19th – 21st July – Weekend in Cheshire

 19th – 21st July – Weekend in Cheshire

This weekend trip was originally meant to have been for 3 days (staying overnight on the Sunday and returning home on the Monday) but due to my forthcoming job change I can’t afford to take any more annual leave so sadly this was one trip which got cut back to just the 2 days with various ideas of what to do on the Saturday, all depending on what the weather decided to do.

19th July – “Non-stop Rugby to Crewe”

The trip began with the 17:59 from Grateley, I was hoping to catch the 17:37 from Andover instead keeping my eyes on its progress from Exeter (where it was around 13 minutes late) only for it to wait time at Gillingham with the usual “This train will no longer call at” message popping up on the journey check website (although I will admit seeing it calling at Woking instead of Basingstoke was a bit unusual, but I’m guessing there are more options for passengers to reach Clapham Junction from Woking compared to Basingstoke).  Anyhow back to the 17:59 as it rolled in around 5 minutes late and as expected 159103 was quite busy from the start and only got busier as the journey went on, although it did empty out a bit at Basingstoke.

Arrival into Waterloo was near enough on time, the lost time being recovered with a fast run, as I made my way to the Northern line for a very hot trip to Euston with set 51512/51511 as I wanted to catch the 19:46 and when I checked RTT on the approach to Waterloo it was running 5 or so minutes late but nothing major.  When I arrived at Euston everything had broken, a broken down train in the Watford area was causing some lengthy delays with the train to form the 19:46 for Crewe arriving at 20:03 as it lost 30 minutes in the queue between Cheddington & Euston.

159103 at Grateley

With the expected delay to the inbound service the departure screens changed for the 19:46 to be nonstop to Rugby and then fast to Crewe, good for passengers for those stations, not so good for passengers for the stations being ripped out as it meant an hour wait for the following service.  I was surprised though that the 19:56 Birmingham train had all it stops ripped out south of Northampton, considering that was expected to be only 10 minutes late from Euston (and had a 15 minute dwell at Northampton).  Anyhow 350403 & 350110 eventually popped up for the 19:46 service, departing around 25 minutes late with various announcements about it being nonstop to Rugby then fast to Crewe.  Although it did call at Milton Keynes for a driver change and to pick up passengers (as it was showing on the screens catching the guard off-guard).  With the limited calls and short turnaround at Euston the front coach was very quiet as it went onto the fast lines on the Trent Valley for a speedy run towards Crewe, the fast run only coming to an end at the southern end as it waited for trains to cross in front before going into platform 7 arriving 13 minutes late.  Speedy 350!

I headed away from the station, walking to my usual shared house for accommodation, being in the downstairs bedroom this time (it alternatives between the downstairs room & upstairs single room being cheaper), opening the windows full to get some air into the warm room, sorting out my bag and making my final decision for the Saturday based on the weather forecast being dry in the morning with some heavy rain expected in the afternoon/evening.

20th July – Exploring the Trent & Mersey Canal in rural Cheshire.

My original idea for today was to head across to Ashbourne for one of the limited buses to Pomeroy to walk the Tissington Trail, a path along the track bed of the old railway which ran from Uttoxeter to Buxton via Ashbourne (part still exists for the quarry at Dowlow), however with the forecasted heavy rain in the afternoon I decided to park that walk in the sidings (as walking in the remote Peak District in a thunderstorm won’t be fun).  I decided to do a walk I was originally saving for a weekday (considering that both ends could be linked via buses from Crewe) as it was short (ish), the walk being to plug my coverage gap on the Trent & Mersey canal between Elworth (near Sandbach) to Lostock Gralam.

The day began with the 07:43(odd) service from Crewe to Manchester formed of 323229 to take me the one stop to Sandbach where my walk began, where straight away I ran into a blocked path with the footbridge over the railway to the south of the station being blocked forcing a detour via Moss Lane towards the canal at a footbridge I previously finished a walk at, dropping down onto the towpath and heading north heading away from Elworth (the place where Sandbach station is located) and soon into peaceful countryside with the solid towpath soon changing more rural.  Peace was ended near Albion Lock where the canal meets the A533 road, running parallel to this road for the next couple of miles towards the town of Middlewich.  A couple areas where the towpath got quite narrow due to vegetation growth as I soon reached Middlewich with the towpath getting busier with dog walkers (and canal busy with boats navigating the locks).

323229 at Sandbach

I reached the junction with the short Wardle canal (which connects with the Middlewich branch of the Shropshire Union), carrying on via some curves and locks to exit Middlewich, crossing over the river Dane on an aqueduct as the canal returned to being very rural (in both countryside & towpath surface).  The canal continued with a few bends along the way before heading towards Whatcroft & Rudheath, going underneath the Middlewich freight railway line via a modern bridge.  The canal turned north again heading towards the Northwich area, reaching Rudheath with the countryside views changing to be more urban and finally industrial as the canal cuts through the Lostock Works site.

The final section of canal went underneath the railway line (where I was a minute or so late to catch a freight train passing over the canal) reaching the A559 road where my coverage was completed, meeting up with the point where I walked towards Runcorn last October time.  My original finishing point for this walk was Lostock Gralam station, however because I was getting hungry, and I had around 45 minutes to kill before the next Manchester train was due.  I followed the A559 towards Northwich, swinging via a B&M to have a nosey before popping into the large Tesco near Northwich station to grab lunch and extra liquids.

