Trips in December 2025

 Trips in December 2025

5th December – Peak Forest Canal & a muddy bypass

The day started with a single 158 on a peak time London service, which being Friday coped with the crowds (would dread to think how busy it would have been on a Wednesday), where I had a little stroll to Euston to jump on 390047 on a Manchester service via Crewe to take me to Stockport as today was the day I was hopefully going to put a large dent in the Peak Forest Canal, I will still have a short section to walk in the Bugsworth Basin area, but I’ve got a plan for that area.  At Stockport I headed to the bus station to jump on the next route 330 service for Ashton which was a busy service, however I couldn’t help thinking that the timings of some of the traffic lights at the end of bus lanes could have been better as it felt like the bus was waiting on the Portwood Roundabout for a fair while.

Anyhow I alighted from the bus at Apethorn Lane on the edge of Hyde, walking the short distance along this lane towards the disused railway path I walked earlier in the year from Godley, and joined the canal where I headed south via the Apethorn Woods towards Woodley.  I continued along the reasonable towpath (bit flooded in places but nothing that serious), going through the tunnel, and skirting round the edge of Romiley.  Urban gave way to rural before a short bypass due to the Hyde Bank tunnel not having a towpath.  I joined the canal the other side of the tunnel, heading towards Marple Aqueduct and started the climb via the Marple Locks towards Marple itself.  The towpath switching sides a couple of times during the climb where I reached the junction with the Macclesfield canal (a job for the spring/summer time due to the towpath being a bit more rural in places).  I left Marple behind and headed into the countryside where the views of the peak district started to appear, until reaching a swing bridge between Marple & Strines where the towpath was closed for winter improvement works.

Peak Forest Canal in Marple

 

I won't repeat what I said as it was a bit rude, as I looked at the map, picking out a couple of footpaths which I was hoping would allow me to get back on the canal the other side of the block, heading towards Turf Lea and a very muddy & flooded footpath via woodlands, where thankfully I was able to re-join the canal to head towards Disley and finishing at New Mills, where I headed to New Mills Central to board 195006 from Sheffield.  I was surprised to get a seat considering this was short formed, however the train did fill up along the way into Manchester, where the rain had returned.  I made a tight connection onto 390016 on the next Euston service, getting a seat in a busy coach C, settling down for the fast run to Euston, where I had a little stroll to Waterloo for a triple 159 to take me back to Grateley.  An enjoyable, if not annoying canal walk, I suspect when the time comes to do Macclesfield to Marple I will extend the walk towards Strines to cover the section I missed.

6th December – Tour of Toton

When I noticed that both Cross Country & East Midlands were diverting via Toton (although at the start it wasn’t XC due to the strike but that got called off) I came up with a rough idea, even trying to fit in a sample of one of the shiny new 810 units from Nottingham.  Anyhow the day began with the first train of the day from Grateley to take me to Waterloo, where I headed to St Pancras via South Eastern & Thameslink to take a seat on 222013 on the Sheffield train, the lack of Derby showing on the departure board looked a tad strange.  Anyways, a couple of hours later I was at Sheffield, felt strange going via the Erewash Valley line without stopping, and I transferred to 150007 on the next Leeds via Moorthorpe stopper to take me to Bolton Upon Dearne for a little stroll.

Today's stroll, in the changeable weather was along the long distance Trans-Pennie Trail, as I headed south from Bolton Upon Dearne to pick up the path near the River Dearne for a stroll towards the Barnburgh Colliery Woodland and onto a footpath alongside the River Dearne to the south of Harlington before picking up the route of the former Dearne Valley Railway line towards Denaby Ings before heading towards Conisbrough where I followed an unofficial path (which was a bit muddy in places) to lead towards the River Don & the Mexborough Low Lock on the Kilnhurst Cut of the River Don Navigation.
I followed the waterway, dodging some of the larger puddles and trying not to slip on mud, as thankfully the towpath did improve as I reached Mexborough, running close to the railway I did have the option to bail at Mexborough station but decided to carry on, crossing the waterway on a bridge alongside the railway and headed onto the roads, as there was no towpath.  I was toying with doing another short section of the towpath in the Swinton area but the timings didn't work out.  Swinton might get 2 trains an hour towards Sheffield, but what doesn't help is they are less than 10 minutes apart.  When I was close to the station, I followed part of the towpath along the disused Dearne and Dove Canal before heading into the centre of Swinton to visit a handy Co-Op for some supplies (and also to waste some time).  After visiting the Co-Op I headed to the station, making use of the toilets within the building before squeezing onto 150008 to take me to Rotherham Central where I managed to see the 2nd of the trams out on the Rotherham route (as I still need one of the 399s for a mile).  After this I caught a busy 150273 into Sheffield, I dread to think how much revenue is disappearing due to overcrowding and the stations being open.

150007 at Swinton (Yorkshire) Station

This is where I noticed there was a few cancellations due to an incident around Kettering, with the next EMR being cancelled, so I jumped onto 220005 & 220016, easily getting a seat near the front of the train for the trip towards Derby via Toton, where I was considering boarding the EMR service which was starting at Derby but it was the time where football fans had arrived, complete with countless police officers so I decided not to bother with the 222 and staying on the voyagers to take me towards Birmingham New Street, where I transferred to 390136 on a service from Scotland to take me to Euston.

