Trips 9th – 12th July

 Trips 9th – 12th July 

9th July – A flying visit to Glasson Dock

I had booked an overnight stay in Liverpool for the Thursday night a couple of weeks ago without making my mind up about what I wanted to do in the North West.  Thankfully the weather would be kind, sunny but not as hot as it was down south (23C) as I eventually decided to do a combined canal & disused railway walk from Lancaster to Glasson Dock.

The trip began with 158887, 159104 & 159011 to take me towards Waterloo, for a gentle stroll towards Euston and onto a busy 390138 on the first off-peak Glasgow service for a fast speedy run along the West Coast Main Line towards Lancaster where the walk began, making the decision to flip the direction as originally, I was going to do the canal first then railway second, switching the direction based on the location of shops for a post walk visit.

156404 & 156424 at Lancaster Station

I exited Lancaster station via the side gate alongside platform 1 and onto a cycle path alongside a sports field leading towards Long Marsh Lane.  After detouring via a housing estate, I reached the river near the railway viaduct, pausing for a photograph of a train crossing the viaduct (a Northern 158 was the first service).  After my photo I headed alongside the river (mix of cycle path & pavement alongside New Quay Road).  I had the decision to continue via the road which turns into a cycle path towards Aldcliffe Hall Lane or follow the Lancs Coastal Path alongside the river & estuary, deciding to do the coastal path for the potential views.

The coastal path had a reasonable surface but was a bit overgrown in places before I broke free to walk alongside the Lune before the path moved inland with a curve in the river giving views of a nature reserve on the left-hand side and the coastal marshes.  Very peaceful with sounds of wildlife, but soon I reached the car park at Aldcliffe Hall Lane which marks the start of the path along the former Glasson branch line.  This area was quite rural with the surface being decent tarmac as I headed in a generally southern direction with the river on my right-hand side, with the bushes & trees breaking free giving a lovely view of the estuary.  The path was busy with cyclists & other walkers, especially near a caravan park near Ashton Hall.

Lune Estuary from cycle route between Lancaster & Glasson Dock

I reached Conder Green area where the path turns west (and cycle path 6 heads east via roads), crossing the River Conder on a viaduct before the last section of old railway line towards Glasson Dock, not as busy as it would have been in the past with industry, but still a busy place with motorcyclists & other visitors.  After a photograph of the dock itself with the entrance lock into the Glasson branch of the Lancaster Canal heading into a busy marina (mostly sea going craft rather than inland waterways craft).  The towpath was as expected quite rural, not as rural as the Oxford or Ashby Canals (no minding the gap with bank erosion), but as soon as I left Glasson behind (and a holiday park) the countryside arrived.

This is a short branch of the main canal, which appeared to be closed for boats heading uphill towards the junction with the main Lancaster canal near Galgate.  Along the way I passed hardly anybody else on this peaceful stroll.  On reaching the junction with the main canal I turned left to head mostly north, passing quite a few moored narrowboats.  The canal skirts the edge of Galgate itself with the soundtrack of passing trains.  Some lovely countryside at times and also some nice woodland with the canal ending cuttings (allowing the removal of my hat in the shaded area to allow some of the sweat to evaporate).  After going underneath Ashton Road, the rural towpath turned tarmac with a busy cycle path, heading towards Lancaster near Aldcliffe, the canal going underneath the WCML and passing close to the hospital.  I decided to end the walk at the bridge with Penny Street, walking towards the station swinging via a Sainsburys Local & Tesco Express for some supplies.  A very enjoyable 14-odd mile walk in the sunshine but it was time to play with trains.

Lancaster Canal between Galgate & Lancaster

I boarded an Euston (via Birmingham) bound 390107 towards Crewe with the idea of making a connection onto 197041 which was working the Shrewsbury – Crewe stoppers, however due to issues earlier in the day at the southern end of the WCML this train got delayed at Preston (with zero announcements) for around 15 minutes meaning when it got to Crewe the connection was long gone, so it was onto plan B and onto winner 197040 working a Chester shuttle (cut back from Wrexham due to the hot weather).  This took me towards Chester where the signaller decided to allow a late running freight train in front causing a 5-minute delay (to both the inbound & outbound service owing to a tight turnaround), giving me 29 minutes to kill at Chester for the next Merseyrail service (for it was the time of day where Merseyrail halves their service frequency).  It was onto a very busy 777028 to end the day with a trip to James Street.

