25th & 26th May – Overnight Trip to Blackpool

 25th & 26th May –  Overnight Trip to Blackpool

When I first saw that over this weekend Avanti were diverting services via Manchester due to engineering works at Warrington, I originally gave it a “would be nice to do” moment, before noticing that the Sunday it was via Bolton and the Monday going via Eccles potentially giving two different routes for unusual Pendo coverage.  A search for accommodation found plentiful options in Blackpool at various prices, eventually going for something reasonably close to North Station which had good reviews.  Sadly, the walking I had planned needed to be put back on the shelf due to the changeable weather forecast.

25th May

The day began with the short walk to Grateley for the first London service of the day with 158881, 159006 & 159103 to take me towards Waterloo diverting via Staines & Isleworth, the train only getting busy at Woking.  At Waterloo I had around 90 minutes to get to Euston for the next Glasgow train so I did my usual walk, diverting via the Co-Op near Waterloo, across Westminster bridge and along the north bank of the Thames then towards Euston via Tottenham Court Road, arriving with plenty of time as I hung near the top of the ramp before boarding.

River Thames from Westminster Bridge

I managed to get a decent seat on 390153 which departed quite busy, reduction of trains due to the engineering works on the Trent Valley, the train catching up with a LNR service near Leighton Buzzard and sat at Milton Keynes for around 10 minutes due to running early.  After Milton Keynes the train headed towards Rugby, Coventry pausing for another few minutes at Stechford due to early running (the Pendo was in front of a late running LNR stopper).  After Stechford it took the connecting line towards Ascot for the trip via Bescot and towards Wolverhampton avoiding the station before heading towards Stafford & Crewe where the train emptied out (at least in coach G).

After a dwell at Crewe (as again the train was running quite early) it headed towards Wilmslow for a set down only stop and towards Manchester.  Felt strange going nonstop through Stockport on a Pendo before getting a decent path (probably helped with Northern having their usual Sunday service meltdown) via Piccadilly & the Castlefield corridor for the run towards Bolton & Chorley.  The train joined the usual route at Leyland and arrived into Preston something like 25 minutes early, although I decided against a walk in the Preston area and instead headed across to platform 1 to join the large crowd to squeeze onto 195120 on a Blackpool North service for the trip to the coast.

390153 at Preston

As the weather was currently dry, I decided to take a stroll towards the coastal path, deciding to head south (the theory being if the weather turned, I wasn't that far from the tramway).  Some nice views of the seafront, trying to keep my eye on the trams in case my last one I needed for a mile popped up.  I reached the end of the main path in the Squires Gate area of the town, seeing tram 15 heading north on a Fleetwood service so I decided to give chase once I managed to get to Starr Gate tram stop.  One of these days I will continue the walk along the coast towards Lytham as well as the northern section from North Pier towards Fleetwood.

It was onto tram 003 on the next Fleetwood service, and with good time a couple minutes into the journey the rain decided to come, causing some delays.  The tram did get quite busy heading north but emptied out at the stops serving some of the hotels like Cliffs & Norbeck.  I decided to bail at Anchorsholme Lane, crossing over to the opposite platform for a short wait before tram 015 rolled in on a North Station service, taking this tram to Sandhurst Avenue to clear it for a mile and crossed over to the northbound platform for tram 004 to take me towards Fleetwood as it had been a few years since I last visited the northern part of the network.

Blackpool Tram 015 near Starr Gate

I had a recommendation to visit the Spoons in Fleetwood for some nice dinner before returning to the tramway for a wait before tram 015 rolled in on a southbound service which I gather from the timetable would have been one of the last to go direct towards North Pier stop rather than going via the station.  The heaven's opened when on the way south as I alighted at Tower, locating my accommodation on Hornby Road, self-serve check-in and the room was quite reasonable for the £24 I paid.  A good thing I ended the day there as I laid on the bed having a catch-up on the interweb listening to the rain arriving again.  It wasn’t perfect by any means, as there was a small window above the door which allowed light to escape into the room from the hallway.