Railway bridge over the Trent & Mersey Canal near Northwich

The next Manchester train was formed of a single 156425 which was reasonably busy as I managed to grab a table seat, this gave a +8 at Piccadilly for the next TfW service so when it was on time at Stockport I decided to remain on board, which nearly was a mistake as the 156 got put on the slow lines after Stockport for a late running Pendo before doing some random weaves on the approach to Piccadilly, thankfully I had a couple of minutes to dash towards a busy winner 197120 on the next train towards Cardiff, grabbing a seat in the declassified first class area (and putting my phone on charge as the USB sockets on the 156 weren't working).

I took this 197 to Nantwich (of all places) as the next Manchester bound train was another winner and was running a few minutes late allowing for an easy connection, even if I did have to fight through the crowd at the exit of the station to use the footbridge due to the barriers remaining down.  Winner 197107 rolled in as expected, a set swap working to my benefit as this service from Milford lost quite a bit of time in the West of Wales and was restarted at Cardiff.  I managed to get a decent seat for the run back to Manchester Piccadilly working out a rough plan as I had a couple other winner 197s due in the Manchester area (plus a third which was showing as working a service later that evening which had been swapped over at Cardiff to end up on a Swanline stopper).

197120 at Nantwich

With around 45 minutes to kill I jumped on a Marple bound 195103 to Ryder Brow for no reason other than wanting some more photos of this station before it gets ‘upgraded’ with a horrible waiting shelter with a perch rather than an actual seat.  I didn’t have long at Ryder Brow before 150138 rolled in from Marple (services terminating at Marple due to the issues around New Mills) which took me to Ashburys for a 2 minute (if that) linear hop onto 195015 from Rose Hill Marple back to Manchester Piccadilly, where I nearly caught a pair of 195s to Oxford Road but was worried about connections, but I shouldn’t have worried as the Castlefield corridor was its usual chaotic self with delays because using platform 3 at Oxford Road when another train is on platform 4 being delayed waiting for a driver is too much like hard work.

Eventually winner 197043 rolled in something like 15 minutes late (it had been on time passing Eccles!) which took me to Manchester Airport, my last of the current 2 coach 197s in use at the current time (the other 2 coach 197s are those for the Cambrian line with the signalling kit).  I could have returned to Piccadilly on the same unit but decided to make a change and boarded 185135 & 185126 on a service for Saltburn, where the front unit (185135) was locked out of use due to being detached at Piccadilly as it had a leaking toilet which stunk).  Not the fastest of runs back to Piccadilly due to following a late running stopper (just shows the Liverpool – Manchester stopper via Chat Moss should be split at Oxford Road or Victoria with a separate stopper between Piccadilly & the Airport to avoid delays being transferred across Manchester.

195103 at Ryder Brow

 Anyhow at Manchester Piccadilly once more, it was a short wait before winner 197102 rolled in from the Cardiff direction as I popped out of the station for some fresh air before taking this 197 to Crewe, just as a top & tailed charter passed with 57310 leading (looking smart in the GBRf colours).  This is when I noticed the change on RTT with the 21:30 service from Manchester no longer due to feature 197113 which forced a quick replan as I headed to Chester on 197046 where the heavens absolutely opened, the rain bouncing from the platform as I headed across to platform 7 to wait the next Merseyrail service just to waste some time.  Sadly, this is the time of day where trains would arrive at Chester but half depart back towards Liverpool as ECS as Merseyrail drops to 2tph (which in my eyes 7pm always seems too early to drop to 2tph, especially at weekends).  Eventually 777007 rolled in on the 19:00 service which departed 5 minutes late so I played it safe & bailed at Bache rather than Capenhurst (the connection being reduced to a +1).  There was some signalling issues to the south of Bache with drivers being instructed to pass a signal at danger as 777011 took me back to Chester having to fight through the large crowd waiting.

I had a short wait at Chester watching as the 777 departed as well as a busy 158 for Shrewsbury & Crewe [comes in from Holyhead as a pair and divides at Chester] before winner 197114 appeared from Wrexham on the next Liverpool service which I took to Runcorn, taking shelter in the rather nice waiting room on the Crewe bound platform for the 15 minutes before 350108 rolled in on a semi fast service for Birmingham, which was reasonably quiet in the front coach as I relaxed for the non-stop run to Crewe putting in an order for a pizza at Tiger Bite, picking up said pizza on the walk back to the shared house in the light rain.  Although the pizza did defeat me (got to a point where I decided I couldn’t eat anymore, probably left it too late), I spent the rest of the evening listening to the rain, being thankful that earlier in the day at Northwich I picked up a bottle of flavoured water for the Sunday rather than having to go back out into the rain to the large Tesco.

777027 passing Bache

An enjoyable day on a Cheshire Ranger, a nice stroll along the Trent & Mersey canal followed by a short red pen afternoon with some 197s, I had hoped to somehow get across to Liverpool for a 777 hunt, but they can wait for another day.

21st July – Trent & Mersey canal in rural Staffordshire

The idea for today was to fill in another gap of my walking coverage of the Trent & Mersey canal, walking the gap between Stone station & Rugeley, a route which broadly follows the route of the Stone – Colwich railway line (used mostly by Avanti services between Stoke & London).  The day began with checking out of the shared house and heading to Crewe station via Tesco Express for breakfast and grabbing something for lunch.  At Crewe station I boarded 350103 on the 08:40 service to Stafford (via Stoke) which took me to Stone (which featured a very proactive guard checking tickets, which for London Northwestern is quite unusual).

