August Exploring (Part 2)

August Exploring (Part 2)

19th August – Making a start with the Soar Navigation

The Soar Navigation is a continuation of the Leicester Arm of the Grand Union Canal, running from Leicester to the River Trent near Long Eaton, I decided today would be a good day to make a start as I split the route into 3 sections (although in theory it can be done in 2 sections, all be with one longer walk).  The day started with 159108, 159006 & 159021 to take me to Waterloo, where unusually I walked to Elephant & Castle to take 700019 to St Pancras (mixing things up compared to walking to St Pancras direct).

At St Pancras, I went upstairs to board 222015 on the 10:05 service to Nottingham to take me to Leicester, stepping back to board 170509 on the stopping service towards Lincoln for the 9 and a half mile run to Barrow Upon Soar, probably the first time in a fair few years I’ve called at those stations.  My walk began with a detour towards a handy Co-Op before picking up the Navigation at a road bridge.

170509 departing Barrow Upon Soar Station

This section was one of the canal sections of the navigation (creating a short-cut as the river heads towards Quorn).  As a result, there were quite a few boats moored up along this section as I skirted round the edge of Barrow Upon Soar, re-joining the river at a marina and left the decent quality towpath behind for a bumpy field, keeping the river on my left-hand side as I followed the path with multiple gates (not a path you could cycle along by any means).  I headed underneath the A6 heading towards the northern end of Mountsorrel, going underneath an old railway bridge as well as the A6 again.

I passed Sileby Marina before the path turned very rural heading in a generally southern direction (picking the path with the river on my left-hand side, as it seems there are path options on both sides of the river here), coming close to the A6 near Rothley.  The Navigation leaves the Soar near Cossington Lock and follows the route of the River Wreake, the towpath improving near Junction Lock where a cycle path joins.  I continued along the path, as the Wreake river branches away and navigation heads south with the A46 close by (the Leicester Western Bypass).

Former Mountsorrel Railway viaduct over the Soar Navigation in Mountsorrel

The towpath switched sides as I entered the Watermead Country Park, as the cycle path headed away from the towpath (giving me an idea for a future walk from Syston station to explore the various lakes in this large country park).  I followed the canal heading towards Leicester city centre, the river Soar re-joining the route which was now quite busy (it was a sunny day during the school holidays after-all).  I followed the course of the river, although at times I couldn't see it due to the trees (or private moorings), reaching Birstall.  After a brief pause for some food, I continued with the river on my right-hand side, the path becoming a bit overgrown for a short section (I presume most people & cyclists use a more modern bridge underneath the Thurcaston Road Bridge)

I continued with the river on my right-hand side, heading towards the city centre, leaving the river for a short section at the Belgrave Meadows (looked like the path has been lost to erosion), although in hindside I ought to have switched sides at Thurcaston Road Bridge as the path that side looked better.  I was soon back alongside the river as it reached a junction near Swans Nest Footbridge with the scenery now turning quite industrial, both good & disused on another lengthy canal section skirting round the southern edge of Abbey Park before I reached North Lock which is the point I left the Navigation earlier in the month.

All that was left was to head towards the station via the city centre area, pausing for some dinner items before boarding 222020 for the fast run towards St Pancras, switching to Thameslink with 700021 to Blackfriars for a short walk to Waterloo to finish the day with 158885 & 159101, back home to relax ready for the week ahead.  A good first section of the Soar Navigation complete, mix between the rural, urban & industrial with a changeable towpath.

River Wreake (Between Rothley & Syston) (part of the Soar Navigation)

26th August – Return to the Soar & Beeston

Originally for these days off, I had booked accommodation in Shrewsbury with the idea to do some exploring around Shropshire, but due to the poor weather forecast I decided to ditch that plan and switch to some day trips.

The Tuesday after the bank holiday weekend, and after looking at various options I decided on doing a couple of shorter walks, the day starting with 159007, 159022 & 159005 to Waterloo, and a gentle stroll to St Pancras to board 222018 on the 10:05 to Nottingham to take me to Loughborough to start the first walk, heading towards the Soar Navigation close to Loughborough station, heading with the canal on my right hand side in the sunshine, passing some industrial buildings and going underneath the currently disused Great Central railway bridge (which hopefully will eventually bridge the gap to connect the two sections once more).  I left the Loughborough area with the towpath turning rural, running close to the railway at a couple of places before the River Soar re-joined the Navigation with a large weir & flood locks (complete with "Do Not Proceed when red light flashing" warning boards)

Soar Navigation between Loughborough & Barrow Upon Soar

The last mile (or so) was alongside the river as it headed to Barrow Upon Soar reaching the road bridge where I started my walk last week (although this is where I missed a trick in not heading towards Quorn on a mixed used path to return along a footpath close to the river doing a little loop).  Anyhow I headed to the station (with no seats or anything on the Loughborough bound platform) and took 170270 to Beeston for the 2nd of today's walks.  Beeston is a station which has certainly changed since I was last here with new lifts and removal of stairs, not a station where you want to have a tight connection by any means.

I headed away from Beeston station, passing a B&B I used back in June 2016 when I was in this area doing the stations, and headed towards the Nottingham & Beeston Canal, and the junction with the canal with the River Trent.  There are two paths here towards the city centre, one alongside the river & the other alongside the canal (the walk along the Trent from the Long Eaton area is on my list of things to try and do this year if I get round to it).

