15th – 20th April Trips (Oxfordshire, North East, London)

 15th – 20th April Trips

15th April – Thames Path in rural Oxfordshire

It was back in late 2022 I reached Oxford on my exploring of the long-distance Thames Path, deciding to put the rest of the path towards Kemble on hold as the sections required bus moves due to the rural nature of where the Upper Thames (or River Isis as it’s otherwise known by) bus options were a bit more limited.  When I was doing research, I identified a potential split in the settlement of Newbridge and at the time it was served by a rough 2 hourly bus shuttle between Witney & Abingdon.  However, since I noted that down, the bus has increased to hourly and running to/from Oxford (to Witney) which makes things a bit easier.

The day began with the 07:57 service with a busy 158882 & 159014 taken to Basingstoke where I managed to board 220013 on a slightly late running Newcastle service to take me to Oxford, the train getting very busy at Reading with folk heading to Oxford due to this service being slightly quicker than a 9 coach IET which calls at Didcot Parkway.  At Oxford I popped out to the little Sainsburys near the station for lunch items before boarding the Oxford Bus run X15 service to Witney, taking it to the bus stop outside Newbridge (which features a couple of pubs).  This bus headed towards Abingdon, Marcham & Kingston Bagpuize and took a fair while.  I guess in theory I could have taken a Swindon bound (S6) bus to Kingston Bagpuize to change there to save some time, but hey-ho.

The walk began as I made my way round the Rose Revived pub and onto the Thames Path, passing a few moored boats with some views of the "New Bridge" (13th Century) before heading into the peaceful wilderness.  Keeping the river on my right-hand side as I followed the path as it weaved towards Northmoor Lock & the settlement of Bablock Hythe.  Many years ago, there used to be a ferry across the river here as the towpath switches banks, however like a few of the Thames ferries it no longer runs forcing walkers into a detour away from the river.

River Thames (Isis) at Bablock Hythe

The detour took me via a caravan park onto a country lane before picking up a farm track to head in a general northern direction, passing close to the Thames a couple of times before joining back up with the river at Pinkhill Lock, where there is a footbridge across the weir allowing me to cross the river so that it was now on my left-hand side.  Thankfully that was the only major detour required although another short detour was needed a short distance further on due to a marina and private land.  Once I passed the marina and re-joined the riverside I soon returned to the ruralness as the path headed towards the Swinford Toll Bridge, passing another lock.

I continued the walk, now entering a woodland section before fields resumed, the river changing direction a few times reaching King's Lock with the direction of the river changing to be more southernly, the sound of traffic from the A34 getting louder as I reached the A34 bridge of the Western By-Pass and towards Godstow Lock (passing the remains of Godstow Abbey).  This section of the Thames Path was a lot busier than the previous 10 or so miles as I headed towards Oxford, the Port Meadow being on my left-hand side as well as the river.  Sadly, this is where it started to rain as I reached the section of the Thames I've previously walked back in the summer of 2021 as a time-wasting move.

River Thames (Isis) between Eynsham Lock & King's Lock

The last section took me towards the Sheepwash Channel, going underneath the railway, passing the Rewley Road Swing Bridge and a final push to Oxford station, arriving with a minute to spare before 221120 rolled in on time (knowing my luck had I arrived with 15-20 minutes to spare, it would have been late!).  I grabbed a seat in coach B and relaxed for the trip to Basingstoke, where after popping out of the station for some supplies I returned to Grateley with 158880 & 159107 to enjoy some live comedy from Lenny Henry & get my rucksack packed ready for my North Eastern adventure.  It was nice to be back on the River Thames, although I have no idea why I had it in my head it was less than 10 miles where it was closer to 14 miles, not as bad as the next section between Newbridge & Lechlade at 16 miles of ruralness.

16th April – North East Day 1, Ponteland & Wylam

Originally for this long weekend I did book accommodation in the Greenock area for a Scottish adventure, before finding out the WCML was out of action, taking the option to switch location to Newcastle instead due to the time penalty of using the ECML to reach Inverclyde, also for the same price I could have 3 nights away instead of 2.  As usual for my North East trips I was staying in Whitley Bay, using a guest house I’ve used a couple of times before.