Anyhow a few minutes late into Stone as my walk began leaving the station and taking a footpath towards a modern footbridge over the railway line (replaced a foot crossing) and to the Trent & Mersey canal turning left.  After going underneath the railway line, the first section of the canal skirted round the edge of Stone town centre with a decent solid towpath which carried on passing the suburbs of Little Stoke to near Aston-by-Stone where the cycle path which made use of the towpath veered off towards the roads with the towpath switching to something more rural.  The railway runs close to the canal along this rural section with some parts of the towpath quite overgrown meaning process was slow at times (as I tried to dodge various spiky plants, thorns & nettles).



The canal ran close to the settlement of Sandon with the river Trent not that far away (as well as the A51 road).  I continued with the walk some areas being worse than others (some areas it looked like someone had been round with a garden strimmer to cut back the long grass).  I paused for some lunch at a handy bench near Weston before carrying on with this wavy canal eventually arriving at Great Haywood where the rural towpath for a time turned more solid as I passed a large marina reaching Haywood junction where the Staffordshire & Worcestershire canal started (heading towards Wolverhampton, Kidderminster & the Severn at Stourport).  I was glad to be walking downhill on this canal as some of the gradients on the towpath at locks were quite steep, even the bridge over the canal at Haywood Junction was steep.

After Haywood Junction I continued the walk heading towards Little Haywood skirting round the Shugborough estate going underneath the WCML at the same time as a London - Crewe service passed, one I was aiming to meet at Rugeley around 80 minutes later.  When I saw said service was a pair of 350/2s I decided to gamble with the service an hour later (a pair of 350/2s are bearable if you can get into the former 1st class area however it would have been a large gamble if any seats in those areas being available at Rugeley).  Anyhow back to the canal as I decided on a little detour away from the canal towards the Colwich junction memorial garden, the scene of a tragic accident in the 1980s.

390127 heading towards London passing Colwich Junction

I returned to the canal and carried on with the next section towards Rugeley, with the towpath becoming a bit overgrown again with tall bushes between the towpath & canal side blocking the view.  I reached Wolseley Bridge (going underneath the A51 road) with the canal running close to the railway once more with the first (and only) towpath swap with a short section of canal with a dual towpath going underneath the main road (again) and going over the river Trent on the Brindley Bank Aqueduct (where the 2nd towpath drops away from the canal as it makes a sharp bend to skirt round the edge of the Rugeley suburbs before reaching the Station road bridge which marks the completion of the coverage gap (meeting up with where I walked from Fradley from April).

With 40 minutes to waste before the next London train and as my water bottle was nearly empty (somehow, I managed to get through nearly 3 litres of liquid on this hot day) I decided to carry on with the canal towpath to the next bridge to swing via Morrisons to grab some liquids and some reduced to clear bakery items.  After visiting Morrisons I headed towards Rugeley Trent Valley station knowing the next London train would feature a 350/2 on the northern end and not a 350 at the southern end (as it passed me on the canal) I positioned myself close to coach 4 of 8, getting lucky with a decent table seat on 350126 leading 350261 on this busy service.

Trent & Mersey Canal between Stone & Sandon

Nothing unusual happened along the way until Milton Keynes where the train crossed over to the slow lines just beyond the station before crossing back over to the fast lines between Leighton Buzzard & Cheddington (nothing overtook us as the Pendo which was following us at Milton Keynes also did something similar).  Arrival into Euston was a few minutes late, nothing major as I had a gentle slow stroll via the roads to Waterloo (just to waste some time, as I had 70 minutes before the next Grateley service), swinging via Tesco to pick up dinner items before heading into the station, where I noticed the 18:45 service for Salisbury was showing as first stop Overton (and was running late due to various issues on the West of England line which forced the 18:20 service to start at Basingstoke).

158887 & 159009 were the units on the 18:45 service with the calls at Woking & Basingstoke made pick-up only due to expected overcrowding (I presume).  Nothing unusual happened along the way back to Grateley and I had a gentle walk home to rest my tired legs.  An enjoyable stroll on the canal (even with the overgrown towpath but that is always a risk with rural canals this time of year), I've only got one more section of the Trent & Mersey to walk (from Willington to the canal end at Shardlow, where it becomes the Trent Navigation).

A 350 alongside the Trent & Mersey Canal near Rugeley

Thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr *Here*, have a good day :)

Trips 13th & 14th July (Grand Union + Southend)

 Trips 13th & 14th July

13th July – Rural Northamptonshire on the Grand Union Canal

With the weather looking dryer than the previous weekend I decided to head towards Northamptonshire for another section of the Grand Union Canal, a walk I was hoping to have done last weekend but axed it with the weather.  The day began with the 05:59 service from Grateley (a quiet 159017 & 158880) to Woking where due to the sprinters arriving a couple of minutes early, I made a connection into the service from Alton (450006 & 450064) for the run to Clapham Junction.  The service I was aiming for was the one from Southampton which turns into a stopper from Basingstoke, a service I could swear never used to call at Clapham Junction unless my memory is playing games.

Anyhow at Clapham, the Overground was a bit chaotic with cancellations but thankfully there was no issues with the Southern service to Watford Junction formed of a busy 377705 to take me to the bay platform at Watford Junction where after a photograph of some passing freight (and a 57 hauling some coaches) I made my way across to platform 6 to board winner 805001 for the quick dash to Milton Keynes Central, another 805 into my book (and certainly Watford – Milton Keynes is a lot more interesting than Birmingham New Street to Coventry).

