Day Trips in September 2025

 Day Trips in September 2025

13th September – Shropshire Union Canal

The weather forecast for the whole weekend was looking poor at times (to such a degree I cancelled an overnight stay in Cardiff for the Sunday night due to the heavy rain forecasted on the Sunday followed by the strong winds), although there was some promising on the Saturday and after considering a few options I decided to return to rural Staffordshire on the Shropshire Union, the section of towpath between Brewood & Wolverhampton is closed long term, however I could split the remainder as Brewood is served by an hourly Stafford – Wolverhampton bus service.

The day started with the 06:59 service to Waterloo with 159018, followed by 51660 & 51659 on the Northern line (for the first time in what felt like ages) to take me to Euston with plenty of time to spare to board 805004 on the 09:00 Holyhead train, complete with lots of football fans drinking various brands of cheap supermarket lager (so a case of putting in my earphones to drown out the singing).  At Stafford I had a short walk to a bus stop outside the Guildhall shopping centre for the Select Bus operated route 876 (with bus 14) on a busy route, heading via the Stafford suburbs to the south of the town centre before leaving the urban environment to run towards Penkridge and towards Wolverhampton, diverting from the A446 at Four Ashes towards the town of Brewood where I alighted in the town centre to begin my walk.

805004 at Stafford Station

I soon reached the canal on the western side of the town, dropping down onto the towpath to walk northwards, passing a good number of moored boats before the countryside arrived.  I crossed the A5 on a nice aqueduct (although one which is better looked at from below) and continued with the scenery changing from woodland cuttings to running along an embankment with views of rural Staffordshire.  I soon reached the village of Wheaton Aston with some locks which was the only settlement of note along the walk today.  The towpath was changeable in quality from the good (tarmac) to the rough (mud), but nothing that major.

Leaving Wheaton Aston behind I continued along the towpath, enjoying the countryside and peace, having to dive for cover a couple of times due to passing showers, although pausing for one heavy downpour which I spent underneath a tree near some fishermen (hiding underneath their large umbrellas).  Thankfully the downpour didn't last for long and I continued along the wet ground towards Gnosall.  The section in Cowley cutting was the worse for mud & puddles but I was expecting that.  A short tunnel (of which used to be longer but got opened out) with Cowley tunnel before the final section into Gnosall where I ended the walk at the bus stop near the canal crossing (rather than walking into the village like I did the week before).

Inside Cowley Tunnel on the Shropshire Union Canal

It was back to Stafford on the Arriva run route 5 service (with bus 3780) coming up with an idea for the journey home, but first job was to visit Tesco near Stafford station to purchase a new tee-shirt as the one I was wearing was a bit damp.  With my purchase made, I headed to the station and onto winner 730232 to Wolverhampton for a 30-minute fester before winner 730220 followed to take me to Birmingham New Street.  I got lucky at Birmingham as a Scotland - London service was running late enough to be behind the 730 so I headed across to platform 1 to board 390127 when it rolled in, departing a few minutes late.

I took this busy Pendo to Milton Keynes Central, transferring to 350117 & 350126 on the next stopping service to take me to Tring where I had a 20-minute fester (watching the passing trains at speed) before taking 730230 & winner 730218 to Watford Junction on a Tring starter to take me to Watford Junction for another 30-minute fester for winner 730235 to Euston.  Linear hopping like crazy to grab some winning 730s, just like the olden days!  At Euston it was straight to the underground for 51668 & 51669 to Waterloo, where I made a tight connection onto 159101 & 159002 on a busy (to Woking at least) Salisbury service to take me home to Grateley where I could relax for the remainder of the evening.