The day began with the 06:57 service into Waterloo with a busy 158880, 159013 & 159018, where I had just over an hour to stroll towards Kings Cross for the 09:30 Edinburgh fast service.  As expected with the WCML being closed, 801221 was very busy, even in coach G as it took me to Newcastle calling only at York (and strangely going via platform 4 at Peterborough instead of the usual down fast line).  At Newcastle I picked up a “TNE Day Saver” ticket which for £7.50 is good value for money. For it includes Metro, train between Blaydon to Sunderland and buses (not only in Tyne & Wear, but also Durham & Northumberland, making it ideal for cross border adventures).  I got lucky and landed straight onto dud 555019 on an airport service to take me to Newcastle Airport where my first walk began.

555019 at Newcastle Airport

The Ponteland railway path runs along the old track bed of the railway line to the town of Ponteland, part of the railway was used by the Tyne & Wear Metro when it opened in the 1980s, diverting at the airport end to serve the airport.  Once I made my way out of the Airport itself, I crossed over the A696 road at the airport roundabout and onto a blocked off lane (which used to serve some industrial thing).  The path quality was good as I made my way in a mostly north westerly direction in the countryside crossing over the B6545 to reach Ponteland.  Along the way were some information boards which is always a nice touch giving some history of the line & the area.  I reached Ponteland Park, doing a little loop before picking up cycle route 10 which runs along the Darras Hall branch.

This was more woodland as it headed to the suburb of Darras Hall, I carried on for a short section reaching Western Way where it looks the railway path continues along an old colliery railway, but with one eye on the time I headed back towards the Broadway near some shops, to catch the half hourly Stagecoach run X78 service to take me to Eldon Square bus station.  This bus route passed some quite expensive looking houses & the Airport heading towards Kingston Park and a fast-running section via Cowgate to reach the city centre.  After grabbing some bottles of Pepsi Max from a Poundland I headed to Monument, jumping onto 555028 to take me to Whitley Bay going via North Shields as there was a large gap in services going via Benton.

Darras Hall Branch of the Ponteland Railway, Ponteland

After checking into my accommodation, dropping off various things from my rucksack, I returned to the station, taking 555034 to Monument, once more going via North Shields, where I had a fast walk to Central Station to jump onto 158848 to take me to Wylam where I started the second of today’s walks.  This walk had been on my massive list for a while, the Keelmans Way path running close to the south bank of the Tyne towards Blaydon & beyond.  After a couple of photographs near the station and the signal box high above the road, I located the start of the path in the car park.  Very much a woodland path giving the occasional glimpse of the Tyne at the bottom of an embankment.  The surface was quite good as I headed along the Tyne skirting round the edge of Ryton golf club & Ryton Willows to reach Newburn bridge.  Good to see the river being used by rowers and the path being used by cyclists, dog walkers & joggers.

After Newburn Bridge the path continued towards Stella and a modern looking housing estate with the path following the roads for a short distance before returning to the riverside and another section of woodland.  I passed the start of the Blaydon Burn path which is another short path on my list (my plan is to combine it when I walk from Winlaton Mill).  The walk ended at Blaydon station where there is a handy access path between the platforms & the riverside.  As I only had a 7-minute wait before the next train to Newcastle I remained at the station, as the backup option was one of the frequent buses towards Newcastle or Gateshead. 156479 rolled in from Prudhoe to take me to Newcastle station where once more I headed to the Metro to take 555028 to Northumberland Park.

Keelmans Way Path between Wylam & Ryton

This was a bit of an unplanned trip, but I made the connection onto 156451 on the next Ashington service to take me to Bedlington to tick off the line for stations visited.  I made use of the time to visit the nearby Co-Op to grab some supplies for dinner before crossing the tracks via the level crossing to board 156451 back to Northumberland Park, transferring across to the Metro station getting lucky with 555015 arriving within a couple of minutes to take me to Whitley Bay, complete with security staff on board (I guess to counter some of the anti-social behaviour the Tyne & Wear Metro suffers with out of the city centre.  I will return to Bedlington again at some point to walk into the town centre as there is an interesting looking path, and I can exit via a bus.  Anyhow back at Whitley Bay I had a gentle stroll back to the guest house, making myself comfortable for the remainder of the evening, as I was weighing up various walking options.

