Trips 14th February to 22nd February

 Trips 14th February to 22nd February

14th February – Llanelly Railway at long last!

The walk I had planned today I’ve been wanting to do for a while, but all the previous times I’ve had to call it off due to poor weather or TfW changing the timetable removing services on the Heart of Wales line.  Back in 2023 when I was staying in Llanelli on a long weekend, I walked the section of the former “Heart of Wales” line from Gowerton towards Blackpill on Swansea Bay, noticing there was also a path heading north.  With the sun finally popping out I had an early start for 159007 on the first train from Grateley to take me to Basingstoke, connecting into 165113 on the stopper to Reading.  Giving me time to pop out to grab something to eat and a safer connection to the Carmarthen train than the XC service.

I got a reasonable seat on 800013 on the GWR service, all was going well until it stopped between Didcot & Swindon as there was some signalling issues meaning trains to London were using the bi-directional signalling on the “down” line, causing around a 15 minute delay before the 800 could proceed to Swindon, although this did mean after Cardiff the TfW to Milford Haven which would have been behind was in front, taking up the passengers for the likes of Neath or Swansea from Cardiff.  At Swansea it was a short walk to board 197018 on that Milford Haven service which had divided from a 3-coach unit (it’s a long walk from the concourse to the stop mark when services attach/detach).  I took this to Gowerton with a last-minute change of mind as I was originally going to walk south but a play with the timings saw a northbound walk being possible.

197018 at Gowerton Station

Since my last visit to Gowerton the closed path on the platform 2 side had both reopened and been upgraded to a nice smooth tarmac route to the area that side of the railway, it might have even used part of the old railway alignment.  I picked up the start of the mixed used path from Alder Way, being careful to dodge any icy patches (as it did get cold overnight).  A decent quality path, certainly looks to have had some money spent on it in the last few years, with a short detour near the A484 (featuring some slippery wooden bridges over waterways).  I soon reached the town of Gorseinon, the path skirting the eastern side of the town coming to an end near a storage yard for some fairground equipment.

After a short section along a road, I was back on the mixed used path, passing a large Asda and soon leaving the town behind and into the wilderness.  A busy path this with other walkers, dog walkers, joggers, cyclists & even a dog riding a cycle (ok I might have made the last one up), I was glad in a way to walk north to avoid walking in the direct line of the sun, the only slight downside being a spot of road noise from the M4 which was close by (similar to the Bridgewater Canal near Chat Moss, the sound travels across the empty land).  I passed the site of the former Grovesend station (and colliery) and soon reached the end of the old railway route where it meets the Swansea District Line.  It was onto the road, crossing both the Swansea District Line & the M4 (this point a dual carriageway), heading towards Pontarddulais.

Path along route of former Llanelly Railway between Gorseinon & Grovesend

After the Pontarddulais show park, I diverted onto another mixed used path, heading towards the Coed Bach Park woodland, making a mistake to follow Strava which was suggesting there was another decent path along the old railway close to the station, which turned out to be a rubbish unofficial path (bit muddy) and ran into a dead end forcing a double back towards the playing fields to head towards Pontarddulais station, going via the Tesco to grab lunch (and to waste some time).  At the station, I requested for the Swansea bound service (been a while since my last request stop!), formed of AT02 (153353 & 153528) and it was quite busy with a limited choice of seats.

I was toying with bailing at Llanelli to do a short walk towards some retail parks, but decided that could wait for another day (as I didn't fancy trying to board the next Cardiff bound service as it was showing as a 2 coach 197), so I remained on the 153s to Swansea, giving me time to change onto 802109 on the next Paddington service, which I took to Cardiff Central to step back a GWR service.  I've not seen Cardiff Central that busy in ages, it was like December in terms of passenger numbers.  Anyhow it was onto 387143 & 387156 for something a bit different, not costing me anything timing wise due to poor connections at Reading.  These 387s took me to Reading, where after popping outside the station for a couple bits I jumped onto 221139 on the next XC service to Basingstoke and finishing the day with 158890 & 159108 to take me home to Grateley.  An enjoyable stroll between Gowerton & Pontarddulais, certainly one I would recommend.

