Trips on 23rd August – 26th August

 Trips on 23d August – 26th August

I had originally booked my usual place in Crewe to be a Friday – Monday stay, however as I wasn’t quite 100% about the bank holiday with my training, I changed it to be a standard Friday & Saturday stay to return south on the Sunday rather than on the bank holiday Monday.  I guess in hindsight once I had it confirmed I was off on the Monday I should have changed it back to include the Sunday in Cheshire but overlooked it until it was too late.

23rd August – Onwards to Crewe

The trip began with the 16:59 service from Grateley, with 159021 returning from Salisbury with 158881 running around 10 minutes late due to the 158 being late attaching to the 159 (would normally come from Gillingham but for whatever reason the service was starting at Salisbury).  The 159 was quite busy but the 158 was pretty much empty, so I sat in the 158 for the trip to London with the train losing a few more minutes here & there due to being out of path.

At Waterloo as I had over an hour before the 19:46 service for Crewe I headed out on foot towards Euston (saves paying for the Underground), bumping into my good friend Jan who had arrived from Wolverhampton heading on his latest European adventure before I headed to platform 5 (I think) to board 350375 & 350370 on the 19:46 which departed quite busy with passengers standing in the front coach vestibule.   Nothing really unusual happened heading north tonight and it arrived into Crewe around 10pm and I made my way to the shared house, this time having the single room on the top floor, getting my bag sorted out ready for the Saturday and relaxing

153376 passing Basingstoke

24th August – A Day on Merseyside

My original idea for the Saturday was to walk part of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, either from Maghull towards Burscough (and maybe on towards Parbold) or the Rufford branch starting from Hesketh Bank towards Burscough (and maybe on towards Parbold).  However, when I checked the Canal & River Trust website on the Thursday both options were ruled out due to towpath closures being listed.  In the end I decided on a back up option being the route of the former Cheshire Lines route towards Southport starting in the Old Roan area (the TransPennine Trail)

The day began with the 06:59 service from Crewe towards Holyhead to take me to Chester (158818 & 158822), where after popping out of the station to buy a Saveaway (now issued on ‘bog-roll’ ticket stock) I headed to platform 2 to board 158828 for the run to Wrexham General for a short wait before winner 197121 rolled in from Cardiff to take me back to Chester on a Holyhead service where I changed to Merseyrail with 777012 taken to Hooton where I made a swift connection to winner 777033 which I saw earlier at Chester.  This 777 took me back to Chester, where I remained on board back to Hooton, keeping my eyes out for the other units.



I saw a winner 777 heading towards Ellesmere Port as I took 777020 to Bebington pinging back south to Eastham Rake on 777002 to intercept winner 777045 from Ellesmere Port to take me to Hamilton Square, going via the city centre loop to get it cleared for ten miles (due to my slightly silly rule that I need at least 10 miles from a unit for it to count).  At Hamilton Square I crossed over to the city bound line with dud 777009 to Liverpool Central where after a visit to the toilet & shop I jumped on winner 777144 to Headbolt Lane, solely to scratch the platform 1 track.  After a short walkabout (I suspect I will do platform 3 when on a Lancs Ranger to avoid a fester at Rainford) I returned towards Kildale with 777144, crossing over to the opposite platform for an Ormskirk service getting a surprise when winners 777025 & 777016 rolled in to become my first pair of 777s, taking them all the way to Ormskirk (complete with 5-minute wait outside the station for the next southbound to clear the single line).  Surprised as I wasn’t expecting to see any pairs out today.

After a visit to the toilet at Ormskirk station I boarded 777016/777025 to push them over ten miles to alight at Old Roan where my walk finally begun!  The first section was via Copy Lane towards Netherton crossing over the Northern Perimeter Road onto an old road leading towards the A5758, crossing this busy road via some slow traffic lights and onto the cycle path heading pass a field of sunflowers into the countryside (crossing the River Alt) and picking up the route of the old railway line in the outskirts of Maghull.  A short section of road walking followed before picking up the old railway route beyond Sefton Lane, leaving behind urban landscape and into countryside.

The path was quite variable in quality, ranging from wide tarmac to quite narrow dirt paths.  Not a lot of evidence of being an old railway line other than a couple of old bridges as the route continued in the countryside (beautiful and peaceful) with a detour at the northern end due to the original route of the railway being lost.  The path ended on Plex Moss Lane, requiring a walk along this narrow country road towards Woodvale, crossing over the A565 and onto the "Coastal Road" (which I believe was built on the old railway route).  I crossed over the railway line before dropping down having the option of heading towards Ainsdale or towards Freshfield via the woods.