Before making my way to the Travelodge near James Street (first time staying here for nearly 10 years!) I headed towards the waterfront for some photos.  After getting checked in on a half reasonable room on the 7th floor (not facing the main road directly which was a bonus) I relaxed for the remainder of the evening.  (Although the shower was extremely weak in terms of water pressure so it wasn’t much of a relief to wash away the sweat).

The Beatles Statues on Liverpool Waterfront

10th July - Lancashire Union Railway

Today my plan was to do a walk I’ve been meaning to do for a while, but kept putting it off.  Although with the warmer temperatures today compared with the Thursday, I decided to cut the full length of the walk to save getting too hot.  After checking out of the hotel I made my way via the city centre to Lime Street, grabbing some breakfast along the way and onto a Hull bound 185101 & 185121 for a slow trip across to Manchester Victoria (even though it only called at Lea Green, the Chat Moss route always feels slow).  At the suburban nightmare of Manchester Victoria, it was a short wait to board a busy 156485 on a Clitheroe bound service to take me to Bolton, changing over to 331025 on the next Blackpool North service (which was busy).  This took me to Adlington where my walk began (even though I was part tempted to jump off at Horwich Parkway to walk back towards Bolton & maybe towards Walkden, but decided against that on grounds of the reduced Northern timetable).

Leaving the station at Adlington, I headed towards the Jubilee Recreation Ground following a path south before an unmarked path (unmarked on Strava) leading towards the River Douglas and the canal aqueduct.  After the river it was a steep climb towards the route of the former Lancashire Union Railway route, which for a cycle path (route 55 from memory) the path quality was a lot more rural than expected.

River Douglas near canal aqueduct, Adlington

The path was quite peaceful with some nice woodland, no evidence of it's former use as a railway other than a couple of bridges, including going underneath the Leeds & Liverpool Canal on the Arley Aqueduct.  This path came to an end alongside the former Red Rock station building (now a private house and I headed along the road to pick up the canal towpath near a closed pub.  Walking along the canal took me towards the Haigh Country Park, leaving the canal to head via Lady Mabel's Wood to Hall Lane.

This is where the former Wheeley Loop railway path began (although it looked like it did continue north but that is unmarked on my map so I had no idea what it would be like), and compared to earlier this is a path which has had some money spent on it with a smooth tarmac path in woodlands with various paths criss-crossing the main former railway route.  The rural woodland gave way to more urban as it went via New Springs & the Kirkless West Nature Reserve reaching the canal which it crossed on a lock, heading into Ince.

Leeds & Liverpool Canal between Red Rock & Haigh Country Park

I continued along the path in Ince, leaving the industrial area (complete with secure looking fences) back into woodland, crossing underneath the existing Wigan - Hindley railway route and towards the Hindley area.  The old railway route ending near Amberswood Nature Reserve which is somewhere I've noted as somewhere to explore on another day.  The smooth tarmac cycle path ended at Liverpool Road near the former Hindley South station and onto a rough path in an area of many paths (so a challenge at times to try and ensure I was heading in the right direction, as this area had a lot of old railways from the past.  At one point I was walking on old ballast!

I managed to follow the route of the Plank Lane Branch (London and North Western Railway), a path shown on my OS Map & Google Maps as a cycle route (probably suitable only for a Mountain Bike) but not shown on Strava so I was walking a bit blind, following this rural path where it randomly came to an end at Bolton House Road in a very industrial area, certainly not what I was expecting.  However, my walk was nearly at an end as I walked to the main B5237 road to await a route 609 bus for Wigan.

Route of former Whelley Loop Railway, Wigan

This was a busy double decker which called at most of the bus stops along the way into Wigan, including Coronation Street (cue the music!).  I think most of the bus alighted at the bus stop on Wallgate rather than continuing to the bus station and I swung via the little Morrisons Local between the two Wigan stations to grab a late lunch (being surprised that it was still under £4, considering the lack of competition within Wigan town centre).  Anyhow I had two options, either jumping on a Northern service to Liverpool for an 807 to London, jumping on something towards Manchester, or waiting an hour for a late running 9 coach Pendo from Glasgow (with the previous train cancelled).

I jumped onto 331018 for the run towards Liverpool Lime Street, giving me around 20 minutes to make myself comfy on 807010 on a London bound service, getting lucky as this service was given the signal ahead of a late running Birmingham stopping service, the train only getting busy at Crewe (until Crewe the standard class area of coach H only had myself in it).  This train headed to London where on a day of delays on the WCML arrived pretty much bang on time, had I waited around Wigan for the late running Pendo I would have been caught up in a massive farce around Nuneaton where it got into London something like 3 hours late!

