March Comes In like a Lion – 1st & 2nd March Trips

 March Comes In like a Lion – 1st & 2nd March Trips

Originally, I was going to head to South Wales for a couple of walks (A bit more of the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal on the Sunday & the Amman Valley Way on the Monday) the weather forecast didn’t look promising on either day so on Saturday afternoon I cancelled my hotel booking and looked for alternative plans based on the weather being dry (or at the very worse light rain).

1st March – Trans Pennine Trail in Doncaster

The walk from Doncaster towards Conisbrough had been on my list for a while, in terms of getting researched, but for various reasons I've not got round to doing it.  So, I decided it would be a good chance to do the walk on a Sunday owing to Conisbrough still having an hourly service on Sundays as it does during the week, a covid era cut which has never been restored.  The day began with a drive to Andover to catch the 07:02 service formed of a lightly loaded 159019, 158886 & 159107 on a semi-fast service towards London, I bailed at Clapham Junction to jump onto 701039 on a suburban service owing to the diesels sometimes taking a day and age to reach Waterloo (normally get put across onto the Windsor lines), but just my luck today the time saving was minimal.

I set off on foot towards Kings Cross, getting lucky with hitting a break in filming for something on Waterloo Bridge just as I approached allowing me to cross with a lot of other walkers & cyclists (saved a detour towards Blackfriars or Charing Cross), arriving at Kings Cross with good time as I was originally aiming for a LNER service to Edinburgh to take me to Doncaster, but made it with time to spare to jump onto 802305 on a Hull Trains service, even getting a decent seat in the front coach.  All was going well until the Peterborough area where there was a loud bang as the Pantograph dropped and the train came to a stop.  10 minutes later the train was back on the move, but running on diesel with overhead wire tripping being blamed as the cause of the delay.  The train switched back to electric during an extended dwell at Grantham, but meant the delay was around 18 minutes, and unusually it went into platform 3 from the south.

802305 at London Kings Cross

My walk began as I left the station, making the wrong turn along the way and having to cross the main road twice before heading over St James's Bridge into the Hexthorpe area of the city, walking along the roads to reach Hexthorpe Park which was quite delightful.  After some photos within the park, I reached the riverside footpath which was quite muddy in places (but thankfully not flooded which was a worry).  This path runs alongside the south bank of the Don, mirroring the walk I did back in December 2021 where I ended up on the north bank.  I reached the railway viaduct carrying the Doncaster avoiding freight line and the viaduct which used to carry the "Hull and Barnsley and Great Central Joint Railway" (if my research is correct), which has been turned into a mixed used path carrying part of the long-distance Trans Pennine Trail).  I managed to climb from the river to the former track bed (before noticing the stairs on the opposite side, doh!)

Crossing the Don, I dropped down back to the riverside to walk more of the slightly muddy path, going underneath the A1(M) heading towards Sprotbrough (skirting round the southern edge).  After getting a couple photos of the lock, the path thankfully changed from mud to tarmac after Mill Lane.  I continued along the path, with the river on my left-hand side (although not the best for photos due to trees & fishermen) with the Sprotbrough Flash on my right, it felt like a perfect day with the sun out.  I moved away from the river a couple of times into some woodland before returning to the river side passing a loading wharf for what looked like a quarry (the River Don is a working river with barges).  I headed underneath the railway on the so-called Rainbow Bridge (no clue!), heading towards the Conisbrough Viaduct which used to carry the Dearne Valley railway, meeting up with a walk I did back in summer 2022.

Conisbrough Railway Viaduct

Climbing up the steep hill from the river side to reach the route of the old railway I followed the Trans Pennine Trail path (which I don't think follows the route of the old railway in this place), passing the path towards Conisbrough station (and onto new ground) as I continued as it skirted round the edge of an activity centre and towards a bridge over the River Dearne to meet up with a walk I did in December last year, doubling back over the hill to reach the access path, crossing over the river Don and to Conisbrough station where I had around 15 minutes to wait.  I was in two minds at which way to head back to London, either towards Doncaster & the ECML or towards Sheffield, but sadly there wasn't any 810s out so decided to head towards Doncaster on 150271.

I popped out of the station to visit the Sainsburys for some supplies before returning, with the train from Hull running late due to issues at a level crossing, when I saw 802305 (again!) was lightly loaded in the rear coach (unreserved seats) I climbed on board, only for my plan to backfire due to an extended dwell at Retford for a LNER from Leeds I was going to catch passed (causing further delays to the 802 due to that Azuma calling at Newark).  At Kings Cross it was to the underground with the Victoria line taken to Oxford Circus (11075/11076) for a Bakerloo to Waterloo (3256/3561), where it was onto a pair of 450s (450114 & 450117) working a Basingstoke terminator (engineering works at Winchester & Eastleigh), where I made a swift connection onto 158882 & 158887 from Reading to take me back to Andover to finish the day.

It was nice to finally clear that walk from my list, more of the Trans Pennine Trail path needs to be researched to which parts I could walk, but that can be a job for another day.

Hexthorpe Flatts Park 

2nd March – Dudley & Stourbridge Canals

After a night trying to decide between heading towards Birmingham or heading west for one of the old railways walks in Devon, I decided on a canal walk in the West Midlands (again based on the weather forecast which was predicting heavy rain in Devon and a worry about flooding).  I've walked quite a few of the canals within the West Midlands area, leaving the Dudley & Stourbridge canals which is a bit wavy within the Dudley & Brierley Hill area.  My research (mainly using Streetview) suggested the towpath was mostly tarmac making it safe for an early spring/late winter walk.