17th April – A trio of old railway walks

I headed out of the guest house towards the station, jumping on 555015 for the trip to Monument via North Shields as there was a gap in service heading the other direction, at Monument I headed to Central Station on 555007 with the idea of grabbing breakfast before making a final decision at where to head to, as I wanted a walk in County Durham.  That plan changed when I saw a stopper for Middlesborough being delayed as the inbound was late, and I climbed onto 156487 to take me towards Seaham, a place I’ve wanted a decent explore as I had only ever been around the station area.  After-all who doesn’t like a visit to the seaside?

The first section once away from the station was to follow the route of what I believe (looking at old maps at least) to be the former Rainton & Seaham Railway towards the harbour area.  A lot different these days compared to the height of coal production no doubt.  I headed towards the harbour itself, climbing up the stairs to the Red Acre Point for some decent views.  After enjoying the sky I headed via an Asda to grab some supplies for lunch and also something for a late breakfast (for I was getting a bit hungry at this point).  After a bacon sandwich I followed some of the streets to reach the route of the former South Hetton Railway.

View from Red Acre Point in Seaham

This was a long climb away from Seaham passing a golf course before the urban area gave way to ruralness before I reached a section where the path detours away from the original railway due to the construction of the A19 dual carriageway, the cycle route crossing this busy road on a roundabout with the A182.  This is where I could have got wrong and followed the signs for cycle route 1 which instead of following the old railway runs alongside a road heading towards the modern Jade Business Park, but I was careful and picked the route of the old railway (although not like there was any clues to the path's former existence.  At Jade Business Park the original route (and cycle path shown on Strava) has disappeared under construction with an alternative path following the access road with various business units (some under construction), before the cycle path resumed on it's own with the section towards the settlement of South Hetton, which was a railway junction back in the olden days.  I carried on with a link path (which wasn't the best of surface quality) to link up with the route of the former Sunderland & Hartlepool Railway, now called the "Hawthorn - Ryhope Way".  I headed south towards South Hetton before doubling back, to save a job for when I get round to walking from South Hetton towards Shotton Colliery, Wingate & probably Hartlepool (although there is a path all the way towards Stockton).

The surface quality of this path was decent (for it was part of cycle route 1 according to some signs) as it headed north (ish), skirting round the side of the settlement of Murton with some nice countryside views on this peaceful path.  I soon reached the small settlement of Seaton, not that far from my starting point in Seaham, crossing over the A19 once more, the next part running close to the A1018 road so wasn't as peaceful, as soon countryside was replaced with the urban environment as I reached Ryhope, located to the south of Sunderland.  This path ended at the former Ryhope station, the only evidence remaining being the old footbridge (now fenced off).


I had the option to finishing the walk at the village green where there was a frequent bus service towards Sunderland, but decided to carry on, following some roads to reach what I think was the route of the former Silksworth Colliery Railway, heading towards the site of the former Ryhope Colliery, finishing the walk with an uphill stroll towards Silksworth, but finishing on Tunstall Bank where a Go North East route 63 rolled in, running late, to take me towards Sunderland city centre, terminating at the bus stop outside the Winter Gardens.  I can only guess Go North East control instructed the driver to run set-down only once within the city areas due to late running as it was quite fast.  Anyhow when I was waiting for the bus, the weather turned a bit wet (which was expected from the forecast).  I was toying with ideas of what to do next as I remembered the route 56 service to Newcastle, which felt like a good way to waste some time as I boarded a double decker for a different view as the bus headed via Southwick & North Hylton (passing Hylton Castle).

After crossing over the A19 it passed the massive Nissan factory to head towards Concord (to the north of Washington) before heading towards Gateshead via Springwell (passing the Bowes Railway).  I decided whilst I was in the area to alight at a bus stop in the Wrekenton area to walk a path along the route of the former Team Colliery Waggonway towards the Angel, picking up the Angel Cycleway path to take me towards a housing estate in the Low Fell area.  I was glad I did this walk from Wrekenton as it was mostly downhill.  Anyhow once more I was trying to decide on a potential bus move, part of me wanted to visit Saltwell Park, but in the end I jumped onto a route 93 bus towards Gateshead Interchange, going via the large Team Valley trading estate.

