Trips in February 2025
11th February – Tarka Trail, Part 2
Having walked the first section of the Tarka Trail back in January, I decided as the weather was suitable to head back towards Devon to walk the second section of the Tarka Trail, the section from Barnstaple towards Braunton along the route of the former Ilfracombe branch line. The day started with the 08:30 service from Grateley to take me towards Exeter Central with 159014 & 159101, an uneventful journey across the countryside. At Exeter Central I popped out to visit the recently reopened Co-Op store on the opposite side of the road to grab some lunch supplies before returning to the station to take 158768 towards Barnstaple.
Annoyingly the bus timetable for the buses for Ilfracombe is one of those shockingly bad links which sees the half hourly bus departing just as the train rolls in (only to sit in the bus station for 5 minutes) so rather than hang around for half an hour I began my walk, heading away from the station towards the town centre on the Long Bridge, taking some stairs to reach the quay side with the River Taw on my left hand side. Once away from the town centre area the views opened up as this good quality surface path runs close to the river for the first couple of miles. For a Tuesday it was still quite busy with other users, I suspect at weekends, especially in good weather, it would be very busy.
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| Tarka Trail between Barnstaple & Chivenor (former Ilfracombe branch line) |
The views changed when the path reached Chivenor military base as the river disappeared to be replaced by a high security fence for the barracks before opening out again in the Wrafton area before reaching Braunton itself. The path disappeared for a short section within the town forcing a small detour alongside the River Caen. After re-joining the route of the old railway, I followed it north towards the fire station, finishing the walk at the Georgeham Cross bus stop. The route of the railway being lost until the Mortehoe and Woolacombe station area where it is walkable into Ilfracombe itself, but that is a walk for another day.
I was toying with doing a second walk once in Barnstaple on the short section of the Taunton to Barnstaple Line, but decided that could wait for another day when I was looking up bus options for the Ilfracombe section (which will probably use the 13:50 departure of the route 303 bus towards Willingcott, so I would have time to kill if doing it on a day trip). Anyhow back to today and it was a busy route 21B bus (Stagecoach's 15885) to take me back towards Barnstaple going via the town centre and finishing at the railway station, giving me time to pop to a nearby shop for some supplies.
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| Old railway wagon in Braunton |
To be honest, had the GWR service to Axminster been a pair of 150s like it has been recently, I would have taken those to Axminster for the novelty factor of 150s at Axminster, but it was a 3 coach 158. A couple of hours later these 159s dropped me off at Grateley and I had a gentle stroll home to relax for the remainder of the day. A walk of two halves, certainly the section where it ran alongside the river was very beautiful, the section alongside the military base wasn’t.
12th February – To the Sunshine Coast!
Today I had decided I would head towards Essex, as it had been a few years since I last visited both the Harwich & Clacton branch lines, also it would be a good chance to make a start at trying to clear the platforms at Clacton on Sea. I can’t recall which platform I used back in 2014 but I know when I visited in 2021 to walk the coastal path towards Walton it used platform 2 (which seems to be the most commonly used).
The trip began with 159012, 159004 & 158884 on a busy peak time service into Waterloo, where I had a gentle stroll via the streets to reach Liverpool Street, just to waste some time before the 10:00 service to Norwich, which was in the hands of 755333, 755409 & 755408 which I took to Manningtree making the connection with 720532 working the Harwich Town branch line services. I was toying with jumping off at Harwich to have a little walk, but decided against it as I could do something involving the Essex Way path when the weather improves.
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| 755333 at London Liverpool Street |
I returned to Manningtree on the same unit, taking 745003 one stop south to Colchester for a short fester before winner 720137 took me to Clacton on Sea where I decided to have a little stroll along the seafront path towards Jaywick with some good views of the sea. At Jaywick I jumped onto the next route 4 bus operated by Hedingham & Chambers (sounds more like a law firm than a bus company, all be part of the Go-Ahead empire) with a double decker fleet 601 to Clacton town centre where it had started to drizzle.