The day began with the 05:55 service from Grateley into Waterloo with 159105 & 158887, where I transferred to the Bakerloo line with 3541 & 3267 to Marylebone, giving me time to grab some supplies before making my walk to the 08:07 to Birmingham which had 68020 up front and some former TPE coaches, the days of the comfy smooth Mk3s will be missed as these modern coaches are awful (hard seats, ride worse than a pacer, rubbish positioning of AC vents), certainly in the future if I was doing such a move I would aim for a 168 (and that’s saying something!).

68020 at London Marylebone

Just over 2 hours later I arrived at Birmingham Moor Street, transferring to platform 2 to board 172337 on a Kidderminster terminator, relaxing in the comfy seats for the run to Old Hill where my walk would begin.  Heading down the stairs from the platforms and across the car park, I soon picked up the Number 2 line of the Dudley Canal near enough outside the station, following the tarmac towpath mostly in a northern direction with some history signs along the way.  This section of the canal started quite industrial before turning more urban (housing etc) as I followed the path towards Windmill Junction where the canal met up with the Netherton Tunnel branch (I still remember walking that tunnel, still a spooky experience) & the Bumble Hole Branch Canal.

I turned in a south western direction, passing a little café & visitor centre, doing the first of 3 planned detours, following the short Bumble Hole Branch Canal, as it skirted a lake into a nature reserve area returning to the Windmill Junction with a short branch, crossing over the canal again I passed the little café again and carried on my walk, the towpath changing from tarmac to being a bit muddy in places along the way, especially around the Netherton/Lodge Farm Reservoir.  This section however was very pretty (and quiet).  One thing I did notice with this canal is the number of old basins which have been infilled, from the days where it was a working canal. 

A mile or so later, the No 2 line canal met with the No 1 line at Parkhead Junction, where I had my second detour along the route of the No 1 line, going up a couple of locks, underneath the former South Staffordshire line viaduct (future route of the Midland Metro) and towards the Parkhead Portal of the lengthy (and narrow) Dudley Canal Tunnel, so narrow that diesel engines are banned (and one of the reasons why the canal companies built the Netherton Tunnel).

Parkhead Viaduct over the Dudley Canal

Doubling back on myself as I returned to Parkhead Junction, passing the Blowers Green Pumphouse, crossing over the canal.  With a return to industrial buildings with the sun shining as I continued my stroll of this wavy canal, passing the Round Oak steel terminal and towards the Brierley Hill Waterfront complex with the canal overlooking the tram works and the massive Merry Hill shopping complex, reaching the Delph Lock flight, dropping down and the Dudley Canal turning into the Stourbridge Canal (not like you would have noticed).  I headed underneath the Round Oak freight line with the canal once more heading north, following the contour lines.

I soon reached another canal junction with the Stourbridge Canal Feeder branches off where I had my 3rd detour, following the short feeder canal towards "the Dell Stadium" near Bromley.  I did a short loop via a nature reserve to cross over the rails of the 'mothballed' Wombourne Branch and along the remaining section of the Stourbridge Extension Canal, returning towards the main canal, with another flight of locks.  Following the towpath, I passed the glass museum within Stourbridge and reached the junction with the Town Branch, the Stourbridge canal continues for a couple more canals where it meets the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal at Stourton.

Dudley Canal (No 1 Line) in Dudley 

The town branch as the name suggests heads towards the town centre (used to connect with the railway before that got cut back to Stourbridge Town station), again a decent towpath although the last section was gated off due to being a marina, but with some nice old buildings at the Old Wharf.  I crossed over the High Street and onto a mixed used path, following various paths to reach a car park and a short walk to reach the interchange where I jumped onto a busy 139002 to take me up the hill to Stourbridge Junction.  
At Stourbridge Junction it wasn’t a long wait before 172103 & 172335 rolled in on the next Whitlock’s End service, quite busy with school kids as I alighted 8 and a bit miles later at Smethwick Galton Bridge, heading downstairs to jump onto a late running 196111 to take me into New Street (because I was being Fabulously Lazy and didn’t fancy the walk from Moor Street/Snow Hill to New Street).  A short wait at Birmingham New Street before 390127 rolled in from Scotland on the next Euston fast service, as I grabbed a decent seat in coach U (being thankful when I purchased my ticket in the morning, I excessed the return portion from a “Via High Wycombe” to the more expensive “Via Birmingham” to allow me to use Avanti for the speed.

139002 at Stourbridge Town

Arrival into Euston was a few minutes late, congestion on the busy WCML, as I headed to the underground with the Northern line to Waterloo (51533 & 51534) and headed towards the 18:23 service for Exeter, grabbing a seat near the front of the train (because generally speaking the coaches furthest from the ticket barriers are quieter) with 159003, 159019 & 159016 taken for the speedy run to Grateley, where I had a gentle stroll home to relax.  Today was a very enjoyable walk, mostly a decent quality towpath with some nice scenery along the way, glad to be back on the canals after the winter months, so much history.

Thanks for reading, as always a lot more photos can be found on my Flickr *here*, back to work for some late shifts before some more rest days, where will I end up next!