730218 at Watford Junction

14th & 15th September – London Days

With the poor weather (mainly the strong winds) I decided to play it safe, staying local (ish) in London, scoring my last 2 active Greater Anglia 720s (720503 & 720534), leaving just 505 for whenever that enters use.  Also scored another 730 with 730216 as well as getting a trio more 1973 stock units into my book for a mile, spotting my first new DLR unit (on test) and having a random trip to Sevenoaks solely to cover Sevenoaks to Orpington on a Thameslink service (something I was hoping to do back in March 2022 only to get bowled out with cancellations).

The Monday was spent getting some more 701s into my book, as well as having a walk from Hampton Wick towards Surbiton along a path on the south side of the Thames, one of those paths which had been on my list to do for a while but like many walking ideas in London it’s getting the time to actually do it without getting side-tracked.  A bonus was getting 701021 into my book on its first passenger service (which wasn’t actually planned as I was going to take 701013 to Surbiton but missed that unit at Waterloo due to being held outside the station).

700017 at Sevenoaks Station

23rd September – Disused Railway in Horncastle

With 3 days off and with the weather looking quite decent for walking, I decided to head towards Lincolnshire to walk a short disused railway route which required buses at both ends.  The Woodhall Spa – Horncastle branch line, which came off the former Lincoln – Boston railway route.  The day started with the 06:18 from Grateley with 159107 & 159017 which unexpectedly terminated at Basingstoke due to signalling issues at Waterloo.  Good thing I had a good buffer at the London end as 15 minutes later a busy 444044 & 444016 rolled in, I got lucky with a seat in the rearmost coach, away from the masses waiting nearer the front of the train.

At Waterloo, after grabbing supplies I headed towards King’s Cross arriving with 20-odd minutes to spare before the 09:06 York stopping service, featuring my first 91 for over 2 years with 91106 hauling the Mk4 coaches with DVR 82214 on the rear.  Onwards to Newark Northgate and a connection onto 170516 working a Lincoln service to take me into Lincoln station where I had around 50 minutes to kill before my first bus move, as annoyingly both hourly bus services depart Lincoln bus station on the hour.

91106 at London Kings Cross

I headed towards the city centre area, up the steep hill (which was quite steep!) towards the cathedral and castle area, doing a loop around the cathedral being amazed at the detail of the stone work, before heading back down the hill towards the bus station and onto the Stagecoach run route 56 service to Skegness.  With double decker 11740 on this busy service.  A bit slow leaving Lincoln city centre area due to traffic, but once out of the city it was following the A158 towards Langworth, Wragby, Baumber & finally Horncastle where I alighted from the bus to begin my walk.

After crossing over the road, I followed a path alongside the River Waring to where it met the River Bain, having a small detour towards the area of the former Horncastle Station (not much evidence remains).  Heading back to the Bain I followed the path running alongside the river (and the former Horncastle Canal) before picking up the route of the old railway branch line, heading into woodlands with the river on my left-hand side (and a popular dog walking route from what I can gather).  The path continued eventually leaving the river behind (complete with scary looking fence to stop people looking at the site of a former lock), heading underneath the B41191 and into a cutting (and passing a Viking longboat, as this path forms part of the long distance "Viking Way" path).

Spa Trail (former railway line) between Horncastle & Woodhall Spa

The cutting changed back to some lovely woodland for the last section of old railway towards the Roughton Moor area where the railway path ends at Sandy Lane (the section beyond here lost to modern developments or private land).  I followed Sandy Lane for a short distance picking up a footpath which crossed a golf course leading towards Woodhall Spa, after visiting a Co-Op for some supplies (and some handy public toilets) I headed towards the bus stop on the Long Avenue to pick up the Brylaine Travel run route B5 service (runs between Boston & Lincoln) with a 20-year-old Solo (YJ05 JXG) for this reasonably busy route.

After the bus cleared the traffic caused by road works within Woodhall Spa, it headed towards Kirkstead (and the River Witham where there is a 16-mile cycle path heading towards Lincoln along the route of another old railway line).  This route had some fast running as it headed towards the former RAF Metheringham where I noticed a chance to get home an hour earlier by bailing at Metheringham station (also a chance for a random revisit considering the last time I visited this basic station it was for a matter of a few minutes).

