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 :)