12th June – 15th June. Long weekend in Yorkshire

 12th June – 15th June.  Long weekend in Yorkshire

I had a long weekend from work, and with the Wednesday spent walking in Leicestershire I was going to Yorkshire for a 3-night stay in a shared house in Wakefield.

12th June – Castleford Greenway

The trip began with the 06:58 service from Grateley to take me into London Waterloo with 158881, 159003 & 159016 into the capital where I had my usual stroll across London to reach Kings Cross arriving in plenty of time for the 09:33 LNER service for Harrogate via Leeds, a busy train due to the previous train being cancelled with signalling issues around Wakefield.  I got a decent seat on 800109 for the run towards Wakefield Westgate arriving near enough on time, meaning the connection onto the Knottingley bound 150228 & 150277 was easily made for the short trip to Pontefract Tanshelf where my walk began.

The first section once away from Pontefract itself was onto a path (The Wakefield Way) near Pontefract Park and the racecourse (running alongside the racecourse at times), heading towards the M62 before a woodland path alongside the motorway diving underneath and alongside the railway line.  I had a little detour towards Glasshoughton station before continuing my walk on this bridleway which runs alongside the railway line towards the Cutsyke area and a nice signal box alongside the level crossing.

It was a short detour via the roads before picking up cycle route 69 and part of the Castleford Greenway path, which made use of the former Pontefract and Methley Junction Line which allowed trains to avoid Castleford when heading towards Leeds.  A decent surface on this former railway line route, passing the area of the former Castleford Cutsyke station (no evidence remains), crossing the railway near Whitwood Junction (where trains can head towards Woodlesford or Normanton) and crossing the River Calder (which was one of my original ideas for today, to do the river path from Castleford to Wakefield).  The old railway path came to an end near Methley where the route of the Methley Joint Railway has been lost although I could make out where it used to run due to an old station house (Methley South) and a couple of bridges.

150277 at Whitwood Junction near Castleford

The third section of my little walk took me via the streets in Methley (and a lot of modern housing) and onto cycle route 67, which runs along the route of the former Methley Joint Railway.  A decent surface again and some nice woodland.  The long distance Trans Pennie Trail joined up after the first mile or so (with a "Welcome to Leeds" signpost near the M62.  I continued along this route towards Bottom Boat where the old railway disappears under modern developments forcing a detour via the streets before picking up a path which made use of the old railway route near Lofthouse Gate, doing a little U-turn at a Co-Op near Outwood (I will admit to being tempted to call this walk to an end at this point considering Outwood station wasn't that far away).

I doubled back on the old railway route, taking another path heading towards Stanley and Stanley Ferry on the banks of the Aire & Calder Navigation.  I headed south along this navigation before heading across the city suburbs (Eastmoor) to reach my accommodation in the Pinderfields Road area.  Once I managed to get access to the key safe I dropped off my stuff and headed back out towards Wakefield Westgate station swinging via a large Sainsburys at Trinity Walk Shopping Centre for some supplies, before heading towards the station via the city centre.  An enjoyable walk taking in some different views, another thing I can take off my list for this general area.

Castleford Greenway (Route of former Methley Joint Railway) between Methley Junction & Bottomboat 

Time to play with some trains and since the last timetable change, Northern have started running the 333s on Leeds – Doncaster services, so it was time to be welcomed on board the Doncaster Train by Martin Oldfield with a busy 333002 taken to Doncaster, changing onto 170473 on a Sheffield train (complete with failed AC) for the run into Sheffield.  A short wait at Sheffield before boarding 150268 on an Adwick train to take me towards Rotherham Central, returning to Sheffield on 150214 & 150270, finishing the day with 195021 on a train towards Leeds via Barnsley (as the voyager I was waiting for was running quite late and this 195 was surprisingly lightly loaded).

Back at Wakefield and a short walk north (following the A61) saw me getting to my accommodation on Berne Grove.  The room was a bit warm (due to the window being a bit on the smaller side) but it was moderately quiet (unless it sounded like someone in the room above me was having issues in the early hours, but that can happen in any hotel).

150001 alongside 399202 at Rotherham Central

13th June – Leeds & Liverpool Canal

It was time to head towards Skipton to hopefully complete the Yorkshire side of the Leeds & Liverpool canal, although I did have a breakout point at Crossflatts if I felt like I had enough.  A lazy start to my day as I made my way to Wakefield Westgate (via Sainsburys for breakfast as they do hot bacon baps as part of the meal deal).  First train of the day for me was 333010 on a Leeds service which completes the Leeds – Doncaster route for 333 coverage.  At Leeds it was a short walk over to board 158754 on a Carlisle service to take me towards North Yorkshire, alighting at Long Preston (for some better photos).

25 minutes in the sunshine later and 158849 rolled in from Lancaster to take me back the overhead wires and Skipton where my walk began.  Before I headed towards the canal I swung via Morrisons for some lunch supplies, and I was a bit tempted to walk the short Springs Branch Canal towards Skipton Castle but decided that could wait for another trip (as I could work in a visit to the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway).