Route of the former CLC route to Southport

I went for the option via Ainsdale Woods with a path running close to the railway in times before heading on a trip into the woods to come out near a golf course and crossing the railway at the Fisherman's Path level crossing.  The next section was alongside the railway line towards Freshfield where my walk ended, a variable walk with some lovely countryside.  Anyhow back to the trains with winner 777032 to Sandhills, changing to winner 777043 on an Ormskirk service which I took to Aintree (so another entry onto the sub-10-mile 777 list).  The next Liverpool bound service was 777036 which I took to Liverpool Central, having a gentle stroll to Lime Street via a shop for some cold drink (as it was quite hot in the sunshine).  Sub-10-mile unit 777022 popped up first on a West Kirby service which I took to Hamilton Square (giving it an extra couple of miles).  At Hamilton Square it was onto winner 777039 on the next Chester service to take me back to Chester where I still think Merseyrail drops down to 2tph far too early considering there was a large crowd waiting for this service only to be told it was out of service as they run them back as empty coaching stock to Birkenhead North depot.  In my eyes it should be 4tph until at least 9pm, especially on weekends.

Anyhow my day on Merseyrail had ended as I made my way across to platform 1 to board a very busy 197043 on the Crewe shuttle to take me back to Crewe where I returned to the shared house swinging via a takeaway for a burger box.  After said takeaway I headed towards Morrisons to grab supplies for the morning (to make a change from the big Tesco) before relaxing for the remainer of the evening.  A good day for my little red pen, and my feet as I can clear that walk from my big list of things to do.

25th August – Another failed attempt at Atherstone!

A couple of weeks ago I was going to walk the Coventry canal from Tamworth towards Atherstone only changing my mind on the train towards Tamworth to instead walk towards Fradley, so today for the lack of a better idea I decided to head towards Atherstone to walk towards Tamworth.  After an average sleep (things on my mind) I checked out of the shared house heading towards the station via Tesco to grab supplies and to platform 12 for the first southbound LNR service of the day with 350377 leading 350246 & 350408.  Due to the short platform at Atherstone I had no option but to sit in the /3 (where coach 2 was lightly loaded compared to the other coaches closest to the platform entrance), settling down to eat my breakfast as the train headed towards Stafford, unusually on the slow lines.

At Stafford there was a sudden announcement that the train had been cancelled with no reason given (RTT was suggesting it would run ECS to Northampton before resuming in service which did suggest a staffing issue) so for the lack of a better idea (and to avoid hanging around Stafford station which the Avanti staff in full megaphone mode about “LNR tickets are not valid” on the Avanti services) I headed out of the station.  Annoyingly it looked like the service got uncancelled and ran 25 minutes late (skipping out Northampton), but there was no information from the staff.

Anyhow in a way I was lucky to have a backup walk for the Stafford area which I was saving for another day.  I started the walk by following the river Sow via the cycle path heading passed a large Asda reaching the Fairway road where the tarmac path swapped sides and turned more rural as I headed via what I suspect is the floodplain, passing a random footbridge to nowhere (maybe something related to the old Sow Navigation) before reaching the Staffordshire & Worcestershire canal for a brief section on the towpath before taking the "Two Waters" way path (a long viaduct over both the Sow & Penk) before some lovely woodland (with some not so lovely mud) in the Kingston Pool Covert.

Kingston Pool Covert, Stafford

This section soon ended as I reached the A513 road, walking along the pavement for around a mile passing the army barracks and reaching the start of the Isobel Trail, a path running along the trackbed of the old Stafford - Uttoxeter railway route.  I passed the overgrown remains of the platforms at Stafford Common station on this busy (dog walkers, cyclists, dogs riding bikes, runners) path and a couple of miles later the path came to an end at Doxey Road.  One of these trips I will explore the Doxey Marshes as they look interesting.  The last section was a short walk via some roads to reach the station where I was toying with rough ideas of what to do next (considering this was just after midday) as I boarded the next London LNR service (350376 & 350103) which was very busy.

I was toying with the idea of jumping off at Rugby to walk one of the old Grand Central paths, either to the south of the town (towards the Rainsbrook Valley Railway) or to the north (towards Newton) but I decided against both options (as I was sitting comfortably and I knew boarding a southbound LNR at Rugby on a Sunday could be hit or miss for how busy it would be.  Both walks could be done on another day (those old railway line paths are not going anywhere soon) so I remained on board to Euston, where I had a gentle walk towards Waterloo to pass the time, aiming for the 15:35 service for Weymouth [to change at Basingstoke] but I made good time to catch the 15:20 Axminster service [line was closed beyond Axminster due to landslip at a tunnel] which was formed of a busy 159014 (cosy!)

Old bridge for the former Stafford - Uttoxeter Railway Line in Stafford (near Doxey Lane)

I guess in hindsight I should have switched to the Weymouth train for a more comfortable ride, but I had a seat for the trip to Andover where it was a same platform change compared to Basingstoke, and Andover is a nicer station to sit on a bench walking the world go by.  Half an hour later 159001 rocked up on the service from Reading to take me up the hill to Grateley where I had a gentle stroll home to relax for the rest of the evening, having an early night ready for an early start on the bank holiday Monday.

