22nd & 23rd June – Overnight Trip to the Midlands

 22nd & 23rd June – Overnight Trip to the Midlands

After visiting the Cholsey and Wallingford Railway on the Friday and a lazy Saturday (due to the heat) it was time for an overnight trip to the Midlands to do a random novelty at Northampton.

22nd June – Pinging around the West Midlands

The trip began with the 07:38 from Grateley to take me to Andover with 159008 & 159020 stepping back for the Reading train 10 minutes later with 159105 for the trip to Reading where I popped out of the station to visit the ticket office to buy my West Midlands Day Ranger and to grab some breakfast items from a little Tesco Express before boarding coach B of 221122 which had 220031 along for the ride.  My original idea was to bail at Birmingham New Street and await the arrival of my good friend Jules from Hereford however he was being delayed due to an incident around Bromgrove (ended up getting diverted into Snow Hill for some unusual 196 coverage), but I noticed if I stayed on these voyagers, I could grab a winner 807 on a late running Liverpool service.

In terms of loadings, coach B got busy after Oxford and remained busy, at Birmingham during the dwell I switched to the rear unit which was a lot quieter for the run to Stafford (with some rain falling).  A short wait at Stafford before winner 807009 rolled in on a 20-odd minute late Euston – Liverpool train (signalling issues at the Euston end of the WCML) to take me to Crewe.  Where once more my plan changed as it just missed a London via Birmingham Pendo and I noticed the late running LNR service was being displayed as “Express to Rugby”.  So, after popping out of the station to visit B&M for some supplies I returned to a very busy platform 7 to join 350248 & 350409 on a service which was also getting spun at Milton Keynes.

807005 passing Stafford Station

One of the few times I aimed for the 350/2 (and the former 1st class area) due to the crowding at the buffer stops, paid off as this end of the train was lightly loaded for the speedy run towards Rugby, going via the platform loop at Stafford and unusually passing a London bound Pendo at Lichfield Trent Valley when on the fast line.  At Rugby I had a gentle stroll outside the station when I was waiting for Jules to catch up from the Coventry direction I headed out of Rugby station on the south side, heading west to pick up the so called "Black Path" which crosses the WCML close to the station, carrying along this path to the River Avon (near a Tesco) before following a path alongside the river and a short section on the road to the entrance to the Broughton Road Recreation Ground, meeting up with Jules.  We followed a path towards the Oxford Canal before an overgrown path leading towards a railway bridge which used to carry the Great Central route.  A steep climb on an access point and we took the path to the end where it used to cross the canal, the bridge long since gone.

Heading back on ourselves we took the path towards the Brownsover area of the town before the urban area gave way to countryside heading towards the settlement of Newton where the walk came to an end near a 5-arch viaduct.  Changing from old railway to rural paths as we followed various footpaths heading to an industrial/office park to the north of the town, carrying on with the roads to the A426 crossing over with some large distribution centres and a lot of modern housing.  Eventually we reached the route of the former Brownsover arm of the Oxford Canal, now a feeder canal.  Quite a pleasant walk back south following the banks of this old canal near the Swift Valley Country Park, ending up with the junction with the main Oxford Canal, near a Premier Inn.

Route of former Great Central line in Newton

We headed towards Rugby station (following the Black Path to "Technology Drive" near Rugby College) where we decided it would probably be better to head to Northampton now to get ourselves checked into the town centre Travelodge to save a job for later that night.  350247 & 350243 took us to Northampton where we soon located the Travelodge, getting checked in (separate rooms as it was booked at different times), and removing stuff from my rucksack before heading back to the station and onto 350242 & 350369 to Rugby, stepping back onto 805005 for the run to Coventry (which was a winner for Jules) and back to Rugby on 350374 & 350120 where we noticed things had started to change as the next Avanti to Birmingham hadn't left Euston 40-odd minutes after it was meant to depart and there was delays from the Northampton direction.

For the lack of a better idea we jumped onto a busy Crewe bound 350113, 350375 & 350262 to Nuneaton, returning to Rugby on a slightly late running (and very busy as the previous train had been cancelled) 350256 & 350108.  I don’t know why travelling with London Northwestern makes me a bit annoyed, maybe it’s due to some guards hiding away in the middle cab with gangway doors locked out of use, with no announcements even when the automatic system is broken (considering this pair still was showing “The next Station is Crewe”).  Anyhow rant over and back at Rugby (again!) and onto dud 805007 & winner 805002 for the run to Birmingham New Street, which for me clears the class.  I have no idea what made me look it up on RTT after the walk considering it wasn’t showing as being out earlier in the day, but I was happy considering the 805s are a bit harder to bag from the London end (compared to the 807s which generally call at Milton Keynes).

350262 at Nuneaton Station

Sadly, due to the 38-minute delay into Birmingham, the original idea to take something to Shrewsbury to come back to Birmingham on a 197 went out of the window, likewise taking a pair of 350s to Crewe to intercept the Pendo due to the inbound running 20-odd minutes late.  Eventually we decided on taking 730030 & 730014 to Lichfield Trent Valley (which for me clears Shenstone – Lichfield for 730 coverage) and having a little stroll to waste some time.  Heading out of the new(ish) car park entrance on the London bound platform, and following a path towards the Burton Old Road crossing over the railway near the junction where the WCML connecting chord goes off.  We followed this road to the end where it met the A5127 and headed back towards Lichfield Trent Valley station, detouring via a Co-Op.  Back at the station and it was onto 807003 on a London bound service from Liverpool to take us to Nuneaton, where we transferred to 196007 onto the slow train to Coventry.  Doing this randomly ticks Lichfield Trent Valley for Avanti usage and to waste time before the main random event of the day, the main reason why we stayed in Northampton.

