29th March - Centurion Way & Hayling Island
Good Friday, the weather forecast was a bit changeable, so my rough ideas changed a few times in the days beforehand, eventually settling on a couple of shorter old railway line walks in the south as the weather was looking slightly more reasonable compared to say Birmingham or London. The day began with a drive to Romsey, parking in the library car park making use of the free parking on offer due to being a bank holiday and I made my way to the station to pick up my ticket from the TVM.
First train was the GWR Portsmouth service formed of a busy 158768 for the short distance to Southampton Central (which was in a bit of chaos due to signalling problems towards Dorset, a large crowd was waiting on the platform for a London train). I popped out of the station to visit the little Tesco Express to grab some supplies for lunch before returning to take a seat on 377214 on the Victoria service for the run to Chichester where I decided not to wait 30-odd minutes for the next Midhurst bus and decided to flip the walk around, so I walked north rather than heading south.
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| 377214 at Southampton Central |
The Centurion Way is a mixed used path which uses part of the route of the former Chichester – Midhurst railway line, a line with a mixed history. The first section of this walk was along the A259 towards Chichester college before picking up the route of the old railway line near a footbridge over the tracks & yard. A decent surface of mostly tarmac and the sun had come out as I made my way along the old railway path skirting around both old housing & new housing under construction before getting views of the Platinum Jubilee Country Park and the path going into a woodland cutting.
Quite a busy path at the southern end in terms of other users as I continued the walk leaving the city of Chichester and into the countryside leading towards Lavant where the only remains of the station was the station building (now a private house). This was a short section of walking along the road of a housing estate (with pavements) due to the route of the old railway being lost, the railway path resuming to the north of the village. This was a lot more rural with some beautiful views of the countryside, also a lot quieter compared to the southern section. One more short detour from the track-bed due to a farm before going underneath the A286 to the south of the village of West Dean and a final section to a bridge over a little lane where the path came to an end. The railway continued beyond West Dean towards Midhurst but sadly that area has either been lost to modern developments or is in private hands with no public access.
The first walk over as I made my way along the little lane to reach the main road for a handy bus stop outside the Selsey Arms pub, I made good timing and got lucky as I only had a 5 minute wait for the next hourly bus (Sunday timetable) on a route 60 for Chichester with Stagecoach bus 27741 on a busy service (part of me was toying with the idea of catching the northbound service to Midhurst before riding the entire route but that is a job for another trip). This route follows the A286 via Lavant before reaching Chichester where it got quite busy. I was also toying with an idea of doing a little explore in Chichester with the city walls but decided that could wait for another day as I made my way to the railway station for the next train towards Havant.
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| Centurion Way (former Midhurst Railway) in Lavant |
It was onto a very busy 377409 from Brighton (I think) for the journey to Havant where after a quick visit to the station toilets I started my second walk. Exiting Havant on the south side, it was a walk via the car park to pick up the route of the former Hayling Island branch line taking me towards Langstone, crossing a busy road and onto the remains of the former viaduct across Langstone Harbour which was one of the reasons the line was closed (to avoid costly repairs, the short slightness of the governments of the 1960s). At the end of the little spur of land I did a U-turn to head back towards the mixed used path which headed onto the busy Langstone road bridge with a strong wind coming across the water as I reached Hayling Island and picked up the route of the former railway line, which is now branded as the “Hayling Billy Trail”.
This section of path was a bit rougher than the previous section in Havant, a hard-core surface with some areas of mild flooding & mud from the recent rain. After doing a little detour to the southern spur of the former railway viaduct I headed south into the countryside and some beautiful views of the water as the railway ran along the edge of the island. Passing the site of the former North Hayling station (nothing remained that I could see) I continued along the path enjoying the views on both sides (as well as the peaceful nature). Soon the path when into woodland (where the path got muddier in places) but sadly came to an end near the former station at Hayling Island (which is now used as a theatre).