805001 at Milton Keynes

At Milton Keynes I headed across to platform 3 for the next Birmingham train to take me to Northampton (350238 & 350109) where after visiting the toilet I headed out of the station and towards the town centre, originally I was going towards a Tesco but got lost and ended up popping to Boots to grab items for lunch before making my way to a bus stop on the Drapery for the rough 2 hourly Stagecoach operated route 88 to Silverstone with bus 10537 on this reasonably busy bus.  This bus took me to the outskirts of the village of Blisworth as I alighted at Station Road just beyond the railway arch carrying the WCML.  An interesting route going out of Northampton town centre towards Delapre, then via a big Tesco before Milton Malsor.

My walk began with a short walk along station road to join the Grand Union canal, firstly heading underneath the railway and towards Gayton Junction where the Northampton arm branches off (a walk I will do later starting from Weedon).  After a photograph at the junction, I headed back the same way I came, passing the remains of a railway bridge (which I think carried the old Northampton - Peterborough line).  I went underneath Station Road and headed towards Blisworth itself, skirting round the edge of this small village leading to the northern portal of the Blisworth tunnel.

Northern Portal of Blisworth Tunnel

Like most canal tunnels, this tunnel lacks a towpath, but thankfully the walking route bypassing the tunnel was straight forward along Stoke Road (even if it was a bit hilly), then along a footpath leading to the canal at the southern portal, passing underneath the remains of the old Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway route.  After a quick photo of the southern portal, I carried on the towpath towards the village of Stoke Bruerne, passing the canal museum and reaching the Stoke Bruerne flight of locks.  I continued passing the locks and into countryside as the canal did some weaving following the river Tove at first before skirting round the edge of Grafton Regis where the towpath which had been reasonable for a rural canal turned more overgrown, having to dodge nettles and thorns on both sides the path.  I passed a small boat yard near Yardley Gobion (with an unusual "beware of elderly ducks" sign designed to get people to read the "slow down passed moored boats" section underneath it).

The canal continued in peaceful countryside before reaching Cosgrove with the towpath flipping sides at Thrupp Wharf and thankfully returning to a more reasonable path in terms of overgrowth.  The towpath flipped sides once more at a lovely old bridge in Cosgrove itself.  I continued, passing some old tracks embedded in the ground near Cosgrove wharf near Cosgrove junction where the remains of the Buckingham arm branded off.  I crossed the lock and had a short stroll along the restored section (now used to moor boats) with the section beyond the bridge being saved for another trip where I can do something involving the Ouse Valley Way.

Cosgrove Junction between Grand Union & Buckingham Canal

I returned to the main Grand Union canal, crossing the lock once more and onto the final section towards Wolverton, crossing over the Great Ouse on the Cosgrove (Iron Trunk) Aqueduct reaching Wolverton with the canal skirting round the northern edge of the railway works.  Ironically this was one of the worst section being narrow in places with added hazards of low trees.  I reached the footbridge near Wolverton station which is where I started a walk back in March.  I put on a extra bit of speed going up the stairs and towards Wolverton station arriving a minute or so before the next London train.  I was worried when the PIS suggested the train was a single 4 coach unit but thankfully it was a pair of 350s.  All be a pair of 3+2 seated /2s (yay!) with 350248 leading 350237 as I managed to grab a seat in the former 1st class area for the trip towards Watford Junction.

At Watford Junction I had a short wait before winners 730010 & 730006 rolled in from Milton Keynes to take me to Euston, where I had a short wait for 710263 on the next Overground to Willesden Junction, the train getting very busy after Queen's Park due to the Bakerloo line having some issues.  I made my way to the high level platforms at Willesden to jump onto 378230 on the next Clapham Junction service hoping to make a completely unofficial connection to a Salisbury service.

730010 at Euston

Due to being in the right position of the train (near the front) I easily made the connection to 158883 & 159108 on the next Salisbury service, made easier by being a couple of minutes late.  The train reached Overton with some seriously heavy rain bouncing from the platform, thankfully by the time the train reached Grateley the sunshine was back, all be with some dark clouds.  I had a gentle stroll home, feeling strange returning at 18:15 on a Saturday where I had some food from the freezer and relaxed for the rest of the evening.  An enjoyable stroll along the Grand Union canal, the last 2 sections (other than the Leicester Arm) are easy enough to do on a Sunday [Weedon to Northampton as Weedon gets an hourly bus service & Warwick Parkway to Olton, just a case of waiting for both good weather and no engineering works.  I did make a start with rough plans for the Leicester arm of the canal breaking it up into smaller sections with places served by buses.

14th July – A trip to the Southend Coast

The idea for today was originally going to be a trip to Hertford for the old railway line path towards the outskirts of Welwyn but due to the final of a kickball competition I didn’t fancy risking using Great Northern from Welwyn Garden City and with engineering works with Greater Anglia only being hourly from Hertford East and Hertford North being buses that idea was put on the back shelf again.  I changed my mind from doing the river from Harlow to Bishop’s Stortford again on Saturday evening after looking at engineering works in the Southend area to dust off an old plan I had for Southend.

With engineering works in Salisbury, I decided to drive to Andover for the 07:03 train (good thing I did as the next couple services were cancelled) with a lightly loaded 9 coach service with 159106, 159003 & 159014 for the trip to Waterloo, only really getting busy after Woking (in the front coach).  At Waterloo I had nearly an hour before the next train towards Southend Victoria, so I took the Jubilee line (set 96075 + 96118) to London Bridge for a Northern line service (51598 + 51599) to Moorgate for the long walk to Liverpool Street going via the Lizzy line platforms, just something to waste some time.  After confirming the next Ipswich stopper wasn’t needed, I took a seat on unexpected winner 720103 on the next Southend service (unexpected because RTT was quoting a 720/5 for this service, so must have been a set swap).  This service took me to Prittlewell where my walk began (and I’m sure most of the passengers who were getting off at Prittlewell had tickets and weren’t simply using that station to bypass the ticket barriers at Southend Victoria a mere half a mile away.