153528 (AT02) at Pontarddulais Station

16th February – Return to the Cole Valley Path

Back in February last year I had a nice walk with my good friend Jules between Marston Green & Stechford via the Cole River path, ending the walk early at Stechford due to sore feet.  The second section between Stechford & Yardley Wood/Shirley has been on our list to try and do at some point. I was originally going to be spending Sunday night in Birmingham, but called it off due to the heavy downpours forecasted, however with Monday looking better it was a good chance for a good catch-up and to finish the walk.

The day began with the first train of the day from Grateley to Waterloo with 159106 & 159013 to Waterloo, where I had a little explore on the way to Marylebone by foot (another London terminus to London terminus station walk complete) before boarding some Mk3 coaches with 68014 at the business end of the train (and DVT 82309 at the rear), as the first coach was busy (start of half term) I took up a seat in the former business class area for another farewell to the Chiltern Mk3s, even if the PIS was a bit iffy, only announcing stations as the train doors opened rather than on the approach.

68014 at London Marylebone

Along the way I decided to switch the direction of the walk, as the timings were slightly better, even if it did involve a tight connection at Birmingham Moor Street requiring a fast walk from platform 3 (I even relocated towards the front of the train after Solihull to make things easier) to platform 1 to board 172331 & 172005 on a Whitlock’s End terminator for the slow run to Shirley where the walk began.  Heading out of the station, following a couple of roads to reach Green Lane Park, following the river Cole north towards Colebrook Road, where after a failed detour to follow a path which Strava was suggesting existed ended up with a tall fence (clearly had there been a path there once, it was no longer passable), we followed the roads to rejoin the River Cole path near a ford on Slade Lane.  The next landmark was the Trittiford Mill Park and its lake, before a short detour alongside the Chinn Brook, following the tarmac path rather than anything on the grass.  We doubled back towards the River Cole near Yardley Wood station and onto a section which wasn't tarmac but plastic grippy squares set in the mud, not the easily to walk along but thankfully the tarmac soon returned as we entered the Shire Country Park.

Our walk continued mostly heading north and thankfully the rain had ended with the sun coming out, enjoying the countryside within urban Birmingham, crossing the busy A34 road and onto a section which was a bit flooded in places, all that recent rain.  We reached a industrial estate area with a random former Military plane alongside a office block (completely random that).  After crossing the busy A41 road, and via another industrial area we once more followed the river passing an outdoor ski slope and a steep climb towards the Grand Union canal which we dropped down onto for a short section, going underneath the railway and towards the Tyseley Park.  This section whilst it had a decent path wasn't the nicest due to heavy littering and heavy traffic noise from the A45 running close by.

66572 crossing the Grand Union Canal near Small Heath

Thankfully once we left the main road behind, we entered the southern section of the Kingfisher Country Park, following the path heading north towards the Stechford area, hitting a section which was quite muddy going underneath the railway viaducts and near a lake, I was glad this section was the last bit and not the first section as it wouldn't have given the best first impression.  We reached Station Road to complete the walk, and with time in hand we headed to Lea Hall to clear a 3-hour challenge.  Getting lucky when at the station to see a 37 passing towing a 730.  Other than the section near the railway viaducts, quite a reasonable walk, hard to tell at times we were in Birmingham!

At Lea Hall station, we jumped onto 730016 to Birmingham International, when I popped to the ticket office to get a change of route excess for my return journey (something I was hoping to have done at the ticket office at Lea Hall, but it was closed), although it was a case of not needing to rush as the next London train was delayed due to earlier trespassers around Watford (or another reason, which I can’t remember).  We jumped onto 390134 grabbing a seat in coach E which was reserved from Birmingham but had nobody sat in, bidding farewell to Jules at Coventry as he went in hunt of food and I settled down for the slow run to Euston, it might have been non-stop but it was slow due to congestion.

