside the station before heading to locate my seat on 222002, one of the remaining 7 coach units.  My reserved seat was in coach D (in the middle) but when the guard announced that one of the 1st class coaches was declassified, I hopped into that coach (for the extra comfort of the 1st class seats).  The coach I was originally in had refurbished seats but was quite busy (probably due to being the first standard class coach people would reach).

This service was the slower Nottingham – London train calling at Beeston, East Midlands Parkway & Loughborough towards Leicester before the usual calls at Market Harborough & Kettering before running fast to St Pancras, as I settled down watching some videos the 222 catching up with a late running service from Corby near Luton so the last few miles weren’t as fast, but it was nice to be back on a 222 again with a decent run (pretty sure the last time was September 2022 on the trip I had a 180 to Skegness).  Arrival into St Pancras was near enough on time, and I guess I could have dashed to the underground to attempt to make the 20:20 service from Waterloo (25 minutes) but decided to have a gentle walk to Waterloo, getting some fresh air.

222002 & 222014 at St Pancras Station

I arrived at Waterloo around 40 minutes later and relaxed looking at the advertising screen (mainly at the advert featuring the beautiful lady in sports clothing) before boarding the 21:20 service to Salisbury with 159004 & 159014.  A shame what would have been the 20:50 starts at Basingstoke after running ECS from Reading (had it started at Reading it would have allowed more options from Paddington), but this train was lightly loaded as I relaxed looking at the internet with my tablet (having finished the series I was watching earlier and not wanting to start a new series).  Nothing unusual happened along the way to Grateley as I had a gentle walk home, sorting out my back and going to sleep.

A later finish than usual, but that was due to the prices on EMR, an enjoyable day in Nottingham, shame I missed out on 422 but that will still be around next month when hopefully I do an East Midlands Day Ranger from Crewe.  An enjoyable few days away, getting lucky with the weather and in a decent shared house (although in my eyes not worth the £55 a night they now want for it).  Thanks for reading, more photos are on my Flickr here.  Next few weeks are day trips with no overnight stays, hopefully the weather is kind.

9-11th February – Edinburgh & Stoke on Trent

 9-11th February – Edinburgh & Stoke

My first weekend away based in Crewe of the year, same accommodation as I usually use for price, location & the fact you can roll in at 11pm on the Friday night without issue as it’s all self-service.  My original idea for the Saturday changed in the TPE £1 seat sale where I had a moment of madness to get tickets for a little trip to Edinburgh as it had been a while since I went via the Lakes in daylight.

9th February – Onwards to Crewe

The trip began with the usual 17:59 service, which tonight was formed of a busy (half-term week getaway) 159019 towards London Waterloo, nothing unusual happening along the way other than noticing some posters advertising Bournemouth Airport at Woking station, an airport which is nearly impossible to reach these days using public transport (2 buses to the Airport from Bournemouth early morning and 3 buses from the Airport in the afternoon/evening with the route 737).  Anyhow arrival into Waterloo was a few minutes ahead of schedule but was met with pouring rain, so it was to the underground (no point getting soaked at the start of the trip).

I jumped onto the first northbound train (set 51592 & 51591, which as a bonus was a sub-mile pair) to Euston, a station in a bit of chaos due to many delays & cancellations (just another day on the WCML) caused by a broken-down train in the Berkhamsted area.  As I was on a flexible ticket, I headed towards platform 2 to board the late running 19:46 LNR to Crewe, which didn’t arrive until 19:48 having been caught up with the chaos.  I took a seat on 350406 (with 350130 on the rear) as it departed around 14 minutes late, time it never really made up (I suspect had there not been a Pendo blocking platform 5 at Milton Keynes it might have been held there to allow a couple of Avanti services pass).

350406 at London Euston

Nothing unusual happened along the way north (other than using platform 3 at Nuneaton) and it arrived at Crewe around 22:10.   A gentle walk to the shared house to get checked in, noticing that both shared toilets were lacking toilet paper (not sure what happened there, maybe someone stole it or an oversight of the housekeeper), so I popped to the large Tesco Extra to grab a pack of cheap toilet paper as well as some supplies for the morning.  I returned to the shared house, and relaxed for the rest of the night, being quiet outside with no idiotic youths messing around on an off-road motorbike.

10th February – A Day trip to Edinburgh

A later start than usual for me on a Saturday from Crewe with the 08:30 TfW service to Manchester, which due to some chaos at Crewe with cancelled Avanti services blocking up platforms 11 & 12 meant it lost 10 minutes sitting outside Crewe station waiting for a platform to become available as a busy 197006 rolled in.  I was lucky to get a seat for the run towards Piccadilly on this busy 2 coach service, and at Piccadilly I headed towards platform 13 to board 397008 to the Airport, mainly to give me something to do as this would be my booked train to Edinburgh but more importantly allowed me to avoid the chaos of boarding at Piccadilly when it would return.

I decided to upgrade myself for weekend first for the leg towards Edinburgh as due to the reduced timetable between Manchester & Preston I suspected that standard class would be completely rammed.  So once back on board at the Airport I made my way to the posh seated area, selecting a single seat which had a decent window view (as a couple had a view of plastic) with my card ready to pay the £20 upgrade (I did try with Seatfrog but that auction ended with someone paying around £25 plus the £3 fee).