On arrival at Euston, I had a gentle stroll across to Waterloo to take a 158+159 combo back home to Grateley, where I dried off and relaxed.  I wasn't planning to do the canal section as my plan was to head towards Doncaster via the Trans-Pennie Trail, but that can be done on another day.  The Sunday was spent in London, hunting down various Piccadilly & District line units for a mile, as I decided to ditch my hotel stay in Torquay due to the weather being a bit rubbish.

8th December – Saying Farwell to the HSTs on GWR

This was a bit of a short notice plan due to ditching my hotel booking in Torquay due to the weather being wet, although even my original plan was thrown in the bin due to the Exeter – Penzance HST getting cancelled due to a train fault.  Anyhow I took a pair of 159s from Grateley towards Exeter St Davids on the 08:31 service, where I made the connection onto a pair of voyagers on the next Plymouth service.  At Plymouth I braved the rain to head to the large Sainsburys for some lunch items before taking a pair of 158s to Truro for a short wait before 43093 & 43198 rolled in on a Plymouth bound service, my last GWR HST service.

43093 arriving into Truro

At Plymouth, I transferred onto 802111 on the next London service to take me to Exeter St Davids where I joined a busy single 159103 on the next Waterloo service, getting very busy at Central due to being college kid time, I took this to Salisbury where I swapped over to another 159 for the run back home to Grateley.  An enjoyable if short day in the wet South West.

16th December – Return to the Tarka

I spent the 15th December in London, with a short walk following the Crane Park from Twickenham towards the Feltham area after roping in another 701 before clearing the active DLR units for a mile (I missed out on one of the older units outright due to being withdrawn before 2014 and one more for a mile as it was an early withdrawal).  Anyhow with the weather being suitable for walking I decided it would be a good chance to return to the Tarka trail, splitting the section from Meeth to Bideford at Great Torrington.

The day started with an early morning drive to Salisbury and onto a pair of 159s to Exeter Central, where they arrived near enough on time allowing me time to dash to the Co-Op outside the station (positioning myself near the front to beat the college students), before walking down the hill to St Davids due to conflicting information regarding bus stops.  I took a seat on the Stagecoach route 5B service which eventually gets to Barnstaple.  This route was quite pleasant for views, even on a grey day.  As it headed away from Exeter, heading towards Crediton (never realised how large the town is), Copplestone, North Tawton, Winkleigh, Dolton and finally Great Torrington where I alighted in the town centre area (as I could have alighted at the former station now a heritage railway)

My walk began heading south towards a steep footpath dropping towards the River Torridge, where I ran into a blocked footpath, forcing a short detour along a slightly muddy path alongside the banks of the river, before picking up the closed Rolle Road towards the railway viaduct over the river, climbing up onto the old trackbed and heading to the site of the station, now home to the short Tarka Valley Railway (complete with pacer rotting away).

Path along Rolle Road in Great Torrington

I continued along the route of the Tarka Trail, as it crossed over the River Torridge a handful of times with signs pointing towards an old canal.  The decent quality path continued running close to the A386 so not the quietest of paths, but still pretty with the woodland as it headed towards Landcross (passing the remains of the Rolle Canal Tide Lock down in the valley).  In Landcross there was a short tunnel before the path breaking away from the main road and crossing the Torridge for one last time on an Iron Viaduct and into the Seven Oaks Nature Reserve.  The walk ended a mile (or so) later at the former Bideford station and I dropped down onto the road to pick up a busy bus on a route 21A service to take me into Barnstaple.

My original idea was to have a little stroll in Barnstaple as there is an old railway line to the east of the station, but as the following train was shown as cancelled, I gave that a miss and headed to the station to jump on 150238 to take me into Exeter St Davids, where I had a stroll towards a nearby Spoons to meet up with Stu for a little catch-up before I returned to the station and onto a pair of 159s to take me back to Salisbury.  Another short section of the Tarka Trail complete, I got lucky as I was originally going to walk from Meeth on the 8th December, but when I joined the old railway at Torrington, I saw a sign saying the path was closed towards Meeth for improvement works.

River Torridge from the Tarka Trail between Landcross & Bideford

17th December – An unexpected stroll on the Capital Ring

Today didn’t get off to a good start, due to signalling issues at Salisbury the 07:27 at Grateley was cancelled (the train ran nonstop Salisbury – Basingstoke) and with the following service being delayed by around 15 minutes I decided to jump on the school kids express to Salisbury (thankfully some of the schools in Salisbury had already finished for the year so I was able to get a seat!)  I made it at Salisbury before the next London train rolled into the station with the announcement that it was only calling at Andover on the way to Waterloo (so getting lucky considering it was freezing cold this morning!).  A busy 3 coach unit, where it felt very strange passing Basingstoke, bringing back memories of the timetable from a few years ago where there was a handful of Waterloo – Salisbury services which were nonstop Clapham to Andover.