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| Restored signal on old Hayling Island Railway |
It was onto the roads of “West Town” to reach the waterfront on the south coast of the island picking up a path running close to the beaches crossing over the track of the Hayling Seaside Railway. This was nice to walk along the beach in the sunshine as I reached Eastoke Corner where the Seaside Railway had the depot, making a small detour towards the depot for some photos where I noticed the train was in operation (I checked the website when on the train from Chichester & Havant where it said it wasn’t running so it was a nice little bonus). The next departure was due in a few minutes as I made my way to the station to board the train in a compartment coach. The loco up front was "Edwin", a Ruston & Hornsby built loco from 1967, as it departed towards Beachlands roughly a mile away. It gave my legs a short rest on the gentle trip there and back, some unusual track into my book with a well-run tourist railway narrow gauge line.
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| Hayling Seaside (Light) Railway Loco Edwin at Eastoke station |
Back to my walk as I picked up a path along the Hayling Island Promenade, sticking to the path at the bottom due to the top path walking along the soft stoney beach which still gave nice views. The path entered the Sandy Point nature reserve which was very scenic giving views towards West Wittering in Sussex. The path came to an end near a boat club as I headed inland, ending up at a bus stop near the (annoyingly closed) toilets at Creek Road for the next Havant bus. There seems to be 2 bus routes (a 30 & a 31) which seem to run in opposite directions on a loop at the south of the island, joining together to do another short loop around the housing in Eastoke. Next up for me was a route 30 (with Stagecoach's 27863) doing the loop in Eastoke before heading towards the mainland via Mengham [the 31 goes back via West Town].
The bus took me to Havant bus station as I headed back to the railway station swinging via an Iceland & a little Cost-Cutter shop to grab some dinner items, not ideal but this area of Havant didn’t have much open on a bank holiday. At Havant railway station I looked up options to reaching Romsey, as I took 377469 to Fratton, changing to board 450054 & 450102 to take me to Eastleigh changing once more to board 158881 on the Romsey terminator via Chandlers Ford. A very busy train when it rolled into Eastleigh due to the continuing chaos caused by signalling issues with heavy delays to London trains. Thankfully it emptied out at Eastleigh as I headed towards Romsey to end the day with a relaxing drive home. An enjoyable little day trip with two different former railway line paths as well as a seaside walk, the weather behaving itself.
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| Hayling Bay from Sandy Point, Hayling Island |
30th March – Exploring the Strawberry Line
The Strawberry Line is the name given to a mixed used path which runs between Cheddar & Yatton, making use (in parts) of the former Cheddar Valley line (which in the progress of getting restored further between Cheddar & Wells/Shepton Mallet with some parts already opened).
I was originally going to do this walk at the start of the month but put it on hold due to the forecasted heavy rain (switching to walking in Chard). Today the weather was on my side with beautiful sunshine forecasted (all be with some wind). I drove to Salisbury parking in my usual place on Churchfields Road (saves paying out £5.30 for parking in the station car park) and headed to the station with a slightly late running 07:30 service formed of 158765 & 158760 to take me to Bath Spa where I had around 15 minutes to wait before a very quiet 800306 rolled in on a Weston Super Mare terminator, calling only at Yatton between Bristol & Weston (giving me a tiny bit of new IET coverage leaving just the section of track south of Weston to the mainline).
With some time to kill in Weston Super Mare I headed to Tesco to grab supplies for lunch, also to look for a hat as I had foolishly left my hat at home (nothing of interest in Tesco). After grabbing lunch and taking photos of various First buses I headed back to the railway station to board a busy route 126 service for Wells via Cheddar, a bus route which thankfully came back from the dead. This service was in the hands of a former Southampton Wright StreetLite, 47672. Going via Uphill, Hutton, Sandford & Axbridge before getting stuck in a large traffic jam caused by tourists heading to Cheddar Gorge. Eventually the bus cleared the traffic, and I alighted in the village itself, spotting a little charity shop which I randomly popped into seeing a decent looking M&S hat for a couple of quid, something to keep the top of my head from getting burned. An enjoyable little bus route with some good views, but it got quite busy after Axbridge and with a large crowd waiting for it in Cheddar.
