Kite159
Veteran Member
8th – 10th April & 12th April Trips
8th April – Rural Lancashire on the Leeds & Liverpool
Today was another trip towards the North West to continue my coverage of the Leeds & Liverpool canal, having multiple options in terms of which part to head to (Rufford Branch, Burscough – Maghull or a mixed walk in Rishton), in the end keeping an eye on not wanting to be too late I decided on the section from Burscough towards Maghull, joining up with coverage from August 2023.
The day began with 159017 & 159006 to take me towards Waterloo, where after a gentle stroll towards Euston it was onto 390001 on the 07:30 to Glasgow, getting a seat in coach C which had 2 other passengers. The train picked up a few more passengers at Warrington and I alighted at Wigan North Western, passing the revenue block in the subway and the recently installed ticket gates. I reached Wigan Wallgate and headed to the platform for the next Southport service, noticing a 2-coach unit heading to Manchester already looking rather cosy. 156401 & 150129 took me to Burscough Bridge where my walk began (after detouring via the Tesco to grab supplies for lunch).
150129 departing Burscough Bridge by Kite, on Flickr
I picked up the canal near the wharf, turning west passing many moored boats and the Burscough urban area before that gave way to some industrial units near New Lane (I can't remember if I rode along this section of canal back in 2015 when I visited New Lane station, or if I stuck to the road). After New Lane the towpath turned more rural as the canal headed into the countryside, skirting round Heaton's Bridge, passing a static caravan park before going underneath the A570 near Pinfold with a modern marina.
The walk continued now heading in a south western direction, passing near to Halsall (and into a cutting) with some lovely countryside views before the canal reached Downholland & Downholland Cross, where I decided to pause for some lunch on a handy bench in the shade. A section where the towpath was a bit dodgy in places (narrow and uneven due to erosion) before the countryside gave way to urban landscapes in Lydiate, which merged into Maghull. I had a little detour towards Morrisons in Maghull to grab some supplies (mainly more drink as it was quite hot today and I had managed to nearly finish my big bottle of water).
Leeds & Liverpool Canal between New Lane & Heaton's Bridge (19) by Kite, on Flickr
After my visit to Morrisons, I returned to the canal for the final section heading towards a footbridge near Kennessee Green and headed towards Maghull station. An enjoyable walk in the countryside, the towpath reasonably busy at times with dogwalkers and people out enjoying the sunshine. Dud 777013 took me to Liverpool Central where I somehow made a +1 connection onto winner 777034 on a busy Chester train to take me towards Chester where I relaxed for 30 minutes before boarding a lightly loaded 805007 with 805003 attached to the rear from Holyhead for the run towards Euston, losing time at Crewe due to waiting for a Glasgow fast to head north before departing.
At Euston, I headed towards the Northern line platforms, jumping on the first available southbound train, formed of 51580 & 51579 (which as a bonus was a set I wanted for a mile) to Tottenham Court Road, transferring to the Elizabeth line with 345035 to Paddington. At Paddington I met up with my good friend Dan before heading to board a Bristol Parkway service formed of 387145, 387170 & 387152 for the fast run towards Reading, where I had booked a night in the Ibis close to the station. The rest of the evening was spent catching up and relaxing.
37175 at Chester by Kite, on Flickr
9th April – Flirting in South Wales
After a reasonable night sleep in the Ibis, myself & Dan left the hotel heading towards Reading station, catching 387147 & 387153 on the Cardiff train for some high speed electrostar running. Once at the Welsh capital we popped out of the station to buy the Valley Day tickets and to grab some supplies, coming back against a massive flow of customers from the Swansea direction (seems there was some sort of sporting event on today). Today was to give Dan some experiences with the Welsh Flirts so first up was 231001 on a Bargoed service taken to Bargoed, remaining on board back towards Queen Street. First time I’ve called at Gilfach Fargoed for what felt like ages on the southbound train.
At Cardiff Queen Street it was a short wait before winner 756103 took us towards Trefforest and a 5-minute connection into winner 756109 heading back towards Cardiff, where we had a brief break for some lunch before taking winner 756108 towards Pontypridd, the original idea was to take this towards Llwynypia to intercept another winner coming back from Treherbert but there was a set swap at Cardiff with that unit heading towards Merthyr Tydfil instead.
