Trips 12th – 14th October

 Trips 12th – 14th October

12th October – McClean Way and the return to Chasewater

The McClean Way is the name given to the mixed used path built on the alignment of the former South Staffordshire Railway between Walsall & Brownhills (I believe the section between Brownhills & Lichfield is getting converted at some point since traffic at Anglesey Sidings is no more).  As the weather was looking dry (all be misty) I decided it would be a good chance to have a little explore of this disused railway line as the Brownhills end is meant to get muddy in the winter, staying overnight in a Travelodge in Birmingham.

The trip began with the 07:39 service from Grateley towards Waterloo, which I was going to take to Andover, stepping back onto the Reading train (for a XC service towards the West Midlands), however overrunning engineering works at Basingstoke soon threw a large spanner in the works as 159003 & 159005 dwelled at Andover for around half an hour before getting the signal to depart towards Basingstoke, with the Reading train cancelled.  Basingstoke isn’t the best place to hang around on a Sunday morning as there isn’t a lot open close to the station and I found myself onto 165125 on the stopper to Reading to visit the little Sainsburys Local outside the station for some supplies before taking 221121 & 220021 on the 10:15 service towards Manchester.

I easily got a table seat in coach B of the 221, which remained very quiet throughout (makes a change with XC!), probably the first time since before Covid I had a XC service via Warwick (due to engineering works in the Adderley Park area), and arrival was around 8 minutes early allowing me to make a quick dash to 730003 on the Rugeley service from platform 4C (helped out with the XC using P5 and being at the right end of the train).  This 730 took me to Walsall where my walk began, first of all heading towards the bus stop to meet a friend who had arrived from Wolverhampton via bus.

730003 departing Walsall Station

The first section was via the roads to reach the entrance to the mixed used path on Mill Lane, near to the bridge over the Sutton Park line.  This section was via a local nature reserve before the path joined up with the route of the old railway on a decent quality tarmac path.  Even with the mist it was reasonably popular with other walkers and cyclists as we headed towards Pelsall where remains of the former station has disappeared.

In Pelsall the tarmac path changed to being more variable as we continued towards Brownhills and into a deep cutting for the last section reaching the canal aqueduct, we continued a little bit further towards the fence underneath the long bridge underneath Watling Street (where one day I suspect I will be back to walk towards Lichfield).  We climbed the stairs to reach the canal and headed towards Chasewater Country Park.

McClean Way (Route of former South Staffordshire Railway) in Brownhills

On reaching the reservoir, it was so misty we couldn't see the opposite side as we headed north along the side of the water before following another path close to Burntwood Rugby club to reach Chasetown (Church Street) station on the heritage Chasewater Railway, picking up a footpath running alongside the railway towards Chasewater Heaths, crossing over the railway heading towards Norton Bog.  We continued the walk, walking high above the railway reaching the very basic Norton Lakeside Halt before carrying on leaving the route of the railway and following the side of the main reservoir again.

Holly Bank No 3 near Chasewater Heaths Station on the Chasewater Railway

We soon reached Brownhills West station, the main base of operations for the railway with various shunters parked up along with 142030 looking good in First North Western colours.  After some photographs we continued the walk to pick up the path over the M6 Toll to reach Brownhills West itself and a short walk along the road (passing a Mk3 Reliant Robin), finishing the walk on the bus stop at Rising Sun Island where National Express bus 2119 took us back towards Walsall Bus Station on a route 10 service.

At Walsall bus station I said farewell to my friend, as he headed back towards Wolverhampton, always nice to have a catch-up as it’s been a while since we met up, and I headed to the station to board 730008 on the stopper towards Birmingham New Street, giving me time to pop outside the station for some supplies before joining the large crowd waiting for the London train.  Due to the engineering works it was only an hourly train service linking Birmingham with the Airport & Coventry (with a half hourly bus service calling at all stations between New Street & International) so needless to say 390125 departed extremely busy (in my eyes what Avanti should have done is split the London – Scotland service up at Birmingham to improve time keeping).

142030 at Brownhills West on the Chasewater Railway

I was originally going to take this Pendo towards Rugby for something along the Trent Valley line, but as a winner 730 was showing as out, I bailed at Birmingham International, deciding the connection at Coventry would be too risky.  As the next Pendo for Crewe was running late, I decided to take 350408 & 350401 for the short hop to Hampton in Arden returning on 350121 & 350371 (both sets having the inter-unit gangway doors locked out of use to prevent passengers from being able to get between units, all because the guards want to hide away, no wonder why revenue loss on LNR services is sky high).

Anyhow back at Birmingham International, I joined the majority of passengers from those 350s in crossing over to platform 3 for the late running Crewe Pendo with platform staff saying to use the entire length of the platform with standard class at the front of the train, so it was a tad annoying after following the instructions when 390011 rolled in with first class at the front, with no hope to getting to standard class I took a seat in Standard Premium for the short journey back to Birmingham New Street, going via Aston & Perry Barr to approach Birmingham from the Wolverhampton direction.  It wasn’t quite over for me as I headed over to winner 730214 on the next Liverpool train to take me to Wolverhampton, returning to Birmingham on a late running 390136.

350121 at Birmingham International Station

I headed out of the station, towards the Newhall Street branch of Travelodge, getting given a room on the 3rd floor, allowing me time to relax for the rest of the evening.  An enjoyable day, even if some of the trains were massively overcrowded (because passengers prefer to take trains, even if the journey takes longer, than a stopping bus with no guarantee the train/bus would wait for the bus/train to arrive). 

13th October – Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal Exploring

One of the main reasons for wanting to stay in Birmingham city centre was for the novelty of doing a 730 on the route knowledge refresher route via Bescot, also it gave me a chance to walk another section of the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal which I started back in August last year (with Penkridge towards the junction at Great Haywood).  After checking out of the hotel I made my way towards Birmingham New Street via a couple of shops (including Tim Hortons for a breakfast wrap) before boarding dud 730218 on the 07:57 service to Liverpool (I will admit to getting thrown when I saw the random Avanti service to Liverpool from Birmingham at 07:51 with a “am I on the right platform” moment.

Annoyingly RTT was suggesting this would have been a winner (ah well, those things happen) and I took a seat in what was going to be first class area, only to be thrown when the train departed towards Aston (again, I will admit to seeing this service went via Bescot, but didn’t see it went via Aston & Perry Barr as I was presuming it would go via Soho.  This train even featured a rarity on London Northwestern, a ticket check!  Anyhow the trip via Bescot complete, the new stations on that line are coming along well I stayed on until Penkridge, moving towards the centre of the train due to the short platform, leaving the train with a large crowd of college kids boarding, and my walk began.

730218 departing Penkridge Station

 

 

The first section was a copy of the walk from last August, heading towards the main shopping area of Penkridge before following Cannock Road to join the canal at the Boat Inn, this time I headed south underneath the road following the reasonable towpath passing a marina before leaving the main built up area of Penkridge, going towards Otherton.  On reaching the bridge which used to carry the Littleton Colliery branch I broke away from the canal to walk the route of this short branch line back towards Penkridge, reaching the end point at the A449 (close to where I would imagine the colliery branch line would have joined up with the existing railway.

I headed back towards the canal along this nice woodland path and carried on, trying to drown out the noise from the M6 for the short section the canal runs close to the motorway before heading west towards Gailey.  A short detour was needed due to towpath works between Gailey & Four Ashes before passing a chemical works site at Four Ashes (with warnings not to stop or moor in this section, even if sirens are sounding).  The towpath had changed from solid ground to more rural grass with my pet hate, bricks (as they can be quite slippery when wet).

Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal at Four Ashes

After leaving Four Ashes the canal turned quite rural as it headed back east towards Calf Heath and the junction with the former Hatherton Canal, the section in water being used as a marina with no public access from the towpath side of the main canal.  The next section was by far the worse for towpath quality, very bumpy and narrow in places for a couple hundred metres before thankfully it returned to being flat and I headed back into the countryside.  My walk reached the railway bridge over the canal near Slade Heath (one of those bridges where I dread to think how many times I've been across over the last 11 years).  The towpath quality did improve the closer I got towards Wolverhampton passing the Anchor Inn and going underneath the A449 & M54 near Coven Heath.

I was now in the Wolverhampton area with some industrial units close by as I followed the canal towards the Autherley Canal junction, near Pendeford where the Shropshire Union Canal ends, one section of this towpath was a bit weird in having the tarmac path dive inland leaving a grassy path alongside the canal, before the tarmac path resumes in running alongside the canal, this area also featured a deep cutting which was quite nice for woodland views.  I reached the junction with the Shropshire Union, carrying on towards the Oxley viaduct & Aldersley Junction where the Birmingham Canal joins.

Autherley Junction between the Staffordshire & Worcestershire and Shropshire Union Canals, Wolverhampton

This area of the canal was quite nice in terms of woodland and being peaceful, considering the location.  I continued towards Tettenhall with having the option to finish here for a bus into the city centre, but I decided to push on for another mile going underneath the route of the former Smestow Valley railway line route with the Meccano Bridge to reach Compton where my walk ended with a short walk to a bus stop close to a very unusual road junction which one side was a regular mini roundabout, the other side was a road junction, I suspect an accident black spot considering it looks like a regular mini roundabout.

Anyhow it was onto the route 10A route with National Express's 852 to take me towards the city centre, as I decided to jump off at the bus stop outside a shopping centre to pick up some more drink & something to munch before heading to the railway station.  The first available service to Birmingham was formed of a Bournemouth bound 221111, which I decided to stay with all the way to Basingstoke as I had a reasonable seat in coach B.  In hindsight this turned out to be a good move, due to an tragic event at Vauxhall and when I was at Basingstoke with services being delayed I decided to head to Andover via the route 76 bus (with bus 11243) with the theory of getting a lift home, however the lift wasn’t required as trains had started to run again and I strolled to the railway station in Andover to catch 159015 & 159001 on what would have been the 17:23 service from London which started at Woking.

221111 at Basingstoke Station

Once home, I relaxed for the rest of the evening, sorting my rucksack out ready for another day trip on the Tuesday.  It was an enjoyable canal walk in the Staffordshire countryside, I suspect the rest of that canal will be done next year as it seems quite rural, other than the section at Kidderminster to Stourport as that is a cycle route so I would imagine would be a decent year-round towpath.

14th October – Bingham Linear Park

I had various options for this Tuesday, in the end deciding to head towards Nottinghamshire to walk a short disused railway path in the Bingham area, one I was originally going to pair up with the walk from Radcliffe towards Cotgrave but with that path out of action until further notice I decided to separate the walks.  Anyway, the day began with the 06:18 service from Grateley with 159022 & 159011 to take me to Waterloo, getting very busy after Basingstoke as per usual with this train.  After grabbing breakfast and supplies for lunch I strolled towards Kings Cross arriving with plenty of time to spare before the 09:06 York stopper with 91106 at the northern end (and DVT 82214) to take me to Grantham and a 25-minute fester before 170208 rolled in from Skegness to take me to Aslockton where my walk began.  The train fits on the platform but only the doors in the front 2 coaches are opened due to the large step at the rear of the train.

The first section from Aslockton was towards Whatton and then onto Conery Lane (featuring a crossing of the busy A52 road), a quiet country lane heading towards farms and a footpath across a field towards the route of the former Northampton to Nottingham branch of the Great Northern and London and North Western Joint Railway.  I did take a wrong turn at a bridge over the River Smite and ended up going via what looked to be a vineyard on a footpath and a steep unofficial climb onto the embankment.  I should have turned left along another path which had a connection to the railway near the river viaduct.

170208 at Aslockton Station

Anyhow I was now onto the route of the old railway line, doubling back towards the end point, just passed the river viaduct (the path does continue further but there was a "Private Land, No Entry" sign after a farm crossing.  I retraced my steps along this path which was a reasonable quality with stones on the ground, although not one I would want to do during winter time, quite nice views of countryside once the embankment section left the woods with the embankment turning into a deep cutting with various farm track bridges before reaching a tunnel underneath the A52 Bingham Bypass with the path now being more solid (and busier).

I continued along the Bingham Linear Park going underneath a nice viaduct carrying Tithby Road over the old railway (couldn't really photograph it due to the trees) and soon the path came to an end alongside Nottingham Road, close to a bus stop used by the frequent Bingham - Nottingham Trent Barton bus route, but as I had time I headed towards the town centre, grabbing a photo of the Butter Cross and headed to the station, jumping onto 170422 for the nonstop run to Nottingham.  Quite an interesting old railway path route for the different in scenery from woods, cuttings and embankments.

Bingham Linear Park Info Board

Once at Nottingham, I decided to call it a day earlier than I was planning (I was going to have a little tram hunt) due to my feet being damp (seems my waterproof boots are not all that waterproofed) so I jumped onto 170202 on the next Norwich bound service, solely to clear Grantham to Peterborough for 170 coverage (not as fast I was expecting it to have been) to take me to Peterborough for a short wait for 801224 to arrive from Edinburgh to take me to Kings Cross where I had a gentle stroll to St Pancras for a Rainham bound 700053 to London Bridge followed by 707008 & 707003 on the first available South Eastern service to Waterloo East.

After grabbing some drink from Iceland, I headed to Waterloo and onto a busy 16:50 service formed of 159017 & 159106 to take me back to Grateley, the end of an enjoyable little day trip to Nottinghamshire even if I cut it short, a nice little getaway.  As always thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr *Here*.

2nd – 5th October – Ever Changing Plans due to Amy

 2nd – 5th October – Ever Changing Plans due to Amy

This weekend was meant to have been a return to Scotland with a long weekend, focusing on my last section of the Union Canal (Edinburgh Park to Linlithgow) and one of the disused railway lines, however when earlier in the week I noticed Storm Amy making the weekend seem like a washout I decided to cancel my accommodation and instead have multiple day trips based on what the weather was doing.

2nd October – Exploring the Rushall & the Wyrley and Essington Canals

For my first walk of October, I decided to head towards the West Midlands to do a walk I was planning on doing in a few weeks’ time, the short Rushall Canal & the remaining parts of the curvy Wyrley and Essington canal.  The day began with the 06:57 service from Grateley to Waterloo with a busy 158883, 159020 & 159017 where I had my usual stroll across the capital to reach Euston and boarding 390047 working the first off-peak train towards Birmingham (on a Glasgow service).  As suspected coach C on this service was quite busy (due to the large cliff-edge in fares between off-peak & peak on the WCML).

At Birmingham New Street I had a short walk over to 730030 which was following the Pendo from Birmingham International to take me to Tame Bridge Parkway where my walk began.  I left the station, following a couple of roads to pick up a path leading up towards the Tame Valley Canal for a short walk alongside the M6 towards Rushall Junction where the Rushall Canal branched off.  This canal is quite straight with a decent tarmac towpath (as it forms part of cycle route 5), although there was a short section after the B4151 where the tarmac disappeared as the canal entered the countryside.