First Class on a TPE 397

Back towards Piccadilly and as expected standard class was chaotic, it didn’t help that this train was meant to be the 802 which has more seats, so there were a few passengers with seat reservations for seats which didn’t exist.  Meanwhile in the posh seats at the front I was relaxing as that area slowly filled up, especially after Oxford Road.  For some reason Northern were running replacement buses between Bolton & Manchester today, whilst the line was open, so it felt a bit strange heading towards Bolton without passing another train on what normally is, a busy section of track.  The train joined the WCML at Leyland and carried on towards Scotland, after Carstairs junction I was onto new track for TPE coverage (one of the reasons why I wanted to do this service).  I made use of the freebie snacks & soft drinks from the catering trolley as I was enjoying looking out of the scenery.

Arrival into Edinburgh Waverley was near enough on time, as I headed out of the station towards the busy tram stop (Rugby was on!) at St Andrews Square, jumping onto tram 251 for the slow run towards the Foot of the Walk tram stop in Leith where my little walk began.  Today was going to be an odds & sods sort of day, the first was the “Restalrig Walk” which I believe uses part of the track bed of the former Caledonian Railways route to South Leith Docks.  This was a large loop, and I had a little unplanned detour to the Lochend Park which was quite nice.  The Restalrig Walk ended on Easter Road, the railway beyond this section lost to developments.

Lochend Park Doocot (Edinburgh)

Onto the road network as I made my way towards Pilrig Park with another detour towards Redbraes Park where I saw the gap in the fence of the disused Powderhall branch line allowing local residents to use the railway bridge over the Water of Leith (although it wasn't the largest of gaps in the fence).  I picked up the St Mark's Path leading towards St Marks Park crossing over the Water of Leith and headed towards the opposite end of the railway bridge I saw earlier to walk part of the Water of Leith Walkway I missed a couple of weeks ago.

Disused Powderhall Branch bridge over the Water of Leith

I was now onto a path which made use of the former Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway route near Bonnington station, where I continued to near Junction Road (where a couple of weeks ago I walked the riverside path as this is where the Water of Leith walkway splits into two).  I did a U-turn to head back towards the Victoria Path leading towards Victoria Park and onto part of the former Caledonian Railways route.  This led towards the Hawthornvale Path near Bangholm woods and to "Five Ways" where 5 old railway line paths merge.

It was back onto the route of the former Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway route, this time on the Trinity branch, passing the remains of Trinity station and via Trinity tunnel.  The path came to an end at the waterfront of Wardie Bay which was very rough with waves this afternoon.  I followed a path along the waterfront towards the Granton Harbour East Breakwater where sadly I ran out of time (my original goal was to finish near Crewe Toll).  Had the water been calmer I might have walked along the breakwater towards the lighthouse, but I didn't fancy walking along the breakwater to get hit with a big wave as it was quite exposed.

Wardie Bay, Edinburgh

My walk came to an end at Granton Square, where it was onto Lothian bus route 19 (bus 648) for the slow ride back towards a busy Princes Street (due to the rugby having finished).  I alighted on Princes Street, visiting a couple of shops for dinner items before heading to Edinburgh Waverley station to relax before boarding 397003 on the last Manchester train of the evening.  Unlike this morning I decided to remain in standard class, watching some videos on my tablet due to the darkness.  A busy train after Haymarket which emptied out at Lockerbie (and Carlisle).  After Carlisle there was a good passenger changeover along the way getting busy after Lancaster but emptying out at Preston.  The lost time caused by a late running Shotts line stopper was recovered by the time the train reached Oxford Road so arrival into Piccadilly was on time allowing me a better chance at making an unofficial 4-minute connection to the next TfW service (to avoid an hour fester).

I easily made the connection onto winner (bonus!) 197048, and with an extra bonus I even got a seat (which I wasn’t expecting boarding so late).  The train was delayed by 4 minutes (I’m guessing congestion), and it emptied out at Crewe, which is where I left the service, heading back towards the shared house to have a shower and relax for the remainder of the evening.  An enjoyable little trip to Edinburgh making use of the £1 fare sale, shame I didn’t get the chance to compare a 397 with a 802 on the WCML as both trains were 397s.

Trinity Tunnel on Trinity Path (former Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway), Edinburgh (North Portal)

11th February – Walking the Trent & Mersey + Potteries Loop Line

After a good night sleep, I checked out of the shared house, swinging via Tesco at the Esso garage for breakfast before heading to Crewe station to board 350375 working the first Stafford (via Stoke) service of the day (used to be the first LNR service to Birmingham from Crewe on a Sunday but now the first LNR to Birmingham isn’t until nearly 3 hours later with the first Liverpool – Birmingham train).  I dread to think how busier the XC services are between Stafford & Birmingham now those LNR services don’t run.  Anyhow I took this 350 to Stone to begin my Sunday walk.  Thankfully the wet weather which was being forecasted earlier in the week had changed to being overcast (although there was a couple of light short drizzly showers along the walk).

This planned walk was a combination of a couple of ideas I had, the first was a return to covering the Trent & Mersey canal, access to the canal from Stone station was quite easy as it was a footpath near the station car park, over a modern bridge (which had replaced a foot crossing) before another short path coming out near a lock and onto the towpath, this time I turned right (as I’ve got another walk planned where I will turn left and head towards Rugeley but that will probably be a task for the spring/summer months).  The towpath was good quality as it was part of cycle route 5, a few areas of mud caused by recent rain but nothing too bad.