720103 at Liverpool Street

I headed towards Priory Park, passing the priory itself to pick up a path called the Prittle Brook Greenway, a mixed used path following the route of the Prittle brook (a mostly dry river which I would imagine only flows during the winter or after heavy rain).  Not the most interesting of paths as it was quite stop-start due to crossing roads, but it did have some nice parts with woodland near the Leigh on Sea end.  When this path ended, I went along some roads to reach the top of the Belton Hills giving some beautiful views of the Thames Estuary.

View from Belton Hills, Leigh on Sea

There was many steps from the top of the hill to reach the bottom of the hill near Leigh on Sea station, before I picked up a busy path following the High Street giving some views of Leigh Marsh, the road turned into a footpath after Victoria wharf, a path running between the water (on the right) and the railway line on the left heading towards Chalkwell where the railway headed inland.  I continued my stroll along the path next to Chalkwell Beach changing to Westcliff Beach when a busy road came in alongside the pavement.

I continued along the esplanade towards Southend pier, going underneath the pier towards jubilee beach, carrying on heading towards Thorpe Bay and Shoebury Common, passing many beach huts along the way. After Shoebury Common beach I went into the Gunners Park nature reserve, following the path alongside a beach the public can't access (with many warning signs about it being dangerous due to being an old army firing range area.   After the park I carried on into Shoeburyness passing the east beach walking to the end of the path (where it runs into the Pig’s Bay military place).  A gentle walk along the road (over the rusting remains of the Pig’s Bay railway line) and to Shoeburyness station buying a single to Southend Central making use of the new fare structure.

Leigh on Sea Waterfront

It was onto the next C2C service formed of 357202 & 357029 for the ride to Southend Central, exiting the station and towards the city centre, passing the Knife Angel (which is quite stunning in real life) and via the big Sainsburys to Southend Victoria to board winner 720102 on the rear of 720580 on the next Liverpool Street service, my phone going straight on charge as it was quite low.

These 720s took me to Shenfield where I stepped back for a 15 minute fester for a service from Clacton (I think) with dud 720119 leading winner 720128 for the run to Stratford (where I ended up on a fold-down seat by the doors as it was quite busy).  At Stratford I headed towards the Jubilee line with the next service going from platform 13 and formed of 96062 & 96051, getting very busy along the way due to the kickball (and I was glad to get off at Waterloo).  After grabbing some dinner items from Tesco I headed to the main station at Waterloo to board the 17:45 service for Salisbury formed of a quiet 159014, 159003 & 159017.  I alighted at Andover, having a short walk to my car to drive home, relaxing for the rest of the evening.

Knife Angel in Southend city centre

A mostly enjoyable walk (the second section from Leigh to Shoeburyness was more interesting that the first section). I did notice the older train was out on Southend Pier when I passed close to the pier, a trio of 720s into my book was a bonus as well (as well as departing platform 1 at Southend Victoria which from my notes clears that station).  Nice weather for a waterfront walk as well.  More photos can be found on my Flickr, thanks for reading.

6th July – Day trip to the West Midlands

 6th July – Day trip to the West Midlands

My original idea for this Saturday was a canal walk, either on the Grand Union in Northamptonshire or the Kennet & Avon between Pewsey & Devizes however with the weather forecast looking damp I changed my mind from a long walk to a red pen day, either heading to London or to the West Midlands.  In the end I decided on the West Midlands as the forecast was looking like the afternoon could be dryer (whereas London it was showing as rain pretty much all day).

The day began with the 05:59 service to Basingstoke, formed of 159104 & 158880 with the guard printing off my tickets due to the TVM at Grateley being out of action (took a while due to multiple splits).  At Basingstoke I popped to the ticket office to buy my DayTripper to save a job for when I arrived into the West Midlands (having to step back at Dorridge to buy from the ticket office [assuming it was open] to take a stopper to Birmingham.  Anyhow since my last visit to Basingstoke the signalling issue which was preventing trains going towards Reading from platform 4 had been fixed as 221144 rolled in with 220034 for the ride.  Only the rear unit was available for passengers due to a staff shortage which meant it was a bit busier as I managed to get a decent seat which wasn’t reserved until Leamington Spa.

At Banbury I stepped back into the pouring rain, feeling sorry for the crowd waiting for the shuttle buses to Silverstone for the motor racing outside the station and waited as 68012 headed south and 168328 & 168005 rolled in on the next Birmingham service.  I grabbed a seat in the former 1st class area of the former TPE and settled down to watch the scenery go by, thinking I was lucky as this service passed a 3 coach 168 at Solihull which was looking quite busy.

68012 at Banbury Station heading towards London

Arrival into Birmingham Moor Street was near enough on time as the train went in on top of another 2 coach 168 as I had a gentle stroll towards New Street swinging via Tesco for breakfast items passing some sort of running event and had a decision to make as the next Shrewsbury train was showing as 2 coaches or should I sample my first Avanti 805 train on the ‘semi-fast’.  I swung via the platform the Shrewsbury train was on with spotting 006+012 but before I could see if it split up, I dashed towards winner 805003 to take a seat on the latest Hitachi unit.  Pretty much the same as the other Hitachi units with the same seats as fitted on Lumo, sadly with pointless low down fixed armrests by the window side reducing the seat width.  The reservation screens were quite bright with the amber or red lights for the status of the reservation as I sat on a table seat (same sort of table as on the Pendo with a raised lip).