730030 departing Tame Bridge Parkway

I soon reached Longwood Junction where the Rushall Canal magically turned into the Daw End Branch of the Wyrley and Essington canal (not like you could tell the changeover on the ground, other than the straightness turning into curves as the canal follows the contours of the land to avoid expensive locks.  The towpath in this area was a bit rougher, certainly not a canal to do during winter as I would imagine things would get muddy, however it was nice and peaceful as it was near the Park Lime Pits Nature Reserve. Crossing the Sutton Park railway I soon reached Daw End where the ruralness was replaced with industry (and high fences) as the canal skirted round the edge of Aldridge reaching Walsall Wood (and a rude sounding bridge!)

The towpath did change back to being decent tarmac quality as the canal skirted round the edge of Walsall Wood heading towards Catshill Junction where the Daw End branch joins up with the main Wyrley and Essington (although I suspect in terms of boat traffic, most will switch to the 'branch' to do a loop when out boating considering the main line is a dead-end).  Anyhow I crossed underneath the A452 bridge and onto new ground with the canal skirting round the edge of Brownhills, housing to the left of me, fields to the right, wait that's sounding a bit too much like Stealers Wheels.

My walk continued as I reached Ogley Junction where the Lichfield canal branched off and I was now onto the Anglesey Branch, still skirting round the edge of Brownhills and crossing over the former South Staffordshire Railway route (now part a mixed used path towards Walsall, the section towards Lichfield I believe is getting turned into a greenway at some point).  I crossed underneath the M6 Toll and into Burntwood, the canal coming to an end at Anglesey Basin near the Chasewater Reservoir.

Remains of South Staffordshire Railway Line near the Wyrley and Essington Canal aqueduct, Brownhills

I climbed a slope to reach the level of this large reservoir within the Chasewater Country Park (home of a little heritage railway), and I followed a path alongside the south eastern corner of the reservoir to reach a footpath which crossed over the M6 (Toll) towards Brownhills West and a short section of the former Midland Railway branch line towards Watling Street where my walk ended.  I had a short wait before the next route 10 bus (operated by National Express West Midlands with bus 2136) took me towards Walsall, where I got lost trying to find the railway station from the bus station (signage is somewhat lacking).  Once I reached the railway station it was onto 730040 on the next semi-fast service to Birmingham New Street and a reasonably tight connection onto 390129 from Scotland on the next fast London train.

At Euston, I noticed one of the LNR branded TVMs was suggesting that Harrow & Wealdstone was one of the most popular destinations before I headed to the underground to find an unexpected 7-minute gap in service.  I squeezed onto set 51623 & 51719 (bonus of a sub mile pair of 1995 stock units) to Waterloo, where after grabbing some dinner from Sainsburys I headed to the 19:20 service to take me back home to Grateley with 159006, 159018 & 158885.  An enjoyable walk in the West Midlands (and Staffordshire), another canal complete.

Chasewater Reservoir

3rd October – Changeable Weather in Manchester

When I checked the forecast when I woke up it was suggesting the Manchester area would remain dry most of the day with rain moving in around 5pm, so I decided to head that way (although couldn’t decide between the Peak Forest Canal or the Huddersfield Narrow & a disused railway walk).  The 05:50 took me into Waterloo with a lightly loaded (it was a Friday after-al) 159016 & 158888 and another gentle stroll to Euston, this time for the 08:13 Manchester Piccadilly service with 390002 on this service calling at Nuneaton, Stoke & Stockport (speedy!).

Along the way I checked the forecast once more as I was still undecided wherever to jump off at Stockport for a bus towards the Woodley area, or remain on board for a TPE towards Greenfield, however I wasn’t impressed when instead of being dry it was suggesting heavy rain pretty much the rest of the day from around 11am, confirmed by the weather forecast as it looked like the storm had moved a lot further south than it was originally predicted.  Change of plan time it was as I looked up the locations of some required 197s, one wasn’t out, another was in West Wales but the 3rd was on Wrexham – Bidston services so came up with a plan.

The first stage of this revised plan was on a Mk4 set formed of DVT 82216 and being pushed by 67029 (a loco I’ve not had for many years since it popped up on a UK Railtour towards Stratford Upon Avon).  This took me to Crewe, where after confirming the identity of the Crewe – Shrewsbury stopper as being AT02 (as these don’t show on RTT) I headed towards Chester on 197113, changing onto 197002 on a Llandudno Junction bound service to Shotton giving me around 20 minutes to get between platforms.

67029 at Crewe Station

To waste some time, I went via the town centre area, noticing that the little Iceland had closed, before returning to the station and onto winner 197026 for the run to Wrexham General and a reasonable connection onto a pair of busy 158s (it was student kicking out time) bound for Holyhead (158822 & 158833) to take me back to Chester where I transferred to 805003 starting from platform 1 (unusual seeing a 805 using that bay platform!) to take me to Crewe, noticing 197039 on test on platform 9.

I had a short wait before 197027 & 197034 rolled in on the next train towards Cardiff to take me to Whitchurch for a short wait (in the rain) for 153353 & 153528 to roll in (also known as set AT02), taking an airline seat in the 153/5 (as the table seats give rubbish legroom) for the run back to Crewe, another renumbered 153 into my book.  At Crewe I was originally going to turn down the unit from Liverpool for the Pendo from Manchester, but when 807004 rolled in I noticed it wasn’t that busy (in coach H) so boarded it for the run towards London.

153528 (AT02) at Crewe Station

Things were going well, until it hit congestion caused by issues around Hanslope junction, losing nearly 20 minutes, losing more time after Milton Keynes as one of the trains in front called at Watford Junction, so arrival into Euston was nearly half an hour late.  Although this is when I noticed the SWR network was in a state of chaos due to an incident near Surbiton, so I headed into the light drizzle (although judging by the state of the roads, it seems London got hit quite bad with downpours) towards Paddington.

At Paddington, I jumped on the first train towards Reading with a busy 802111 (easily got a seat in the 3rd coach from the front whereas the rear coaches were looking quite busy), this got delayed outside Reading for around 10 minutes for no real reason (nothing showing on the platforms at Reading), which meant I had to dash across to squeeze onto a rammed 165121 on the next stopper which departed late (as it was held for a Penzance bound service to depart first), with many unhappy folk about missing the connection at Basingstoke.

197026 at Wrexham General

The next service towards Salisbury was a heavily delayed service from London which was showing as running non-stop to Salisbury, so I popped out of the station to grab some supplies from Sainsburys before returning with the assumption the next train would start from Basingstoke (considering the outward leg was cancelled at Basingstoke) and in rolled 159019 from Barton Mill to take me back home to Grateley, where I had a walk home in the rain.  A day of mixed results, good that another 197 & 153 is in my book, however I couldn’t help thinking had the weather forecast shown heavy rain in the morning it would have been a different day (probably staying closer to London), you win some, you lose some.

4th October – A Day of Chaos in South Wales

I had 2 ideas for this Saturday, based on the weather being a bit rubbish further north, either a trip to Cardiff with my little red pen, or a trip to London to have a TfL day, when I woke up I did a quick search on RTT which showed that both active 197s I needed were out as well as 3 of the 4x 756s I needed so I decided to head to Wales with a rough plan in my head.  The day started with a damp walk to the station to board 159019 & 158882 to Basingstoke, where I changed onto 221128 to Reading, it was 4 minutes late into Basingstoke due to a dodgy signal near Micheldever, reducing the connection was 4 minutes at Reading (ignoring any allowances), sadly that went up in smoke due to a random signal check near Southcote junction (nothing in the area that I could see).  So, with an hour to kill at Reading (how I wish GWR would bring back the all-day 2tph service to Cardiff on Saturdays) I exited the station for a little stroll, grabbing some breakfast.

