Trips in (Seemingly) Nonstop July

 Trips in (Seemingly) Nonstop July

July was a busy month for me with both exploring, railtours & with work.

My first adventure of July was on the 2nd when I headed towards Leicestershire to continue my coverage mission of the Leicester arm of the Grand Union canal, catching a bus (the route LC4) from Market Harborough to Foxton village to pick up the main canal at Foxton locks for a sunny walk in rural Leicestershire to finish on the outskirts of Leicester at Glen Parva (with bus route 85 taken into the city centre and a speedy 222 back to London.

7 late shifts at work later, it was then onto a long hot weekend with The Thundering Positioning Move tour from West Ruislip to Ropley on the Mid Hants Railway (doing the connection from Platform 2 at Alton onto the heritage line).  To reach West Ruislip I went via the WCML to sample my first 730/2 on a Tring semi-fast, although couldn’t really make any real judgement calls with the short journey within the oyster area (other than the tables being a bit on the small side).  A trip on Chiltern took me to West Ruislip where I picked up the tour which was 50008 hauling the very warm 4TC set on a trip to Alton via Hounslow & Frimley.  At Ropley I was one of many who headed to the road side to join a Winchester bound route 64 bus to the city centre where after a walk to the station saw some chaos due to a failed freight train, eventually reaching Basingstoke for a short connection onto a pair of Sprinters back home, for a much-needed shower to wash away the sweat.

50008 at West Ruislip

Crazy fools never learn as the Friday I made use of the “off-peak all day” on Avanti with an early start to London & Preston with the 07:30 Pendo.  Thankfully I was in a coach where the AC was working.  At Preston it was a short wait for a route 2 bus bound for Southport to Hesketh Bank, home of the West Lancs Light Railway.  I picked up the Henry Alty Way, a route making use of an old freight branch line towards Tarleton where the Rufford Branch of the Leeds & Liverpool canal begins.  Once away from the industrial area of boat yards the canal turned rural with an ever-changing towpath as I enjoyed the Lancashire countryside towards Rufford and then onwards to Burscough (with an unusual railway bridge where the canal going underneath the railway at a user worked farm crossing).  I was glad to finish the canal and hit the AC goodness of the Tesco store at Burscough Bridge station for some cold liquids, before making my way back towards home with a 150/2 to Wigan Wallgate and the same Pendo I had earlier to London.  I was happy as it meant I only had one more section of the Leeds & Liverpool canal to walk which I had pencilled in for later in the month for my holiday.

The 12th July was the day of The Tytherington Quarrier tour, one I was a bit sitting on the fence for booking, eventually only booking it due to the calls at Clapham Junction meaning I didn’t have to fork out for accommodation and my travel costs were minimal.  A trip to London Waterloo in the morning followed by a gentle walk along the north bank of the Thames to reach Vauxhall, although I have no idea why I rushed so much due to the tour being 50-odd minutes late due to one coach needing to be removed due to a hot box.  Eventually the tour rolled into Clapham, and my worse fears were confirmed as the AC had packed up in the coach I was assigned making for a quite uncomfortable journey (especially with the low-down seats with hardly any legroom).

60029 arriving at Clapham Junction

Things only got worse at Yate due to a points failure meaning the main objective of the day (the actual Tytherington branch) had to be cut, the tour only getting as far as the loop on the branch line, before heading towards Bristol Temple Meads where 60029 was replaced with 56103 & 56113, although I only could bear the train to Bath before I bailed for the comfort of a wedged out 2 coach 165 (as this was a day where GWR collapsed), all was good until Westbury where we got told to leave the train as it had been cancelled and with nothing else showing as heading towards Salisbury I headed towards Reading via Newbury to head home that way.  Once home I had a much-needed shower and relaxed in a cool(ish) room.  That tour has made up my mind about doing future railtours, especially if running with Mk2 coaches as the seats are just not suitable for people with long legs.

After another week at work, where thankfully the temperatures had dropped, it was another 3 day weekend, and another BLS tour, this time The Salt and Pepper Shaker involving the Hastings Diesel unit (where thankfully my request for a seat in the wider coach was fulfilled as the bench seats in the narrow coaches are not ideal, although from what I could gather it probably wouldn’t have been an issue due to low bookings).  A wet start of the day as I headed to Willesden Junction to pick up the tour for the trip towards a wet Goole & the Glassworks branch line (passing the site of the new Siemens factory where they are building the new LU stock).  The other freight line was the short sidings near Brayton but it was another one of those tours where after we boarded at Willesden Junction, there wasn’t any sort of break away from the train.  Anyhow I bailed at Doncaster for an Azuma to Kings Cross and back home on a 5-coach sprinter (avoiding a single 158 on both the 19:50 & 20:50 services from Waterloo which wouldn’t have been comfortable).