350375 departs Stone Station

My walk along the towpath took me mostly in a northern direction, running alongside the railway for a short section with the towpath flipping sides a couple of times as it left Stone behind and into a rural area.  The towpath was busy with other cyclists & joggers with a few dog walkers but was quite relaxing heading towards Barlaston (and the zombie station) and onto a section of the towpath I walked back in 2019 when visiting the zombie stations of Barlaston & Wedgwood with my good friend Paul.  After passing the Wedgwood factory I entered the Stoke on Trent area with a few housing in the Trentham area as the towpath went from rural countryside to more urban.

I did a little detour in the Trentham area to walk along part of the former North Staffordshire “Trentham Branch” which is now a mixed used path going between housing, doing a U-turn at the Longton Brook and headed back towards the canal to carry on heading along the towpath with new housing being built on the opposite bank before returning into more rural countryside before industrial units appeared along with the A500 Queensway Road (which was quite busy).  I continued along the towpath reaching the area near Stoke on Trent station which was the end of my little canal walk (as I had previously walked the canal from Stoke towards Kidsgrove last January.

Trent & Mersey Canal between Stone & Barlaston

My positioning walk to reach my second walk took me via Hanley Park (which looked quite nice), across the Caldon Canal and Hanley town centre (and a large Tesco which came in handy for lunch & a toilet break).  I soon reached the start of a path running along the remains of the Potteries Loop Line, a railway which closed due to Beeching in the 1960s (although parts remained until the 1970s due to a diversional route when Stoke – Manchester was getting wired up according to Wikipedia).  The first section was near the site of Waterloo Road station (although nothing remains of that station) before detouring towards the Central Forest Park area due to the closure of the Cobridge tunnel.  I re-joined the old railway near Cobridge park, passing what seemed to be the remains of a platform before heading towards     Burslem.

Within Burslem itself the former railway route has been lost under modern developments, so it was via the roads, following some poorly located signs for cycle route 5 to join the old railway line route for the section towards the town of Tunstall (one of the towns which makes up the city of Stoke on Trent).  I was a bit tempted to walk part of the former Pinnox branch (which linked the Potteries Loop line with the WCML near Longport) but decided that could wait for another trip as I want to visit Westport Lake.  Anyhow a couple of the modern tunnels’ underneath roads were a bit flooded due to the recent rain but were passable with care.  The next section of old railway came to an end near Pitts Hill where once more the route has been lost to modern roads forcing a detour before re-joining the route near the Scotia Brook.

I was now onto the final section of this walk, with no more detours onto roads as the path headed away from Stoke on Trent towards the Birchenwood country park where the railway goes into a deep tree-lined cutting running close to a small river.  This area also featured Goldenhill Tunnel and was very nice (even if the path in this area was a bit muddy in places).  The last section was in Kidsgrove itself as I carried on to the end of the railway path near the Tesco in Kidsgrove, near the site of the former Kidsgrove Liverpool Road station.  I had no time to rest as I made my way to Kidsgrove station climbing the many steps on the footbridge to reach platform 3 with a couple of minutes to spare before 350375 rolled in from Crewe to take me to Stafford.

Portal of the Goldenhill Tunnel on the former Potteries Loop Line in Kidsgrove

The walk was quite enjoyable, other than the sections lost to modern developments, decent path throughout with no major areas of mud or flooding, but my legs were feeling the near 18 mile walk as I collapsed onto that 350, putting my phone on charge and having my delayed lunch.  At Stafford it was a bit chaotic due to a landslip between Coventry & Rugby with a Pendo blocking platform 1, causing a 10-minute delay to the next LNR service for London Euston.  This was formed of 350262 & 350119, and I had a good position away from the large crowd to board into coach 5, grabbing the extra legroom table seat behind the cab on 119, putting my phone on charge and settling down to watch some videos for the journey to London.  I noticed the guard locking out the gangway door between units soon after departing Atherstone, clearly a guard who didn't want to be pestered by those pesky passengers (complete difference to the guard on the train from Kidsgrove who was patrolling the train checking tickets etc).

The train was further delayed on the southern part of the WCML due to a broken rail (I think) losing some more time so arrival into London Euston was around 20 minutes late.  I headed away from the busy train, swinging via Sainsburys for some food before walking (slowly) to Euston Square where I got lucky a couple of minute wait before the next Hammersmith bound service, a circle line 21356/21355 for the short journey to Paddington.  Due to engineering works in the Woking area, there was the magical replacement bus from Guildford to Basingstoke, but giving SWR some credit they extended the Salisbury stoppers to/from Reading rather than terminating them at Basingstoke (the ones in the evening which would normally run to London).  Every little helps and all that jazz.

Anyhow the first available service to Reading when I arrived at Paddington was 387167 & 387164 on a busy service for Swindon for the slightly bumpy trip to Reading.  At Reading I had a short wait before 159107 & 158890 rolled in from Salisbury to form the 19:12 service to Salisbury and I climbed on board to relax, catching up with some internet sites as I had finished what I was watching.  This service took me towards Basingstoke & then to Grateley, where I had a gentle walk home, resting my legs.

387167 at Reading Station

All in all, an enjoyable weekend getaway, Edinburgh was busy with the rugby, but I managed to do mostly what I had hoped for.  Another section of the Trent & Mersey canal has been complete as well as an old railway line walk.  I was glad when those 350s rolled into Stafford as when I saw the inbound service was cancelled, I was expecting the worse.  Thanks for reading, a lot more photos can be found on my Flickr of both days, not much in the way of train action this weekend but I need to make the most of the dry weather.