170512 at Metheringham Station

It was a short wait before a busy 170512 rolled in from Lincoln on a Peterborough working as I settled back for the run towards Sleaford & Spalding as I hadn't been along this route for a good few years (probably December 2021 when I did a LNER Lincoln divert).  At the Peterborough end, this service took the dive-under underneath the ECML to terminate on platform 7 where I had a reasonable connection to platform 3 to board 801221 on a service from Bradford which arrived a good 5 minutes ahead of schedule.

This Azuma took me to Kings Cross where I had a short walk across to St Pancras to jump onto 700102 to London Bridge, followed by a trio of South Eastern 375s (375813, 375703 & 375812) for the short hop to Waterloo East.  After grabbing dinner, I headed to the 18:50 Salisbury service formed of 158883 & 159008 to take me back to Grateley, relaxing after an enjoyable walk in the Lincolnshire countryside.

24th September – Return to the Caldon Canal

I decided to return to rural Staffordshire to finish my walking coverage of the Caldon Canal from the remote Hazelhurst Junction towards Birches Head in Stoke.  The day starting like the Tuesday with the 06:18 service towards Waterloo with 159014 & 159007, giving me plenty of time to grab some supplies and stroll towards Euston where 350401 & 350374 were waiting to take me to Rugby on the 08:46 LNR service for Crewe.  A short wait at Rugby before 390011 rolled in on a very lightly loaded London – Manchester service, with a Scottish 320 passing the Pendo when it was at Rugby heading back to Scotland after visiting Wolverton works.

Leaving the Pendo at Stoke on Trent, I headed towards the bus stop outside the station to jump onto the First operated route 25 service (with bus 35943) to take me towards the Hanley Bus Station where I had around 35 minutes to waste before the next route 18 service for Leek (with bus 63364).  I was planning on alighting at the bus stop near “Leek Old Road” in the Dunwood area, and the next stop announcement even said it was the right bus stop, but there was a random disused bus stop flag beforehand (and before I noticed it was in the wrong place, the bus had already gone towards Leek).  

390011 departing Stoke on Trent Station

Thankfully I was able to recover with a poorly signed footpath across a slightly bumpy field, crossing the Endon Brook and the mothballed Leek - Stoke railway line before reaching the canal with a steep slope to drop onto the towpath.  The first point of call was to walk towards Hazlehurst Junction before heading back towards the bridge and then onwards (on the decent quality towpath) towards Endon.  The canal running alongside the old railway route in this area giving the occasional glimpse of overgrown track.

The canal skirted round the edge of Endon and headed towards Stockton Brook heading underneath the A53 and also the mothballed railway route.  Clearly the old railway is used by locals as there were paths visible but nothing shown on the map (so likely something completely unofficial), there were even worn paths leading from the canal towpath towards the railway (where I couldn't turn down for some photos of the trees growing between the tracks.

Remains of Stoke - Leek Railway line in the Stockton Brook area

Back on the canal as it entered a rural section between Stockton Brook & Norton Green with some nice scenery, entering into Stoke on Trent with another crossing of the mothballed railway route (which from the ground looked like it was fenced off, but heading from the towpath saw the fence only covering part of the tracks, all very strange.  Anyhow the ruralness soon turned into the urban environment as the canal snaked its way towards the Birches Head area where I left the towpath at the road, another canal into my little book.  Although in hindsight I ought to have stayed on the canal as there was a steep hill as I headed towards a bus stop with a frequent bus route (called the Cheshire Cheese), again in hindsight looking at the map I was close to the Central Forest Park so I could have detoured that way for a little explore.  Ah-well.

