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.