After a little look in the town centre to waste some time, I headed back to the station to board 720525 & 720559 which were departing from platform 4, taking these units to Thorpe-le-Soken changing onto 720562 to Weeley as a time-wasting move before taking 720578 to Walton-on-the-Naze, remaining on the same unit back to Thorpe-le-Soken where I transferred to winner 720140 leading dud 720539 for the run to Colchester. Next up was 720110 on a Colchester Town service which I took into Colchester Town station, popping out to visit a nearby Sainsburys for some supplies.
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| Clacton on Sea Beach |
Back to the trains and 720578 took me to Wivenhoe to complete the Colchester Town triangle, doubling back to Hythe on 720128 & 720557. Hythe is a station which has seen a boost in recent timetable changes now getting an all-day London service rather than just within the peaks, although it’s still a bit of a bleak station. 720101 rolled in on a peak time Walton train to take me to Alresford (for some better photos considering when I visited this station in 2016 it was pretty much a case of going up and over the footbridge due to having less than 5 minutes here. 720570 was up next to take me to Clacton on Sea where it terminated on platform 3.
I headed out towards the sea front to waste some time, before returning to the station to take 720570 back to Colchester where I stepped back onto winners 720112 & 720509 on a service from Colchester Town to Stratford, changing to the jubilee line (with 96064 & 96037) to Waterloo, finishing the day with 159011 & 159108 back to Grateley. An enjoyable little trip today, getting both platforms 3 & 4 at Clacton into my book, as well as doing the coastal walk towards Jaywick. Unusually when at Clacton in the evening I saw a pair of 755s stabled on platform 1, which I had no idea what they were doing there.
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| 720570 at Clacton on Sea Station |
20th February – A Day in Liverpool
Having arrived into Crewe on the Wednesday night, I had plenty of options for the Thursday, sadly the weather turned out to be a bit wet putting some of those options back on the shelf, eventually settling on a trip to Merseyside to see if I could get some more 777s into my book. But first I wanted a little trip to Wrexham to clear the southern section of the Wrexham – Bidston line for 197 coverage. The day began with 197006 on a Holyhead service from Crewe direct to Shotton for the long walk to the southbound platform at Shotton high level, arriving with time to spare before 197030 rolled in to take me to Wrexham Central.
I had a fast walk to Wrexham General, jumping onto 197115 for the short trip to Ruabon as a time-wasting move, and a little stroll as the weather was being dry. Next up was a late running service for Holyhead formed of 197051 & 197017 to take me to Chester, where I popped outside the station to buy my Saveaway and to make use of the toilets. Back on the station and I took 777032 for the long spin to Hamilton Square trying to ID anything heading south, arriving at the station as the fire alarm test was being carried out.
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| 197030 at Wrexham Central |
After a short time, I jumped onto 777022 to take me to Birkenhead Park via the city loop before winner 777027 popped up on the next New Brighton service, which I took to New Brighton going via the city centre to ensure it was clear for 10 miles. I exited the station at New Brighton, heading down the hill towards Morrisons for lunch, arriving just as the heavens opened (getting quite wet on the walk back to the station). 777053 took me to Moorfields which was in a state of chaos due to issues on the Southport line twinned with a 777 deciding it wanted to be an oversized paper weight at Liverpool Central. Eventually winner 777037 rolled in on an Ormskirk service to take me to Town Green, where I returned to Sandhills on 777007.
I managed to get through the crowds (trains from Southport were terminating here and heading back north empty) to board 777142 on the next Headbolt Lane service to take me to Kirkby for a short wait before winner 777148 rolled in (this is the unit which decided to become the paperweight an hour ago, they must have gotten out the large hammer). I took this 777 to Liverpool Central, remaining on board back to Kirkdale to push it over 10 miles, returning towards Liverpool Central on 777029, where I decided to head towards New Brighton again as the sun had come out (and none of my last 5 units were showing as out). 777031 taking me to New Brighton where my walk began.