26th August – South Downs Rambler, Liss & Wey Navigation

Today was one of those trips where I was linking a couple of walking ideas together which had been on my list of things to do for a while, as well as sampling the South Downs Rambler bus service being run on summer Sundays (and bank holiday) which I was hoping to do last year but never got round to it.  The day began with the 06:59 service from Grateley formed of 159008 to take me to Basingstoke where after grabbing breakfast from Sainsburys I jumped onto 450036 & 450098 to Eastleigh working a Portsmouth service, remaining on the same platform for a busy 450126 back to Winchester, solely to waste some time.

I headed out of the station towards the bus stops located on the forecourt with the 09:15 service, which only appeared at 09:22 (Bluestar’s 270) departing 10 minutes with a handful of passengers on board.  A lot more boarded in the city centre and the bus headed out of the city centre towards No Man's Land joining the A272 for a fast run towards Hinton Ampner & Bramdean.  Near West Meon the bus headed along the A32 towards West Meon & Meonstoke doing an U-turn back to Warnford to take the narrow Winchester Hill road where the views became excellent with the bus climbing high into the South Downs heading towards Clanfield before a fast running section along the A3 towards Petersfield, going via the town centre before terminating at the railway station.

The South Downs Rambler in Petersfield

Petersfield is one of those places which as far as I could tell doesn’t have any buses on bank holidays (or Sundays) other than this summer only service, so my option was to remain on the bus back to Winchester or head out to the railway station for the next stopping service towards London (the previous fast service being cancelled at Fratton due to a train fault with the stopper being around 10 minutes late with 450059 & 450102 taking me one stop up the line to Liss where my first walk began with the former military railway leading towards the MOD Longmoor training area via a beautiful woodland path, although the path was a bit muddy in places following the recent rain.  At the end of the path (which continues into the MOD land which requires some future research as I was unsure if it was a bit like Salisbury Plain in being managed access) I headed back to Liss via the roads, swinging via a Tesco Express to grab lunch to save a job.  Thankfully the next London stopper was also running late so I didn't need to rush before boarding 450050 & 450030 to Haslemere where I transferred to 444037 on the next semi-fast service to Godalming where my second walk began.

I exited the station at Godalming, heading to a path running alongside the River Wey towards the town bridge where the Wey Navigation began.  A rural towpath which was reasonably busy with other people out for a walk (or a ride), with the water busy with canoes & paddleboarders as I headed away from the town centre towards Catteshall Lock skirting round the edge of Farncombe with a gentle stroll in the woodlands heading towards Peasmarsh & Shalford (pausing to take a photo of the junction with the remains of the former Wey & Arun Canal (a canal I believe which is getting restored).  My walk along the Wey Navigation came to an end at Broadford Road bridge where I had previously walked a couple of years ago (time does fly).

River Wey Navigation in Peasmarsh

Switching from the river navigation to a cycle path heading north over the North Downs line and towards Guildford via some nice woodland and Shalford Park.  Soon I reached Guildford where I headed back towards the river navigation at Millmead lock, walking towards a weir where the towpath has been closed due to being washed away.  I did a U-turn and followed the river towards the town centre which clears the Wey Navigation for walking (other than that tiny section on the weir if it ever gets repaired).  On heading to Guildford station, I caught the sound of a mysterious steam train passing (nothing showing on RTT) and it was back to the trains.

As the next London train was a stopper which gave a nice connection at Worplesdon I decided on a random station revisit for some better photos, jumping onto 450046 & 450126 for the short journey from Guildford to this very quiet station.  5 minutes later 450084 & 450065 rolled in to take me back to Guildford where I transferred to platform 1 as I had noticed a bit of a novelty, a pair of 450s working a service via Bookham.  There seems to be a booked pair of 450s on the Wimbledon suburban lines since the 458/5s started losing weight, and it had been a while since I last went via Bookham (at least in daylight) so I decided on a little spin on 450029 & 450023 on the slow run to Clapham Junction

450023 in the bay at Guildford on a service via Epsom

I arrived at Clapham Junction with around 10 minutes to spare before the next Salisbury stopper, enough time to pop out of the station to the Sainsburys to grab some dinner items before taking a seat on 158888 & 159007 on a Salisbury service, the leading coach of the 158 was very quiet (and from the announcement the guard made the rear coaches sounded busy as he was suggesting for those customers standing to move forward as there was a lot more seats in the front coaches.  Anyhow these sprinters took me back home to Grateley where I had a gentle stroll home, and relaxed ready for another busy week of training.

As ever more photos can be found on my Flickr, thanks for reading :)