222104 passing Barrow upon Soar Station

The towpath in comparison to the earlier walk was a lot smoother, although the first section I was high above the canal due to private moorings but soon the urban area of Beeston was gone, replaced with some industrial area but this was a lot better than I was expecting from an urban canal in terms of being peaceful as it headed towards the railway bridge (Nottingham - Beeston) & the A52.  I headed underneath the tramway & also the railway bridge near Lenton North junction passing an marina and the final section near the old wharf (complete with old British Waterways branded warehouse), finishing my walk at the point where I joined the canal back in September 2022 when I did a time-wasting loop towards the Trent.  An enjoyable stroll in the sunshine as I headed to the station, turning down a 5 coach 222 on a semi-fast service (as in my experience it is better to board those trains with plenty of time to get a decent seat), although I didn’t know it at the time there had been an incident near Market Harborough meaning the next couple of departures towards St Pancras were cancelled.

Nottingham & Beeston Canal in Notingham

 

With Plan B in my head, I headed towards 170417 working the Skegness service for the slow trip to Grantham, it might only be 22 and a bit miles but it feels so much longer due to the multiple stops this 170 makes (I think everything other than ELO).  However, I got lucky at Grantham with a late running LNER service pulling in alongside the 170, allowing me a quick dash across the footbridge onto 801220 as the doors were closing (and before the masses made it across).  A nice nonstop run to Kings Cross, arriving into the rain as I headed across to St Pancras for 700008 to London Bridge (on a late running Rainham train I recall) and 707022 & 707030 to Waterloo East, changing to 159107, 159101 & 159020 on a SWR service to take me back to Grateley.

Former British Waterways Warehouse overlooking the Nottingham & Beeston Canal in Nottingham

An enjoyable day in the East Midlands, two completely different walks, one step closer to finishing the Soar Navigation and a long-term canal aim complete.

28th August – Medway Exploring

After the wet Wednesday was spent in London, hunting down various units (getting a couple more 701s into my book as well as another 730/2 & my last 807, I looked up options for the Thursday which was suggesting Maidstone/Tonbridge would be mostly dry with some showers, allowing me to dig out a plan which I had on my list of things for a while, to finish a couple of gaps on the River Medway in Kent, a river I had started back in March 2022 when revisiting stations for photos.  The only downside of doing it this week is that the Medway Valley had been cut to hourly for some unknown reason

The day began with 159006, 159008 & 159017 to Waterloo, where I had some time to kill before making my way across to Waterloo East for 377512 & 377510 on a Maidstone East semi-fast service from Charing Cross, taking me to Maidstone East where the first of my walks began.  I headed away from Maidstone East along the path leading towards Maidstone Barracks, but before crossing the Medway I took the stairs down to the path running north with the river on my left hand side (a path which doesn't exist on Google Maps).  Quite nice with trees as it headed away from Maidstone town centre, passing various boat yards, heading towards Allington Lock which marks the start of the tidal river (site of a Premier Inn).  After a couple photos of the lock, I continued going underneath the M20 towards the Forstal area of Aylesford, where the path alongside the river is currently closed forcing a detour onto the road passing various industrial units before I reached Aylesford itself.



Crossing over the Medway on the old Aylesford bridge I picked up a footpath which ran alongside the south bank of the river towards the area the station is located, getting extremely lucky crossing over the railway at a level crossing as it started to active as soon as I reached the opposite side, with the final section to the station itself, boarding a busy 375304 to take me to Beltring where the second walk would begin (after having lunch along the way).

Leaving the remote station of Beltring, I followed Torbay Road (a dead-end road) towards the A228 at East Peckham services to pick up the Medway path at the road bridge.  The first section was close to an outdoor activities place for kids but soon as I left the noise of the kids playing it went very quiet & very rural as I headed in a general western direction on a path which doesn't exist on Google Maps and even looking at Google Maps shouts out how rural it is (says something when I went to label the photos I did it Lock to Lock to break up the walk).

I needed to pause for a while near one of the locks as there was a heavy downpour, one of those downpours which lasted a couple of minutes, but I was thankful to be under a tree.  Once the downpour finished, I continued, going underneath Hartlake Road bridge (the only road bridge between East Peckham & Tonbridge).  An enjoyable walk for the isolation in rural Kent, but all good things come to an end as I reached Tonbridge with the final section towards the Town Bridge and finishing at Tonbridge station, just as the rain resumed.  There is another short section from Tonbridge towards Leigh which looks interesting (marked on Open Street Maps as "Tudor Trail" & the OS Map as "Eden Valley Walk" which could be interesting for next year.

River Medway at Eldridge Lock

Anyhow back to the trains and the next departure for London Charing Cross was a reasonably busy 375614 & 375908 from Hastings which was unusually (?) using platform 1 at Tonbridge, taking me to Waterloo East where I had a short walk across to Waterloo to take 159105, 159107 & 159018 back to Grateley to finish the day and finish the month for my exploring.

As always, more photos can be found on my Flickr *here*, thanks for reading my random tales of exploring random inland navigations and Hoshi ga Matataku Konna Yoru ni .