37800 passing Lea Hall Station

I decided to head to the underground, it might have been raining, with Northern line sets 51632 & 51631 taken for the short distance to Waterloo, where I had some time to kill before taking 159003, 159007 & 158883 back to Grateley to end the enjoyable social day, not much in the way of trains but a nice walk.  Another walk I can remove from my West Midlands list.

17th February – Merseyside Day 1

I randomly booked a room in a shared house in Edge Hill, not the place I’ve used a couple times before but a different house, but managed by the same company (judging by the style of emails), with the idea of doing some exploring, although in hindsight booking it for 3 nights would have been better than 2 nights as it would give 2 full days without carrying the mobile house.  The hardest thing was trying to decide what to do as my list of potential walking ideas for this area of the country is quite long, although some ideas were sidelined straight away due to being more summer walks (canals).  Eventually I came up with a rough idea of my walking ideas, as thankfully the weather was looking dryer compared to the previous week.

The trip began with the 07:27 service from Grateley with 159017, 159105 & 159018 for the speedy trip to Waterloo where I had my usual walk to Euston to board the 09:43 service for Liverpool Lime Street, grabbing a seat in the standard class section of 807004 (empty other than one other passenger who alighted at Milton Keynes and some staff travelling), first time I’ve called at Liverpool South Parkway on a 807, with an uneventful trip north, arriving near enough on time allowing a fast walk to the Merseyrail platforms to jump onto 777025 to West Kirby where my walk would begin.

The first section was via roads to reach a path which ran alongside the railway line towards Hoylake with some nice views on the right-hand side.  At Hoylake I followed the King's Gap Road to reach the seafront, heading along the path at the top of the sea wall for some coastal views.  I continued along this path towards Meols before the road disappeared as I entered the North Wirral Coastal Country Park.  A busy path (due to being half term), as I followed the route passing the Leasowe Lighthouse and a posh looking hotel near a golf club.

Leasowe Beach 

My coastal walk continued with a short detour round the edge of Leasowe Beach heading towards Wallasey, the road making a return for the final section towards New Brighton, reaching the shopping centre area where I walked towards Seacombe last year.  I jumped onto 777037 for the short journey to Wallasey Village to start another walk as there was a path which was showing on the maps which looked interesting.  The first section was alongside the road towards Leasowe to pick up a cycle path in the Links View Playing Fields which headed towards a housing estate, this is where things went a bit muddy as Strava (and Google) suggested the path headed across a slightly muddy field to pick up a path alongside a minor waterway which was quite muddy.  Thankfully a hard surface resumed near a crossroads with a path across a golf club heading towards Bidston area and an unmarked access path to the housing estate I had just circled round.  I continued the stroll as I reached the Birket river, following the path towards a road near Leasowe station and on towards a road near Moreton station, doing a little loop towards the Lighthouse for some better photos.  The walk ended at Moreton station where I jumped onto 777017 for the run to Hoylake station to visit a recommended Spoons.

Leasowe Lighthouse

After dinner, I returned to the station and onto 777049 for the run back towards Liverpool city centre, transferring onto a very busy 323226 on a Wigan stopper to take me to Roby (for lack of a better idea and for some better photos), jumping onto 331102 from Manchester to take me to Edge Hill, where after a detour to a nearby Farmfoods shop I followed the route towards the shared house, which was located on Marmaduke Street, near a Tesco.  Once I managed to get the door to open (what didn't help is the digital access code was an unfriendly 9 digits long), I located my room on the first floor, next to a toilet/shower area, getting myself sorted out for the following day and relaxing.  Sounded like I was the only person in the house on the Tuesday night as I didn't hear anybody else, room was at the rear of the house so didn't have much in the way of outside noise, just the window blind was a bit small.  OK during the winter months but I suspect during summer when it gets light early not going to be ideal.  Anyhow, it was a good first day, that coastal path in the Wirral had been on my list for a while, I just need to research the path options heading alongside the Mersey heading towards the Eastham area.

18th February – Scratching the surface of the old Railways in Greater Manchester

My original idea for today was to do the old railway path from Adlington towards Red Rock followed by a route skirting round Wigan towards Platt Bridge and finally towards Tyldersley however the timings from Liverpool didn’t quite work out so that went back on the shelf, instead I dusted off a plan I worked on for January time to do some old railways within the western side of Greater Manchester.