3rd & 4th February – A weekend in London

 3rd & 4th February – A weekend in London

3rd February – Woolwich & Docks

I was attending my first music concert since 2016 in the Dalston area, my original idea was to head home on the Saturday night but when the overtime ban got announced I looked for options for accommodation to avoid the 23:40 service from Waterloo, just in case that got cancelled at short notice, locating a room in a shared house near Redbridge underground station which would be handy for the venue (even with the closure of the North London line).

The trip began later than usual due to needing to get 2 new tyres fitted to my little car in the morning, so it was onto the 10:37 service from Andover.  This was a busy train from Exeter with 158882, 159004 & 159104 for the nonstop run to Basingstoke, I went straight for the 158 as that attached at Salisbury and would likely have available seats.  At Basingstoke I popped out of the station (confusing the agency staff on the barriers who have no concept of break of journey) to grab some lunch items (good way to waste the 25-minute connection and saves a job for when I reached London).  After grabbing lunch, it was onto 165106 working the next stopper to Reading.

158882 at Basingstoke Station

I had a tight connection at Reading to board a late running service from Swansea (800001 & 800025) where I managed to board it was standing room only as there had been a couple of cancellations prior and a XC service from Birmingham with passengers avoiding the strikes on the West Coast.  Better than waiting around for the following service which was a 5-coach set from Great Malvern (which would probably have been rather cosy, even without the extra passengers).  Anyhow onwards to Paddington where I headed to the Lizzy line platforms to board 345009 to Woolwich where I started my little walk.

The first section was something I was hoping to do back in November time but had to cut that Thamesmead explore back at Plumstead due to the weather turning damp.  I walked along the A206 to reach the Broad Water (which I believe is an old dock from the days where barges were loaded by the military at Woolwich), these days it has a lot of new housing being built close to the channel as I followed the path towards the old entrance lock with the Thames.  After this water channel it was towards Gallion's Park with a lake leading into another water channel which I followed to Battery Road where the waterway continued, passing a "cycle path to nowhere" (the cycle path just ends with a secure fence, so either it’s been future proofed for more housing or plans changed as there seems to be some sort of secure military land sandwiched between housing).

Lake within Gallions Park, Thamesmead, London

Anyhow back to the walk, as I headed towards Gallions Reach Park, climbing a man-made hill (with the path spiralling around to make the climb less challenging) which gave good views, although would have been better if the sky was blue rather than 50 shades of grey.  I headed down that hill and onto another smaller hill (labelled as “Lookout hill”) before heading out of the park and onto Thames Path, staying on the higher path which is shared with cyclists.  I followed the path next to the Thames (with some good views of the water), reaching the Woolwich Foot tunnel to end the first section of my walk as I headed underground via the spiral staircase (as the lifts at both ends were broken) to go underneath the Thames to reach North Woolwich.

Woolwich Foot Tunnel

The second part of my walk followed the Capital Ring, a walking route which circles London, parts which I’ve already done as part of other walking trips creating some gaps in the coverage.  Completing the Capital Ring is one of my goals for 2024 (as well as making a start with completing more of the London Loop).  This section follows a path alongside the river Thames, giving a view of where I was earlier.  I passed Royal Victoria Gardens and into housing leading towards crossing the entrance lock into the King George V dock.  This area of the path was a bit overgrown and quite industrial as it crossed the lock of the Royal Albert dock before reaching new buildings (with more being constructed as I needed to head away from the Capital Ring at one point due to the path being blocked by a fence.  I left the new buildings behind heading onto the road going underneath the DLR near Gallions Reach station and again a few minutes later to head to a path alongside the Royal Albert dock.

Entrance lock to Royal Albert Dock, London

This path ran close to the buildings of the University of East London before heading away from the dockside towards Cyprus DLR station and into New Beckton Park.  The Capital ring continued going into Beckton Park, where it met up with the Beckton Corridor Walk (along an old railway line) for a short section before heading north towards the Beckton District Park, an area on my list to return as it was quite scenic.

The parks came to an end with a footbridge over the A13 (Newham Way) dual carriageway and a short distance until it reached the Greenway the end of my section of walk as I headed towards Brampton Park on Lonsdale Avenue, jumping onto a route 104 bus (a Wright Eclipse Gemini WHV55) for the short journey to Beckton bus station, where I transferred to the DLR for sets 143/131 for the short trip to Cyprus to start a second walk, although due to the time of day I had cut out a section.  

I headed away from Cyprus back towards the Royal Albert dock, walking the path which gave some nice views of London City Airport.  I continued towards the Connaught Bridge where Albert gave way to Victoria for a short section before running into a path closure for an extension to the Excel centre (which is what I was expecting from my research).  My original plan was to head south towards the Thames Barrier Park, but I suspected it would have been closed due to the times so headed towards the DLR stop at Prince Regent to end my exploring for the day.

Royal Albert Dock (near City Airport), London

Due to engineering works, there was no Jubilee line so I decided to take DLR sets 23 & 09 to Poplar, crossing over for a Stratford bound service (my theory is Poplar - Stratford would have been quieter than Canning Town - Stratford).  That idea went into the bin when a sub mile set rolled in with 13 & 89 which I took to Canning Town (13 being the one).  The older DLR stock is on borrowed time with the replacements due to enter service soon.  I headed towards the Stratford International platforms and onto a very busy set made up of 15/66 to Stratford.  In my eyes TfL could have either tried to make the Stratford - Woolwich services triple sets or at least extended the Canning Town - Beckton trains to Stratford to ease overcrowding due to having no Jubilee line running.