Back at Reading station and it was onto 800312 with the run to Cardiff Central, where I had a little time-wasting walk towards Queen Street to take 231011 back down the hill to Central, before transferring onto 150259 on a Lydney service to Newport (a bit of high speed 150 noise as the window near my seat wouldn’t stay shut), however this is where things started to go pear shaped.  My idea was to take 037 which was on a Swansea service from Manchester along with a 197/1 to Bridgend giving an 18-minute connection into 033 (and another 3-coach unit) back to Cardiff.

150259 at Newport Station

197037 rolled in along with another 3-coach unit, however due to the front unit striking a branch (which was sticking out of the coupler) it seemed to have knocked something with the wiper (either the wiper itself or the washer fluid) so the train got cancelled at Newport.  Rats.  Over to platform 1 along with a massive crowd to board 800008 on the next train towards Cardiff Central where I had another gentle stroll near the station (just to waste time and to get away with the noise of various announcements about See it Say it, Sorted etc).  Back at the station, something was wrong as a Rhyl service was sitting on platform 1 as 197033 rolled in along with another 3 coach 197, only to end up getting cancelled due to a tree on the line near Leominster.  Rats (again).  At this point I was tempted to call it a day and to head home but decided to remain and headed over to platform 6 to board winner 756007 to take me to Caerphilly with a non-stop run after Cardiff Queen Street.

I remained on the unit at Caerphilly to take it back towards Queen Street where I had a little trip to Cardiff Bay on 150217 returning on the same unit before winner 756007 rolled in to take me back to Caerphilly, with a speedy run as the previous train had been cancelled (so it had a clear run).  Once more I remained with the same unit (the downside of needing units for 10 miles), taking it towards Grangetown for a +3 onto winner 756005, back to Caerphilly (probably more fun than all the stops to Coryton!).  3rd time today I remained on the same unit to take me back towards Cardiff, leaving me with just one more 756 to get.  At Queen Street I transferred to 756103 to take me to Central as that overtook the 756 towards Penarth.

756005 at Caerphilly Station

Finally, some good luck regarding 197s, as I noticed 033 had ended up on an Ebbw Vale service after getting cancelled at Cardiff, so it was a trip to Risca & Pontymister on a late running 197118 (I was going to bail at Rogerstone had the connection been tight due to the long walk between platforms at Risca station).  The rain had finally arrived as I waited for a busy 197033 to roll in to take me back to Cardiff Central where I noticed 197037 was due to come out from the depot to work a Rhyl service (with the idea of taking it to Newport for a GWR service to Salisbury), however that service just disappeared without a trace.  I did have another little stroll towards Queen Street to grab some supplies returning down to Central with 231007 to waste time.

I was going to call it a day once the Rhyl service disappeared, wait around for the next London train, however a 2-coach unit appeared at Cardiff to attach to 197122 on a busy Manchester train, once the staff managed to remove a dead bird from the coupler, 197037 attached…  Only for the train to get delayed due to another reported tree near Ludlow, thankfully the train got given the signal and it departed as I took it to Newport.  Another 197 into my book, last active one as well, so nice to be on top of the Welsh 197s again.

197037 at Newport Station on a Manchester Train

A short wait at Newport before a busy 800307 rolled in, I easily got a seat near the back for the speedy run towards Reading, losing some time at Swindon.  It was onto 165114 on the next stopper to take me back to Basingstoke for a short wait before a delayed 159003 on a very busy service to Salisbury (didn’t help that the previous couple of trains had been cancelled due to various tree related issues), although I did get a seat for the run back to Grateley.  One of those days which had its positives (the winners) but also the stress of the various cancellations and delays, but thankfully there wasn’t anything too bad.

5th October – Walking the Busway in Bedforshire

Today was a little trip to Bedfordshire to do a walk which had been on my oversized wish list for a while, Leagrave towards Dunstable via cycle route 6 then back towards Luton via a path alongside the busway.  The day began with a drive to Andover to catch the 07:02 service to Waterloo formed of 159107, 159017 & 159101 on this semi-fast service, even if the London end was a bit slow due to the various pathing allowances on a Sunday morning.  Once I reached Waterloo, I headed towards St Pancras on foot to waste some time to board 700142 from platform 2 at St Pancras (usual Sunday morning closure of the Core), for the quick run towards Leagrave where my walk began.

I left the station on the western side, following Toddington Road to reach the cycle route 6 path which broadly follows the Houghton Brook (although from the looks of it, I suspect it's a winterbourne, flowing only during the winter months).  The first section wasn't that interesting as it was the urban area (a case of dodge the dog poo) before the path reached the M1 and the urban area changed to a wide flood plain near a large Lidl warehouse.

700142 alongside 222017 at St Pancras

Following the path, although a couple times I did use some shortcuts via footpaths, I reached Houghton Regis, following the path via the Houghton Hamlets to reach Houghton Hall Park where the brook disappears.  I continued the walk and onto what is called the Dog Kennel Walk (no idea!).  This path took me over the busway with Houghton Regis turning into Dunstable and I had a little detour via the Grove House Gardens before reaching the A505 which I followed for a short distance to pick up the route of the original railway line back towards the busway.

Once I reached the busway, I followed the path towards Blackburn Road, the limit of the busway (as it turns into a normal road in an industrial estate).  I turned round and headed back towards the Portland Ride bus stop and followed the path with the busway on the right-hand side.  Sadly, this section was closed for buses due to gardening so not a lot of traffic (unless you count council vans gingerly avoiding the car trap pits).  Quite an interesting route once it gets outside Dunstable town centre as it gives nice views of the Paddocks with various footpaths giving future options for more walks.  I soon reached Luton and the section where the busway is fenced away with the mixed used path running alongside the busy Hatters Way, passing the football ground of Luton FC.

Luton - Dunstable Busway from the Dog Kennel Walk in Dunstable

I reached the centre of Luton where the busway heads over the top of a large roundabout and heads down a hill towards Luton station interchange, where my walk ended as I headed across to platform 1 to board 700130 for the run towards Blackfriars (I was toying with waiting for the next EMR service for a spin on a 360 but the next southbound was a 4 coach special so decided to avoid that, instead sitting in the declassified first class area at the back of the 700.

Once I reached Blackfriars, I headed towards Waterloo, jumping onto a Weymouth bound service formed of 444029 & 444034 to take me to Basingstoke, making a swift change (how I wish both services would use platform 2 at Basingstoke to make life easier) onto a Salisbury bound 159106 to take me to Andover, where I headed home (via the local chippy) to relax for the rest of the evening and getting myself ready for 6 early shifts.  The first section was a bit rough, but certainly the busway was interesting, gives me a taste for the north Cambridge one (towards St Ives).  As always thanks for reading, more photos (including some buses) can be found on my Flickr *Here*.  Hopefully next weekend I will be able to get away for an overnight stay at the 3rd attempt!

Day Trips in September 2025

 Day Trips in September 2025

13th September – Shropshire Union Canal

The weather forecast for the whole weekend was looking poor at times (to such a degree I cancelled an overnight stay in Cardiff for the Sunday night due to the heavy rain forecasted on the Sunday followed by the strong winds), although there was some promising on the Saturday and after considering a few options I decided to return to rural Staffordshire on the Shropshire Union, the section of towpath between Brewood & Wolverhampton is closed long term, however I could split the remainder as Brewood is served by an hourly Stafford – Wolverhampton bus service.