756108 at Pontypridd by Kite, on Flickr
After a short wait at Pontypridd, we took 756101 one stop to Abercynon for the cross platform change onto winner 756117 to take us back towards Cardiff Queen Street, where we changed onto 150231 for the run to Penarth (because it could be the last time I have a 150 at Penarth considering those services are meant to be switching over to 3 coach 756s at some point). We remained on the same unit back to Cardiff Central, where I popped out of the station to grab supplies for dinner from Boots (noticing the crowd control barriers making an appearance).
Back at the station, and it was onto a short formed GWR service for Portsmouth Harbour with 158768 running solo, and needless to say it departed Cardiff Central rather cosy and it only got worse as the journey continued, picking up & dropping off a good number of passengers at most of the stations, only emptying out at Warminster to such a degree there was nobody standing. Still 2 coaches is better than 0 coaches. At Salisbury I popped out of the station to visit the supermarket to grab some supplies for the week ahead before taking 159004 & 159021 to Grateley with Dan remaining on board towards Clapham as he made his way back towards Medway.
150231 at Penarth by Kite, on Flickr
An enjoyable social day in South Wales, I do like those Welsh Flirts, a large step up from the 150s.
10th April – Return to the Grand Union Canal
I completed the mainline route of the Grand Union canal last year, leaving just the long Leicester arm to walk, having made a start with it last August walking from Crick towards the junction a couple miles away from Long Buckby, with the future walks at the time put on hold due to the towpath being closed in a few places. I decided today was the day I would resume my exploring of this rural canal, putting the Leeds & Liverpool on a temporary hold. The bus to Welford from Northampton is quite limited with the ideal timed bus only running 3 days a week (the other 2 days it forms a Welford – Market Harborough service).
The day started with 158882, 159008 & 159108 on a train to Waterloo, nice fast run after Basingstoke. Once in London I did my usual stroll towards Euston via Waterloo Bridge, just to waste some time before taking a Birmingham New Street service formed of 350263 & 350247 (this was the day LNR allocations started appearing on RTT so I knew this would be a pair of 2s, so I knew I wanted to get there early to grab a seat in the former 1st class area for that bit of extra comfort. These units took me to Northampton where I left the station making my way towards the bus station via a shop for some supplies for lunch.
66569 passing Northampton Station by Kite, on Flickr
It was onto the 11:05 departure of the route 60 bus (fleet 28628) towards Welford, departing Northampton with 3 other passengers on board, all had departed the bus by Brixworth. A nice rural bus service serving villages like Spratton, Hollowell & Guilsborough before terminating in Welford, a village on the boundary between Northamptonshire & Leicestershire. A short walk from the bus stop towards Welford Wharf (via the Welford Pocket Park and Postman Pat), I visited the toilets before starting the main part of my walk.
The first section was near the marina and a small loop of a mooring area due to the loss of a footbridge over the entrance, but soon the canal turned very rural with the towpath being a mix of dried mud & grass with some beautiful views of countryside & woodland, the only sound being the wind and the occasional farm animal. The short Welford arm came to an end at Welford junction where it met up with the main Leicester branch (this arm was only built to access some reservoirs to feed the canal). I turned north on the Leicester arm to make my way towards North Kilworth wharf, coming close to the route of the old Rugby - Market Harborough railway line a couple of times.
Grand Union Canal (Leicester Line) between Welford Junction & Elkington (61) by Kite, on Flickr
At North Kilworth I did a U-turn to head back towards the junction to continue south, deciding to do this short section because there is a bus at North Kilworth from Market Harborough I'm planning to use for the next section towards Foxton (and the Market Harborough arm). The peaceful countryside was nice, with the towpath being quiet with the occasional boat moored up on this beautiful day. This section of the canal is very curvy and doesn't really pass anywhere so it did feel very isolated. My walk continued going underneath the A14 passing a glamping site towards the small settlement of Elkington. The canal continued its curvy route in the countryside heading close to Yelvertoft before the final section towards Crick (home of an annual boat show), joining up with my coverage from last year with the A428 bridge.