At Stratford I headed towards the Central line platform, jumping onto a set which had arrived taking it to Leytonstone (as by the time the announcement played at Leyton about it being an Epping train it was too late due to a large crowd boarding from the Leyton kickball, hard enough to fight my way out at Leytonstone and ID the service as formed of 91205, 92458, 92254 & 91069 (with 91069 being needed for a mile as a nice little bonus).  The train behind was for Hainault which did nicely as it was formed of 91137, 92442, 92166 & 91047 to take me to Redbridge, where I located my accommodation and relaxed for a short while giving my phone a charge.

Go Ahead London Bus SEe218 (LB23 PFK) outside Redbridge station on a route 366

I headed out of the shared house, feeling strange not having my rucksack on me returning to Redbridge underground station, jumping onto the first available service towards Leytonstone with 91073, 92262, 92416 & 91203 (with 92262 being needed for a mile).  I hung back at Leytonstone for a couple of services keeping my eyes for anything else I needed for a mile, linear hopping to Leyton with a service formed of 91195, 92052, 92020 & 91173 (with 91173 being needed for a mile).  Sadly, my luck wasn’t with me this evening as I cut my losses jumping onto a service formed of 91139, 92434, 92464 & 91169 to Stratford, transferring to platform 8 for the next Elizabeth line service towards Paddington.  Due to engineering works, there was no services running between Stratford & Shenfield with the Elizabeth line trains terminating at Stratford, normally platform 8 is the platform for Shenfield bound trains so a bit unusual departing towards central London for a random crossover (BLS hat time).

I alighted at Whitechapel, popping out to Sainsburys for something to munch before taking 378140 to Dalston Junction for a short walk to the venue for my concert.  A couple of hours later when the concert had finished, I headed back towards Dalston Junction with 378154 to Shoreditch High Street, where unusually it departed from platform 1 at Dalston Junction (normally the platform for northbound trains to Highbury but engineering works meant everything was terminating at Dalston today), just for another random crossover.  I exited the station at Shoreditch High Street walking to Liverpool Street via a Tesco Express for breakfast (making use of the fridge in the shared kitchen) before taking 345012 to Stratford (arriving at platform 5 to do the other crossover to the west of Stratford, because why not?)

Crossing over to the eastbound Central line platform saw me jumping onto an unknown Epping service (91037, 92420, 92124 & 91213) to Leyton for a short hunt before calling it a night with a service formed of 91239, 92422, 92036 & 91053 to Redbridge, walking back to the shared house to relax for the remainder of the evening, mainly looking at Google Maps and coming up with yet more ideas.

345069 at Stratford on a Paddington Service

4th February – Roding Valley & Wapping

My rough plan for this Sunday changed a few times over the week (London has so much to offer, sometimes it’s hard to actually make a decision), with the option I picked being a late notice discovery based on looking at Google maps in the Redbridge area.  I checked out of the shared house, it was reasonable enough, bit of outside noise due to the location but certainly somewhere I would use again if the need ever arose.  Heading towards Redbridge station I carried on via a subway underneath the A12, then one underneath the North Circular (A406) where a path which would head towards Ilford branches off before another subway underneath the A12 again for a short section of walking along the pavement of this busy road over the river Roding before I turned away from the A12 onto a path into the Roding Valley Park.

I followed a path which varied in quality (but nothing that bad) as it followed the river Roding heading north splitting up (a cycle path within woods and two footpaths on either side of the river).  I took the cycle path before crossing over to one of the river footpaths for better views of the river (and to try and reduce the road noise from the North Circular which was close-by, turning into the M11 in the South Woodford area.  The path following the Roding continued passing a recycling centre still with the changing path quality with a section being a bit muddy (I suspect mainly caused by flooding).  I went underneath the Central Line (near Roding Valley Underground) and towards Buckhurst Hill, the path becoming more urban.  The first section of the path came to an end near Buckhurst Hill Underground with what seems to be a missing part, forcing a walk onto the roads to head into another park leading towards the Roding Valley Meadows.

Central Line viaduct over River Roding in the Buckhurst Hill area

I reached the Roding Valley Lake, circling around it with the river on my right hand side and continued my walk into the meadows, which was a scenic area (other than the noise of traffic from the motorway) and it was a shame when the path ended in the Debden area as I returned to the road network following the A1168 underneath the Central line tracks and towards a Sainsburys for lunch items.  I was toying with doing one of the bus routes which start from Debden but decided against it and headed to the station and jumping onto a London bound service formed of 91249, 92078, 92196 & 91091 (with a bonus of 91091 being needed for a mile).  I took this to Leytonstone where I was hoping to use the toilets, but they seem to be locked up.  I had a short wait before jumping onto a set formed of 91161, 91193, 92044, 91115 to Stratford transferring to the DLR for a very busy set formed of 34 & 70 to Canning Town where I had another little walk,

This is a walk I was hoping to do back in 2022 but had to change my plan due to rain moving in.  I exited Canning Town at the river entrance and headed towards the Bow Creek Ecology Park based on the land within a bend of the river.  I passed an old bridge which crossed the DLR tracks (which has been locked with gates for some reason), going round the bend and underneath the DLR tracks to the opposite side of the old bridge, near what seems to be an old railway bridge.  Crossing the river on what is called the "Blue bridge" (because it's blue) and I headed on the opposite bank of the river doing a large U to return to where I started near Canning Town station.  An enjoyable little stroll which had been on my list for a while (but never got round to doing it).

