Trips 8th & 9th June (Grand Union & Forest+Worth Way)

 Trips 8th & 9th June

8th June – Grand Union Canal in rural & urban Warwickshire

Making the use of the £2 bus scheme when it lasts, I decided to return to an area I was 3 weeks ago to walk some more of the Grand Union Canal, heading from Napton towards Leamington Spa and Warwick.  The day began with the 05:59 service from Grateley formed of 159001 & 158885 to Basingstoke, where I changed to the Manchester service at 06:47 formed of 220031 & 221134 and I went straight for the unreserved coach on the 5-coach voyager, enjoying it pretty much to myself until Oxford.

I took these voyagers to Banbury where I changed to board 168217 & 168323 on the next Birmingham Moor Street service taking them to Warwick with a 5-minute walk to get between platforms due to the subway being closed to install lifts (I believe).  168215 & 168107 took me to Leamington Spa where I exited the station and made my slow way towards the bus stops on Upper Parade, swinging via Boots for lunch items before relaxing as I waited for the Napton on the Hill bus to roll in.

165001 arriving at Warwick Station

Stagecoach’s 37071 rolled in from Napton being quite busy but departed on the 09:44 service to Napton (route 664) with 4 passengers.  Unlike a few weeks ago there was no more people boarding the bus along the way and the first time the doors opened after Leamington was in Long Itchington where the 3 other passengers alighted as various stops in the village leaving just me on board (other than the driver) for the section to Southam and to Napton on the Hill where I alighted at a temporary bus stop due to road works.  Thankfully where the lane from the Kings Head pub towards the Oxford Canal was passable on foot as it’s closed for roadworks, where I decided to take a road running alongside the canal to reach Napton Junction to avoid the poor towpath, where I picked up the Grand Union canal heading north away from the Oxford canal.  I guess if the £2 bus scheme does somehow get extended again, I will return to this area during the summer to walk the Oxford canal towards Fenny Compton but who knows what the future holds.

The canal in this area was quite busy with boat movements (it is an area with 3 large marinas) with the towpath being passable with some tall overgrowth blocking views as I passed the Napton reservoir and reaching the short Calcutt lock flight (for its all downhill from here).  After that lock flight I continued along the walk heading towards the Long Itchington area, with a couple of short showers along the way.  After the A426 bridge cycle route 41 joins the towpath turning it less rural and smoother as the canal drops via the Stockton lock flight.  The bike route leaves the canal to run along the route of the old Weedon - Leamington Spa railway line with the towpath returning to more rural grass and peace.

Former Leamington to Weedon Railway Line bridge over the Grand Union Canal in Long Itchington

I continued along the towpath dropping down some more locks, pausing for my lunch sitting on the steps for one of the locks before carrying on passing the area HS2 will pass the canal.  The sun had come out replacing the clouds from earlier in the day as I was enjoying nature reaching an old railway bridge where the Offchurch Greenway begins (one not worth doing at the moment as it’s been diverted by HS2 works I believe).  

 

The canal was to the north of the settlement of Radford Semele with the River Leam following the canal in parts with the towpath once more changing to be more solid due to being part of the cycle network.  I reached the Leamington Spa as it turned more urban, going underneath the Chiltern main line just south of the station where I did have an option to bail for a train, but I decided to continue, passing Morrisons and heading towards Warwick with the canal crossing the railway and the river Avon.  The canal skirted around the northern edge of Warwick with the towpath being quite narrow in places.  The canal reached the Salitsford Canal Arm which I believe is mostly moorings these days with limited public access (but that is a job for another trip).  I went underneath the A46 Warwick bypass road reaching Hatton bottom lock, crossing the canal to reach a small car park before the final short section to Warwick Parkway station, arriving with only a minute or so to spare before the next Birmingham train was due to arrive.  The timetable on the Chiltern line is still mostly hourly with some random extras giving 2 trains an hour at times.  An enjoyable walk along the canal towpath with some lovely countryside where the only sound was the birds.

Chiltern Main Line from Grand Union Canal Aqueduct between Leamington Spa & Warwick

Back to the trains with 168217 & 168323 on the Birmingham train to take me to Moor Street, where I made my way across to New Street (via Poundland for a bottle of pop as I was low on water).  Earlier in the day I asked a friend to check to see if any 2 coach 196s were floating around and he reported there was 2 sets out.  One I noticed had been cancelled earlier in the day the other should have been on the 16:50 service to Shrewsbury however there must have been a set-swap during the day as that turned out to be a 4-coach unit, maybe swapping over at Shrewsbury and with the manual signalling not reflecting on RTT with the platform change).  However not to waste my day return to Wolverhampton I jumped onto a Liverpool service formed of 350119 & 350118 which got put ahead of a late running voyager from Bristol.

The 350s rolled into Wolverhampton just as a train from Shrewsbury was arriving on the opposite platform allowing for a cross platform change onto winner 196002 & dud 196004 on a service which crawls via Tame Bridge Parkway (made worse due to being timed to call at the stations not yet opened), however another 2 coach 196 is into my book and the slight novelty of 196s on the route via Tames Bridge is also covered (as chances are the timetable will change again with a service from Liverpool diverted via Tame Bridge rather than the diesels).  Anyhow once back at New Street, I made my way towards Moor Street swinging via Tesco for dinner items and onto 168107 & 168111 working the next Chiltern service, grabbing a decent seat in the front unit for the run to Banbury.