A fast walk along the road took me to the bus stop, making it with a few minutes to spare before the route 96 service bound for Northampton rolled in (with bus 36481) for the short ride towards Long Buckby (via West Haddon & Watford), where I had another short walk along Station Road to reach the station. In theory I could have continued on with the bus to Northampton but the connection between bus & train was quite tight and I know Northampton traffic can be quite bad. 350107 & 350376 rolled in on the next London train to take me towards Watford Junction, I was going to stay on all the way to Euston but I noticed the next Overground service was due to use platform 1 at Watford Junction, which is one platform I wanted (leaves just platform 4 to clear all 4 DC platforms at Watford Junction). So, it was onto 710269 to take me to Harrow & Wealdstone, crossing over to platform 6 onto 350117 & 350115 on a busy train from Tring for the nonstop run to Euston.
710269 at Watford Junction by Kite, on Flickr
I headed to the underground, jumping on the first available southbound train formed of 51674 & 51673, and like with Tuesday it was a bonus of being a sub mile pair, to Waterloo where after grabbing dinner it was to 159009 on the 19:50 service for Salisbury, a train which got extremely busy on departure, emptying out at Basingstoke (that 30 minute gap in fast Basingstoke trains doesn’t help, if only the XX:35 trains called at Basingstoke all day long rather than just in the peaks). Anyhow it was an enjoyable walk in the countryside, topping up my tan, listening to the birds etc. Certainly, a walk not to do during winter as I suspect the towpath would get muddy in places as it was very rural.
11th April - The Thames Meanderer Tour
When this tour went on sale, it looked appealing, even to the point of taking a day of annual leave to do it (helped by currently being on lates, had it been earlies then it would likely be a different story). The day began with the 05:59 service from Grateley to Waterloo with 159017 & 158887 on a lightly loaded service. Once in Waterloo, I had a gentle stroll towards Liverpool Street going via London Bridge (the bridge that is, rather than the station), walking through the city of London when it’s quiet is a strange feeling considering what it would be like at 8am on a weekday.
Anyhow I arrived at Liverpool Street, swinging via a supermarket for some supplies, and took up a seat waiting for the charter to arrive from the Peterborough direction. 57310 arrived first with the collection of Mk2 coaches from Eastern Rail Services and winner 66753 on the rear. The train departed from Liverpool Street heading towards Stratford, before heading towards Barking and Rainham. After Tilbury Town it took the new track leading into the Tilbury 2 container terminal, doing a couple of the lines within the terminal before heading back out towards West Thurrock Junction (just beyond Grays) where it reversed.
57310 at London Liverpool Street by Kite, on Flickr
The 66 hauled the train back towards Tilbury, staying on the passenger network heading towards Pitsea & Southend Central, where it went into bay platform 4 (after a pathing stop in the centre platform at Leigh on Sea). We had around an hour for a lunch break, time I used to visit a couple of places within Southend on this warm Saturday, before returning to the train with the 57 taking the train back towards Leigh on Sea for another reversal with the 66 leading the train all the way to Shoeburyness. Sadly, not enough time at this terminus to allow people out for photos considering C2C runs 6tph to Shoeburyness on Saturdays.
Departure from Shoeburyness and it was a bit of a slow potter behind a service train towards Barking (via Basildon) before taking the flyover and connection onto the Great Eastern to reverse at Stratford (and a set-down for anybody wanting an early finish). After Stratford the train had some decent speed with the run towards Shenfield, taking the dive-under to head towards Southend Victoria for a short break before returning back towards London Liverpool Street.
66753 at Southend Victoria Station by Kite, on Flickr
In theory I could have stayed on for the run towards Potters Bar with the 66 getting swapped over at Ferne Park, but the lack of sleep from the night before was catching up with me so I bailed for an earlier finish. I strolled towards Waterloo (this time going via Blackfriars bridge to mix things up a bit) and boarded the 19:50 service for Salisbury formed of 159021 which got very busy on departure and only got worse at Clapham Junction. The 30-minute gap in fast Basingstoke services doesn’t help, if only the XX:35 trains towards Winchester called at both Clapham & Basingstoke, it would resolve some of the overcrowding issues.
