3rd & 4th August Trips (Sewell Greenway & Grand Union Canal)

 3rd & 4th August Trips

3rd August - Sewell Greenway & Crick Canal

The original idea for today’s stroll was the section of the Grand Union canal between Weedon & Northampton but as usual my plans changed along the way as I did an old railway walk which had been on my list and a shorter canal walk to make a start with the Leicester Arm of the Grand Union.  The morning was a bit damp, but the rain was forecast to end later in the morning which was good news.

The day began with the 06:59 service from Grateley with 159015 for the short spin to Basingstoke, stepping back to board 450024 & 450034 on the next train to call at Clapham Junction giving me around 15 minutes to fester before 377703 took me to Watford Junction where I decided to board winners 730029 & 730042 on the next stopper which was terminating at Bletchley instead of Milton Keynes due to staff shortages rather than taking the next pair of 350s to Northampton.  At Leighton Buzzard I paused to photograph the BLS tour passing, which was tempting but I couldn't justify the cost, before boarding an Arriva run F70 bus for Luton (with bus 3896) to take me via Leighton Buzzard town centre and to the village of Stanbridge where I began the first walk of the day.

69008 passing Leighton Buzzard

The Sewell Greenway is a short mixed use path (part of cycle route 6) making use of the former railway line which ran from Leighton Buzzard towards Dunstable (and on to Luton which has been turned into the busway).  From Stanbridge I headed south along the pavement (on a busy road) towards Stanbridgeworth turning into a housing estate and passing the former station building (now a private house) and onto the tarmac greenway path.  A bit overgrown at the start as it crossed over the A505 before giving some nice views of Tottenhoe Quarry nature reserve.  The woodlands gave way to the Sewell Cutting nature reserve which was quite nice for nature before nature gave way to the urban environment of the northern area of Dunstable.

I cut via a car park to reach Brewers Hill Road and headed towards a bus stop near Watling Close to board a late running Arriva run route F77 service (for Milton Keynes) with bus 3960.  I was a bit tempted to wait a further couple of minutes to board the new Arriva run coach service to Milton Keynes but the connection between bus & train was a bit tight.  This was a busy bus which headed away from Dunstable with some fast running on the A505 (bypassing Stanbridge) before heading towards Leighton Buzzard and all the traffic.  One of these days I will get round to visiting the light railway in this area.

Sewell Cutting

The bus dropped me off outside the railway station and I headed across to await the next Birmingham train with 350128 & 350242 doing the honours for the trip to Northampton as I looked at options.  Sadly, this is where I noticed Weedon would have to be dropped (as Northampton to Weedon might be 2 buses an hour, they depart within 5 minutes of each other with the later bus overtaking the first bus due to having a more direct route.  I decided that could be a Sunday walk and I looked up the timings of the next Rugby bus, which turned out to be around 40 minutes time from the town centre allowing me time to grab some lunch (and some more water) from Boots.

It was onto the Stagecoach run route 96 service (with bus 36948) which heads towards Rugby.  A reasonably busy service as it headed away from Northampton town centre via the suburbs in the Northwest (Ryehill, New Dunston) where around half the bus alighted along the way before heading into the countryside passing Althorp Estate detouring via East Haddon before Long Buckby (which seemed to be a pretty village).  The bus skirted round Watford heading towards West Haddon before some more speed along the A428 as I alighted at Crick marina to make my way towards the canal.  The first section was short before running into the northern portal of Crick tunnel (which Google Maps seems to think has a towpath inside and refuses to believe otherwise).

South Portal of Crick Tunnel

I knew about the lack of towpath (I tend to research towpaths using Streetview) as I had a short double back and onto a poorly signposted footpath across some fields (with some poorly maintained Stiles) to reach Crick village, going via the village and heading along Watford Road (a narrow country lane which was quiet) to where a path leading to the southern portal of the tunnel dropping back onto the canal towpath.  Very peaceful in this area with some nice views of countryside as I headed along the towpath going underneath the railway (the Northampton loop) before quiet got replaced with road noise from the M1 before reaching the Watford Locks (featuring a Staircase Lock) with a lot of boats waiting to go up & down.  Next up I passed Watford Gap services (although no access from the towpath to the service area other than what seemed to be locked gates), crossing from the north to the south ;).

The towpath itself was quite variable in quality with some trip hazards requiring extra focus to avoid those tree roots or large rocks ready to send someone headfirst into the canal (splash!) After Watford Gap services I crossed underneath the WCML and the A5 road with the canal heading towards Norton Junction where it met up with the main Grand Union canal in the Buckby Wharf area with some locks before my canal walk ended as I joined the "Three Bridges" road going underneath both the railway (Weedon line) and the M1 before the pavement ended on this busy 60mph road.  Not the most enjoyable of walks as I headed towards Long Buckby station with the pavement thankfully returning for the last section as I reached the station taking a seat on a bench to await 350237 & 350107 on the next London service to take me to Milton Keynes Central (as this was one of the services which ran nonstop after Leighton Buzzard).