730008 at Birmingham New Street

At Banbury it was a short wait before 220030 rolled in and I was taken completely by surprise when it rolled in with coach D barely a third full (as I was expecting the usual full & standing getting a seat if I was lucky).  Easy to grab a seat to relax for the run towards Basingstoke where this was the first voyager to call there heading south for a few hours due to XC deciding to rip out the Basingstoke call on summer Saturdays (which for me is annoying as the following GWR stopper doesn’t always connect with the Salisbury stopper due to the timetable being unbalanced.  Anyhow the voyager took me to Basingstoke giving me 25 minutes before a very busy 159012 rolled in from London, says something when even the driver opens the front door to allow passengers out due to the long dwell time (mostly rugby fans from Twickenham whom I presume would be changing at Salisbury for a GWR towards Bristol).  I was lucky to grab a pull-down seat for the trip to Grateley, following a gentle walk home and relaxing for the rest of the evening.

9th June – Exploring the Forest & Worth Way Paths

Both the Forest Way & Worth Way paths follow the route of the former Three Bridges to Tunbridge Wells railway route between Three Bridges & Groombridge (the section between Groombridge & Tunbridge Wells West is in use by the Spa Valley heritage line) with a gap in East Grinstead.  Due to the bus timings at Crawley I decided to drive to Andover this morning to catch a London service formed of 159008 & 159101 for the run to Clapham Junction where it arrived a few minutes early allowing a connection onto a busy 377410 & 377150 working a Southern service for Portsmouth Harbour to take me to Crawley.  When waiting for the train to depart I saw at least 4 passengers simply barge their way through the remotely monitored gateline on the Horsham bound platform without a care in the world.

After departing the station, I had a wait in the bus station area before Metrobus’s 6965 rolled in on the 2 hourly route 291 for Tunbridge Wells.  I wasn’t expecting a double decker for this route as it made its way out of Crawley, passing Three Bridges station and heading towards East Grinstead going via Copthorne & Crawley Down.  After doing a loop to serve the railway station the bus continued towards Tunbridge Wells going via Ashurst Wood, Forest Row & Hartfield before reaching the outskirts of Groombridge which is where I alighted (at the Florance Lane stop), which is the closest bus stop to the start of the Forest Way path.

Metrobus Bus 6911 (BJ63 UJT, Andy Durr) at Crawley Bus Station on a route 10

The first section of my walk was along a couple of minor roads to reach the starting point of the path, the first section running close to the existing Uckfield railway line (Eridge station is around 2 miles to the south, so using the bus cut out road walking).  The path soon joined the route of the former railway line and entering a tree line wonderland (would love to come back here during autumn to see the trees in autumn colours).

The path was quite busy with other users (cyclists, walkers, the odd jogger) as it crossed the B2110 road heading towards Hartfield passing the overgrown remains of a couple old platforms along the way.  A small detour in Hartfield before the path became quieter on a very rural section towards Forest Row where the path detours near the site of the former station due to modern developments.  Thankfully the crossing of the A22 road was via traffic lights as I continued on the final section of the Forest Way towards East Grinstead, the path coming to an end on the outskirts of the town, the route of the former railway being used by the A22.

Forest Way path between Groombridge & Hartfield

 

After walking via East Grinstead town centre (which is quite nice for old buildings) I reached the railway station where I was a bit tempted to call it quits and jump on a bus back towards Crawley when I saw the next route 400 was due in under 5 minutes but I decided to carry on (considering how expensive it is to reach East Grinstead by train).  I crossed over the railway station at East Grinstead and onto the Worth Way path.  This path took me mostly west towards Crawley Down where there was a required detour via the roads of a housing estate due to the route of the railway being lost, passing a couple of shops in the centre of the village before the next off-road section of the path heading into the countryside reaching Turner's Hill Road where the path moved away from the old railway line route via a bridleway leading to a farm track and bridge over the M23 to reach Worth in the  general Crawley area.

This is where I headed away from the Worth Way path via a housing estate to pick up the route of the old railway line, which in hindsight was a mistake due to this section being quite muddy and with a couple of fallen trees to get around.  I was glad when the tarmac path of the Worth Way came back onto the old route of the railway as I continued the final push with the old railway coming to an end to the south of Three Bridges station with a short distance along the road to enter the station to catch the next train towards London.  It was a long (18 miles) walk across the countryside, but I was glad it was done, thankfully the weather was dry, mostly overcast until the last section.  Decent quality surface throughout (other than the section not part of the official route) although probably not one to do during wintertime as I suspect some areas would get muddy and waterlogged due to being within a cutting.

Worth Way path in East Grinstead

Anyhow back to the trains, with 700141 on the first northbound service, quite busy but I got a seat in the rear 1st class area to give my phone some charge (as it had dropped to under 10%) taking this unit to East Croydon, stepping back to a very busy Southern service formed of 377202 & 377162 to Clapham Junction (lots of suitcases from Gatwick due to passengers not wanting to pay the red train premium to use the fresh air carrying Gatwick Express services).  At Clapham Junction I popped out of the station to visit both Sainsburys & Poundland to get some dinner (and a bottle of pop) before returning to Andover on a triple 159 set (159001, 159101 & 159008) being a bit smart to sit in coach 4 of 9 as it was only the front unit carrying on beyond Salisbury.

Anyhow these 159s took me to Andover, where I had a gentle walk back to my car, changing from my walking boots to a pair of old trainers (as I don’t like driving in my boots) and headed home to relax for the rest of the evening.  An enjoyable little day trip to East Sussex and another old railway line path walked whilst the £2 bus fares are on (as I dread to think how much it would normally cost for a single from Crawley to Groombridge).  I will probably return to Groombridge one of these days to do the heritage line for coverage as I really need to visit some more heritage railway lines.  More photos can be found on my Flickr Here, thanks for reading.  I was hoping to upload this post last week but ran out of time.