Anyhow I got back to Grateley in the light rain, and headed home to rest for the remainder of the evening, although it wasn’t long before I was in bed. An enjoyable little railtour, although the people I was sat with weren’t the talkative type which did put a damper on things. Thanks for reading, as ever more photos can be found on my https://www.flickr.com/photos/157760463@N05/albums/72177720324899703/page2 Flickr[/url
8th April – Rural Lancashire on the Leeds & Liverpool
Today was another trip towards the North West to continue my coverage of the Leeds & Liverpool canal, having multiple options in terms of which part to head to (Rufford Branch, Burscough – Maghull or a mixed walk in Rishton), in the end keeping an eye on not wanting to be too late I decided on the section from Burscough towards Maghull, joining up with coverage from August 2023.
The day began with 159017 & 159006 to take me towards Waterloo, where after a gentle stroll towards Euston it was onto 390001 on the 07:30 to Glasgow, getting a seat in coach C which had 2 other passengers. The train picked up a few more passengers at Warrington and I alighted at Wigan North Western, passing the revenue block in the subway and the recently installed ticket gates. I reached Wigan Wallgate and headed to the platform for the next Southport service, noticing a 2-coach unit heading to Manchester already looking rather cosy. 156401 & 150129 took me to Burscough Bridge where my walk began (after detouring via the Tesco to grab supplies for lunch).
150129 departing Burscough Bridge by Kite, on FlickrI picked up the canal near the wharf, turning west passing many moored boats and the Burscough urban area before that gave way to some industrial units near New Lane (I can't remember if I rode along this section of canal back in 2015 when I visited New Lane station, or if I stuck to the road). After New Lane the towpath turned more rural as the canal headed into the countryside, skirting round Heaton's Bridge, passing a static caravan park before going underneath the A570 near Pinfold with a modern marina.
The walk continued now heading in a south western direction, passing near to Halsall (and into a cutting) with some lovely countryside views before the canal reached Downholland & Downholland Cross, where I decided to pause for some lunch on a handy bench in the shade. A section where the towpath was a bit dodgy in places (narrow and uneven due to erosion) before the countryside gave way to urban landscapes in Lydiate, which merged into Maghull. I had a little detour towards Morrisons in Maghull to grab some supplies (mainly more drink as it was quite hot today and I had managed to nearly finish my big bottle of water).
Leeds & Liverpool Canal between New Lane & Heaton's Bridge (19) by Kite, on FlickrAfter my visit to Morrisons, I returned to the canal for the final section heading towards a footbridge near Kennessee Green and headed towards Maghull station. An enjoyable walk in the countryside, the towpath reasonably busy at times with dogwalkers and people out enjoying the sunshine. Dud 777013 took me to Liverpool Central where I somehow made a +1 connection onto winner 777034 on a busy Chester train to take me towards Chester where I relaxed for 30 minutes before boarding a lightly loaded 805007 with 805003 attached to the rear from Holyhead for the run towards Euston, losing time at Crewe due to waiting for a Glasgow fast to head north before departing.
At Euston, I headed towards the Northern line platforms, jumping on the first available southbound train, formed of 51580 & 51579 (which as a bonus was a set I wanted for a mile) to Tottenham Court Road, transferring to the Elizabeth line with 345035 to Paddington. At Paddington I met up with my good friend Dan before heading to board a Bristol Parkway service formed of 387145, 387170 & 387152 for the fast run towards Reading, where I had booked a night in the Ibis close to the station. The rest of the evening was spent catching up and relaxing.
37175 at Chester by Kite, on Flickr9th April – Flirting in South Wales
After a reasonable night sleep in the Ibis, myself & Dan left the hotel heading towards Reading station, catching 387147 & 387153 on the Cardiff train for some high speed electrostar running. Once at the Welsh capital we popped out of the station to buy the Valley Day tickets and to grab some supplies, coming back against a massive flow of customers from the Swansea direction (seems there was some sort of sporting event on today). Today was to give Dan some experiences with the Welsh Flirts so first up was 231001 on a Bargoed service taken to Bargoed, remaining on board back towards Queen Street. First time I’ve called at Gilfach Fargoed for what felt like ages on the southbound train.
At Cardiff Queen Street it was a short wait before winner 756103 took us towards Trefforest and a 5-minute connection into winner 756109 heading back towards Cardiff, where we had a brief break for some lunch before taking winner 756108 towards Pontypridd, the original idea was to take this towards Llwynypia to intercept another winner coming back from Treherbert but there was a set swap at Cardiff with that unit heading towards Merthyr Tydfil instead.