Hastings Diesel Unit arriving into Willesden Junction

The wet weather continued into the Sunday with my planned walk being put back on the shelf as I headed into London and across to Euston for a Liverpool service (807003) which was meant to go via Northampton (for the novelty of an 80X via Northampton) but due to late running the engineering works had finished by the time the train reached Wolverton and it went via Weedon.  I bailed at Crewe for required 197022 on a Cardiff bound train which was diverted via Wrexham (another train where it departed Crewe rather overcrowded), taking it to Hereford for a short visit to Morrisons before taking required 197024 back towards Shrewsbury (along with 197007).  A large thunderstorm popped up in Shrewsbury as I took a pair of 158s to Wolverhampton before a time-wasting trip back towards Crewe, via Kidsgrove with a pair of voyagers followed by some 350s to bring me back to Wolverhampton for required 197027 to Birmingham New Street where the connection into a fast service towards Walsall was missed so it was onto 730047 on a Walsall stopping service to take me to Walsall where I was staying overnight in the Walsall Travelodge (for the first time in a good few years).

The weather on Monday (the 21st) was looking dry until afternoon when the rain would resume, so I parked my trip to Stratford Upon Avon to one side, and instead picked up my explore of the Wyrley and Essington Canal.  After grabbing supplies from the Tesco it was a short walk along the B4210 to pick up the canal near a bus depot.  This canal is quite curvy as it curved its way north skirting the edge of Bloxwich before entering countryside towards Pelsall Common.  I took a little detour along the route of the former Norton Canes branch of the South Staffordshire Railway returning to the canal via the short Cannock Extension.

Start of the Cannock Extension Canal at Pelsall Junction

My walk along the Wyrley and Essington Canal resumed heading towards Brownhills, going underneath the route of the former railway (now turned cycle path), finishing my walk near Catshill Junction, and picking up a bus on route 937 to take me towards Birmingham City Centre via Aldridge & Perry Barr, quite an interesting route for a different view of the Birmingham area.  At Birmingham I got lucky to catch a slightly late running Bournemouth bound service (even getting a seat!) to Basingstoke for a pair of 159s back home, watching the rain.

The 27th July marked the day of my 2 weeks summer annual leave period, a busy couple of weeks as I kicked things off with a trip towards Pembrey & Burry Port, featuring a crush loaded 2 coach 197 from Cardiff which bypassed Swansea by using the Landore curve.  I had a gentle stroll along the route of the former canal (and old railway) before returning to the station via the coastal path.  Pembrey Country park is somewhere I wouldn’t mind revisiting for a better explore at some point.  Back at the station it was a trip back to Cardiff, to visit the rebuilt Cardiff Bay, getting another 756/0 into my book as well as another renumbered 153 (153531), staying overnight in the Travelodge near the station.

A later start than expected on the Monday, before I headed towards Waun-Gron Park to walk the Ely Trail, a path following the Ely River towards Penarth, before taking 756006 to Coryton & back to Heath for another short walk, this time via various parks in the Roath area.  I managed to get another 153/5 into my book with a run towards Newbridge as it was on a Newport service, before heading back home via Reading.

153531 (AT03) at Cardiff Central

I wasn’t home for long as on the 29th July I departed for 3 nights away, the first 2 nights being in a shared house in Edge Hill, a place I used back in December 2023 so I knew what to expect.  So heading towards Chester via Avanti to Crewe & a busy TfW service, saw me onto a 156 to Cuddington to walk the route of an old railway line towards Winsford before scoring a couple of 730/2s even if my original plan failed due to late running missing a connection.

The Wednesday was an early start as I headed towards Preston on a 397 before heading to Adlington on a pair of 323s to walk the final section of the Leeds & Liverpool canal, with some unexpected rain along the way towards Cherry Tree, skirting round the edge of Chorley and into some nice countryside.  I made a connection at Cherry Tree onto a 150 to Blackburn for a short break before heading into Yorkshire & back towards Liverpool via Manchester Victoria & a 185.  A busy 350 saw me heading to Crewe to tick off 730226 back to Liverpool before I headed to Wigan on a 323 via Earlestown (just to give me something to do).  I returned to Edge Hill to relax for the rest of the night.

The Thursday, 31st July, I headed away from Liverpool to Crewe with a random trip towards Whitchurch on 153552 and a short walk involving an old railway line before returning to Crewe for The Creighton-Ward Explorer tour, a one-way trip to Derby behind 37307 towing a Pendo.  Ticking off the curve linking the WCML & high-level lines at Lichfield Trent Valley and the track into Litchurch Lane for the Greatest Gathering preview day.  I spent a good hour and a bit having a look around before the site closed and I headed to the station, jumping onto a 222 for Chesterfield with the idea of getting food & returning back out after checking into my hotel.

150122 departing Cherry Tree Station

This plan failed due to there being not a lot of options close to Chesterfield station, so I returned to the trains with another 222 taken to Sheffield (going via Barrow Hill) before heading back towards Derby on a 158 for the novelty factor of a 158 on the section of track between Chesterfield & Ambergate junction, a section of track which is normally “Intercity” only.  My last train of July was another 222 back to Chesterfield where I had accommodation in the Premier Inn, for the time for a while, but for £42 it was one of the cheapest places going which was reasonably close to a station.

More photos from July can be found on my Flickr here, sorry for the shorten version this month, I’m a bit behind with myself.