An enjoyable first day of this little overnight trip, a nice walk along the coast and getting my last Blackpool tram for a mile.

26th May - Cuerden Valley Park

My original idea for today was to walk the Rufford branch of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, maybe even fitting in a visit to the West Lancs Light Railway but owing to the wet weather the previous night and more rain expected around midday I decided it wasn’t worth the risk of hitting mud or floods, instead I looked at some options for the Preston area and decided on a visit to the Cuerden Valley Park.

After checking out of the guest house, I headed towards the town centre (and a handy Co-Op) and Blackpool North station, jumping onto 195110 on a York bound service for the hop to Kirkham & Westham for a random revisit and a short wait before 323227 & 323242 arrived on the next Manchester Airport service to take me towards Buckshaw Parkway where my walk began.

323234 at Kirkham & Wesham Station

I headed north away from the station towards the modern Buckshaw Village following a mix of paths to reach the Lower Kem Mill car park of the Cuerden Valley Park on cycle route 55.  I followed the path via the park enjoying the scenery as it headed towards Clayton-le-Woods with a break at Town Brow.  I continued the path keeping track to make sure I was on the correct path as there are many paths in this area, eventually crossing over the M6 and coming to an end at Wigan Road, to the south of Bamber Bridge.

After reaching Bamber Bridge, I followed another path which followed the river Lostock before heading north underneath the railway line where I could have finished the walk and headed to the station but decided to carry on as the weather was dry, heading towards a path I covered a couple of months ago but taking a detour via the Dog Kennel Wood to reach Hennel Lane in Walton-le-Dale.  I picked up another path heading towards the River Darwen and underneath the A6 with the idea of following this path along the south bank of the Ribble towards Preston.  However, my plan needed changing as this path was closed (I presume related to the construction of the new Tram Road bridge) with a detour via a sewage works to pick up the old railway line route to take me into Preston.

Cuerden Valley Park, Clayton-le-Woods

After grabbing lunch from the Tesco near Preston station, I headed to the platform the next London train was due to depart from at a very busy station, grabbing a decent seat on 390153 (again!) for the southbound run.  Along the way we passed a 156 for Ormskirk which looked wedged out and platform 6 at Wigan North Western was rammed as the Pendo emptied out.  Next stop was Crewe, going via the Parkside curve onto Chat Moss via Eccles for a bit of unusual Pendo coverage.  All was going well until the train reached the chaos of Manchester's Castlefield corridor, going from 5 minutes early to 42 minutes late, at one point I counted 7 trains stuck in a traffic jam.

Eventually the Pendo cleared the chaos of Piccadilly, passing Stockport to reach Crewe, where the train got busy once more.  After Crewe, it continued south towards Stafford & Wolvermhampton heading via Darlaston, Bescot & Aston to Stechford where thankfully the signaller decided to hold an LNR stopper for use to go out in front with a spirited run towards Coventry & Rugby only slowing down on the approach to Milton Keynes where it had caught up with a Manchester - Euston service.  Arrival into Euston was 19 minutes late, and it was bad to hear the Train Manager claiming to get delay repay you needed to speak with the retailer in which you purchased the tickets from, rather than via the Avanti website.

Anyhow, with the rain making its appearance a walk to Waterloo was out of the question, and with time to kill I headed over to board 710379 to Willesden Junction for 378217 to Clapham Junction, exiting the barriers with my Oyster and coming back in with my staff pass and heading over to board 455723 & 455741 to Waterloo before taking 159011 (for the first time since February) & 159020 to Grateley to end my little overnight trip to Blackpool.  An enjoyable day with a nice walk via the Cuerden Valley Park, keeping dry as well as enjoying some Pendo mileage via unusual routes.

As always, thanks for reading, the Tuesday was a red pen day in London (and Essex) due to the wet weather, grabbing a few more 720s & 701s (and 458/4s for renumbering), before heading back to work for 6 late shifts.  More photos can be found on my Flickr, May is at an end, have a 701.

701046 departing Stoneleigh