7th & 8th April Day Trips

 7th & 8th April Day Trips

After a run of 7 early shifts at work, I had a couple of rest days, deciding on a couple of day trips, although like with most day trips the hardest part was trying to make my mind up at where I wanted to head (taking into account engineering works).  The weather was looking beautiful so I was happy with that.

7th April – A stroll in the countryside along the Oxford Canal

For the first day, I decided to visit the Oxford Canal to walk one of the rural sections with the theory that the towpath would have dried out and would be clear from overgrown hedges or long grass which can happen on rural canals in the summer months.  The day began with the 08:27 service from Grateley to take me into Basingstoke on 159012 & 159008 where I popped to the shops to grab some supplies before jumping onto 165111 on the Reading stopping service to take me to Reading (as I had noticed the following Voyager was only 4 coaches).  At Reading I connected into 800007 on a Cheltenham Spa bound service to take me to Didcot Parkway where I had a short break on a busy platform for 165105 to roll in on the stopping service to Banbury.

The Turbo departed Didcot, losing a couple minutes sitting near the junction (for I presume for the Malvern bound 5 coach IET), calling at Culham & Radley before heading into Oxford where the platform was very busy as the Manchester bound voyager was running late.  The 165 departed Oxford before coming to a stop near the Castle Mill Stream bridge, held on a red for the voyager to pass 15 minutes later (I guess the signaller was expecting the voyager to have a short dwell at Oxford where in fact it was at the platform for a good 5 minutes, probably due to overcrowding).  Anyhow eventually the 165 got moving and I alighted at Heyford where my walk would begin, the canal at Heyford being alongside the railway.

165105 departing Heyford Station

On leaving the station, I headed left to follow the canal heading towards Banbury, with the towpath skirting round the edge of Lower Heyford before the first section of countryside.  The towpath passed Upper Heyford with some expensive looking houses near Allen's Lock before returning to countryside once more, the only sound being the odd helicopter, birds & occasional train.  I crossed underneath the railway with the countryside opening up to be beautiful fields with the Cherwell River running close by.  Certainly, this is a towpath you couldn't easily ride a bike along due to the number of gates.

There was one section in this area where the original towpath has been lost to erosion, with the path heading a bit inland up a bank with the canal hidden from view, but soon the towpath returned to the canal edge as it neared the small village of Somerton.  After Somerton the towpath continued turning more woodland than open countryside in places, still very beautiful and peaceful.  Although the peace didn't last as the canal neared the M40 and Souldern Viaduct (carrying the Chiltern lines, where annoyingly I was 30 seconds too late to grab a photo of a passing train.  I soon reached Aynho Wharf near the site of the long closed Aynho station.

A voyager alongside the Oxford Canal between Upper Heyford & Somerton

I continued the walk, enjoying the countryside even if the towpath was a bit dodgy in places due to erosion, a case of avoiding the holes. It doesn't help when you get hire boats ignoring the speed limit on the canal and creating waves behind, which eat away at the banks.  The towpath switched sides (so the canal was now on my left-hand side, rather than right hand side) near a lock, with a handy bench which I used for a lunch stop.  The noise from the M40 increased as the canal passed underneath the motorway, heading towards the King's Sutton area.  This area was probably the worse for towpath condition, nothing unpassable but some areas where I had to slow down my pace to avoid having an unexpected bath.

The canal passes the King's Sutton area, even seeing the railway station but there is no access from the canal towpath towards the village, the next road crossing being at Twyford Wharf.  I continued the walk as the canal passed underneath the M40 again, heading towards the southern reaches of Banbury and a modern looking housing estate.  This area was another part of the towpath which was rough which I found a bit surprising for the area.  Anyhow soon the path did get better for the last section towards the Tramway Road bridge, where I made a little detour towards the Morrisons for some food before returning to the canal towpath for a time-wasting stroll passed the station towards the town centre area, a section I did walk a couple of years ago when on a railtour which had a break at Banbury.

Remains of the Lock Keepers Cottage at Lock 30 on the Oxford Canal between Twyford Wharf & Banbury

The walk finished at Banbury station, where I had a short wait before a busy 221134 rolled in from Manchester, passing the vestibule dwellers to get a decent seat in coach B for the speedy run towards Basingstoke, where the day ended with 159014 & 159013 back to Grateley, spending the evening relaxing and sorting out my photos.  A very enjoyable rural canal walk, lots of countryside fresh air.

8th April – Wherryman’s Way alongside the Yare

My original idea for the Wednesday was to head towards Norwich to finish the Marriot’s Way path from Lenwade into Norwich, however on Tuesday night I had a crazy idea to instead have another countryside walk before the grass & hedges grow.  The walk from Great Yarmouth towards Reedham via Berney Arms has been on my list to do for a while so with the weather looking good, I decided it would be nice to explore that area.