Path along the Team Colliery Waggonway, Gateshead 

At Gateshead Metro station, I headed to the platforms, jumping onto 555005 to take me to Gateshead Stadium, simply as a way to get more fresh air (as I don’t really like hanging around too long at the underground Metro stations).  A short wait at Gateshead Stadium saw me score 555032 for the trip to Central Station, jumping on dud 555012 back to Gateshead Stadium, followed by winner 555030 which I took to Pelaw (nicer to hang around at than Heworth).  I noticed when looking at the path a potential future walking idea from Pelaw as a winner unit rolled in on a Pelaw terminator (as this week the South Shields branch was replaced by buses with engineering works), so it was a case of waiting for 555036 to return from the sidings to take me back underground where I decided to remain on board to Palmersville as it was such a beautiful evening, felt a waste not to do a short walk.

Leaving the station at Palmersville, it was via an industrial estate to reach the Killingworth Waggonway Path within the large Rising Sun Country Park.  Quite busy with other walkers (and jogger) as I followed this path via the scenic country park towards a housing estate (Addington Drive) in Wallsend.  A short walk along the road followed before I picked up another path heading back towards Palmersville station, some more good views within the country park.  At the station I had a 16-minute wait before 555035 rolled in to take to Monkseaton where I went via the large Morrisons for some supplies before making my way back to the guest house via the local Spoons for something warm for dinner.  Today was quite productive for walks, even scoring a trio of 555s into my little book.  I didn’t sleep that well for some reason.  Didn’t help there was a couple of other people staying in the guest house who kept going outside for a smoke during the night and weren’t that quiet about it.  

18th April – South Tyne Trail between Alston & Haltwhistle

This was a walking idea which came to my attention in February when I was looking at the maps around the Tyne Valley line, seeing the tell-tale green line to the south of Haltwhistle, looking at the OS Maps saw it heading towards Alston (also the same time I spotted the short path from Brampton station into the centre of Brampton).  Bus options to Alston are somewhat limited to 3 buses a day from Haltwhistle, with the timings slightly nicer on a Saturday compared to a weekday, 10:52 instead of 09:14.

The day began from Whitley Bay heading towards Central Station on 555036 where I grabbed some breakfast and as I was slightly ahead of time, jumped onto 156484 to take me to Hexham for a little stroll towards a large Tesco to waste some time, before returning to take 156496 the 16 or so miles to Haltwhistle.  After visiting the little Co-Op for some lunch items (as the Hexham Tesco was a bit bare boned) & the public toilets I hung by the bus stop near the station also used by the AD12 bus route between Carvoran & Hexham (a bus route which had gone onto my list to do) for the route Go North East operated 681 bus to Alston with a little Solo.  A handful of passengers alighted within Haltwhistle (the bus comes from Birdoswald via Greenhead) leaving just myself and 2 other passengers to enjoy the scenic delights of this bus route.



This was a beautiful route heading away from Haltwhistle via some small villages (Coanwood, Lambley, Halton Lea Gate, Slaggyford) with some fast running and some steep hills.  Nobody else boarded or alighted from the bus as it reached the town of Alston where my walk began, going down the hill heading towards the railway station (served by the South Tynedale Railway) crossing over the River Nent.  The first section was a footpath skirting the edge of the station site following the river before picking up the permissive path which runs alongside the heritage track (reminded me of the path between Hoveton & Wroxham & Aylsham).

The path quality was reasonable, probably not a path you would want to cycle along (as there were a few gates along the way), nor probably do during winter time.  As soon as the path headed away from Alston the views opened up for this is one beautiful part of the country (North Pennines National Landscape), just a shame the weather was a bit changeable with some light rain a couple of times along the way, nothing that major but it did reduce the scenic views.  A steam train passed me near a bridge over the River South Tyne, but other than that the path was very peaceful.