The first Hanley bound bus was a D&G run route 9A (with bus 90) taken to Hanley Bus station, for a short walk onto the D&G operated route 9 service (with bus 6002) to take me to the railway station where I headed towards platform 1 and onto 390049 on the next London service for my last 720 had finally entered traffic and was on an evening Braintree service.  This Pendo took me to London Euston, where I headed underground with a Northern line to Tottenham Court Road for a spot of linear hopping towards Stratford, getting lucky with 4 more 92 stock sets being cleared for a mile (could have had a 5th had I jumped blindly on the first train at Tottenham Court Road).  At Stratford it was a short wait before 720573 & winner 720505 rolled in on the Braintree service, standing room only in the front coach of 505 but after today I won’t need to head to Shenfield for a while.

720505 departing Shenfield Station

Crossing over to platform 1-2 at Shenfield it was a short wait before 720101 & 720545 took me back to Stratford, where I headed to Tottenham Court Road, this time via the Eliabeth line and 345064, turning down the first Northern line set to get rewarded with a sub mile set on the following service to take me to Waterloo where I jumped onto 158881 & 159015 on the 18:50 service for Salisbury to take me back to Grateley.  An enjoyable day with a nice walk along the Caldon Canal in the sunshine.

25th September – “From the Trent to the Thames” – Soar Navigation Part 3

A slightly later start for me this morning with the 07:27 service (159001, 159106 & 159019) to Waterloo and another cross London stroll to reach St Pancras with plenty of time before the 10:05 EMR service for Nottingham with 222101 on the speedy run towards East Midlands Parkway where my walk began.  Leaving the station area walking towards a roundabout and onto a road leading towards Redhill Marina, picking up the Soar Navigation near Redhill flood lock and the towpath (if you could call it that!).  I followed the path going via a field (complete with cows & sheep), running towards the Trent where the River Soar flows into the Trent.  I guess in the olden days there would have been a ferry across the Trent but these days the towpath of the Soar ends on the southern bank, opposite the entrance to the Erewash Canal) and to continue walking towards Nottingham requires a detour towards Sawley Marina near the M1.

I did a little loop following a footpath to head back towards Redhill Marina, heading south as the river snaked its way towards the A453 dual carriageway with a "footpath ahead closed sign" (my heart having the sinking feeling).  My walk continued along the Soar, mostly across a field, eventually reaching the area where the towpath was closed at Kegworth Flood lock, thankfully there was a parallel path to bypass the section closed due to lock improvement works so I could continue my walk.

Cooling towers of Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station overlooking the station at East Midlands Parkway

The towpath flipped sides on the outskirts of Kegworth for some delightful countryside walking towards Zouch (with Sutton Bonington not being that far away), where once more the towpath flipped sides as it crossed over a flood lock with the towpath being replaced once more with a path across a field with Normanton on Soar being on the opposite bank (complete with a little chain ferry across the water).  I continued the walk in the countryside as thankfully the path did improve as I reached the outskirts of Loughborough, leaving the Soar River for the final time as I followed the Loughborough Cut, heading towards the town centre and a Travelodge overlooking the basin.

I finished my walk with a short double back to the junction with the short town arm to head towards the A60 bridge near the railway station, being able to say Soar Navigation is now complete.  From the Thames to the Trent the Grand Union is complete.  Thankfully the next London bound service at Loughborough was running a few minutes late and I even got a decent seat on 222013 for the slow run towards Leicester.  I have no clue why it was so slow, even for the nonstop run towards London it kept on losing time eventually arriving 29 minutes late.

Soar Navigation between Sutton Bonington & Zouch.

At London I headed to the Thameslink platforms for 700147 to London Bridge and onto a delayed 375911, 375917 & 375818 which was being delayed due to an incident at Waterloo East.  Thankfully the train did depart towards Waterloo East giving me time to head to the 18:23 service for Exeter formed of a busy (even at the front of the train!) 159017, 159107 & 159010 to take me back to Grateley to end my 3 days of late September walking in the sunshine.

As always, thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr Here.  September is nearly over, scary that.