The day started with the 06:59 service to Waterloo with 159018, followed by 51660 & 51659 on the Northern line (for the first time in what felt like ages) to take me to Euston with plenty of time to spare to board 805004 on the 09:00 Holyhead train, complete with lots of football fans drinking various brands of cheap supermarket lager (so a case of putting in my earphones to drown out the singing).  At Stafford I had a short walk to a bus stop outside the Guildhall shopping centre for the Select Bus operated route 876 (with bus 14) on a busy route, heading via the Stafford suburbs to the south of the town centre before leaving the urban environment to run towards Penkridge and towards Wolverhampton, diverting from the A446 at Four Ashes towards the town of Brewood where I alighted in the town centre to begin my walk.

805004 at Stafford Station

I soon reached the canal on the western side of the town, dropping down onto the towpath to walk northwards, passing a good number of moored boats before the countryside arrived.  I crossed the A5 on a nice aqueduct (although one which is better looked at from below) and continued with the scenery changing from woodland cuttings to running along an embankment with views of rural Staffordshire.  I soon reached the village of Wheaton Aston with some locks which was the only settlement of note along the walk today.  The towpath was changeable in quality from the good (tarmac) to the rough (mud), but nothing that major.

Leaving Wheaton Aston behind I continued along the towpath, enjoying the countryside and peace, having to dive for cover a couple of times due to passing showers, although pausing for one heavy downpour which I spent underneath a tree near some fishermen (hiding underneath their large umbrellas).  Thankfully the downpour didn't last for long and I continued along the wet ground towards Gnosall.  The section in Cowley cutting was the worse for mud & puddles but I was expecting that.  A short tunnel (of which used to be longer but got opened out) with Cowley tunnel before the final section into Gnosall where I ended the walk at the bus stop near the canal crossing (rather than walking into the village like I did the week before).

Inside Cowley Tunnel on the Shropshire Union Canal

It was back to Stafford on the Arriva run route 5 service (with bus 3780) coming up with an idea for the journey home, but first job was to visit Tesco near Stafford station to purchase a new tee-shirt as the one I was wearing was a bit damp.  With my purchase made, I headed to the station and onto winner 730232 to Wolverhampton for a 30-minute fester before winner 730220 followed to take me to Birmingham New Street.  I got lucky at Birmingham as a Scotland - London service was running late enough to be behind the 730 so I headed across to platform 1 to board 390127 when it rolled in, departing a few minutes late.

I took this busy Pendo to Milton Keynes Central, transferring to 350117 & 350126 on the next stopping service to take me to Tring where I had a 20-minute fester (watching the passing trains at speed) before taking 730230 & winner 730218 to Watford Junction on a Tring starter to take me to Watford Junction for another 30-minute fester for winner 730235 to Euston.  Linear hopping like crazy to grab some winning 730s, just like the olden days!  At Euston it was straight to the underground for 51668 & 51669 to Waterloo, where I made a tight connection onto 159101 & 159002 on a busy (to Woking at least) Salisbury service to take me home to Grateley where I could relax for the remainder of the evening.

730218 at Watford Junction

14th & 15th September – London Days

With the poor weather (mainly the strong winds) I decided to play it safe, staying local (ish) in London, scoring my last 2 active Greater Anglia 720s (720503 & 720534), leaving just 505 for whenever that enters use.  Also scored another 730 with 730216 as well as getting a trio more 1973 stock units into my book for a mile, spotting my first new DLR unit (on test) and having a random trip to Sevenoaks solely to cover Sevenoaks to Orpington on a Thameslink service (something I was hoping to do back in March 2022 only to get bowled out with cancellations).

The Monday was spent getting some more 701s into my book, as well as having a walk from Hampton Wick towards Surbiton along a path on the south side of the Thames, one of those paths which had been on my list to do for a while but like many walking ideas in London it’s getting the time to actually do it without getting side-tracked.  A bonus was getting 701021 into my book on its first passenger service (which wasn’t actually planned as I was going to take 701013 to Surbiton but missed that unit at Waterloo due to being held outside the station).

700017 at Sevenoaks Station

23rd September – Disused Railway in Horncastle

With 3 days off and with the weather looking quite decent for walking, I decided to head towards Lincolnshire to walk a short disused railway route which required buses at both ends.  The Woodhall Spa – Horncastle branch line, which came off the former Lincoln – Boston railway route.  The day started with the 06:18 from Grateley with 159107 & 159017 which unexpectedly terminated at Basingstoke due to signalling issues at Waterloo.  Good thing I had a good buffer at the London end as 15 minutes later a busy 444044 & 444016 rolled in, I got lucky with a seat in the rearmost coach, away from the masses waiting nearer the front of the train.

At Waterloo, after grabbing supplies I headed towards King’s Cross arriving with 20-odd minutes to spare before the 09:06 York stopping service, featuring my first 91 for over 2 years with 91106 hauling the Mk4 coaches with DVR 82214 on the rear.  Onwards to Newark Northgate and a connection onto 170516 working a Lincoln service to take me into Lincoln station where I had around 50 minutes to kill before my first bus move, as annoyingly both hourly bus services depart Lincoln bus station on the hour.

91106 at London Kings Cross

I headed towards the city centre area, up the steep hill (which was quite steep!) towards the cathedral and castle area, doing a loop around the cathedral being amazed at the detail of the stone work, before heading back down the hill towards the bus station and onto the Stagecoach run route 56 service to Skegness.  With double decker 11740 on this busy service.  A bit slow leaving Lincoln city centre area due to traffic, but once out of the city it was following the A158 towards Langworth, Wragby, Baumber & finally Horncastle where I alighted from the bus to begin my walk.

After crossing over the road, I followed a path alongside the River Waring to where it met the River Bain, having a small detour towards the area of the former Horncastle Station (not much evidence remains).  Heading back to the Bain I followed the path running alongside the river (and the former Horncastle Canal) before picking up the route of the old railway branch line, heading into woodlands with the river on my left-hand side (and a popular dog walking route from what I can gather).  The path continued eventually leaving the river behind (complete with scary looking fence to stop people looking at the site of a former lock), heading underneath the B41191 and into a cutting (and passing a Viking longboat, as this path forms part of the long distance "Viking Way" path).

Spa Trail (former railway line) between Horncastle & Woodhall Spa

The cutting changed back to some lovely woodland for the last section of old railway towards the Roughton Moor area where the railway path ends at Sandy Lane (the section beyond here lost to modern developments or private land).  I followed Sandy Lane for a short distance picking up a footpath which crossed a golf course leading towards Woodhall Spa, after visiting a Co-Op for some supplies (and some handy public toilets) I headed towards the bus stop on the Long Avenue to pick up the Brylaine Travel run route B5 service (runs between Boston & Lincoln) with a 20-year-old Solo (YJ05 JXG) for this reasonably busy route.

After the bus cleared the traffic caused by road works within Woodhall Spa, it headed towards Kirkstead (and the River Witham where there is a 16-mile cycle path heading towards Lincoln along the route of another old railway line).  This route had some fast running as it headed towards the former RAF Metheringham where I noticed a chance to get home an hour earlier by bailing at Metheringham station (also a chance for a random revisit considering the last time I visited this basic station it was for a matter of a few minutes).

170512 at Metheringham Station

It was a short wait before a busy 170512 rolled in from Lincoln on a Peterborough working as I settled back for the run towards Sleaford & Spalding as I hadn't been along this route for a good few years (probably December 2021 when I did a LNER Lincoln divert).  At the Peterborough end, this service took the dive-under underneath the ECML to terminate on platform 7 where I had a reasonable connection to platform 3 to board 801221 on a service from Bradford which arrived a good 5 minutes ahead of schedule.

This Azuma took me to Kings Cross where I had a short walk across to St Pancras to jump onto 700102 to London Bridge, followed by a trio of South Eastern 375s (375813, 375703 & 375812) for the short hop to Waterloo East.  After grabbing dinner, I headed to the 18:50 Salisbury service formed of 158883 & 159008 to take me back to Grateley, relaxing after an enjoyable walk in the Lincolnshire countryside.