DLR units 123 & 154 crossing the Bow Creek in Leamouth, London

Anyhow back at Canning Town and it was onto a DLR service formed of 128 & 139 to Westferry stepping back to a triple set from Lewisham formed of 58, 01 & 96 getting lucky as 96 was one of my needed for a mile sets.  I took this service to Shadwell, exiting the station for a 3rd walk, another walk which had been on my list for things to do.  I headed away from the DLR towards the enclosed Shadwell Basin, doing a loop around the basin before reaching the Ornamental Canal.  This canal is broken up with the Wapping Woods as I continued along the path, passing a couple of old ships at the Tobacco Dock (which I presume are used for venue hire.  This canal ends in the Hermitage basin and was an interesting walk.

After I reached Hermitage basin I headed towards the St Katharine Docks, before heading to Tower Gateway to end my little stroll.  An enjoyable little stroll within Wapping but it was now back to playing with the trains, starting with the DLR looking for any of my sub mile units, managing to grab 94 & 73 before ending up in Stratford switching to the Central line for some linear hops, getting 92096 & 92258 into my book for over a mile, my luck with the S7 stock on the district/H&C line was a bit rubbish.  Certainly, linear hopping on the Central line is better in the open air due to how hard they are to try and grab all 4 set numbers when they rush into a station.

Ornamental Canal, Wapping

I ended up at Kings Cross St Pancras onto Piccadilly line 189 pushing that one over a mile but the Piccadilly line was operating with some service gaps, so I didn’t hang round for long before switching to the northern line, getting lucky with sub mile 95 stock 51631/51632 to Waterloo where I felt like I had hit a wall.  I think it might have been the underground air getting to me, but I felt like I had enough as I took a seat on the 17:45 service to Salisbury formed of 159021, 159001 (which was on a seaside special according to the destination screen) & 159103.  A service which needed all 9 coaches as it was very busy, and remained busy even after Grateley, I can only presume a large percentage of the passengers on board were changing to GWR at Salisbury for Bath, Bristol etc due to the limited GWR service from Paddington due to the overtime ban.  Anyhow I soon reached home, relaxing for the rest of the evening, after a couple of productive days walking wise, as well as getting some more TfL stuff over the mile (which is another one of my 2024 goals).

Next week sees a return to more long-distance trips with a return to Crewe, I wonder what type of biscuits I will get this time in my usual shared house.  More photos taken from this trip can be found on my Flickr account Here.  Thanks for reading, I will leave you with the canopy of Canary Wharf.

Canopy at Canary Wharf Station from West India Quay

26 - 28th January – Edinburgh & East Linton

26 - 28th January – Edinburgh & East Linton

After doing some research in prices for accommodation & travel (avoiding engineering works on the ECML) this was the first weekend I could try and visit the recently opened station of East Linton between Drem & Dunbar on the ECML.  As well as doing some exploring of the Scottish capital as thankfully the weather was showing as being dry which is always a bonus on these long-distance trips as I didn’t need to come up with a back-up plan.

26th January – Southern to Hemel & Sleeper to Scotland

The trip began with the 17:59 service from Grateley with 159022 doing the honours on this reasonably busy service as I sat back and watched some videos for the run to Waterloo with nothing really happening along the way (one of those routine journeys which fade away into memory shortly afterwards).  Once into Waterloo, after swinging via Sainsburys for some dinner items I headed into the open air with a gentle stroll towards Euston, going via Holborn.  It might not necessarily be the quickest but it’s the easiest in terms of straight lines.  Only issue I have with walking in London is some of the lawless cyclists who deem red lights as strictly optional, especially when they dress in dark clothes and think lights are also optional, so you need to be careful when crossing some of the road junctions.

40 minutes (or thereabouts) later I had arrived at Euston, seeing the horrible new advertising screen for the first time (since it became live).  Such a horrid station with crowds gathering round the remaining departure screens with one set seemingly turned into a “there are replacement buses between X & Y on Sunday” information screen rather than displaying the departures.  Anyhow rant over and I headed towards platform 8 with my original plan going into the bin as there had been a set-swap with the all-day diagram of 730s as the 20:24 to Bletchley was duds 730011 + 730013, so I returned to one of the waiting areas to have my dinner and engage in people watching with the usual crowd surge when an Avanti for Wolverhampton/Liverpool etc was announced.  One of these days there will be a tragic accident in that stampede.

Ratp Group (London) Bus VH45113 (BT13 YWL) at Euston bus station on a route 18

Anyhow the inbound for the 20:54 Bletchley service had rolled in from Milton Keynes Central which was formed of winners 730014 & 730005 as I took a seat at the front of 730014 where it was nice and quiet (compared to nearer the rear of the service).  The 21:06 to Milton Keynes was formed of 730019 running solo which I didn’t thankfully need so it was back to my original plan as I took 014+005 to Hemel Hempstead. Remaining on platform 3 as 377701 was right behind the 730s on one of the limited Southern extensions to Hemel Hempstead as part of the old Milton Keynes service (sadly a victim of post Covid related cutbacks).  This service had been on my wants list for a while as unusually it departs Hemel Hempstead from platform 3 heading south, doing the crossover in the process (my BLS hat firmly on).