Thankfully I made it into Waterloo with time to spare to stroll to Euston to get 730222 into my little book with the run to Watford Junction, however it was running late so the connection with the Southern service was missed (as I was going to take that Southern service to Imperial Wharf for a short section of the Thames Path on the north bank of the river).  For the lack of a better idea, I took the next Overground service (710379) to South Kenton to have a walk on the Capital Ring, something I had been wanting to do more of this year (well 2025) but never got round to it.

710379 departs South Kenton

 

I decided to head east, towards Preston Park and via the roads passing Preston Road Underground to reach Fryent Country Park and the Barn Hill Open Space.  A bit muddy in places (and steep) but it was quite nice with the woodland.  After crossing the A4140 road I explored a bit more of the Fryent Country Park (although a bit of guess work at the route of the Capital Ring in the maze of footpaths).  I left the country park and into roads in the Kingsbury area, reaching a cycle path alongside the Brent Reservoir in the Welsh Harp Nature Reserve.  This took me towards Hendon, crossing over the M1 and headed north to Hendon station where my walk ended.

The next section of the Capital Ring in north London will be Hendon towards East Finchley underground, but who knows when I will get round to doing that.  I was toying with the idea of taking 700053 all the way to Herne Hill to have a little stroll around Brockwell Park but decided to alight from the train at West Hampstead Thameslink, for a little visit to Tesco for a late lunch before heading to West Hampstead Overground station, hoping for a 710 to Richmond but sadly that was a 378, before taking 378203 to Clapham Junction, finishing the day with a single 159 back home to Grateley, where I could relax and get ready for the next 7 early shifts at work.

Jubilee Line Set 96087 heading towards Wembley Park, near Fryent Country Park

27th December – A Day of frustration in South Wales

For my final walking trip of 2025, I decided on a trip to South Wales, originally my idea was to head towards Pantyffynnon to walk towards Gowerton, which changed the night before when I noticed TfW had decided to axe half the services on the Heart of Wales, deciding instead to walk north from Gowerton towards Pantyffynnon which would be reasonably tight but I would have a bus route to fall back on.

The day started with 159008 taken to Reading (due to the block between Clapham & Waterloo), grabbing some supplies for breakfast from a limited choice in the Sainsburys closest to the station before taking a seat on 800032 on a Carmarthen train, all was going well until it lost 15 minutes near the junction to the south of Yate due to a points failure, and a further 10 minutes at Bristol Parkway due to waiting on a signal (the signaller [or most likely the hopeless Automatic Route Setting] giving preference to an ECS service for Temple Meads.  With the delay being at 25 minutes I decided to cut my losses and bailed at Cardiff Central, it would have missed the connection at Swansea for Gowerton (although it would have made it, due to that train being late as well).

After grabbing my Valleys Day Ranger, I headed across to platform 7 to board a late running Treherbert service with the aim to visit the reopened (and rebuilt) Ynyswen station with 756117 for this service running around 30 minutes late, where it ran all stations to Pontypridd before running limited stop to Treherbert, calling at only Dinas Rhondda & Ystrad Rhondda.  I decided against visiting Ynyswen due the following service getting spun part route, and instead took this 756 towards Porth with the aim to walk the path towards Maerdy.  The first section was via Wynshir & Wattstown, where it was nice in places it's certainly a path I wouldn't rush back to.  When I reached Tylorstown, at the part where it was old railway, I ran into an unexpected closure of the path in the shape of a large fence.  I headed via the roads to another access point near a surgery but that was also closed, which was a bit annoying, but thankfully I was close to a bus stop to take a Stagecoach route 132 service towards Pontypridd (one reason for buying a Valley Day Ranger was the validity on Stagecoach routes in the Valleys).

Blocked off section of the Rhondda Fach Path near Tylorstown

 

At Pontypridd I got lucky with the next southbound service being winner 756001 which cleared the class with the run to Cardiff Central, where I changed onto 231004 to take me to Aber, I was hoping to get to Energlyn & Churchill Park but TfW weren't having a good day on this route, cancelling half of the services meaning it would be a 30-minute wait for the next train calling at Energlyn & Churchill Park.  My goal was to walk the old railway line path towards the village of Senghenydd, so after going via the roads towards the Hendredenny Park area I picked up the "Aber Greenway", which was quite scenic (although uphill).  I reached the village of Abertridwr, and once more I found my path blocked by a fence forcing an early finish to the walk as I headed towards the village centre and onto a route B bus towards Caerphilly bus station (which quite helpfully is next to the railway station).

At the railway station it was a short wait before 231001 rolled in to take me towards Cardiff Central where I had a bit of a wait for a late running GWR service (which was so late it was terminating at Reading).  Eventually 800003 & 800016 rolled in nearly an hour late, I managed to grab a seat near the rear of the train, which lost more time around Bristol Parkway, terminating at Reading around 70 minutes late (where it formed a service towards Weston).  After a short wait I boarded 159015 for the run back to Grateley to end the day.  A bit annoying to have to cut short walks once, yet alone twice (these were marked up cycle paths, so not minor footpaths), but at least I cleared the 756s.

Anyhow thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr for December Here, not the most productive months for walking due to the poor weather.