January Day Trips
First of all, a belated Happy New Year. I’ve had some little day trips in January so far this year on my rest days from work.
6th January – Nailsworth & Randomness in Westbury
The short disused railway line from Nailsworth towards Stroud/Stonehouse had been on my radar for a while after it was recommended to me by a friend whom cycled it many moons ago, so I decided with the weather being suitable it would be a good chance to head towards Gloucestershire to have a little explore. Originally, I was going to head towards South Wales on the Sunday night, even booking a cheap Travelodge in the city centre but that idea was thrown on the back burner due to the rubbish weather on the Sunday with snow & rain.
The day began with the 07:27 service towards Basingstoke formed of 159106, 159004 & 159021 where I transferred to platform 5 for 165117 working the GWR stopping service to Reading and another short transfer across to 800019 on the next service for Cheltenham Spa which took me to Stroud losing a couple of minutes along the way due to congestion around Swindon. It was a short walk to a bus stop in the town centre near the Lloyds Bank where Stagecoach’s 37012 rolled in on a route 620 towards Tetbury
This was a lightly loaded bus as it headed away from Stroud towards Brimscombe, Burleigh & Minchinhampton. After the nice-looking town centre of Minchinhampton the bus headed towards Nailsworth on a route which featured some sharp bends as it dropped down into the valley. I departed from the bus at the small bus station in Nailsworth and headed towards the old station, picking up the mixed used path along the route of the former branch line.
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| Stagecoach Bus 37012 (YX63 ZTK) in Nailsworth on a route 620 to Tetbury |
Finding the path was easy and it was flat, not the quietest due to running close to the A46 towards South Woodchester. Nice woodland though in places, the nicest section was closer to Stroud once the path headed away from the road. I had a little detour towards Stroud along the route of the old branch (which was a bit muddy in places due to all the recent rain, but just about passable). After reaching the end of that path I headed back on myself to re-join the main cycle path as it headed towards the A419, which was built over the route of the old railway.
The next section was along a cycle path close to the road but sheltered within trees, a few places were flooded as it headed towards Ryeford and onto a short section which was a bit overgrown crossing the canal and ending in Stonehouse. I will come back to this area at some point this year to walk the canal from Stonehouse towards Saul Junction on the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal, assuming I don't get diverted to another area of the country.
Anyhow it was back to the trains (after pretending to be one) with 800014 taken to Cheltenham Spa where everything towards Bristol was delayed due to flooding or other weather-related issues so I paid out for a single ticket towards Cardiff on TfW with 197012 for the trip towards Cardiff (gave me an excuse to clear another part of the network for 197 coverage, and to look out at some of the flooding)
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| 197012 at Cheltenham Spa |
Due to earlier flooding on the Great Western I decided to play it a bit safe and get back to Swindon, rather than risking getting delayed and missing the Weymouth train so once in Cardiff Central I headed out of the station (those new style ticket barriers which TfW have installed has the scanner in an unnatural place on the side of the barrier but I guess it is something which if you used them every day you would get used to the location). After grabbing supplies, I returned to grab an unreserved seat on 800021 & 800004 on the next London train back to Swindon where I had around an hour to kill before the Weymouth train so headed into the town centre for a gentle explore, just to waste some time.
I headed back to Swindon station, making my way across to platform 2 where 166202 had just been kicked into life after sitting in the bay for most of the day and I grabbed a seat in the former 1st class section at the front of the train for the trip towards Chippenham & Trowbridge via the Melksham line. After Trowbridge the train headed left at Hawkeridge Junction and towards Heywood Road junction where the line from Westbury joins up with the Westbury avoiding line, reversing at the junction to take the Westbury avoider and towards Frome. Just one of those novelty things which might not be repeated anytime soon once the Westbury remodelling is complete.
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| 166202 at Frome |
I had a short 15-minute fester at Frome until 800028 & 800020 rolled in from the Plymouth direction (seeing IETs under the roof at Frome looked so odd) and I managed to get a decent seat for the trip towards Reading calling at Pewsey & Newbury (although not like I could see much out of the window due to it being dark). The train arrived a couple minutes ahead of schedule at Reading allowing for a fast walk towards platform 1 where 165105 was on the next Basingstoke stopper, although I didn’t need to rush as this was delayed a couple of minutes for some unknown reason.
This 165 took me back to Basingstoke where I had a gentle walk towards platform 3 where the next Salisbury service was due to depart from (being swapped from platform 2 due to a late running Voyager). 159012 rolled in from London and was very quiet, hard to believe it was the 19:50 from Waterloo judging by how lightly loaded it was. Anyhow it was easy to get a seat for the last section to Grateley where I had a gentle walk home. An enjoyable day in Gloucestershire along with some randomness around Westbury.
14th January – Part 1 of the Tarka Trail.
The Tarka Trail is a long-distance path in North Devon, the parts I was interested in are the sections where it runs along routes of old railway lines (rather than the sections where it uses a mix of roads & footpaths). Running from Braunton towards Barnstaple, then towards Bideford and finally Meeth. I decided to split it into 3 parts, so today I decided to head west to make a start as the weather forecast was looking dry.
The day began with the 08:30 service from Grateley towards Exeter Central with 159008 & 159107 where I headed out of the station to grab some supplies from Sainsburys Local near the bus station (as the Co-Op on Queen Street is currently closed for refurbishment) before heading back to the station to board 166213 on the next Barnstaple train, sitting in the former 1st class area at the back of train and relaxing for the slow journey to North Devon.