24th September – Return to the Caldon Canal

I decided to return to rural Staffordshire to finish my walking coverage of the Caldon Canal from the remote Hazelhurst Junction towards Birches Head in Stoke.  The day starting like the Tuesday with the 06:18 service towards Waterloo with 159014 & 159007, giving me plenty of time to grab some supplies and stroll towards Euston where 350401 & 350374 were waiting to take me to Rugby on the 08:46 LNR service for Crewe.  A short wait at Rugby before 390011 rolled in on a very lightly loaded London – Manchester service, with a Scottish 320 passing the Pendo when it was at Rugby heading back to Scotland after visiting Wolverton works.

Leaving the Pendo at Stoke on Trent, I headed towards the bus stop outside the station to jump onto the First operated route 25 service (with bus 35943) to take me towards the Hanley Bus Station where I had around 35 minutes to waste before the next route 18 service for Leek (with bus 63364).  I was planning on alighting at the bus stop near “Leek Old Road” in the Dunwood area, and the next stop announcement even said it was the right bus stop, but there was a random disused bus stop flag beforehand (and before I noticed it was in the wrong place, the bus had already gone towards Leek).  

390011 departing Stoke on Trent Station

Thankfully I was able to recover with a poorly signed footpath across a slightly bumpy field, crossing the Endon Brook and the mothballed Leek - Stoke railway line before reaching the canal with a steep slope to drop onto the towpath.  The first point of call was to walk towards Hazlehurst Junction before heading back towards the bridge and then onwards (on the decent quality towpath) towards Endon.  The canal running alongside the old railway route in this area giving the occasional glimpse of overgrown track.

The canal skirted round the edge of Endon and headed towards Stockton Brook heading underneath the A53 and also the mothballed railway route.  Clearly the old railway is used by locals as there were paths visible but nothing shown on the map (so likely something completely unofficial), there were even worn paths leading from the canal towpath towards the railway (where I couldn't turn down for some photos of the trees growing between the tracks.

Remains of Stoke - Leek Railway line in the Stockton Brook area

Back on the canal as it entered a rural section between Stockton Brook & Norton Green with some nice scenery, entering into Stoke on Trent with another crossing of the mothballed railway route (which from the ground looked like it was fenced off, but heading from the towpath saw the fence only covering part of the tracks, all very strange.  Anyhow the ruralness soon turned into the urban environment as the canal snaked its way towards the Birches Head area where I left the towpath at the road, another canal into my little book.  Although in hindsight I ought to have stayed on the canal as there was a steep hill as I headed towards a bus stop with a frequent bus route (called the Cheshire Cheese), again in hindsight looking at the map I was close to the Central Forest Park so I could have detoured that way for a little explore.  Ah-well.

The first Hanley bound bus was a D&G run route 9A (with bus 90) taken to Hanley Bus station, for a short walk onto the D&G operated route 9 service (with bus 6002) to take me to the railway station where I headed towards platform 1 and onto 390049 on the next London service for my last 720 had finally entered traffic and was on an evening Braintree service.  This Pendo took me to London Euston, where I headed underground with a Northern line to Tottenham Court Road for a spot of linear hopping towards Stratford, getting lucky with 4 more 92 stock sets being cleared for a mile (could have had a 5th had I jumped blindly on the first train at Tottenham Court Road).  At Stratford it was a short wait before 720573 & winner 720505 rolled in on the Braintree service, standing room only in the front coach of 505 but after today I won’t need to head to Shenfield for a while.

720505 departing Shenfield Station

Crossing over to platform 1-2 at Shenfield it was a short wait before 720101 & 720545 took me back to Stratford, where I headed to Tottenham Court Road, this time via the Eliabeth line and 345064, turning down the first Northern line set to get rewarded with a sub mile set on the following service to take me to Waterloo where I jumped onto 158881 & 159015 on the 18:50 service for Salisbury to take me back to Grateley.  An enjoyable day with a nice walk along the Caldon Canal in the sunshine.

25th September – “From the Trent to the Thames” – Soar Navigation Part 3

A slightly later start for me this morning with the 07:27 service (159001, 159106 & 159019) to Waterloo and another cross London stroll to reach St Pancras with plenty of time before the 10:05 EMR service for Nottingham with 222101 on the speedy run towards East Midlands Parkway where my walk began.  Leaving the station area walking towards a roundabout and onto a road leading towards Redhill Marina, picking up the Soar Navigation near Redhill flood lock and the towpath (if you could call it that!).  I followed the path going via a field (complete with cows & sheep), running towards the Trent where the River Soar flows into the Trent.  I guess in the olden days there would have been a ferry across the Trent but these days the towpath of the Soar ends on the southern bank, opposite the entrance to the Erewash Canal) and to continue walking towards Nottingham requires a detour towards Sawley Marina near the M1.

I did a little loop following a footpath to head back towards Redhill Marina, heading south as the river snaked its way towards the A453 dual carriageway with a "footpath ahead closed sign" (my heart having the sinking feeling).  My walk continued along the Soar, mostly across a field, eventually reaching the area where the towpath was closed at Kegworth Flood lock, thankfully there was a parallel path to bypass the section closed due to lock improvement works so I could continue my walk.

Cooling towers of Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station overlooking the station at East Midlands Parkway

The towpath flipped sides on the outskirts of Kegworth for some delightful countryside walking towards Zouch (with Sutton Bonington not being that far away), where once more the towpath flipped sides as it crossed over a flood lock with the towpath being replaced once more with a path across a field with Normanton on Soar being on the opposite bank (complete with a little chain ferry across the water).  I continued the walk in the countryside as thankfully the path did improve as I reached the outskirts of Loughborough, leaving the Soar River for the final time as I followed the Loughborough Cut, heading towards the town centre and a Travelodge overlooking the basin.

I finished my walk with a short double back to the junction with the short town arm to head towards the A60 bridge near the railway station, being able to say Soar Navigation is now complete.  From the Thames to the Trent the Grand Union is complete.  Thankfully the next London bound service at Loughborough was running a few minutes late and I even got a decent seat on 222013 for the slow run towards Leicester.  I have no clue why it was so slow, even for the nonstop run towards London it kept on losing time eventually arriving 29 minutes late.

Soar Navigation between Sutton Bonington & Zouch.

At London I headed to the Thameslink platforms for 700147 to London Bridge and onto a delayed 375911, 375917 & 375818 which was being delayed due to an incident at Waterloo East.  Thankfully the train did depart towards Waterloo East giving me time to head to the 18:23 service for Exeter formed of a busy (even at the front of the train!) 159017, 159107 & 159010 to take me back to Grateley to end my 3 days of late September walking in the sunshine.

As always, thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr Here.  September is nearly over, scary that.

4 – 7th September – A Long weekend based at Crewe

 4 – 7th September – A Long weekend based at Crewe

My original idea for this weekend was to head to Scotland, but when there was a new railtour announced for the North West, I swapped my accommodation to Crewe.  Whereas the railtour didn’t quite float my boat I decided to keep the booking in Crewe & cancel Scotland.  Unlike previous trips based in Crewe I did have a rough idea what I wanted to do on the Friday & Saturday, the Sunday was a bit more up in the air, as was the Thursday.