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| 777142 at Kikrby Station |
This was a cut back version of one of the walking ideas I had planned for today (it was originally going to start at West Kirby). I headed back towards the water front at New Brighton, picking up the promenade path (lots of benches) and headed towards the beach, passing the Marine Lake and Fort Perch Rock which I presumed guarded the mouth of the River Mersey. I headed south alongside the riverfront path with views of Liverpool docks on the opposite bank (as well as the new stadium of Everton kickball team). The river was quite rough with waves splashing over the wall at times on this busy path. I headed towards the Seacombe Ferry terminal and because I had time to kill carried on towards the docks joining the road near Alfred Dock. I need to research that Wirral Circular Trail as a future idea. I returned back towards the ferry terminal via the A554 road, a very industrial area.
It was time to do something which had been on my list of things to do for a fair while, and that is the ferry across the Mersey. It was the time of day the “River Explorer” cruise had stopped running and replaced with the “Commuter” service which runs straight across the river. Royal Iris of the Mersey sailed in with the departure to Liverpool Ferry terminal, giving some nice views of the waterfront. Once back in Liverpool city centre, I popped to a couple of shops before heading to James Street and jumping onto 777032 on a Chester service.
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| Liverpool Water Front from the Ferry |
I was toying with doing the Avanti service to Wrexham, but that was running quite late due to various issues on the WCML so I decided to give that a miss, and head back to Crewe on a busy 197042, calling it a day and heading back to the shared house going via a couple of shops for supplies for the railtour on Friday. Mainly drinks. An enjoyable day out in Merseyside, getting 3 more 777s, leaving 4 active ones (plus 035) for future trips, topped off with a walk along the Mersey with the ferry.
21st February - The Chopper Quartet Tour
My first railtour of the year was the UK Railtours positioning move one-way tour from Preston towards Watford Junction, getting lucky with it falling on a long weekend. A later start than usual giving me time to meet up with Dan in his hotel to have breakfast before making our way to the station to await the late running tour to arrive from Preston. Eventually 43480 & 43468 (back-to-back) rolled in with the Mk2 coaches running 50-odd minutes late, thankfully the timings between Crewe & Stafford had quite a bit of pathing time built in (was scheduled to take 55 minutes to reach Stafford!) so by the time the train passed Stafford and headed towards the West Midlands it had clawed back a good portion of that late running.
The tour picked up in Wolverhampton before heading towards Bescot & Tame Bridge, going via Soho to pass Smethwick Rolfe Street before using the connection towards the Snow Hill lines passing the former Smethwick West station. A quick run towards Kidderminster for the final pick up before the train headed onto the Severn Valley Railway heritage line, running towards a wet Bewdley where we had a break. I headed into the town centre for a little explore before returning to the station to have my lunch.
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| 43468 at Bewdley Station |
The tour departed Bewdley back towards Kidderminster with 20048 & 20142 leading to the Kidderminster area where 20048 detached (not main-line registered) and 20007 & 20025 attached to be a triple headed service (with the 43 power cars on the rear I presume to provide power to the coaches). The tour headed towards Kidderminster for a set down, before carrying on towards Smethwick & Bescot. After Bescot it continued towards Walsall and onto the freight Sutton Park line then towards Nuneaton, joining the WCML for some fast(ish) running going via Northampton and having a good run towards Watford Junction, the last few miles was a bit slower due to catching up with a stopper from Milton Keynes.
Everybody alighted at Watford Junction and where most remained on platform 9 for the next London train (or headed to a northbound platform), myself & Dan headed to platform 10 to take a seat on 377702 on the next Southern service towards East Croydon for a more relaxing journey. I wonder if at any point in the brave new world of Great British Railways the “Set down” only restriction at Watford Junction on Avanti trains will be lifted to avoid all the threating announcements from platform staff about “not boarding the train now arriving on platform 9”, creating a hostile environment for tourists.
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| 20205 at Watford Junction |
The 377 took us to Clapham Junction where we said farewell with Dan heading towards Victoria and I jumped onto 455720 & 455861 to take me into Waterloo where I grabbed dinner before boarding 159001, 159003 & 158886 on the Exeter train, relaxing with the journey to Grateley, having a gentle stroll home and relaxing after a busy couple of days. More photos can be found on my Flickr *here*, including some from a walk between Hathersage & Grindleford on the Saturday.