756108 at Pontypridd by Kite, on FlickrAfter a short wait at Pontypridd, we took 756101 one stop to Abercynon for the cross platform change onto winner 756117 to take us back towards Cardiff Queen Street, where we changed onto 150231 for the run to Penarth (because it could be the last time I have a 150 at Penarth considering those services are meant to be switching over to 3 coach 756s at some point). We remained on the same unit back to Cardiff Central, where I popped out of the station to grab supplies for dinner from Boots (noticing the crowd control barriers making an appearance).
Back at the station, and it was onto a short formed GWR service for Portsmouth Harbour with 158768 running solo, and needless to say it departed Cardiff Central rather cosy and it only got worse as the journey continued, picking up & dropping off a good number of passengers at most of the stations, only emptying out at Warminster to such a degree there was nobody standing. Still 2 coaches is better than 0 coaches. At Salisbury I popped out of the station to visit the supermarket to grab some supplies for the week ahead before taking 159004 & 159021 to Grateley with Dan remaining on board towards Clapham as he made his way back towards Medway.
150231 at Penarth by Kite, on FlickrAn enjoyable social day in South Wales, I do like those Welsh Flirts, a large step up from the 150s.
10th April – Return to the Grand Union Canal
I completed the mainline route of the Grand Union canal last year, leaving just the long Leicester arm to walk, having made a start with it last August walking from Crick towards the junction a couple miles away from Long Buckby, with the future walks at the time put on hold due to the towpath being closed in a few places. I decided today was the day I would resume my exploring of this rural canal, putting the Leeds & Liverpool on a temporary hold. The bus to Welford from Northampton is quite limited with the ideal timed bus only running 3 days a week (the other 2 days it forms a Welford – Market Harborough service).
The day started with 158882, 159008 & 159108 on a train to Waterloo, nice fast run after Basingstoke. Once in London I did my usual stroll towards Euston via Waterloo Bridge, just to waste some time before taking a Birmingham New Street service formed of 350263 & 350247 (this was the day LNR allocations started appearing on RTT so I knew this would be a pair of 2s, so I knew I wanted to get there early to grab a seat in the former 1st class area for that bit of extra comfort. These units took me to Northampton where I left the station making my way towards the bus station via a shop for some supplies for lunch.
66569 passing Northampton Station by Kite, on FlickrIt was onto the 11:05 departure of the route 60 bus (fleet 28628) towards Welford, departing Northampton with 3 other passengers on board, all had departed the bus by Brixworth. A nice rural bus service serving villages like Spratton, Hollowell & Guilsborough before terminating in Welford, a village on the boundary between Northamptonshire & Leicestershire. A short walk from the bus stop towards Welford Wharf (via the Welford Pocket Park and Postman Pat), I visited the toilets before starting the main part of my walk.
The first section was near the marina and a small loop of a mooring area due to the loss of a footbridge over the entrance, but soon the canal turned very rural with the towpath being a mix of dried mud & grass with some beautiful views of countryside & woodland, the only sound being the wind and the occasional farm animal. The short Welford arm came to an end at Welford junction where it met up with the main Leicester branch (this arm was only built to access some reservoirs to feed the canal). I turned north on the Leicester arm to make my way towards North Kilworth wharf, coming close to the route of the old Rugby - Market Harborough railway line a couple of times.
Grand Union Canal (Leicester Line) between Welford Junction & Elkington (61) by Kite, on FlickrAt North Kilworth I did a U-turn to head back towards the junction to continue south, deciding to do this short section because there is a bus at North Kilworth from Market Harborough I'm planning to use for the next section towards Foxton (and the Market Harborough arm). The peaceful countryside was nice, with the towpath being quiet with the occasional boat moored up on this beautiful day. This section of the canal is very curvy and doesn't really pass anywhere so it did feel very isolated. My walk continued going underneath the A14 passing a glamping site towards the small settlement of Elkington. The canal continued its curvy route in the countryside heading close to Yelvertoft before the final section towards Crick (home of an annual boat show), joining up with my coverage from last year with the A428 bridge.