350405 arriving at Long Buckby

I popped out of the station at Milton Keynes to the nearby Morrisons for dinner items before heading back, turning down a pair of 350/2s on the stopper to gamble with the next train from Birmingham.  Thankfully the gamble paid off with 350258 & 350406 with the former TPE unit being lightly loaded as I settled down for the trip to Watford Junction, transferring to 377703 on the last Southern service of the day (I presume engineering works which meant the last few services were only running as far as Shepherd's Bush).  I made the mistake in alighting from the train at Shepherd’s Bush in the hope of getting a photograph of the BLS charter heading back north but that got delayed in the Kensington Olympia area, so I had to board 378213 to Clapham Junction.  Heading across to platform 9 I had to do a double take when I saw a pair of 450s on a Chessington South service before boarding a busy 159022 on a Salisbury stopper where I thankfully managed to get a half decent seat in the front coach, for the trip back to Grateley.

An enjoyable day with 2 different walks, the old railway line followed by the first section of the Leicester Arm of the Grand Union canal, with 2 more of the 730/0s into my book.

4th August – Grand Union Canal in Rural Warwickshire & West Midlands

The idea for today’s walk was to explore the section of the Grand Union canal between Warwick (Parkway) and Olton via rural Warwickshire before reaching rural Solihull. The day starting with the 07:37 service from Grateley to Andover (159106 & 159003) stepping back to board 159019 on the Reading service which gave me 35 minutes in Reading to grab supplies for both breakfast & lunch before the first northbound XC service.  This was a quiet 221133 & 220032 on a Stafford service (engineering works) for the trip towards Banbury (spotting a 165+168 combo on a London service).  I stepped back onto 168004 & 168322 on the next Moor Street service to take me to Warwick Parkway where my walk began.

A 168+165 Combo at Banbury

I headed from the station towards Hatton Bottom Lock to start the long climb up the Hatton flight (21 locks within 2 miles raising the canal up 45 metres), passing a busy cafe at the top lock with the towpath turning more rural (and quiet) with the section running close to the railway towards Hatton Station.  There was a bit of road noise in this area due to being close to the M40 but thankfully not as loud as other canals which run close to main roads.  In the Shrewley area there is a short tunnel requiring a detour away from the canal up a hill to the village itself before a short towpath tunnel (complete with steps) to drop back down to the side of the canal with the canal turning more rural and moving away from the motorway to be very peaceful.

The canal weaved a few times due to the hills reaching Turner's Green and Kingswood (where Lapworth station is located).  I passed the short connection canal which linked the Grand Union with the Stratford Upon Avon canal and carried on skirting the edge of Kingswood and back into rural countryside with the canal entering the West Midlands and reaching Knowle Locks.  The towpath in some places was quite narrow and like with the walk on the Saturday included some trip hazards, not massively overgrown compared to some canals.

Twin tunnels at Shrewley

I continued with my walk in the countryside going underneath the M42 and heading towards the village of Catherine-de-Barnes before the canal continued into a lovely woodland cutting with the towpath changing from rural to tarmac heading towards Olton via Elmdon Heath.  Along the way I bumped into my good friend Jules who was in the area as we had a short catch-up for the last section to the Richmond Road bridge where my canal walk ended (meeting up with the section of canal I walked in June 2023.

With the next train from Olton not being for another 50 minutes we headed towards a bus stop on the A41 road for a late running National Express route 4 bus (fleet 6953) for the short run to Solihull station which runs 4 buses an hour allowing for a nice connection onto 165023 & 168109 (which I believe is the first time I've had a 165+168 combo).  A steam train passed as the Chiltern service was in the station as we sat in the 165 (only because it was quieter than the 168).  I said farewell to Jules at Leamington as he was heading back towards Birmingham as the train got quite busy (connects with a service from Stratford Upon Avon and it was the time of day where day trippers started to head home).

Grand Union Canal in Elmdon Heath

At Banbury I had a short wait before playing the XC lottery, knowing it was 221126, the lottery being able to predict which end 1st class was (and hence coach B, I know they show on RTT but it's a gamble if the formation is correct).  I was lucky to grab a seat in coach B of this 5 coach voyager for the trip to Basingstoke, where for the first time in ages I headed to the KFC to grab dinner (not like there are many other options in Basingstoke available at 19:15 on a Sunday evening).

My last train of the day was 158883 & 159017 on a Salisbury stopper from Waterloo.  Easy enough to grab a seat in coach 2 of 5 as I settled down for the trip to Grateley followed by a walk home to relax for the remainer of the evening.  An enjoyable stroll in the countryside, another section of the Grand Union walked and a short catchup.  Weather behaved as well with it being mostly overcast with a couple sunny spells (even a short shower in the Olton area).  Next weekend sees a return to Crewe for the Intercity “North West” tour which will hopefully be a good day.  More photos can be found on my Flickr *Here*, thanks for reading :)  Today is a Beautiful Day