I can’t really make much in the way of comment about handling at higher speeds on the run to Coventry (one down side of doing units for 10 miles is the need to visit Coventry rather than Birmingham International), my first visit since before covid and since the new station building opened.  Handy to have a Sainsburys local (and Greggs) in that new building area but I found it a bit soulless on the top floor ticket barriers as I headed towards platform 3 where I was going to have a fester for another 805 back to Birmingham.  That plan changed when winner 196008 rolled in on the next Nuneaton service and because those 2 coach 196s are a bit of a pain to get (not the most used fleet at the moment) I took it to Bermuda Park for no reason other than wanting a better photo of this station.

196008 at Bermuda Park Station

Looking at the map I saw the Coventry canal ran close to this station, with a path which followed the rough route of the closed Griff Arm of the canal via an underpass & woodland leading to the canal where it seems to continue but on a heavily overgrown section alongside the canal to a bridge in the distance so maybe I will keep to my original idea of using Bedworth as a breaking point when I eventually get round to walking this canal.  Back to Bermuda Park getting lucky as the latest shower arrived at the same time as I did so it was a case of hiding in the shelter for 196008 to return from Nuneaton to take me back to Coventry.

A short wait at Coventry before 390152 rolled in on a Birmingham service (no point in hanging back as there was no more 805s due from a glance of RTT) and once back at Birmingham New Street I looked at ideas for what to do to avoid cancellations, sadly looked like the service 196006 might have been on heading back into New Street was cancelled heading back out so that unit escapes me.  The next Lichfield bound service was a pair of 323s but the next Redditch was winners 730007 & 730046 as I took a seat near the back of 046 for the trip south.  I decided to remain on board to Alvechurch taking a calculated risk with the weather changing, met office was suggesting the next few hours was going to be dry with the chance of a light shower, so a last-minute decision was made for a canal walk.

730046 departing Alvechurch Station

The canal in question was the Worcester & Birmingham canal and my idea was to follow the canal skirting round the edge of Alvechurch towards Birmingham where I needed to bypass the long Wast Hill tunnel going via Hawkesley to rejoin the canal.  The canal towpath was mostly solid ground, a couple areas where it was flooded due to the recent rain.  Worst section was some narrower parts caused by weeds and low sections with overgrown trees ready to give someone a wet head if they hit the branches.  Quite peaceful with a nice view of the Lower Bittell reservoir

At Wast Hill tunnel it was a steep climb away from the canal to join a little country lane where I turned down a shortcut footpath as it looked like it crossed a muddy field, preferring to stay with the hard road surface of this quiet lane (passing various areas of fly tipping) as it climbed towards Hawkesley.  I followed some other paths via the back of some housing (featuring a couple of dogs having a barking match) and onto the ‘Barge Horse’ way with the solid surface disappearing for grass before returning to solid ground near a school.  A short while (and one U-turn later) I was on top of a steep downhill section to drop back to the canal level, sadly the northern portal of the tunnel was hidden from view.

Southern portal on the Wast Hill Tunnel, Worcester & Birmingham Canal

The next mile was along a cycle route so the towpath was decent surface and mostly wide (a couple sections where it was narrow under bridges) as I reached King’s Norton junction where the Stratford Upon Avon canal starts.   I decided as the weather was sunny (and it would be a likely 28-minute fester at King’s Norton station) to turn onto the Stratford Upon Avon canal for the walk towards Shirley.  A decent towpath until the last section due to being used by a cycle route with some nice woodland in a peaceful environment, with even an old Trident being spotted in the Brandwood End area of the city where there was a short section to bypass Brandwood tunnel.

Along the way I passed a group whom it seemed was walking 26 miles along canals for a charity fundraiser, which I had to feel sorry for with the weather in the morning.  Anyhow this was an enjoyable walk as the canal weaved a few times due to hills and soon I reached the Shirley drawbridge where I left the canal side to head towards Shirley station putting a bit of speed on to make it to the station for the next northbound train formed of 172104 & 172002 as I took a seat in the former Overground unit after a quick photo.

172002 at Shirley Station

I took these units to The Hawthorns for a short unsuccessful tram hunt as I headed back towards Birmingham Snow Hill on 172221 & 172336 where I exited the station (noting the barriers were wide open) swinging via a few shops to grab some supplies for dinner making my slow way to Moor Street where I decided to call it a day and boarded an extended 168321 (temporary with 2 coaches from another 168) and 168109 for the run to a busy Banbury (the motor racing had ended it seems) and onto 221138 where I managed to grab a decent seat in coach B for the run to Basingstoke.

25 minutes at Basingstoke and 158880 & 159104 rolled in on a Salisbury stopper, surprisingly quiet in the front coach as it headed towards Grateley and I had a gentle walk home after an enjoyable day.  Wasn’t expecting to do a 11-mile canal walk with the forecast being rubbish, but it was nice to be back out in nature.  Hopefully my next trip to the West Midlands to do units with my red pen, it will be a bit more productive.  Thanks for reading, more photos can be found here, the Sunday was a rest day due to the changeable weather as I couldn’t quite bring myself to have a London day.

Trips on 29th + 30th June (Pembrokeshire & Grand Union)

 Trips on 29th & 30th June

29th June – Pembroke Coast ‘Express’

Sampling the novelty of a GWR IET service on the summer Saturday extension to Pembroke Dock was something I had hoped to have done last year but it was wiped out by an overtime ban, I had previously booked up a long weekend in the same accommodation in Llanelli (taking an eye mask this time!) for July time but due to changing jobs in August that trip was cancelled due to the need to not use up any more annual leave from work (as I would have to pay it back for using more than my adjusted annual leave).  Not just the only trip in July which has been cut back but needs must.