807010 at London Euston

Anyhow I walked to Waterloo, wasn’t as bad as expecting with the warm weather, the worse section being across Waterloo Bridge due to being exposed to the sunlight, however the Weymouth train I was aiming for had been cancelled with the Portsmouth (via Basingstoke) train running late.  444011 & 444014 took me to Basingstoke where I was surprised that the Exeter train was held back 10 minutes to allow a connection, as I boarded a warm 159104, 158886 & 158882 to take me home.  After sorting my rucksack out, having a cool shower to wash away the sweat I got myself ready for an early start on the Saturday.

11th July – Marriott’s Way Part 2

I did the first part of a slightly muddy Marriott’s Way path back in February from Lenwade (near Great Witchingham) towards Aylsham with the section from Lenwade towards Norwich on my wish list to do this year.  However, with the fire at Stratford, I changed my mind when heading towards London on 159013 to instead head towards Waterbeach to walk the riverside path towards Ely.  At Waterloo, I had a gentle stroll to Blackfriars jumping on a late running 700108 to St Pancras where I managed to board an earlier Great Northern service formed of 379022 & 379005 which was meant to be heading to Ely but was only running as far as Cambridge due to a shortage of train drivers (with the following King’s Lynn service doing the same).

I took these 379s for the nonstop speedy run to the recently opened Cambridge South station, stepping back onto a Norwich bound 755412 as I had changed my mind again and was once more heading towards Norwich (considering this service wasn’t as bad I was expecting it to have been considering the lack of trains via Stratford).  This 755 took me towards Norwich (even calling at Spooner Row for a novelty!).  At Norwich after visiting the bathroom I headed towards the bus stops located at Castle Meadows (swinging via a Tesco Express to grab lunch items) and boarding a First Bus route X29 towards Lenwade.  I left the bus at the cross roads at Porter’s Lane (along with 2 other walkers who were walking back towards Norwich).

755412 at Cambridge South Station

A short walk along a footpath alongside Porter’s Lane took me to the car park near the former Lenwade station, picking up cycle route 1.  The first section towards Norwich was close to some industrial units before it headed into woodland away from the busy A1067 road.  The surface quality was reasonable, a bit dusty in places due to the recent heat (one not to do during the winter months).  Near the former Attlebridge station site the cycle path moves away from the route of the old railway as the area around the former station is now a private residence (you can see the platform from the road).  I re-joined the route of the former Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway line heading into some beautiful Norfolk countryside & woodland.

This path was quite busy with cyclists & other walkers as it reached a section running alongside Reepham Road (the road hidden from view with the trees), before heading towards the Taverham/Thorpe Marriott area, crossing the Broadland Northway dual carriageway on a modern bridge and into the urban area.  At Drayton the path detours via the roads due to the route of the former railway being a private industrial estate (although I suspect most walkers will get away with walking via the industrial estate as its only gated for vehicles (but I didn't want to risk running into a fence at the opposite end).

Marriott's Way between Attlebridge Station & Taverham 

After re-joining the railway route at Drayton, the first impression is that the path quality has changed from a more rural setting to smooth tarmac as it followed the route of the Wensum heading towards the big bag city of Norwich with various paths branching off towards the site of the former Hellesdon station (complete with old platform).  The sun was attempting to break through the clouds as the path headed east near Sloghbottom Park & Anderson's Meadow, this section featuring a tall fence in woodland.  The Marriott's Way path officially ends near the site of the former Norwich City railway station (no evidence of it) at St Crispin's Bridge over the Wensum.

I crossed the road and switched to following the Riverside Walk, following the Wensum towards Duke Street (near a Premier Inn), where the riverside path is currently closed so I headed via the city centre (areas closed to traffic due to the Lord Mayor's Parade), swinging via Morrisons for some supplies before my walk ending at the station.  An enjoyable stroll in the countryside, on a day where my hat remained in my rucksack as I didn't need it due to the cloud cover.  Anyhow at the station and it was onto a refurbished East Midlands 158866 (very purple inside) to take me to Ely, where I switched to 170109 for the trip to Cambridge.  Part of me was tempted to carry on to Cambridge South but I decided to alight at Cambridge, walking between platform 8 to the south facing bay platforms where 387116 & 387106 were waiting on the next London fast (meant to have started at Ely).