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| Cheddar Bus |
The first section was a walk along the road to reach Draycott Park to the south of the village (annoyingly a place the bus doesn't stop at) picking up the route of the old railway line (although in this area the only evidence that it used to be railway was the bridge over the Cheddar Yeo). This first section ends alongside the A371 near a school with another short walk along the road to reach an industrial estate where Cheddar station used to be located. Back onto the route of the old railway line as it headed away from Cheddar towards Axbridge, where I had a little detour to reach the banks of the Cheddar Reservoir. One of my original ideas had me circling this reservoir but for some reason I decided against the mile long round journey round the edge.
The section of railway in Axbridge has been lost under the bypass road forcing a detour into the pretty town of Axbridge, where I decided to sit down to have my lunch (ironically a cheddar & ham roll) in the town square before continuing away from the town centre towards the route of the former railway line once more. Some steep hills giving some lovely views of the Somerset countryside and soon I was back on the old railway line route as it crossed the A38 road and onto a reasonably busy path going via Shute Shelve tunnel to reach Winscombe where the former platform of the station remains.
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| Shute Shelve Tunnel on the Strawberry Line Path (former Cheddar Valley Railway Line) between Axbridge & Winscombe |
I continued along the old railway line path as it went via a woodland cutting towards Sandford where the path detours away from the old railway line as the station is used as a small centre with an old loco alongside the platform. The next section of the path didn't use much of the old railway line route and has recently been opened up to avoid a walk along Nye Road (as part of the National Grid's Hinkley Connection Project). The old railway line route was shortly regained after passing a sewage works onto a long straight across open countryside towards Congresbury (where the old station remains). Another short section where the path doesn’t follow the railway line with a detour along the Congresbury Yeo to reach a bridge across this river then along a farm access track to reach the route of the old railway once more. Onto the final push (so to speak) as the countryside returned and path headed towards Yatton station, ending in the car park alongside the station giving me 15 minutes (or thereabouts) before my booked train which I had booked a couple of hours earlier when in Sandford. An enjoyable little old railway line walk, mostly a decent path with some mud with some lovely countryside.
Anyhow it was back to the trains with 802006 to take me to Bristol Temple Meads on a Cardiff train (complete with the usual sitting outside the station for 5 minutes waiting for a platform), it was a short walk across to platform 14 to board 158766 on the Salisbury stopping service which departed a few minutes late due to a late arrival. I was lucky to grab a seat to relax only for things to go a bit wrong after Bradford on Avon where the train got caught up in congestion caused by a broken-down Weymouth service at Trowbridge. That broken down train eventually got moved to Westbury (I presume) however the damage had been done with the train I was on terminating at Westbury with passengers for Salisbury told to wait for the next Portsmouth train which at the time was 45 minutes away (as the next Portsmouth & Salisbury service was both cancelled)
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| Train at former Sandford Station on the former Cheddar Valley Line (Strawberry Line) |
For lack of a better idea, I decided to walk into Westbury town to visit the Morrisons to grab some dinner items (originally, I was going to grab something in Salisbury) returning to the station still with 15 minutes to waste. I dread to think how busy the Weymouth train would have been which was in front of the Portsmouth being the first train from Bristol/Bath towards Trowbridge for 90 minutes, but it kept on losing time. Anyhow eventually 166215 rolled into Westbury, as expected it was quite busy, but I managed to get a seat in the former 1st class area at the front. The train did empty out at Salisbury as I made my way back to the car and had a relaxing drive home. Other than for the farce with the trains it was a good day, beautiful weather in Somerset and another old railway line walked. The newer sections between Cheddar & Wells will probably wait until more of it has been opened, whenever that will be.
31st March – A random day in London
A day in London with mum was the aim of todays little trip, with no real plan in mind only ideas to do some random bus routes after a boat ride The day began with the 07:38 service from Grateley formed of 159010 & 159020 featuring a couple of revenue protection officers checking tickets, we took this to Clapham Junction jumping back to Wimbledon on the first available service which was 455910 & 455913 transferring to the underground with 21372/21371 taken to Putney Bridge. Since some-point last year the Thames Clipper service has been extended to run to/from Putney every hour at weekends rather than being at peak time only.
