Trips in November, Part 2

Trips in November, Part 2

24th November – Coastal Path Walking in Kent

The Sunday was spent heading to Ramsgate with the novelty of a diverted South Eastern 395 via Canterbury East due to engineering works and an evening with my good friend Dan having a good catch up staying overnight in a hotel near the Westwood Cross shopping centre.  After we had breakfast and said farewell, I had a stroll towards Ramsgate station and onto a pair of 375s to Birchington on Sea where I had an enjoyable stroll along the coastal path towards Herne Bay via Reculver and remains of St Mary’s Church.  After visiting the pier at Herne Bay, I headed to the station (complete with a new footbridge with lifts) for 395002 to St Pancras for some High Speed before making my way to Waterloo (via Thameslink & South Eastern due to the weather being a bit more damp in London) and to Grateley to get myself ready for a few days in the North East as this was my week of autumn annual leave.

Remains of St Mary's Church at Reculver

25th November – Tyne & Wear Day 1

The day started early with a run into Waterloo and a gentle stroll to Kings Cross to board 180106 on the morning Grand Central service to Sunderland, once more it departed London quite busy in the rearmost coach, lost a handful at Peterborough before losing 75% of the passengers at York.  I continued for the trip via the Durham coast to Sunderland where after buying my Tyne & Wear Metro Day ticket, headed to East Boldon for a short disused railway line walk towards Tyne Dock.  One of those walks which had been on my list for this area, but one not worth shouting about, reasonable quality path but not a lot of evidence of the former railway line.

At Tyne Dock, I headed to South Shields to do the ferry across the Tyne to North Shields before another short walk heading towards the Royal Quays Marina, doing a loop of the marina towards Chirton Dene Park before heading towards Redburn Dene Park (climbing up the hill for some nice views).  After a detour to the Newcastle Quays retail park, the rain started so I soon made my way towards Percy Main station, my original aim was to continue a bit further as I've got some walking ideas for paths in the area circled by the Metro.  This was a week where the Metro wasn't the best in terms of frequency with missing trains causing long gaps, thankfully I didn't have to wait for long for a pair of older units to take me to Whitley Bay where I got checked into the accommodation I used earlier in the year, even getting an upgrade to a double bed rather than the single bed I paid for.

Metrocar 4029 near East Boldon Station

After checking in and emptying out my rucksack, I headed back out to take a 555 to Haymarket for a little stroll in the busy city centre before a spot of 555 hunting getting 004, 006, 017 & 018 into my book before heading to the Regent Centre to visit the large Asda for some supplies before making my way back to Whitley Bay to relax for the rest of the night as it was getting cold!

26th November - Derwent Valley Walk

The cold day started with a run towards Monument (via North Shields) on a pair of older Metro units, before I made my way to the Eldon Square Bus Station for the next X45 bus towards Consett, which I took as far as Blackhill on the northern edge of the town, where in the summer time I had a change of plan and instead of walking towards the Metrocentre I ended up walking towards Durham.  The Derwent Valley Walk is a path along (mostly) the route of the former Derwent Valley Railway branch line, and soon as I left the built-up area around Shotley Bridge, being careful with some icy patches (especially on some minor road crossings where it was a sheet of ice), the views opened up.

The path runs high in the hills overlooking places like Ebchester & Hamsterley, it even had the remains of a few stations’ platforms, certainly an enjoyable walk for scenic views and of forests.  At Rowlands Gill the route of the old railway has been lost forcing a detour via the roads before re-joining the old railway route in woodland heading towards the Derwenthaugh Park, an area with many walks where the cycle route leaves the old railway to follow the river Derwent itself.  The old railway line walk ends in Swalwell where I switched to following a path in the Derwenthaugh Riverside Park alongside the river to take me towards the Tyne & the railway bridge over the Derwent.

Remains of Lintz Green railway station on the Derwent Walk 

The last section was a cycle path which ran close to the railway line towards the Metrocentre, I was going to head towards Dunston but the last section of this path after the former Cross Lane was flooded so I headed to the Metrocentre station itself to take 158849 into Newcastle, changing onto 156496 on the next train to Ashington to visit the recently opened station at Blyth Bebside.  After a couple of photos (the rain had returned), I took the same 156 back to Newcastle changing over to 156475 to take me to Sunderland via the King Edward Bridge, where I jumped onto a 555 to Park Lane and onto winner 555038 which was delayed for some unknown reason, moving forward into Sunderland station for a further delay before setting off towards Newcastle.  I bailed at Pelaw deciding it wasn't worth hanging around due to various issues and took 555018 all the way to Whitley Bay, where I visited Spoons for something hot before relaxing for the rest of the night.

27th November – Deerness Valley Railway & Bishop Auckland Walk

Today I got a bit carried away with my walking due to the reasonable weather, for my original idea was to finish in the Langley Moor area (on the outskirts of Durham).  The Derrness Valley Railway path runs from the town of Crook towards Broompark where it meets up with the Lanchester Valley Railway route & the railway route towards Bishop Auckland via Brandon.  The day started with winner 555012 to Central Station where I boarded 802209 on a TPE service which unusually departed from platform 1 to head via the High Level Bridge (and the former station at Gateshead), to take me to Durham where I had a short walk to the bus station (getting lost along the way at signage is a bit rubbish), before jumping on an Arriva run X46 bus to Crook Market Place.

Crook looked to be a nice little town as I followed some roads to pick up the start of the railway path to the north of the town centre.  The first section was a decent quality footpath but had a long climb, something I wouldn't have expected from a railway line.  The path took me towards Stanley Crook and Waterhouses via some nice countryside & woodland.  After Waterhouses it was a short section towards Esh Winning before the woodland returned with the section towards Ushaw Moor and finally Broompark where I reached the point I reached earlier in the year.  I turned right onto the cycle path towards Bishop Auckland, down a steep hill to cross over the River Deerness before a steep climb back up to the route of the old railway line, the former bridge (I presume) has been lost to history.