158754 departing Long Preston Station

Lunch (and other supplies) purchased I joined the canal at Belmont Bridge heading in a general southern direction, going underneath the freight line towards Swinden quarry and towards Low Snaygill before leaving Skipton behind.  The towpath was decent quality with some beautiful views, but the road noise from the A629 was quite loud at times (as the road follows the rough route of the canal other than near Bradley where the canal curves to serve).

I was glad when I reached Kildwick where the Skipton Road finally headed on it's on way leaving the canal to be peaceful as it headed towards Silsden before going into a rural section towards Riddlesden (to the north of Keighley town centre).  I continued my walk towards Sandbeds & Crossflatts deciding to continue when I reached the potential escape route towards the station.  I carried on reaching the top of the Bingley Five Rise Locks (a set of 5 staircase locks) and a steep hill for the towpath.

Bingley Five Rise Locks on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal

My walk continued down the Bingley Three Rise Locks, passing close to the station before the canal headed into a woodland section, crossing over the River Aire and towards Saltaire.  I passed the Salts Mill with the final section into Shipley reaching a footbridge to the point I had previously walked to from Leeds back in September 2023 and hence completing the Yorkshire section of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, the end is very much in sight with a short section in Lancashire & the Rufford branch. 

I headed to Shipley station and onto 331007 on a Bradford Forster Square train to take me into Bradford Forster Square, ticking off the recently opened platform 0, before taking 333013 into Leeds, transferring to a busy 221131 for the short run to Wakefield Westgate, celebrating my long walk with a burger from a takeaway called “Mr Ts” which was located close to the shared house, and I rested for the remainder of the evening.

331007 on platform 0 at Bradford Forster Square

14th June – “It’s all gone a bit wrong”

Today was the day of a forum walk from Saltaire towards the Bradford area on the remains of the Shipley Great Northern Railway route, meeting up in Roberts Park in Saltaire after midday so in my crazy wisdom decided it would be a good chance to visit the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway seeing as I would be in that area, train to Oxenhope for a bus back to Keighley for a train to Salitaire.  Well, it went a bit wrong.

The day began with a gentle stroll to Wakefield Westgate station and onto a Harrogate bound 800102 (the coach I was in pretty much emptied out at Leeds), and onto 333009 on the Skipton train to take me to Keighley where after buying my ticket to Oxenhope I settled down to relax watching as a passing downpour came and went.  Steam engine 41241 (LMS Ivatt Class 2 2-6-2T) rolled in with coaches in tow and after grabbing a photo of the steam engine running round I took a seat in the front coach.

Steam 41241 running round train at Keighley Station (KWVR)

Departure was 10 minutes late due to signalling issues as the train headed towards Oxenhope, pausing in the loop at Damens Loop for a 144 to pass, eventually arriving at Oxenhope around 25 minutes late, the bus I had hoped to connect into was long gone.  So, I had a stroll into the centre of the settlement to where the bus would start from (cut back from Hebden Bridge due to roadworks).  The next B3 (Brontëbus) service to Keighley rolled in with fleet 1752 (A Volvo Wright Eclipse Urban from the Keighley Bus Company).  I purchased my single towards Keighley for a nice run towards Keighley (even though there were some youths at the back deciding to treat everybody with their own selection of noise).  I bailed at Victoria Road as I had spotted an interesting looking route alongside the River Worth branded as the "Worth Way" on signs.  This took me back to Keighley station where after a 47 rolled in with a private train for a wedding, I headed to the Northern platforms and caught a busy 331005 to Saltaire heading towards Roberts Park and the Shipley Glen Tramway.

Sadly, when I arrived at the tramway I was told it was closed for the rest of the day due to mechanical issues, so I headed back to Saltaire coming up with another plan (as by this time the forum walking party was half-way to Idle).  I decided to look at Cleethorpes to see if there was any booked use of platform 4 (because Cleethorpes clearly needed a 4th platform to deal with the 1.5 trains per hour it gets), coming up with a crazy idea as 333003 rolled in to take me to Leeds, transferring onto 801107 & 801108 to take me to Doncaster.

47714 arriving into Keighley Station on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway

I turned down the TPE to Cleethorpes, instead headed over to platform 0 to board 150206 on the 2 hourly Northern service to Scunthorpe, a route which saw me having my last 144 on in March 2020 before the world went crazy).  This 150 took me to Scunthorpe, where I had 40 minutes to wait before the next TPE so I headed into the town centre to visit Sainsburys for dinner items, before returning to the station, only to see the train had lost more time due to a police incident.  185115 & 185118 rolled in and departed towards Cleethorpes where I had my fingers crossed as this was one of the 2 services which was booked to use platform 4.  Booked to use the platform is one thing, actually using it is another matter (considering there was nothing else at Cleethorpes station).  Thankfully it did use platform 4, and after a couple photos I returned to Grimsby Town on the same pair of units.  I was toying with doing the refurbished EMR 170 to Barton on Humber but that was running late, as was the next TPE (which looked like it was getting spun at Barnetby of all places).

