Throwback to the days when Newcastle got the best of both worlds, England's official Christmas Bank Holidays and most places unofficially Scotland’s New Year, Hogmanay, too. (Banks in Northumberland offered a very limited token service until 12.00.)
Weather permitted I'm hoping to do this in the next week or so on a 4 in 8 NorthEast Rover (any confirmation yet if Rovers are valid on the Ashington branch?).
I wouldn't follow the A197 to get to the path, I'd say starting from the station following Woodhorn road is a little shorter and should be less unpleasant than the 'A' road. Then the path starts pretty much at the roundabout where Woodhorn Road meets the A197, 1.5 miles to Newbiggin sea front. The first part of the path is next to the existing freight line before that branches off and you're left on the old railway path.
This is a simple straightforward route indeed, the path next to the A197 is segregated from the road and is a joint cycle path (you can see this on streetview of course), so it's not unpleasant to walk along, but it is boring - I used exactly this route last week to get to Woodhorn museum, by crossing the pedestrian level crossing over the railway and into the country park and from there along the easy path to the museum.
)
Glad I got there before that!
I've chased this up with Northern on Twitter. At first they said check with @nationalrailenq who in turn said check with @northernassist but this morning I got what appears to be a definitive answer.
Personally I would speak to the guard before boarding as I don't believe that answer at all. That's someone who is relying on a map that no-one has bothered to update.
This looks like nonsense to me! Worth posting the question about the Rover validity in the tickets and fares advice part of the forum to see what the fares experts respond with.
Obviously this is good advice. But there is a wider issue to establish if the Rover is indeed valid.
www.railforums.co.uk
) Upcoming fixtures for Asington are:
No the Metro route is unaffected and remains as it always has.
They just need to finish demolishing (or whatever) that building that has metal fencing around it and it'll be a 30 second walk to the high street directly from platform, so I doubt it makes a huge deal of sense... tbh I don't know why the stairs up from the platform are sealed off, it doesn't "look" necessary and it would have saved us... oooh.... 2 minutes each way maybe, 90 seconds at least walking to/from the restaurant
On the Northumberland Line website there’s a news item about Wansbeck Square being scaffolded for demolition starting Monday 13th. Possibly why the ramped route up to the road is already closed:
www.northumberlandline.uk
Fingers crossed they actually put something in following this to allow better direct pedestrian access from the high street. The current arrangements (sending you off down an small side street) work but are hardly ideal compared to just using a ramped footbridge!On the Northumberland Line website there’s a news item about Wansbeck Square being scaffolded for demolition starting Monday 13th. Possibly why the ramped route up to the road is already closed:
Update on Wansbeck Square Demolition
The demolition works to Wansbeck Square started in October and are progressing well as part of the Ashington Regeneration Programme. Funded by UK Government, the North East Combined Authority and Northumberland County Council, the works are the first stage in the redevelopment of Wansbeck...
Ah that's encouraging. The lack of direct access from the high street seemed a big oversight.
Thanks, but is that including Northumberland Park station?
Yes, there's obviously a fair bit of work going on to build the National Rail platform but the Metro station is unchanged.
Yes Northern had onboard (internal and external) signage and announcements from day 1 sorted.
If you’re not already aware, the interchange route uses the pavement on the existing road bridge, ie it’s not direct within a combined station.