158866 at Ely Station

I was glad I changed at Cambridge due to the large crowd waiting for these 387s, thankfully all mostly waiting at the buffer stop end so when the doors got released, I managed to get a decent seat in the front coach.  The service got delayed along the way (must have missed its path on the busy 2 track section of the ECML) arriving into a dangerous overcrowded platform at Kings Cross featuring idiots standing very close to the platform edge (the driver blasting on the horn and slowing to a crawl) who decided they didn’t want to wait to allow others off the train first before barging their way on.  Anyhow the first thing I noticed is how hotter London was compared to Cambridge, as I headed to St Pancras jumping on 700141 to Blackfriars for another gentle stroll to Waterloo, taking my time before boarding 444023 & 444032 for a speedy run to Basingstoke which was a bit chaotic due to numerous delays & cancellations (this was a day where the West of England services were getting terminated at Basingstoke, heading into Barton Mill sidings for 2 hours before coming back out, warmer than a hot thing).

I jumped onto an Exeter bound 159005 & 159012 to take me to Andover for a quieter place to wait (a nice bench in the shade outside the station) before 159011 & 158882 rolled in on the following stopper to take me back to Grateley, where I had a gentle stroll home to relax after a mostly decent day.

12th July – Burgess Park & 701 hunting

As I was going into a week of early shifts (average alarm was 4:00) I didn’t want a late finish on the Sunday to get myself ready for the week ahead.  I decided to head towards London for a little walk which had been on my London area wish-list before a few hours hunting down some of the 701s which had entered service in the last couple of months.  The day began with a drive to Andover to catch the 07:02 service to Waterloo (with 159019 & 159022), transferring to a Bakerloop bus to the bus stop on Old Kent Road opposite Burgess Park (near a large Tesco) where my walk began.

Even this time of the morning (08:45) it was already getting warm as I entered Burgess Park, following one of many paths passing a lake and dead grass (thinking to myself that it's like a tinderbox ready to go up in flames).  I reached Camberwell Road, for a short section along the road before picking up a busy path which runs although the route of the former Grand Surrey Canal leading towards the Surrey Canal Linear Park.  I turned south in the linear park, underneath some nice-looking old bridges and towards Peckham, finishing the walk at Peckham Rye where I had various options.

Surrey Linear Canal Park, Peckham, London

I was toying with heading towards Blackheath to explore Greenwich Park, but decided that could wait for another day (preferably when it wasn’t so hot!), jumping on a Clapham Junction bound 378216 to begin my 701 hunting.  10 minutes at Clapham Junction, winner 701027 rolled in on a Staines service (engineering works between Staines & Reading) to take me to Feltham, stepping back to Twickenham on 701046 for a short wait (annoyingly the little Sainsburys outside Twickenham station had no sandwiches due to the fridges breaking down).  Winner 701016 arrived on a stopping service to Waterloo, so I made myself comfortable, arriving at Waterloo to grab some lunch.  There was a winner on a Chessington South service, but I had one eye on the Woking stopping service which weren’t showing on RTT due to being short planned changed from running to Guildford via Woking to terminating at Woking.  This was winner 701055 and due to late running was running nonstop to Surbiton which was a nice bonus.

At Surbiton I boarded dud 701009 to take me to Raynes Park in an attempt to get a reasonable photo of the GBR coloured 701 with the idea of heading towards Motspur Park to intercept the 701 I turned down earlier, but that planned changed when I saw another 701 passing from Woking as I assumed it was only 4 units out on the Woking – Waterloo stoppers with a tight turnaround at Woking, but in fact there were 5 (with Woking bound services being delayed).  So, it was onto 450087 & 450401 (from either Guildford or Dorking) to Waterloo, changing over to winner 701040 with the idea of taking it all the way to Woking for a nice connection onto an Exeter train.

701006 at Raynes Park

All was going well until West Byfleet where there was news of issues around Winchester with delays heading west, forcing the 701 to wait time at West Byfleet with the next stopper failing to depart.  Eventually the 701 arrived into Woking alongside the Exeter train with a fast walk across from platform 5 to platform 2 to join a large crowd (mainly Basingstoke bound passengers as the Weymouth train was sitting on platform 3 with a Poole service cancelled) to squeeze onto a roasting hot 159010 & 159015 which departed rather busy (until Basingstoke where it emptied out).

I took these 159s to Andover, walking to the car driving to the big Tesco before it closed at 4pm to grab some dinner items and some shorts for work as the week ahead was looking warm again.  Once home I relaxed after a reasonable day in London, some more 701s into my little book as well as a visit to Burgess Park.  One of many things on my London area wish-list, anyhow as always thanks for reading, more photos can be found *here*.  Have a nice day.