It was onto another new plan as I crossed over to platform 3 at Grimsby Town (probably a good few years since I last used this bay platform!) onto former GA 170270 getting a seat in the former 1st class area for the extra comfort for the run towards Lincoln, another line I hadn’t done in a while.  At Lincoln I transferred to 170510 on the Doncaster train, I always forget how long it is between Gainsborough & Doncaster, although a chance for the 170 to get some speed up.  At Doncaster it was a short wait before boarding 801214 on the next service towards Leeds to take me back to Wakefield Westgate to walk to my accommodation for the last time of this trip.

185118 at Cleethorpes Station (platform 4)

A day of two halves, a nice trip to Oxenhope behind a steam engine, but missing out on the forum walk due to late running.

15th June – Blackburn Valley & Rotherham

I had several ideas what I could have done today, annoyingly when I booked this trip, I didn’t notice the ECML was closed at the London end, but thankfully a Wakefield – London single is valid via the Midland Main Line.  After weighing up various options I decided on a short disused railway line walk in South Yorkshire (one of many on my list of things to do) from Chapeltown towards Meadowhall.  The day began with checking out of the shared house, having to leave my key in the door of my room as it seems the code for the key safe had been changed.  I headed to Wakefield Kirkgate via a Tesco Express for breakfast items, reaching the station with plenty of time before 158795 & 158872 rolled in on the first Sheffield stopper of the day (forms the Sheffield – Carlisle service so probably wise to have it as a 4-coach set).

These 158s dropped me off at Chapeltown station and my walk began as I headed towards the older platforms (now used as an access path) and up Station Road to reach the start of the Blackburn Valley Trail, the name given to the former South Yorkshire Railway's Barnsley to Sheffield line.  The first section was via Chapeltown park with some nice woodland before heading towards an industrial estate where signage wasn't the best but I managed to follow the path as it followed the existing railway line passing Ecclesfield and other parts of Sheffield reaching Meadowhall, passing a Travelodge.

158872 departing Chapeltown Station

In hindsight I ought to have called my walk a day at Meadowhall but along the way I decided to extend the walk considering the weather was fine, weighing up the option of heading towards Rotherham along the canal or heading into the city centre via a path which follows the Don (the Five Weirs Way).  I decided on the canal considering I did the section from Sheffield towards Meadowhall back in December 2021.  After getting a bit lost with the road network I crossed over the tram line near Meadowhall South, and reached the Sheffield & Tinsley canal, heading underneath the M1 (and Tinsley Viaduct).

Soon the canal came to an end as it met up with the River Don and I continued along the path as it reached the start of the Holmes cut of the Navigation, heading towards Rotherham heading underneath the railway from Barrow Hill before reaching Ickles Lock where the towpath flips sides near a level crossing near the C F Booth scrapyard.  The towpath continued skirting round the edge of the New York Stadium on a recently upgraded section of the route for flood protection (judging by some signs).  I passed a flood gate giving access to the Rotherham cut and soon reached the area of the station.  This being a good place to finish as after this point the towpath diverts away from the water.

150228 near Booths Scrapyard, Rotherham

After visiting Tesco for food & drink items, I headed to Rotherham Central and jumped on 150276 on a service from Leeds (2 hourly on Sundays), taking me to Sheffield where I headed across to platform 8 to join the crowd building for the next EMR to London, watching a 3 coach 185 roll in from Cleethorpes looking extremely cosy and leaving a good 50+ behind.  A bit of confusion as there was announcements that the London train would be stopping at the London end of platform 8 meaning the crowds headed that way, only for 222101 to stop in the centre of the platform.  I made a bee-line for coach D, which thankfully as being one of the former 4 coach sets had a lot more standard class seating compared to coach D on one of the other 5 coach units.  Not sure what it was like near the front of the train but coach D had a small number of seats available from Sheffield (although might be due to the hopeless overhead luggage racks), by Derby those seats had gone with standing in the vestibules by Leicester for a nonstop run to St Pancras.

When I got off the train at St Pancras, I was in quite a bit of pain with my back, no clue what caused it.  But it was a gingerly walk to the Thameslink platforms for 700116 to Blackfriars and a slow walk to Waterloo (as it was going via Tulse Hill rather than via London Bridge) and onto 159012, 159013 & 159005 on an Exeter train to take me to Andover, where I got picked up by mum to drive home via a local Chippy.  I got home and was careful when emptying out my rucksack but it wasn’t long before I was forced to lay down to rest my back, thankfully it’s back to normal which I suspect was simply a trapped nerve from sitting down on that 222.

Rotherham Cut Flood Lock on the River Don Navigation, Rotherham

Anyhow, an enjoyable weekend with a lot of walking, I might use that place in Wakefield again if the price was right in comparison to other places.  More photos can be found on my Flickr here, thanks for reading.