Steam engine Nakło on the South Tynedale Railway between Alston & Kirkhaugh

I continued the beautiful walk passing Kirkhaugh & Lintley Stations before reaching Slaggyford the current northern terminus of the railway, complete with cute little buffet coach parked in a north facing bay platform.  The track ran out but the South Tyne Trail continued, with the path quality being quite changeable for the next couple of miles with some muddy & flooded patches but nothing that major.  Some beautiful woodland featured still with some views of the valley on the right hand side before I reached the area of the former Lambley station, where due to the station & land being sold into private hands when the line was closed, the footpath diverts down some steep stairs to go underneath the viaduct before going up some more steep stairs to re-join the old track bed to the south of the viaduct before crossing over the Lambley Viaduct which was the last time I saw the River South Tyne for a while.

After the viaduct came some woodland and sadly a heavy downpour lasting only a couple of minutes but long enough to get wet as I reached the former Coanwood station site where cycle route 68 (which detours via the roads due to the stairs at the viaduct) re-joined the old railway line route.  This area the path wasn't the nicest to walk, but that was mainly due to puddles from the heavy downpour, thankfully though the rough surface soon improved into tarmac, as did the views as I headed towards Haltwhistle in the sunshine.  The old railway path ends on Plenmeller Road with a short section along the road, crossing over the A69 Haltwhistle bypass before picking up another footpath leading towards the Alston Arches viaduct over the South Tyne before the last section towards Haltwhistle station where my walk ended, had I had a bit more time I might walked back towards the viaduct for some photos from the ground, but that could be a job for another day.

River South Tyne from the Alston Arches Viaduct, Haltwhistle

I was glad I ignored the platform information display which was suggesting the next train was running 20-odd minutes late as 156469 rolled in near enough on time with the next train to Newcastle, although this is when I noticed it would arrive into Newcastle around a quarter of a hour after the kickball had finished so came up with a revised idea to avoid the city centre & potential overcrowding on the Metro, so jumped from the 156 at Metrocentre, heading to Blaydon with 158842 to cross over the roads into the shopping centre area (although most of the shops at this time were closed). After grabbing something for dinner from Morrisons I headed to the little bus station, randomly jumping onto a route 69 service up a steep hill towards Winlaton, switching to a route 49 service on a little tour of the area to head towards Gateshead Interchange, returning to Metrocentre on the X66 shuttle (with a modern electric bus).

My last bus of the day was a busy 10A service towards Newcastle city centre, which got caught up in traffic so I jumped off at a bus stop near Central Station, heading towards the station and onto 555005 to take me to Whitley Bay, to relax for the rest of the day.  A very enjoyable stroll in the countryside, a beautiful part of the country.

19th April – A little explore of Sunderland

With the WCML being closed, mixed with the end of Easter Holidays for some areas, I was expecting LNER services from Edinburgh to be very busy so decided to play it a bit safer and use Grand Central from Sunderland, on the 10:30 departure as I didn’t want a late finish due to going into early shifts at work, especially as there was replacement buses between Andover & Grateley today.  After checking out of the guest house, a place I will use again if I’m back in the North East, I headed to the station, using my POP PAYG smartcard (as using that is £2.50 for a single ticket, compared to £5.50-odd buying a paper single).  I said farewell to Whitley Bay with 555005 to West Jesmond where I was a little bit naughty and dashed to the nearby Sainsburys Local for breakfast items before returning to take 555017 for the journey towards St Peters where my little explore of Sunderland began.

I headed away from St Peters heading towards the stadium and an area undergoing redevelopment at the Riverside, which includes a modern wide crossing of the River Wear (Keel Crossing) designed to cope with the football traffic from the city centre.  I need to research the cycle path which runs along the north bank of the Wear towards North Hylton, but that's a job for another trip.  Anyhow after crossing the Wear, I headed towards the city centre area, detouring via the Minster before heading towards Mowbray Park.