377701 at Hemel Hempstead Station

As this service departs Hemel a couple of minutes after a Euston stopper it was very lightly loaded (I counted 3 passengers including myself).  It was also a bit slow due to following that stopper as I took it to Watford Junction, but the random novelty of Southern at Hemel Hempstead was into my little book.  I was toying with taking an Overground service to Bushey as it was originally showing as platform 1 but was relocated to platform 4, the only Overground platform I’ve got a note of using at Watford Junction, so it was back towards platform 9 and a short wait in the chilly air before 350247 & 350243 rolled in on the stopper from Milton Keynes (best place for the 350/2s).  I managed to get a seat in the former 1st class area on 243 for the run into Euston where it ran into the rear of another 350/2 (to form a 12-coach set for Northampton) and I headed back towards the concourse area to wait for the Lowland sleeper to get announced for boarding.  Eventually it started to board with 92018 up front (again!), and I located my seat in the Edinburgh seated portion which was quite nice temperature wise.  Sadly, I was joined by a couple of office workers who decided they wanted to have a nice catch-up until 01:30, talking quite loudly about work & personal lives (who was currently seeing whom etc).  But worse was the temperature of the coach dropping from being quite reasonable to “Height of Spanish Summer” mode with the AC seemingly on full power, I was cold even with my winter coat on.

27th January – Walking the Water of Leith Walkway & East Linton

The sleeper arrived at Edinburgh Waverley near enough on time, maybe a few minutes ahead of schedule with 92028 up front.  After visiting the toilets in the station for a short freshen up and swinging via Sainsburys for breakfast items I headed out of the station, and to a bus stop on Waterloo Place to await the next route 44 Lothian service for the village of Balerno in the Southwest of the city.  Lothian bus 615 took me towards the High School stop in Balerno which is near to the start of the Water of Leith Walkway, on a slow ride (many stops close together) via Haymarket, Slateford, Juniper Green & Currie.  After a quick photo of the river from Balerno bridge I started my walk.

The first section of this walk was along the old alignment of the Balerno Loop railway line, although there was not much in the way of remains of the former life, other than an old loading platform in the Juniper Green area.  Anyhow the path was decent quality (mostly tarmac) as it followed the river close to the A70 road with various access points along the route.  Going underneath the busy sounding Edinburgh Bypass to reach the city itself where the path moved away from the A70 and towards the area where Colinton Station once was and the Colinton Tunnel which has been painted inside.

Colinton Railway Tunnel, Edinburgh (Water of Leith Walkway)

This is the point where the walkway splits into two alternative routes, either following the river itself or staying on the railway path.  I remained on the railway path as I didn’t know what the paths near the river would have been like as I continued along the railway line reaching the end of the path as it crossed the Union Canal and reaching the fence alongside the Carstairs - Edinburgh railway line.  I did a U-turn back along the disused railway line coming away near Colinton Dell to cross the river and onto a woodland path.  Dodging a couple of fallen trees before reaching the unusual Craiglockhart Grotto building (with a wonderful view of a waterfall behind it).  I soon reached the end of the Colinton & Craiglockhart Dells section of the walk as it crossed the A70 near the Water of Leith Visitor Centre.

I crossed the road, and underneath the Slateford Aqueduct carrying the Union Canal and Slateford Viaduct carrying the railway line and onto a busier section of the walkway as it followed the curves of the river passing some industrial units to reach Gorgie Road.  After crossing this road, the walk continued towards Saughton Park where I did a little bit of exploring of the Gardens.

Saughton Park Bandstand, Edinburgh

After I re-joined the marked walkway, I returned to the side of the river as it went underneath both the railway line & tram line near Murrayfield stadium.  My walk continued with the stadium on my right side and river on the left towards Roseburn Public Park with a short section of road walking before dropping down into a valley (where I had to put my jumper back on after removing it earlier in the walk).  This next section was quite scenic as well as being more peaceful, as I went underneath the Coltbridge Viaduct (formally used by a railway line now a mixed used path between Haymarket & Newhaven).  The path continued in a quiet area as I bumped into my West Midlands based friend (Jan) who was also up in Edinburgh this weekend.

The next section of the walkway was busier in terms of other walkers (and a few joggers) as it headed towards the Dean area of the city, going underneath the impressive Dean Bridge and passing St Bernard's Well as the walkway continued into the Stockbridge area of the city which was a good place to stop for some lunch.  After lunch we continued along the Walkway towards the Canonmills area of the city where we took a break away from the river path to walk the Warriston Path, a path along the old Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway route in the north of the city.

Water of Leith in the Dean Village area of Edinburgh

We took this old railway line path (Goldenacre Path) towards the north in the area of the former Trinity Junctin and these days where it meets up with the Newhaven - Haymarket walking route.  At this junction we took the Chancelot Path to where it meets the track of the disused Powderhall branch line (which I wonder if one day will get converted into another 'active travel' path towards the Restalrig area of the city).  After reaching the end of the old railway route we reached the riverside path to head around the edge of St Marks Park and onto Warriston Road, underneath the railway viaduct to come back onto the old railway line to walk towards a Tesco and the Rodney Street Tunnel leading towards the former Scotland Street station and the closed off Scotland Street tunnel.

At the Scotland Street tunnel, after a couple of photos, we headed back towards the viaduct (via Tesco for a PNB) picking up the old railway line path towards the remains of Bonnington railway station where we departed from the old railway route to re-join the path running alongside the Water of Leith on a loop of the river.  This path re-joined the old railway line route near the former Junction Road railway station with a short detour onto Coburg Street due a path closure.  We followed the Water of Leith walkway as it headed into Leith town centre with some lovely old buildings alongside the route, reaching the end of the Walkway path (sadly the sign had been attacked by someone with a spray can).