I was playing with the ticket buying websites and after looking at prices decided on a random day trip to Pembroke Dock, along with mum to have a day of looking out of the window.  Where it was slightly cheaper to start from Salisbury, the savings on the fares might have been wiped out with the need to pay for parking in case the free weekend parking area close to the station has gone due to the car park works at Salisbury.  Also, it wasn’t the best timings with a 55-minute fester at Newport, so this trip started with the 06:59 service from Grateley to Basingstoke formed of 159016 changing to 221122 on the next train to Reading where we exited the station to visit Wendys for breakfast as well as grabbing some supplies for lunch.

Arriva bus 3013 (BJ12 YPY) in Reading town centre on a service to High Wycombe

After breakfast we returned to the station to await the Pembroke Coast Express to roll in, with 800032 leading 800031.  We had seats in the middle of the rear unit (which divides at Swansea) which was surprisingly quiet for a Saturday morning service with only a student on the table who had decided to take over the entire table with various devices & paperwork.  She wasn’t best impressed when we tipped up for our reserved seats, carefully selected to get a table with a view of glass rather a view of plastic.  It had been a while since my last fast run between Reading & Swindon in daylight and onwards to South Wales via the tunnel the service keeping to good timing with the coach only getting busy after Cardiff.

A short 10-minute delay at Swansea due to late running staff (watching as a pair of 153s for Shrewsbury via the Heart of Wales pulled out with 6 passengers on, giving me an idea for a future trip with mum).  800031 departed Swansea, losing a few more minutes due to following the 153s and the reversal at Llanelli, and another couple of minutes outside Carmarthen due to the single track but we were looking out of the window as the train continued a semi-fast run towards Pembroke Dock (there must be a reason why it calls at Saundersfoot rather than Kilgetty).  The train emptied out at Tenby with the last section towards Pembroke Dock quiet.  I presume due to the large step at Pembroke Dock the train only allows the front couple of doors to open which are alongside the raised area which did confuse us at first.

800031 at Pembroke Dock Station

With 50 minutes to waste before the IET would depart back towards London, we popped to Tesco and had a little stroll around the town (bringing back memories of when I stayed in the town overnight in June 2014 when I was covering the various railway lines in the country).  We returned to the train, grabbing a seat on the opposite side of the train (to look out at the scenery on the opposite side) as it departed, this time calling at all the stations on the branch line (including the ones TfW treat as request stops), avoiding a bit of chaos from earlier in the Carmarthen area as it ran in alongside another IET (which would form the London train an hour later, I only wished I had the time to pop out to grab a photograph of the GWR takeover of Carmarthen with units on both platforms).

The train continued towards Swansea where it picked up a few passengers along the way (due to the Manchester train being 40-odd minutes late and being behind us) and Swansea it ran into 800005 to form a 10-coach service for the busier section.  Back towards Cardiff and underneath the wires as the diesel engines got turned off and speed increased as well as the crowds (a lot of Cardiff – Newport passengers).  After Newport the train headed back into England and back towards Reading with a speedy run along the main line.

800031 departing Reading

We arrived at Reading to find the 19:51 voyager to Bournemouth was running late, expected into the station at 20:01 so it was a gamble if that would get given the signal before the 20:05 stopper.  Unlike a previous time, the voyager was using platform 8 (and stopper from platform 3) with a 387 for Newbury chilling out on platform 7.  When I noticed the voyager had lost some more time following a 387 stopper from Didcot I decided to aim for the stopper with mum and into declassified first class on 165113 (which was a classic case of coach closest to the buffer being busy, the middle coach being moderate and front coach being empty).  This departed on time just as the voyager was rolling in, so it was onwards to Basingstoke where we had a 6-minute connection to a busy Salisbury service formed of 159020 which raced the voyager towards Worting Junction getting put ahead at the junction itself.

An uneventful journey back to Grateley, followed a walk home to get pounced on by my brother’s dog who had come to visit as my brother had set up his caravan in the driveway and was staying the night with his family.  An enjoyable little day trip to Pembrokeshire, looking out of the window.  That short section between Weston super Mare & Uphill Junction I believe is the only part of the GWR network which I need for IET coverage (other than the mainline avoiding Gloucester).  Something I might have to investigate for the summer months for a random trip (maybe as part of a walk of the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal).

30th June – An unexpected return to the Grand Union

Due to engineering work in the Basingstoke area, I started today’s trip with a drive to Andover to catch the 08:45 service for London formed of a busy 159105, 159104 & 159017 (although it was quiet in coach 8 of 9 as that unit attached at Salisbury). Originally my plan for today was to finish the Stort Navigation between Harlow & Bishop’s Stortford but when I couldn’t get the TVM at Andover to sell me a super off-peak day return from BZ6 to Bishop’s Stortford I got thinking when on the way to London as I misremembered the timetable from Euston for the hourly train which called at Tring on a Sunday morning and when these sprinters rolled into Waterloo it gave me around 25 minutes to get to Euston to board the Coventry (vice Birmingham) service for a Grand Union Canal adventure.

To the Northern line with 51612 & 51613 to Euston where I had time to pop to Sainsburys for some supplies and to buy a ticket to Tring (good thing with the fare changes on the southern part of the WCML is that singles are half the price of returns rather than being a token 10p less), before fighting my way in the usual Euston chaotic late notice boarding, especially when the barriers were in operation and staff was playing hide & seek causing extra congestion with rejected tickets.  I think in the end some passengers simply pushed through to avoid missing the train.  350115, 350232 & 350111 was on a triple unit (with 350111 detaching at Northampton) and I managed to get a decent seat in the front unit to sort myself out ready for my walk at Tring.