The day began with a stroll towards Liverpool city centre to grab some breakfast before taking 777150 to Headbolt Lane, switching to former EMR 156408 and 150110 on a Blackburn service, the 150 being locked out of use due to short platforms on this route.  I took this combo to Swinton where my walk began, it had been a while since I last did a train from Headbolt Lane towards Wigan and towards Swinton. The first section was via the roads (and Morrisons for lunch items) to go via Victoria Park to pick up the "Swinton Greenway", along the route of the closed London & North Western route from Patricroft & Molyneux Brow via the Clifton Hall tunnel.  Although that tunnel is long since filled in.  I headed along the path, underneath the East Lancashire Road with some nice views along the way, ending up in Monton (close to Eccles) where the rest of the railway route has been lost to history.

150110 departing Swinton (Manchester) Station

A short section via the roads followed before I picked up the "Roe Green Loopline", a path making use of the route of the former Tyldesley Loopline.  This was a little gem of a path for some nice woodland as I headed towards Worsley, going underneath the M60 and reaching Roe Green where the path split.  One side heading towards the former Walkden Low Level station & Bolton and the other side heading towards Tyldesley.  I went underneath the East Lancashire Road on a skew bridge, still with some nice views heading towards the Ellenbrook area, where the former railway line path came to an end on Newearth Road.  The remainder of the Roe Green Loopline is high on my list of things to walk.

The next section of the walk was alongside the Leigh Guided Busway (which was bult along the old railway route, with a good quality mixed used path alongside it.  I continued the walk heading towards Tyldesley, the path swapping sides a couple of times.  After Tyldesley the countryside returned as I headed towards Leigh, where both the guided busway and old railway ends (I believe there is a short section the other side of Leigh heading close to Pennington Flash but that needs more research.

Roe Green Loopline Path, Roe Green 

I headed towards Leigh bus station where I did have quite a few options at bus routes to get me back to the railway, in the end picking a route 582 service to Bolton.  Going via Howe Bridge, Atherton & Hulton to reach Bolton bus station, a high frequency (every 10 minutes) urban route.  Along the way I was looking at options as I was on a Lancs Day Ranger and wanted to do a bit more exploring, so it was onto 150135 on a Blackburn terminator service to Blackburn before boarding 150114 for the trip to Salford Crescent, the long way round!  This 150 got very busy along the way and I was glad to get off at Salford Crescent as it was peak time.  A short wait at Salford before 769448 rolled in on a Southport service as I sat in the motor coach to listen to the motors making that nice noise, switching over to diesel at Ince.  I left the train at Wigan Wallgate, switching over to North Western with the idea to take a Pendo to Preston for a TPE 397 towards Liverpool, but the WCML had fallen over due to a broken-down train around Lancaster so that idea was ditched as I jumped onto 323220 working the next Liverpool stopping service, taking this service to Edge Hill, to call it a night.

I got back to the shared house (detouring via the Farm Foods shop & Tesco), and 15 or so minutes later it sounded like the rain had arrived.  Unlike the previous night I wasn’t alone in the house with one other person on the 1st floor and at least 2 people on the 2nd floor (those above were quite noisy).  An enjoyable day along some decent quality paths, and nice to have finally walked the Leigh busway path.

19th Feb – Merseyside Coastal Walking

After checking out of the shared house, I made my way towards Liverpool city centre and towards Liverpool Central to board 777015 & 777034 on a Southport service to take me to Seaforth & Litherland where my walk began.  Leaving the station, I followed the roads to enter the Rimrose Valley Country Park, although I soon ditched the idea to follow a path due to be going into mud, and headed towards the roads.  Soon I reached the Waterloo Marine Lake within the Crosby Coastal Park.  This was quite a nice lake as I soon reached the waterfront and headed north with the waterfront (Irish Sea?) on my left-hand side.