4th September – A return to the Cumbria Coast

The weather was looking a bit ropey so I decided to break out a wet weather option to heading back to the Cumbrian Coast for the first time in a while, made more interesting with the recent extension of 195s to Corkickle due to the tunnel between Corkickle & Whitehaven being closed.  The day started with 159019, 159015 & 159017 for the run to Waterloo where I had my usual stroll to Euston, however not being quick enough to make the 09:30 Glasgow service, instead I had the option of taking the 09:39 Blackpool train to Preston for a fester or waiting round for the 10:30 service to Glasgow.  I decided to jump onto a very quiet 390013, one of the few times I didn’t go straight to coach C as there were plenty of available seats in the other coaches.

The train hit quite a heavy band of rain in Staffordshire (to the point where it started to leak inside the train at the vestibules), but I got lucky as the Edinburgh bound train which was meant to be in front of this Pendo was behind it, so I stepped back at Wigan North Western (for it’s a nicer place to wait than Preston with it’s endless platform alternations) and took 390148 to Lancaster where I headed out of the station to grab some food.  A good thing I took that Blackpool train as the following Glasgow service was running 20-odd minutes late and would have missed the connection at Lancaster!

90014 passing Wigan North Western

I made my way across to platform 1 to board 195124 on the Corkickle service, which was strange to hear a 195 announce, considering until recently they only had a token service to Millom for workings beyond Barrow in Furness, the coastal route between Barrow & Carlisle being solid 156 otherwise (gone the days of the Northern Random Unit Generator which saw a mix of 156s, 153s, 142s and even the Loco Hauled stock).  I relaxed in the front coach for the run to Cumbria, looking out of the window, picking up ideas for future walks (Kents Bank to Grange Over Sands etc), a few hours later the unit arrived at Corkickle where it turned back near enough straight away due to delays.  Part of me was tempted to step back at Sellafield to walk the coastal path towards Seascale but I decided against it due to the late running and that it would have been a tad tight (and I wouldn’t have been able to take my time and get photos of the water).

All was going well as I came up with a rough idea to get a required 730 into my book, that was until the train arrived at Barrow in Furness where it randomly terminated due to a “Train Fault”, not like we were told it was getting cancelled as we were asked to leave the train so it could be “reset”, the next thing we knew the train was heading to the sidings with a large crowd on the platform.  Would have been nice for the station staff to announce something over the PA to say sorry about the delay etc, but I guess that would have been putting the customer first.

195124 at Corkickle

45 minutes later 195118 rolled in from Corkickle, thankfully continuing towards Lancaster, I noticed on RTT there was a potential +15 at Carnforth onto a train from Leeds, giving me time to pop to the Co-Op at Carnforth (rather than the longer walk to either Tesco or Sainsburys at Lancaster).  On return to the station, I took 158755 for the short trip to Lancaster, waiting 20-odd minutes before 390121 rolled in on a London Euston service which kindly was calling at Crewe, rather than running nonstop after Warrington (connects into a Crewe – London via Birmingham service).  At Crewe I had a short wait to the shared house accommodation, same room as always, basic but functional and reasonably quiet (and cheap considering how much accommodation can be in Crewe these days seeing as a few of the shared houses no longer exist).

5th September - Caldon Canal

The Caldon Canal is a short canal which runs from the Trent & Mersey Canal in Stoke to Leek & Froghall, part I walked back in December last year when doing the old railway line from Congleton and has been on my list.  Leek itself is easy to reach by bus (3 buses an hour from Hanley Bus Station plus other routes), with a few access points along the way, the hardest part was the Froghall end.  Whereas there is a semi-regular bus service to the nearby Kingsley Holt, the walk to the wharf area didn't look the nicest (either along the A52 or the A521).  Froghall itself (with a station on the Churnet Valley Railway) only gets a few buses each way a day, taking some research into the best way to reach the place.  I came up with an idea so I headed away from the accommodation to Crewe station, boarding 350261 for the run to Stoke on Trent, making my way to the bus stop outside the station to jump on a route 25 bus (First Bus 35687) to Hanley Bus Station, purchasing a "Knot" Ticket,  £7 for all day travel on buses within Stoke & Staffordshire isn't a bad price, considering I would be looking at potentially £9 for the buses without it.

At Hanley I headed towards a large Tesco to grab some supplies for lunch before taking the D&G operated route 16 to Leek (Bus 169), going via Bucknall, Werrington & Cheddleton to reach Leek, where I had just over an hour before the next bus so I headed for a little explore, heading towards Brough Park (which was a nice little park).  Back at the bus station, making use of the toilets (a motto of mine is to try and use the toilets when provided as you never know the next time you will have access).  It was onto an unbranded former Preston Bus Solo, PO56 ROU for my first experience of Aimee's Buses on the route 30 to Upper Tean (via Cheadle).  Heading out of Leek along the A523 it didn't go the booked route via Ipstones due to a road closure, instead going via Whiston and the curvy A52.  Some beautiful views from the bus mind, especially with the ruralness of the Staffordshire Moorlands.

Brough Park in Leek

I was the only person to leave the bus near Froghall Wharf with a short section of a minor road towards the actual wharf (alongside Hetty's Tea Shop), this is near the area where the former Uttoxeter Canal joined with the Caldon Canal, the only bit remaining is a small (and empty) marina beyond a lock.  I picked up the towpath running alongside the canal reaching the very low Froghall Tunnel forcing a little detour over a small hill towards the closed B5053 road and onto the canal the opposite side of the tunnel.

Leaving the former industrial area of Froghall behind the canal soon turned rural with some beautiful woodland and a reasonable quality towpath, soon the railway line came alongside the canal with the southbound platform of Consall counter-levelled over the canal itself.  I crossed underneath the canal as it ran into the River Churnet.  This section in terms of the path quality was the worse for mud and I was glad when I reached Oakmeadowford Lock where the canal resumed, although would be nice for a photograph of a passing steam train in a couple of places.

Platform of Consall Station alongside the Caldon Canal

I continued along the towpath, the surface quality being a bit changeable in places, but nothing major in terms of mud or thistles, as the ruralness continued with the walk towards Cheddleton with a nice view of the railway depot, before reaching built up area, completed with some industrial units before reaching the former Flint Mill and ruralness returned with the walk towards Wall Grange and the mothballed railway route between Stoke & Leek (which looking at the map suggested it was possible to walk along the route in a couple of places).  The canal now headed west, going underneath the Hazelhurst Aqueduct (which carries the Leek branch) and rising with some locks as I reached Hazelhurst Junction where the Leek branch joins up with the "Main arm".

I turned off the main arm of the canal onto the Leek branch, near enough double backing on myself for the first section crossing the canal on the aqueduct & also the route of the former railway as this branch turned quite woodland (with a decent towpath). I continued along the Leek branch reaching Leek tunnel with a steep hill for the towpath to go up and over the hill.  The last section of the canal was towards the current terminus, the section into Leek itself being lost to modern developments

Hazlehurst Junction on the Caldon Canal

Part of me was tempted to continue my walk along the route of the Canal Feeder which leads towards the Rudyard Lake, but I decided that could wait for another day (as there is also an old railway line path in that area), and I ended the walk with a stroll along the main road towards Morrisons (which was built on the site of the former Leek Station), picking up the First run route 18 bus (with fleet 63178) for the trip back towards Hanley Bus Station going via Endon & Sneyd Green, following the route of the A53, a busy bus route this, made even busier as it was school kicking out time in Endon.  At Hanley bus station, I decided to have a little stroll towards Stoke on Trent station as I wanted another explore of the Hanley Park, and to waste some time.