I was now on the path towards Bishop Auckland via Brandon, where I decided on an extension towards Willington as it was only an extra 5 miles.  Some detouring around Langley Moor & Brandon due to the route of the railway being lost under modern development before the countryside opened out & I reached the site of the former Brancepeth station.  Although no evidence of the station remains other than a sign saying "the station was here".  Continuing along the path and I reached Willington where once more I decided to extend the walk as it was only an extra 3 miles to Bishop Auckland.

River Deerness near Broompark

In the Willington area, the route of the railway has been lost so it was a case of following the signs for the cycle path before joining up with the route of the old railway line for the last section towards Bishop Auckland the path ending at the northern edge of the town with the old railway line now part of the A689 road, including the Newton Cap Viaduct over the River Wear.  I had the option of either a bus towards Durham (or Newcastle) or using the train.  Based on the crowd waiting for the bus I decided to head towards the railway station via the town centre, after buying my ticket to Newcastle I took a seat on a delayed 156487 to Darlington as darkness was falling and 801212 to Newcastle.

At Newcastle I decided to jump on a pair of 156s on a Whitby service to take me to Sunderland where after a glance of RTT saw there would likely be a long wait for the next northbound Metro (as the previous couple of services hadn't run) I escaped onto another 156 back to Newcastle, heading to the Metro grabbing winner 555035 to Gateshead Stadium and onto 555018 (again!) to Whitley Bay, where once more I ended up in the pub for food.  A long walk (17.8 miles!) but it was worth it for the views and the decent quality paths.

555018 at Whitley Bay Station

28th November – A stroll in Blyth

A later start than the previous couple of days as I checked out of the accommodation, certainly a place I will use again if the price is right.  After grabbing breakfast I jumped onto an Arriva route 308 bus to Blyth bus station, doubling back towards Ridley Park to pick up the England coastal path heading towards the Quayside before heading inland due to industrial units along the bank of the River Blyth.  I soon re-joined the riverside picking up a cycle route running alongside (mostly) the southern bank of the river.  I headed underneath the A189 road (where the coastal path heads across the river and towards Cambois) and the railway viaduct heading towards the Dene Park near the former Bedlington Ironworks.

I continued my walk close to the river Blyth heading towards Bedlington finishing at Attlee Park, where I joined the roads to walk towards Blyth Bebside station, arriving with good timing as the rain returned a few minutes after I boarded 156444 for the run to Newcastle.  An enjoyable little stroll from Blyth town centre towards the new station, going via Bedlington.  Once in Newcastle I grabbed some lunch items before getting a seat on 801205 on a semi-fast London service, getting very busy after York due to issues at Wakefield.

Bedlington Viaduct over the River Blyth

Once I reached London, I headed towards Waterloo via Thameslink & South Eastern to take a pair of 159s to Grateley to rest for the rest of the evening, sorting out my rucksack & making a start with the many photos taken during my trip.

29th November – A trip to Eastbourne

The weather had turned a bit damper and colder, and after a busy week I fancied a quieter Saturday.  I headed towards Woking, changing onto winner 701033 to Clapham Junction where I spent the next couple of hours grabbing 701048, 701026 & 701050, including a stroll from Fulwell towards Teddington as a time-wasting stroll during a break in the rain.

After finishing with the 701s I headed across to Waterloo East, jumping onto a pair of 375s for the run to Hastings on a semi-fast service, changing over to 387127 to Eastbourne on a Brighton service and onto 387209 & 387203 on a Victoria service to take me to East Croydon, an area of the country I hadn’t visited for a while.  At East Croydon I headed to the tram platforms, noticing how much different it looks since the former Post Office building has been knocked down (and all the new high rise tower blocks springing up).

40 or so minutes later, just as I was about to give up, tram 2561 rolled in on a service to Beckenham Junction which I took to Blackhorse Lane to clear it for a mile, returning to East Croydon on tram 2541, all the active trams in Croydon now cleared for a mile (I missed out on the tram which was involved in the accident which I believe has been written off).  Back at East Croydon it was a case of jumping on the first available train towards London, which was 377203 & 377431 to Clapham Junction, heading into Waterloo on a pair of 450s to get a decent seat on 159019 back to Grateley.  A reasonable productive day with the wet weather where I didn’t have the drive to head to the underground due to the time of year.

London Tram 2561 at Blackhorse Lane

30th November – A Trip to Portsmouth

For the last trip in November, I didn’t want a late finish due to starting work on an early shift on the Monday, so after a quick play on RTT I drove to Andover to take 159103 & 158886 to Clapham Junction going via Isleworth.  After a short wait at Clapham Junction, it was onto 377442 & 377410 on a Portsmouth Harbour service which due to engineering works was diverted via Dorking, a line I hadn’t been along for a while.

I left the 377s at Havant for a short wait before former GWR 387173 rolled in on a Portsmouth Harbour service from Brighton, which sadly got cut short at Portsmouth & Southsea due to signalling issues near Portsmouth Harbour.  After a short stroll in the city centre, I jumped onto 444028 & 444008 which was starting from platform 3 (due to the signalling issues) on the next fast service towards London, a train which got busy at Guildford due to the limited service towards London due to the works near Wimbledon.  At Woking I jumped onto another pair of 444s to Basingstoke before a pair of 158s to Andover, calling it a night with a visit to the big Tesco for some supplies.  I might not have been successful in getting a 387 to Portsmouth Harbour, but Sundays are probably the best day due to the units interworking between Portsmouth & Southampton.

387173 at Portsmouth & Southsea

Anyhow, thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr Here