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| 166213 at Barnstaple |
At Barnstaple itself I didn’t have long to make an unofficial connection to the next route 21 bus service bound for Westward Ho! Via Bideford & Fremington. A busy stagecoach double decker (fleet 15431), also seeing my first Stagecoach bus in the latest dark blue colour scheme. I alighted from the bus in Bideford, seeing an old Dennis Dart passing on another service before starting my walk. I crossed over the river Torridge on the Bideford Bridge, climbing a ramp to reach the old station which is now a heritage centre, after a couple of photos I headed north along the path, heading away from Bideford, with the path running close to the B3233 road so it wasn't the quietest. Some nice views of the water on the left-hand side as I continued towards Instow, passing the former station with the path moving away from the main road and into the wilderness with marsh land both sides.
This section was very nice for being quiet and gave some nice views of the river Taw. I continued along the tarmac path heading towards Fremington Quay with the former station now turned into a café with the path heading towards Barnstaple, running alongside the bank of the river Taw. I was toying with doing a little loop to the south of Barnstaple station along the route of the former Devon and Somerset Railway route (which used to head towards Taunton) but decided I wouldn't have time and that would have to wait until the day I return for the Braunton section.
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| Bideford Railway Station |
After doing a little time-wasting loop, I returned to the station to board 150248 & 150246 on the next Exeter service, normally this is the train which would run all the way to Axminster but due to the Westbury works, GWR had split it at Exeter in order to send up fresh 158s (which would make it to Salisbury ECS). The front coach was empty after the first stop and I settled down to relax as darkness was falling. At Exeter St Davids it was a short walk from platform 6 to platform 1 to board 158760 & 158771 on the Axminster train, just for the novelty of the GWR service to Axminster (as maybe one day it might be an all-day thing if improvements are made to allow Axminster – Exeter to be half hourly, something I’m not holding my breath for.
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| 158771 at Axminster |
At Axminster I headed towards a nearby Co-Op to grab dinner before heading back to the station and onto 159004 & 159105 for the run back to Grateley, relaxing after a nice little day trip to Devon. It was an enjoyable walk along the old railway route.
15th January – Deviating from Fareham
What felt like a good idea the night before was a bit crazy in starting the day with the 05:20 from Grateley in an attempt to get my body ready for a run of 7 early shifts. It was onto 159104 & 159018 for the run to Woking where I randomly jumped onto 444014 on the service which starts from platform 6 as it has been a good few years since I last departed from this little used bay platform at Woking. I took that 444 to Brookwood which was a bit spooky standing around in peace & quiet, watching as the commuters started arriving on the London bound platform for the next train from Alton.
For me it was onwards to Ash Vale on 450041, 450078 & 450087, changing platforms to board 450097 & 450062 on the next London Waterloo service, taking a seat in declassified first class. What was unusual is this is a Waterloo service which goes via Staines taking a lot longer than the direct route via Woking, but scratches a little track itch at the Ascot end as it goes into platform 1 from the Bagshot line. The train started to fill up along the way towards London and I bailed at Staines for a short wait for winner 701031 to roll in from Windsor (having seen a pair of 455s from Reading looking rather busy). I took this 701 to Putney where I made a quick cross platform change onto 458416/458406 for the single stop to Barnes, just gets 458406 into my book as a /4.
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| 458406 at Barnes Station |
I noticed the new footbridge (with lifts) at Barnes was open as I transferred to platform 1 to board a busy 458405 & 458413 to Clapham Junction, deciding it would be best to leave London and jumped onto 444031 & 444005 on a Weymouth service to take me to Winchester, stepping back onto 450033 & 450100 on the next Portsmouth via Fareham service, to take me to Fareham where my walk began. My target today was the short Funtley Deviation line, built to bypass Fareham tunnel and something I was planning to walk last year when I did the old railway line from West Meon to Wickham but decided to call that walk short early due to tired legs.
After leaving the station at Fareham I headed along Gudge Heath Lane towards the Hill Park area of the town, where the walking trail along the former railway route begins. This was a bit muddy in places (as unlike the other walks I've done this month this wasn't a proper cycle path). Once away from the housing and into woodland it was quite nice, very peaceful. Soon I arrived at the village of Knowle, and going via some woods I ended up on Mayles Lane for the last section towards Wickham. My walk ending in the market square where it was a short wait before the next Fareham bound route 69 rolled in (Stagecoach's 19160) which dropped me off at the station roundabout.
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| Path along the route of the former Funtley Deviation line, Fareham (1) |
At Fareham station, I decided on a random time-wasting leap to Porchester on 450101 before boarding 444012 for the run back towards Basingstoke, popping out of the station to grab some supplies from Sainsburys. My last train of the day was 159101 to take me back home to Grateley where I had a relaxing evening and an early night ready for the following week of work. A productive day with that random track in Ascot area (one of these days I will do an evening service which does the short section of track from platform 2 towards the Bagshot line, just to scratch that itch with my BLS hat on) plus doing the old railway route in Fareham. One of those small walks which had been on my list, leaving just the Hamble Rail Trail in that general area.
More photos can be found on my Flickr *here*, thanks for reading.