One stage I needed to walk along the actual beach as the waterfront path had been eaten up by sand dunes, but soon I returned to more solid ground enjoying the views and the seaside air.  I continued north with the built-up area disappearing and the path moving in land a bit due to unstable cliffs (or so the signs said) with the sandy beach disappearing, replaced with broken bricks & other rocks, this was the Crosby Blitz Beach (according to Google Maps).  I soon left the waterfront completely behind as the cycle path went inland towards Hightown.

Waterloo Beach (Crosby Coastal Park)

I followed the roads within Hightown and soon reached a cycle path which ran between the railway & the Altcar Training Camp, one of those paths which had been on my list for a while, although it wasn't that interesting (unless you like fencing).  I did pass the remains of an old station which once served the camp.  After crossing the River Alt, the path moved away from the railway and towards Formby, the walk coming to an end at Formby station where I had good timing as I didn't have long to wait before 777005 & 777010 rolled in to take me back south.

Jumping off the train at Sandhills, I decided to do another short walk, to do something which had been bugging me for a while with the Leeds & Liverpool canal, as when I walked from the city centre area to Sandhills back in 2022 I didn’t do the short Vauxhall basin.  After leaving the station at Sandhills, I soon picked up the canal towpath, heading south towards the Stanley lock flight, crossing over the lock and continued along the canal towards Vauxhall basin.  After reaching the end of the canal I followed the roads towards the city centre area, reaching Lime Street with time to grab lunch from Tesco and onto 390126 on one of the newer Liverpool – London services which call at Runcorn, Lichfield & Tamworth.

A pair of 777s crossing the Stanley Flight on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal

On departure, I had a private coach in coach G, which remained empty until Tamworth where I was joined by another couple of passengers, after Runcorn I headed to the toilet and noticed that coach U was also completely empty, such a waste of a 11 coach Pendo.  Anyhow an uneventful run towards London, even though it was crawling along the slow lines after Colwich in order to call at Lichfield & Tamworth (getting passed along the way).  At Euston I had a gentle stroll towards Waterloo to finish the trip on 159021, 159010 & 159002 on an Exeter bound service, to take me to Grateley.  An enjoyable couple of days in the North West, so much to do, so little time.  Sometimes it feels like I’m a kid in a candy shop being told they can only buy one sweet.

20th February – Capital Ring & a random trip to Alton

Originally I was planning to head to Lincoln to finish the old railway path from Bardney, however during the night the weather did a complete change and instead of being light rain from around 3pm it was now forecasted heavy rain most of the day, so after my alarm went off and I did a final check of the weather I went back to bed, waking up a hour or so later.  I headed into London with 158885 & 159013 on a bit of an unplanned day.

The first task after grabbing breakfast was to take a seat on winner 701038 on a Kingston rounder which I was going to take to Twickenham but decided as it wasn’t raining to bail at St Margarets to do a bit more of the Capital Ring.  Leaving the station, I followed various roads (and a footpath) to reach Twickenham bridge over the Thames, dropping down to head underneath the bridge with the river on my right-hand side.  I passed Richmond lock (and the footbridge), heading towards Isleworth moving away from the Thames with a marina.  A poorly signposted junction was missed as I ended up doing a loop near a private gated housing estate, after this double back I continued along the path, passing a pub and reaching the Duke of Northumberland's River.  A short distance later I came away from the Thames, and towards Syon Park, passing Syon House & a garden centre.  I soon reached Brentford with a short walk along the road to cross over the Grand Union canal towards the town centre, swinging via a modern Morrisons for some supplies (as I had the time).  After my supply raid I headed along another road towards Brentford station (which had little or no signage from the town centre), passing a lovely library building.

Syon House, London

It was now onto a bit of an unplanned stuff, deciding on taking 701060 all the way to Weybridge, jumping onto 450027 & 450054 to Surbiton on a semi-fast from Basingstoke (getting lucky as this train was running a couple of minutes late as connections at Weybridge are rubbish.  A short wait at Surbiton before I jumped on 701031 to take me to Guildford as the rain started, as I transferred to 450042 on a Farnham service and onto 450054 & 450027 for a second time with the run to Alton.  I crossed over to the opposite platform at Alton to take a seat on 444003 & 444006 for a pair of 444s had escaped onto the Alton branch.  Just one of those little novelties.