River Wear from Keel Crossing Bridge, Sunderland

I entered Mowbray Park at the northern end near the winter gardens building, taking a little stroll within the park before picking up the route of an old railway line which used to link the line from South Hylton & the docks.  One of those random short old railway line paths which headed towards an industrial estate.  I followed the roads heading towards the Town Moor, before heading back towards the city centre, swinging via Tesco to grab lunch items for later on.  I left the sunshine to head underground to get one of the unreserved seats at the southern end of 180103 when the train was lightly loaded.  Departure was on time, and it was the first time I’ve called at Seaham on Grand Central, and I sat back looking out of the window with the journey towards the ECML.  As usual for these trains they got very busy at York and had a nice fast run towards London.

At London I headed towards Waterloo on foot, meeting up with my good friend Jules who was in the area on a London trip for a short stroll and catchup before I jumped onto 159108 & 159101 on the next Andover service to take me to Andover where it was time to wait for the replacement bus.  Previous times there has been 3 buses used at Andover, one for Gillingham only, one for Salisbury and a smaller bus for Grateley & Tisbury, however today there was a coach for Gillingham with a smaller coach (from an operator called Bugler, IIG 7705) which departed Andover leaving folk behind wanting Salisbury.  The bus took me to Grateley, where I had a gentle stroll home, to sort my rucksack out after a long weekend in the North East.

20th April – A stroll along the Thames in London

For my last day of my current time-off it was an early start to get my body into early starts again, with 159106 & 159009 towards London Waterloo.  I was hoping to make some progress into the latest 701s which have entered service since my last London day trip, but only 2 were out, so I came up with an idea for a little walk in the beautiful weather (originally it was going to be a path alongside the Duke of Northumberland’s River).

After grabbing some breakfast it was onto 458420 & 458425 for a time wasting spin to Barnes, followed with 701052 to Brentford, returning towards Clapham Junction on a busy 458419 & 458424 before winner 701008 rolled in on a Hounslow loop service which I took to Kew Bridge, going via Twickenham where my walk began, for today I had decided to walk along the Thames Path on the northern side of the river, I had previously walked on the Thames Path on the ‘south’ side a few years ago. After leaving the station, I swung via Sainsburys to grab some lunch items, before heading towards Kew Bridge, going underneath the bridge and heading east.  The first section was along roads before picking up the riverside path in the Strand-on-the-Green area, going underneath the Kew Railway Bridge before the path headed inland.

An Overground service crossing Kew Railway Bridge 

After walking along roads for a short distance, I returned to the riverfront near Chiswick Bridge, crossing over a yacht marina and a boat club, before going underneath Chiswick Bridge, heading towards Dukes Meadows.  This path took me towards Barnes (Railway) Bridge, where I made use of a modern bridge which goes underneath the railway bridge but above the river.  I was now into Dukes Meadows walking along the Promenade, the views of the river being more limited due to trees, but soon the river view returned as the Thames Path headed towards Chiswick Eyot on the Chiswick Mall path.

The next section was more walking along minor roads in Chiswick before heading back on a riverside path towards Hammersmith Bridge, where I crossed over the Thames on the closed to traffic bridge, returning to the north bank on the opposite side before continuing on a busier section of path, passing various cafes & other buildings, even going underneath one of the stands of Craven Cottage (home of Fulham FC).  This led towards Bishops Park where I continued towards Putney Bridge, where I could have kept going towards Imperial Wharf but decided to call it a day as I needed to visit the bathroom.

North Side Approach to Hammersmith Bridge

I followed the main Putney High Street, crossing over Putney Bridge to reach Putney station, where I had timed it just right to board winner 701023 on a Windsor bound service which I took to Staines.  I switched platforms fast to board 458408 & 458413 from Reading which due to late running was running nonstop to London from Feltham, although it wasn't that fast as it caught up with a stopper in the Wandsworth Town area.  At Waterloo I headed towards 159012 on the next service bound for Salisbury to take it to Andover where I met up with mum as we had some food from the local Spoons before visiting Tesco for some shopping for the week ahead before driving home.  Once home I got myself ready for work, which involved being in bed by 7pm for a 3am alarm for the Tuesday (and this is the time of year where those early starts are bit more painful due to trying to sleep when it's still light outside).

Anyhow thanks for reading, a lot more photos can be found on my Flickr *here*.  Keep safe