Back onto the trains and it was onto a late running 221125 on a XC service to Stafford, picking up winner 730215 for the run to Wolverhampton, annoyingly the service following 30 minutes later was also a required 730 but it was running late enough to risk the connection at Birmingham New Street onto a particular Crewe service, so I gave up and took 221114 into Birmingham New Street.  Although the 730 did make up some of the lost time and would have easily made the connection onto a slightly late running 807006 on a very quiet Crewe service, which is booked to go via Bescot & have a 15-minute dwell at Wolverhampton.  After Wolverhampton it heads to Crewe, going via Stoke on Trent for the novelty of having an 807 via Stone.  At Crewe I headed back to my accommodation to relax for the rest of the evening.  An enjoyable walk along the Caldon Canal.

6th September - Shropshire Union Canal, the Return to Woodseaves

Back in May 2024, a distant world away, I attempted to walk the Shropshire Union Canal between Market Drayton & Gnosall, only to hit on a landslip a couple of miles south of Market Drayton in the Woodseaves cutting (forcing a U-turn and a longer walk to Nantwich).  I’ve been keeping my eye on the Canal & River Trust website for any news on when the towpath will reopen and around June time it disappeared from the website and after querying, it was confirmed the towpath had been reopened.  I hence booked a trip to Shrewsbury (in late August, which I ended up cancelling due to severe weather) so today was a recovery of a recovery walk.  My original idea was to head towards the East Midlands but that could wait.

I delayed my departure from the shared house an hour, solely to score 197036 running with 197111 on a Shrewsbury terminator (engineering works towards Hereford & Newport), giving me time to grab some supplies in Shrewsbury town centre before making my way to the bus station to board the Arriva run route 64 bus to Market Drayton (hourly to Market Drayton and 2 hourly beyond to Hanley).  Bus 3693 took me away from Shrewsbury serving such Shropshire places like Harlescott, Shawbury, Hodnet & Tern Hill Barracks before terminating at the small bus station at Market Drayton.

My walk began as I made my way towards the canal at the eastern side of the town, picking up the path heading towards Tyrley Locks, reaching the point where I had to turnback last year within the Woodseaves cutting.  Yes, the landslip had been cleared with the towpath reopened, but it was very narrow passing it.  I can see why this cutting gets a mention in my inland navigation guidebook as being impassable during the winter months as it was already quite muddy in places.  I was glad when I reached the end of the cutting and the towpath turned back to being not so muddy.

Shropshire Union Canal between Tyrley Locks & Goldstone Wharf

I continued my walk, in rural Shropshire, very peaceful at times as the canal made its way curving at times, passing a factory near Knighton which was a good place to pause for lunch.  After lunch I continued along the towpath passing into Staffordshire (not like I could tell anything on the ground), passing groups of fishermen and the High Bridge carrying the A519 (and a telegram pole) with the towpath being very changeable from the good, to average and a couple times quite rough (mainly within cuttings, all due to the recent rain).

I reached Norbury Junction where the former Shrewsbury & Newport Canal joined up with the Shropshire Union, the first section being used for private moorings (reminds me of the Somerset Coal Canal), I continued for the last push towards Gnosall where I did have the option to heading towards Newport for a short walk along the rewatered canal there, but decided that could wait for another day.  The walk ended at Gnosall and a short walk along the road towards the old railway line route (now the Newport – Stafford greenway walk) and it was onto the Arriva run route 5 bus to Stafford (bus 3784).

High Bridge on the Shropshire Union Canal between High Offley & Norbury Junction

At Stafford station, I headed towards Crewe on a busy 390006 for a short wait for winner 730210 back to Stafford, returning to Crewe with 730226 for another short wait before getting winner 730213 back to Stafford, the 730s can certainly fly along the WCML.  At Stafford I managed to get a photo of the UK Railtour charter arriving causing delays (as charters normally end up doing) before boarding 730215 back to Crewe, and I headed to the accommodation via a takeaway.  Another enjoyable (if not a bit muddy at times!) walk along the Shropshire Union canal.  A canal sadly I won’t be able to complete just yet as there is another closed section to the south of Brewood.  I spent the rest of the night relaxing and looking at options for the Sunday, keeping an eye on the weather being a bit changeable.

7th September – Old Railway in Godley & Peak Forest

I decided to park up my idea to walk from Chester to Mickle Trafford & from Runcorn to Warrington and instead picked up on a disused line near Godley in the Hyde area of Manchester, a short railway line which gave me a chance to cut and run in case the weather turned back.  After leaving the accommodation (I would use it again if the price was right, although these days Crewe can be quite expensive).  To the station and onto 197050 & 197036 with the first train to Manchester Piccadilly, going via Styal (I’ve probably gone via Styal more times than via Handforth in the last few years!) and a short break to board 323210 on a Hadfield/Glossop ‘rounder’ service (Manchester Piccadilly to Manchester Piccadilly) to Godley where my walk began.

The first section was via some housing to reach an access point to the former Cheshire Lines Committee line from the Woodhead line at the former Godley East towards Apethorn junction near Woodley.  Not the easiest to locate due to Google Maps suggesting there is a connection at the eastern end near the site of the former Godley East station, but these days that is fenced off.  After joining the route of the railway, I headed east, passing the site of the Godley Railway Turntable and to the remains of Godley East (the platforms being heavily overgrown).  After reaching the fence, I retraced my steps towards the turntable (thankfully now without kids playing in the area so I could get a photo) and continued along the route of the former railway, now a busy mixed used path heading towards the former Apethorn Junction site.

Godley Old Railway Turntable

This is where I had the option to walk the short distance to the main road to pick up a frequent (every 20 minutes) Bee Network bus to Stockport (or hourly bus to Manchester), but as the weather was still looking reasonable, I headed towards the Peak Forest Canal, picking up the towpath to walk north towards the centre of Hyde.  A lot better than I was expecting for an urban canal (in terms of litter and other dumped items).  The towpath was in a reasonable condition as I crossed over the canal a couple of times before heading underneath the M67 and towards Dukinfield (crossing underneath the railway a couple of times, nice to see the Guide Bridge - Stalybridge link line now having overhead wires, although I can't imagine much uses them at the moment (assuming they are even live) due to that line being mostly 185s.

I reached the end of the Peak Forest Canal at Dukinfield Junction (junction with both the Ashton Canal & the Huddersfield Narrow Canal) with a short walk towards Guide Bridge station, taking a footbridge over the railway (and yard area) to approach the station from the south.  An enjoyable walk, as I waited at Guide Bridge for a slightly late running 323210 to take me back to Manchester as the heaven's opened with a thunderstorm (timed that right!). 

323210 departing Godley Station

At Manchester Piccadilly I didn’t have a long connection onto 390136 on a Euston service, grabbing a seat in coach C near the front (as the Pendo was running in reverse formation with first class at the Manchester end) for the fast run towards London, calling at Stockport, Stoke & Nuneaton (how much I miss the days when these trains were nonstop after Stoke on Trent).  The train lost time along the way due to being held for a diverted Glasgow – London train and signalling issues around Rugby, getting into London around 20 minutes late.  I was going to head towards Waterloo, but I noticed there was some issues on the tour of Staines with signalling at Egham with ticket acceptance on GWR, so instead of walking to Waterloo (as it was nice and dry in London compared to the monsoon I left behind at Manchester) I headed towards Paddington, via Euston Road.  Not the most of interesting routes but probably the easiest.  At Paddington it was onto a late running Swansea service formed of 800015 & 800012 to take me to Reading, for a nice connection onto 165104 to Basingstoke for a longer connection onto a late running 159101, 159104 & 159021 to take me to Andover, where I got picked up to head home via the Fish & Chip Shop.

Altogether, an enjoyable weekend, decent weather on the Friday & Saturday allowing me to do some rural canal walks, followed by an urban canal (and old railway line) on the Sunday.  A small start with the Peak Forest Canal, as always more photos can be found on my Flickr *here*, thanks for reading.