I took these 444s to Brookwood, changing platforms to board 450007, 450040 & 450049 on the Basingstoke stopping service, yes, I could have stayed on to Woking for a 25 minute wait for a Salisbury train, but from experience the middle of the day Salisbury stoppers are best avoided boarding at Clapham & Woking due to being quite busy until Basingstoke (if only the XX:35 Weymouth trains called at Basingstoke).  At Basingstoke it was a short wait for 159017 to roll in, emptying out as I managed to grab a decent seat for the run to Andover where I was met by mum as I wanted to do a couple bits of shopping after visiting the local Spoons for some dinner.

21st February - Marriott's Way (Part 1)

The Marriott's Way is a long distance (25 mile) path running between Norwich & Aylsham linking two disused railways, the Norwich branch of the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway & the Great Eastern Railway, linked by the sharp, Themelthorpe Curve.  Due to the distance involved I decided to split the walk at Lenwade which was roughly half-way along the way and enjoyed a half hourly bus service from Norwich (heading towards Fakenham).  The trip began with the first train of the day from Grateley with 158887 on its own to Waterloo, this didn’t get as bad as expected (I would imagine Southampton area being closed reduced passenger numbers).  At Waterloo I headed to the underground with 51602 & 51717 taken to Tottenham Court Road and 345056 to Liverpool Street where I had around 20 minutes to waste, so I popped to the Tesco close to the station for lunch items to save a job for later.

I took a seat on 745006 working the 07:30 service to Norwich, getting myself comfy as I spent the journey looking out of the window.  Arrival at Norwich was on time and I headed towards the city centre towards the Castle Meadows bus stops to board the next First bus run X29 service for Fakenham.  It had rained quite a bit overnight judging by the state of the roads.  This bus went via the Norwich suburbs, towards Drayton before heading into more rural lands as I requested the bus to stop at Lenwade, near Porters Lane (and also near the ROARR! theme park).  The first section was along a footpath alongside the lane, giving some nice views of the Wensum before reaching the Marriott's Way.  This walk was quite rural, with some excellent views of the countryside.  The downside being the path being a bit muddy in places, a walk probably best suited for spring/summer time, but this didn't cause too many issues.  I passed the former Whitwell & Reepham station, with some track laid for a short heritage line.

Remains of Whitwell & Reepham Station

I continued my walk with the former railway path heading in a north western direction in the countryside, reaching the Themelthorpe Curve (one of the last bits of track built by British Rail according to an info board).  The path conditions near the curve was the worst for mud & floods, but thankfully it did improve as I headed east, passing the remains of Reepham station (with a station café now in the building).  A short section along the roads in Reepham followed before resuming the railway walk as once more it was into the countryside, heading towards Cawston where the path diverted away from the route of the old railway (now an industrial estate).  Soon I re-joined the old railway path with the last few miles in countryside before reaching Aylsham.

The path comes to an end near a Tesco and also near the Bure Valley Railway station, I didn’t have long to wait for the next Sanders Coaches run X41 service towards Norwich, I was also considering heading towards Cromer but the timings didn’t work that well with the train.  This was a fast bus and soon I was back in Norwich city centre, heading to the station via the Morrisons as a time-wasting move.  At the station I took a seat on 745003 on the next London train, taking it to Stratford and to Waterloo on the Jubilee line with 96110 & 96109, taking a seat on the next Salisbury stopping service which got very busy, even in the front coach (emptied out at Basingstoke) with 158885 & 159019 to take me back home, where I relaxed for the rest of the evening.  Who knows when I will return to walk the second section!

The Sunday (22nd February) was spent with mum doing some random bus routes within London, including a trip on the Woolwich Ferry, ending up in Crystal Palace, a relaxing way to spend the last day before heading back to work for 6 more early shifts.  Anyhow thanks for reading, scary to think February is nearly over.  More photos can be found on my Flickr Here.