Lichfield Trent Valley Junction Signal Box

After turning down the late southbound LNR service at Coventry, we waited a few more minutes before 390123 rolled in from Glasgow, grabbing a table seat in coach B for the trip to Northampton.  Yep, this was one of the random Avanti services which calls at Northampton (set down only).   Sadly a 11 coach Pendo takes up most of platform 1 so no real decent photo could be had, but for me is ticked a box in my randomness box (coming from someone who stayed in Birmingham a few months ago solely to head to Coventry on a late night 730).  Anyway, we exited the station, making our way to the Travelodge to rest for the night, being thankful we had checked in earlier to save time (so we could go straight to the rooms).

A Pendo departing Northampton

23th June – Rural Walking of the Stratford Upon Avon Canal

I met up with Jules in the morning, and after swinging via Morrisons in Northampton we made our way to Northampton station which was in a bit chaos due to a broken-down freight train earlier that morning between Northampton & Rugby.  Thankfully the line had reopened but as with all delays crews were out of place and the next northbound train was delayed by 20 minutes awaiting a driver.  350120 & 350252 eventually departed and we were expecting LNR to do their usual ripping out stops to make up time (or even spinning it at Birmingham International), but they didn’t do either as it got caught behind a Rugeley stopper after International to crawl into New Street 30 minutes late.

This delay meant our cross Birmingham connection was shorter and would put us onto a Chiltern service rather than a West Midlands service as I wanted to visit Tesco to grab lunch items for later in the day.  After visiting Tesco, we headed to Moor Street and onto 165023 on the Leamington shuttle from platform 4 and soon we had reached Lapworth where our walk began.  I still need Shirley – Stratford Parkway (and a short section in Stratford Upon Avon itself) for the canal, whereas Jules was ahead of me and only needed Lapworth – Wilmcote to complete the canal, so we decided doing that section would be good for both of us.

165023 departing Lapworth

We left the Turbo at Lapworth station, following a footpath across a field to reach a country lane to reach the canal, dropping down from the road onto the towpath in the long Lapworth lock flight.  We headed along the canal, detouring onto the "Lapworth Link".  This is a short section of canal linking the Stratford Canal with the Grand Union, where the Chiltern line crossing overhead (on a newish looking bridge).  We paused for a couple of photos of passing trains (including a 68 hauled set) before heading back towards the Stratford canal and headed south into the countryside.

The towpath was quite variable in quality, but in a decent condition in terms of erosion.  We headed underneath the M40 heading towards Lowsonford where an old railway line embankment swung across the land (an old line which connected Lapworth with Henley-on-Arden I believe looking at the maps).  We continued along the canal in the lovely countryside swapping over a couple of times before reaching the Wootton Wawen area and an aqueduct over a road (which unusually has the towpath dropping to the base of the canal).

DVT 82305 crossing the Lapworth Link (between Stratford Upon Avon & Grand Union Canals), Kingswood

After Wotton Wawen we continued the towpath, reaching Edstone Aqueduct, taking us over the railway line on the longest aqueduct in England (near Bearley station), shame the only way to get a decent shot of the aqueduct is to either trespass on private land or with a drone (where there is a public road it is near the end and views are blocked by trees).  We continued along the towpath reaching Wilmcote and another lock flight which has only recently reopened after one lock getting major repairs.  The towpath in this area was a bit rough in places due to broken tarmac but thankfully it did get better for the last section towards Stratford Upon Avon itself, going underneath the busy A46 and reaching Bishopton Lane which is where I had previously joined the canal back in 2021 when I walked towards Honeybourne.  Although I'm 99% sure I had previously rode along the towpath between Stratford Upon Avon Parkway & Wilmcote back in August 2015 when visiting the stations.

Anyhow the walk was done and we reached Stratford Upon Avon Parkway station, which was a bit chaotic due to an issue around Birmingham Moor Street with multiple West Midland services cancelled, so it was onto a very busy 168328 to take us towards Leamington Spa (it would give a nice-ish connection at Warwick Parkway to a Birmingham bound service, but this service skips Warwick Parkway).  We exited the station at Leamington Spa to pop to a nearby Morrisons for some supplies before heading back to the station saying farewell with Jules heading towards Coventry on a 196 and I managed to grab a seat on 221131 which had 220026 along for the ride (which was locked out of use until Reading).

These voyagers took me to Basingstoke, where I had an extended dwell due to a late running Yeovil bound 158888 & 159005 due to congestion caused by a power failure in the Wimbledon area earlier that day.  These sprinters took me to Grateley where I had a gentle stroll home, getting myself ready for 7 early shifts at work.  An enjoyable social canal walk and a good catch up.  A good weekend overall with 2 more winning Avanti units into my book, leaving just 807010 for when that enters passenger service (probably not for another couple of months I reckon).  I suspect I will be returning to Lapworth sooner rather than later to complete the canal myself (as it is always a nice feeling to complete another canal for walking).

Edstone Aqueduct on the Stratford Upon Avon Canal

As always, thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr *here*.  Scary to think June is nearly over, just where is this year going?