Remains of Bonnington railway station, Edinburgh

We carried on towards the docks area, heading towards Victoria quay and the Albert Dock Basin, meeting the tram tracks which we followed towards Ocean Terminal.  The Trams were quite bunched up this afternoon, so Google Maps suggested using a number 10 bus towards Pilrig Gardens as the fastest route to the guest house we were both staying at (completely unplanned, we just happened to book the same place as it was the best value for money).  Lothian bus 372 took us towards this bus-stop (not normally served by the route 10, but served as the bus was on a diversional route with road works).  We located the guesthouse (Edinburgh House Hotel), getting checked in and dropping off stuff (and for me a change of clothes) before heading back out to the same bus stop for a busy route 11 service (Lothian bus 1126) towards Princes Street where we had a walk to Edinburgh Waverley station jumping onto the Dunbar service.

A reasonably busy 380103 was on this Dunbar service, although it did empty out a lot at Musselburgh.  I didn't see how busy Wallyford was but there was a good 20 or so passengers who alighted with us at the new East Linton station.  Quite good for a new station in my eyes, certainly seeing some use, unlike Reston.  After having a little walk around the station area (this is an area on my list to revisit later in the year to walk part of the John Muir Way linking East Linton with North Berwick).  Anyhow back at the station and it was onto a late running 380103 back towards Edinburgh Waverley where we headed towards the tram stop at St Andrews Square and onto tram 265 to the Foot of the Walk stop outside Spoons in Leith.

380103 at East Linton Station

For the lack of a better idea for dinner, we headed into the Wetherspoons, getting lucky with locating an empty table and having food.  After dinner we headed back to the tram stop with tram 256 for the short hop to Balfour Street before heading to the guest house on foot, where I relaxed for the remainder of the evening in a very peaceful room.  I enjoyed my walk along the Water of Leith Walkway, the scenery was changing, path condition was mostly decent with good signage along the way for the short sections where walking on the road was required.

28th January – Union Canal & back home

I had a couple of ideas of what to do this morning as I was booked onto the 12:20 service to London as I managed to get a reasonably cheap split advance.  The first was some more of the disused railway line paths in the Leith area, second was the Innocence Railway Path but in the end, I decided it was a good chance to start with my coverage of the Union Canal.  The Union Canal runs from Edinburgh towards Falkirk (where it meets the Forth & Clyde canal with the Falkirk Wheel) and in my rough idea file I’ve got it split into 3 sections.

The day began checking out of the Edinburgh House Hotel, certainly somewhere I would use again if the price was right (so come on down;)).  We headed towards the tram stop at Balfour Street and boarded tram 270 for the reasonable length run to the Edinburgh Park station stop (I prefer these trams on the section beyond Haymarket where they can get up to some reasonable speed).  Before heading towards the canal, we headed towards the big Tesco to grab some breakfast items (always strange being in a large Tesco at 08:30 on a Sunday morning)

Edinburgh Tram 259 at Balfour Street

Visit to Tesco complete it was to the Cultins Road, passing a Royal Mail place to reach the Union Canal, where we joined the towpath to follow the canal as it ran close to the Edinburgh Bypass before heading east towards Wester Hailes & Kingsknowe.  The towpath was good quality, bit narrow in places but good to see it being well used by other walkers, joggers, cyclists & even members of what seemed to be a university club.  We passed underneath the railway line on a section I previously walked back in 2016 when the level crossing at Kingsknowe station was closed.  We continued near to the area I was on the Saturday with the old Balerno loop railway line, crossing over the Water of Leith on the Slateford Aqueduct and carrying on the canal.

In the Harrison Park area, we took a break from the canal to head towards a path which ran along the old railway route from Slateford towards Princes Street near the former Merchiston railway station.  The first section is now an access road for the Slateford Network Rail depot (which for a dead-end path was quite busy) with the second section (after a U-turn back to the remains of the platforms at Merchiston) in some woods to reach Dundee Terrace where I headed back towards the canal to pick up where we left to carry on towards the end of the canal at Lochrin Basin with many modern buildings which has replaced most of the historic buildings from when the canal was working (rather than a leisure canal).  We headed onto the roads to reach Edinburgh Waverley as I grabbed some lunch saying farewell to Jan who was heading towards Glasgow to pick up his train towards Stafford and I located my seat on 801228.  The canal was a nice little walk, decent towpath, with views of housing of the suburbs of Edinburgh (as well as some open spaces.

Leamington Lift Bridge on the Union Canal in Edinburgh

I took my seat at the table near the doorway between standard & first (the one which says “Standard Class” which causes confusion as normal passengers walk through thinking more standard class seats are beyond only to find 1st class), at the start I had a university student opposite me on the table (the sort who can’t sit properly) but she moved after a ticket check.  This service had an unusual calling pattern of Morpeth, Newcastle, Durham, York & Grantham and only really got busy after Grantham (where I suspect was passengers from Nottingham avoiding the replacement buses).  Nice for another fast run on the ECML and the short delay it had from a speed restriction in Scotland with high gusts of wind was made up by York.  Anyhow as I had just over an hour before the next train from Waterloo towards Grateley I decided to save some money and walk to Waterloo going mostly straight with some smaller detours in the Holborn area due to roadworks.

40 minutes later I arrived at Waterloo and onto the 17:45 service to Salisbury which was formed of a triple 159 tonight (159005, 159004 & 159018) and was lightly loaded in coach 3 of 9 as I settled down to relax for the uneventful run to Hampshire, followed with a gentle walk home.  The weekend was a nice little getaway, the main mission was to visit East Linton plus I managed to do some walking within Edinburgh due to the dry weather.  Some more photos can be found on my Flickr album located here Flickr Album:  Thanks for reading, I will leave you with an image of the Thames from Waterloo Bridge.

River Thames from Waterloo Bridge