The day started with the 06:57 service towards Waterloo, being Easter Holidays the loading wasn’t as heavy as usual on 158888, 159012 & 159003, and as I had some time to kill before the 09:30 service from Liverpool Street I had a little stroll towards Liverpool Street, picking up supplies along the way (whilst dodging cyclists whom think red traffic lights don’t apply to them and smartphone zombies whom walk around eyes glued to their phone, even saw someone watching a video when walking, no attention being played to where they are walking). I made it to Liverpool Street in good time to grab a seat on 745001 for the speedy trip to Norwich.

745001 at London Liverpool Street

At Norwich, I transferred to 755422 working a Great Yarmouth service, one of those oddity services which head towards Great Yarmouth via Berney Arms rather than the route via Acle, which did make my life a bit easier as I alighted at Reedham where my walk began (deciding the previous night the riverside path from Cantley towards Reedham can be done on another day).  The first section is along the road (only because I didn’t notice the footpath option until it was too late), passing some expensive looking houses.  I soon reached the River Yare for a short distance passing a couple of cafés & some public toilets before going underneath the railway near the railway swing bridge to join Holly Farm Road following the signposts for the Wherryman's Way.  Soon the farm access track gave way to a grassy embankment alongside the River Yare (with what seemed to be another unofficial path at the bottom of the embankment which I guess would be useful if the wind was strong).  I spotted an ECS of the Eastern Rail Mk2 coaches heading somewhere but other than that it was very peaceful.

The walk continued alongside the river bank, although mostly the river was hidden from view due to reeds & other waterways, the first sign of life I saw was near Cadge's Mill before the wilderness resumed as I snaked my way towards Berney Arms enjoying the sunshine and countryside views.  The windmill at Berney Arms came into sight and 20 or so minutes later I reached the area known as Berney Arms with a couple of isolated houses.  I detoured away from the river bank following the Weaver's Way path towards the isolated station, although I did get caught out with an unexpected waterlogged path, hidden somewhat by the grass, the first I noticed is when my foot got wet.  I reached the station, for a couple of photos and a lunch break sitting on a handy bench before I made my way back towards the river, attempting to avoid the waterlogged patch didn't work as my other foot got wet.  Doh!

Berney Arms Windmill alongside the River Yare

After passing the former pub at Berney Arms (looked to be a private house) the path split with a hard surface track at a lower level with the grassy embankment, with a couple of areas where someone had cut the grass back.  Still very peaceful and beautiful, the first person I saw was someone working on a sluice gate near where the hard surface track crossed the railway.  I also saw a cyclist making their way towards Berney Arms (also saw them later making their way back towards Yarmouth so I have no idea if he was a local or just someone exploring the area).  The path at the bottom of the embankment was more farm track like so passable on a mountain bike, but I was at the top with the views of the countryside & river.

The path continued along the north bank of the Yare, heading closer to Great Yarmouth with road traffic on the Acle New Road being nonstop, as I reached the railway near the junction.  I continued along the path, alongside the railway line passing the carriage sidings now used to store various coaches owned by Eastern Rail, a mix of coaches from various operators plus a seemingly random 321434, which was quite unexpected.  After pausing for some photographs, with the path circling the edge of the wide river to go underneath Breydon Bridge (which carries the A47).  I detoured into the Asda store for some supplies before I made my way towards the busy station, the end of the delightful walk.

321434 stored in the Yarmouth Carriage Sidings (Eastern Rail Services)

I was considering taking the fast bus towards Norwich, but it didn’t save me any time, so waited for 755422 to roll in from Norwich, grabbing a seat at the front (where it was quieter) and relaxing with the run towards Norwich going via Acle, for I hadn’t been along this way since late 2020.  At Norwich I made the connection onto 745002 on the 17:00 service to London (spotting a refurbished purple 158 on the EMR towards Nottingham, very purple).  I relaxed for the speedy journey towards Stratford, where I transferred to the Jubilee line with 96112 & 96111 for the trip to Waterloo, to finish the trip with a busy 19:20 service bound for Exeter with 159004, 159108 & 158880.  Made busier due to the part cancellation of the 18:50 service due to signalling issues (and a good thing I made this train as the 19:50 was starting from Basingstoke with no connection from London).  Soon I arrived back at Grateley, to have a gentle stroll home to relax for the rest of the evening, getting ready for 6 late shifts.

Anyhow as always, thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr *Here*, next week sees a return to Whitley Bay, just a case of deciding which walks to do.