A fast walk along the road took me to the bus stop, making it with a few minutes to spare before the route 96 service bound for Northampton rolled in (with bus 36481) for the short ride towards Long Buckby (via West Haddon & Watford), where I had another short walk along Station Road to reach the station. In theory I could have continued on with the bus to Northampton but the connection between bus & train was quite tight and I know Northampton traffic can be quite bad. 350107 & 350376 rolled in on the next London train to take me towards Watford Junction, I was going to stay on all the way to Euston but I noticed the next Overground service was due to use platform 1 at Watford Junction, which is one platform I wanted (leaves just platform 4 to clear all 4 DC platforms at Watford Junction). So, it was onto 710269 to take me to Harrow & Wealdstone, crossing over to platform 6 onto 350117 & 350115 on a busy train from Tring for the nonstop run to Euston.
710269 at Watford Junction by Kite, on FlickrI headed to the underground, jumping on the first available southbound train formed of 51674 & 51673, and like with Tuesday it was a bonus of being a sub mile pair, to Waterloo where after grabbing dinner it was to 159009 on the 19:50 service for Salisbury, a train which got extremely busy on departure, emptying out at Basingstoke (that 30 minute gap in fast Basingstoke trains doesn’t help, if only the XX:35 trains called at Basingstoke all day long rather than just in the peaks). Anyhow it was an enjoyable walk in the countryside, topping up my tan, listening to the birds etc. Certainly, a walk not to do during winter as I suspect the towpath would get muddy in places as it was very rural.
11th April - The Thames Meanderer Tour
When this tour went on sale, it looked appealing, even to the point of taking a day of annual leave to do it (helped by currently being on lates, had it been earlies then it would likely be a different story). The day began with the 05:59 service from Grateley to Waterloo with 159017 & 158887 on a lightly loaded service. Once in Waterloo, I had a gentle stroll towards Liverpool Street going via London Bridge (the bridge that is, rather than the station), walking through the city of London when it’s quiet is a strange feeling considering what it would be like at 8am on a weekday.
Anyhow I arrived at Liverpool Street, swinging via a supermarket for some supplies, and took up a seat waiting for the charter to arrive from the Peterborough direction. 57310 arrived first with the collection of Mk2 coaches from Eastern Rail Services and winner 66753 on the rear. The train departed from Liverpool Street heading towards Stratford, before heading towards Barking and Rainham. After Tilbury Town it took the new track leading into the Tilbury 2 container terminal, doing a couple of the lines within the terminal before heading back out towards West Thurrock Junction (just beyond Grays) where it reversed.
57310 at London Liverpool Street by Kite, on FlickrThe 66 hauled the train back towards Tilbury, staying on the passenger network heading towards Pitsea & Southend Central, where it went into bay platform 4 (after a pathing stop in the centre platform at Leigh on Sea). We had around an hour for a lunch break, time I used to visit a couple of places within Southend on this warm Saturday, before returning to the train with the 57 taking the train back towards Leigh on Sea for another reversal with the 66 leading the train all the way to Shoeburyness. Sadly, not enough time at this terminus to allow people out for photos considering C2C runs 6tph to Shoeburyness on Saturdays.
Departure from Shoeburyness and it was a bit of a slow potter behind a service train towards Barking (via Basildon) before taking the flyover and connection onto the Great Eastern to reverse at Stratford (and a set-down for anybody wanting an early finish). After Stratford the train had some decent speed with the run towards Shenfield, taking the dive-under to head towards Southend Victoria for a short break before returning back towards London Liverpool Street.
66753 at Southend Victoria Station by Kite, on FlickrIn theory I could have stayed on for the run towards Potters Bar with the 66 getting swapped over at Ferne Park, but the lack of sleep from the night before was catching up with me so I bailed for an earlier finish. I strolled towards Waterloo (this time going via Blackfriars bridge to mix things up a bit) and boarded the 19:50 service for Salisbury formed of 159021 which got very busy on departure and only got worse at Clapham Junction. The 30-minute gap in fast Basingstoke services doesn’t help, if only the XX:35 trains towards Winchester called at both Clapham & Basingstoke, it would resolve some of the overcrowding issues.
Anyhow I got back to Grateley in the light rain, and headed home to rest for the remainder of the evening, although it wasn’t long before I was in bed. An enjoyable little railtour, although the people I was sat with weren’t the talkative type which did put a damper on things. Thanks for reading, as ever more photos can be found on my https://www.flickr.com/photos/157760463@N05/albums/72177720324899703/page2 Flickr[/url