350405 passing Tring

I alighted at Tring (which was a lot busier than I was expecting with passengers alighting) and headed towards the Grand Union canal, scary to think it was last December when I was last here with a heavy rucksack.  The first section was a woodland cutting (which in the sunshine was quite beautiful).  Very peaceful as well due to the rural nature of this area. I reached Bulbourne and soon the Wendover arm branched off as I reached 'dud' towpath with a section I walked back in April.  This time when I reached the reservoirs, I didn't follow the towpath but instead followed a path alongside the Marsworth & Startop's End reservoir (built to provide water to the Grand Union canal.  I reached Marsworth swapping sides of the canal as the Aylesbury arm branched off and I was back on new towpath as the towpath swapped sides once more and soon turned rural in terms of surface.

This section wasn't the easiest to walk due to being narrow in places, with some low branches on trees mixed with some nettles & thorns, although the views were quite good (not in the same ball park as the Leeds & Liverpool Canal but still quite nice).  The canal continued in a heavy rural area reaching the small settlement of Cook's Wharf passing a couple of fishermen who were quite annoyed at being asked to move their rods in as they were blocking the towpath.  I went underneath the WCML (another one of those 'I dread to think how many times I've been over this bridge' popped into my head as I went underneath.

WCML bridge over the Grand Union Canal at Cooks Wharf

My walk continued heading in a general northern direction, enjoying the peace & quiet on a long section passing Slapton & the area of the Great Train Robbery.  An hour (or so) later I reached Grove on the outskirts of Leighton Buzzard where the rural towpath returned to something more solid, a canal walk not to do during winter as I suspect some areas would get quite muddy, although probably one best done in early spring before the nettles & thorns start growing so strong.  Anyhow I went underneath the A4146 and into Leighton Buzzard, passing a surprise of some narrow-gauge rails alongside the canal which after research online appear to be left over from the disused Grovebury Quarry.

Tracks of old Grovebury Quarry railway alongside the Grand Union Canal in Leighton Buzzard

 

I reached an old railway bridge which previously carried the Leighton Buzzard - Dunstable railway line, so I had a little detour from the canal to walk a short path along the old route which has been turned into a mixed used cycle path, before returning to the canal for the final push to reach Leighton Road where I previously reached heading south on a previous walk from Wolverton.  Instead of going straight towards the station I swung via the large Tesco, which was a bit like Supermarket Sweep in terms of people rushing around to grab stuff before it closed at 4pm (oh to be back in Scotland where 4pm closures on Sundays isn't a thing).  After grabbing a late lunch, I headed to the station turning down a pair of 350/1s on the stopper for a gamble with the nonstop service from Coventry.

Thankfully the gamble paid off as 350405 & 350129 rolled in (I was half expecting a pair of 350/2s lol) and I even got a decent seat on the 350/4 to put my phone on charge and to have my food on the nonstop run to Euston, where I was puzzling what to do for the next couple of hours as I wanted to be on the 18:20 service from Waterloo so for the lack of a better idea I headed towards the underground taking 51628 & 51629 to Bank where I was surprised when a DLR service rolled into platform 9 from the outside world (so I guess something had gone wrong with the DLR and a service from Lewisham was diverted into P9 rather than P10 to avoid the ECS shunt).  Anyhow I jumped onto this set (34/46/14) to Shadwell for a short fester to see if any of my sub mile units popped up, before jumping onto a Lewisham bound 54/30/58 to Lewisham to waste some time.

DLR 10 at Shadwell

At Lewisham it was onto 465160 & 465193 for the short run to Hither Green (just to waste time) with 465928 & 465011 on the next Charing Cross service (sitting in the former first-class area of the 465/9 for the classic Networker motor noise considering the 465/9s are not long left from various reports).  I took these to Waterloo East having a gentle walk towards Waterloo main via Tesco on Waterloo Road to grab dinner before taking a seat on the 18:20 service for Exeter (159017, 159104 & 159019, remembering that the service I arrived on this morning would have formed the 10:20 Exeter rather than the 11:20 service due to the morning engineering works).  Due to issues around Christchurch, there was a couple of cancellations on services towards Southampton so this triple 159 got quite busy, even in coach 4 of 9.  Emptied out at Basingstoke but with the volume of passengers I saw heading off I dread to think how busy it was in the rear coaches.

After Basingstoke the train ran nonstop to Andover, arriving a minute or so behind schedule (delayed caused outside Woking due to the long going track issue with trains from Guildford having to use either platform 4 or 5).  I had a gentle stroll to my car, changing my boots to a pair of trainers and drove home, where I rested my feet.  Still not quite back to 100% after the previous weekend but that might be more down to feeling a bit tired (lack of a decent sleep during the hot nights).  

Anyhow scary to think June is complete.  July is currently a mixed bag with the first two weekends currently being ideas depending on the weather before a 2-night stay in Crewe (with a few ideas for both the Saturday & Sunday) with a Railtour to the Dean Forest railway on the last weekend.  Anyhow thanks for reading my little adventures to Pembrokeshire & the Grand Union canal, I’m hoping to finish the main canal by the end of August (down to 3 sections, excluding the long Leicester Arm where I need to research options for buses but that will be a job for another day.  For now, have a 387 at Southampton taken after my medical:

387212 arriving at Southampton Central