We made our way out of Putney Bridge underground (barriers wide open), across Putney Bridge and to the pier which is 3rd party owned where passengers having to wait by the access door before a member of staff from the boat comes up to open it. The first boat of the day was the 10:05 sailing with Galaxy Clipper on the RB2, we got lucky to grab seats at the front of the vessel for some lovely views of the fast-flowing river (even though the sky was fifty shades of grey).
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| Galaxy Clipper (Thames Clippers) at Putney Pier |
After an hour or so we alighted from the boat at Canary Wharf, the limit of the Central zone (getting our moneys worth) and walked towards the DLR station at Canary Wharf (via the toilets in the shopping centre), jumping onto the first Lewisham bound service formed of 103, 144 & 135. At Lewisham we exited the station making our way towards the town centre shopping area (via Greggs for lunch) to board a route 108 bus for Stratford International, formed of bus MEC10 (a London Central Citaro). A busy bus as it headed away from Lewisham towards Blackheath, Charlton & North Greenwich, getting caught up in traffic before going via the Blackwall Tunnel towards Bow, then towards Stratford International station. A gentle walk took us towards Stratford City bus station for a route 388 service for London Bridge (in the hands of Stagecoach’s 12509).
This was a reasonably busy route departing from Stratford heading towards Hackney via the Olympic Park, then on a one-way loop via South Hackney (near Victoria Park, an area to explore as I've only been there once before, back in 2008 when I saw Radiohead play live). After South Hackney it went via Bethnal Green then Spitalfields before passing Liverpool Street and heading to London Bridge via the City of London. An interesting route for different views of London which I wouldn't have seen by train, or even by foot. The next bus route on a bit of a “wing-it” afternoon was a route 17 run with Metroline’s BDE2647 (an electric Enviro 400).
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| Go-Ahead London Bus MEC10 (BG09 JKJ) at Stratford International |
This route took us from London Bridge towards Archway going via the City of London (passing St Paul's Catherdral), before going north via Kings Cross towards Holloway then Archway terminating near the underground station. Another interesting little view of parts of London. Part of me was tempted to head back south on the Underground but I decided on another random bus route, this time the Stagecoach operated W5 (with a little Optare Solo 47986) service. This route went from Archway towards Crouch End (with some Hail & Ride) before going towards Harringay terminating at the bus stop outside the large Sainsburys, quite a bit of residential houses and steep hills (which gave some nice views of the centre of London).
We headed away from the supermarkets (all closed up due to being Easter Sunday and it being after 4pm) towards the main road, jumping onto a busy route 141 service (with Arriva’s HV379. This route headed back towards London Bridge going via Canonbury, Shoreditch & Old Street. A 5-minute pause on the bus stop on London Bridge itself due to running early before the bus terminated into the London Bridge bus station. The day on the buses was at an end as we headed into the railway station to catch 378146 on the Overground service to West Croydon (running from London Bridge due to engineering works), which was busy near the front but quieter nearer the rear.
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| 378146 at London Bridge |
At West Croydon, we exited the station for a walk towards Wetherspoons for dinner (and also a much needed toilet break), before heading to East Croydon jumping onto 377109 & 377444 on the first Victoria bound service to take us to Clapham Junction, changing to board 444036 & 444040 into Waterloo to allow us to get a decent seat on the 19:45 Salisbury stopper formed of 158888 & 159001 to take us back towards Grateley, the end of a nice day in London. Nice to have done the Western extension of the Thames Clipper network as well as some random London bus routes giving different views of the capital. Weather wise was a bit wet walking home as it looked like the rain had arrived early at Grateley with Monday being a bit damp, so I had a lazy day, the closest I got to the railway was a random walk to a disused railway bridge in the so-called Hampshire Gap area for a couple of photos misjudging the weather.
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| 159006 heading towards Grateley at Hampshire Gap |
*159*
March overall has been a busy month, not so much with long distance travel but some disused railway lines walked, some more photos from my Easter weekends travels can be found on my Flickr, *here*. Thanks for reading :)
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