A week of Firsts and Lasts
Great trip to Kent, London, Devon & Bristol - Also a grand farewell for the HST!
Now i'm back home it's time to reflect on my latest adventure. My first trip visiting Kent, visiting Angel Road, The HST farewell trip, first trip of the year for the Okehampton line.
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Kent completely surprised me, I didn't really know what to expect from Kent, one person back home called Kent Concrete County due to all the roads they said. To be honest i don't really know what they was talking about, it was beautiful, some really nice beaches and some fantastic countryside. on day one i arrived quite late, still had time to go and do the Sheerness-On-Sea line which is a short line that connects Sittingbourne with the Isle of Sheppey. It is clearly a well used commuter line with a very frequent service. After visiting the stations on this line it was back to Sittingbourne (Where i took the above photo) .
I then headed down to Folkestone Central where i was booked to stay at the Grand Burstin Hotel.
The Grand Burstin Hotel is part of the Britannia Hotel chain of hotels nationwide. Now i have never stayed at a Britannia Hotel before, and at £25 per night i was quite skeptical about what the accommodation and facilities would be like. As it turned my concerns were unjustified, it was more than acceptable, to be honest the bath was better than the one i had at Travelodge later in the week. The bed was quite comfy and the sea view was to die for in the morning.
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My first full day in Kent... I headed to the east coast and worked my way around the top knocking out everything between Dover Priory and Sandwich. I then progressed to the north Kent coast where i visited every station between Dumpton Park & Faversham. Before heading down the line between Faversham and Kearsney. Unfortunately due to signalling issues in London one of my train was delayed and i missed a connection at Shepherds Well. As this point i headed back to Folkestone West. I got off at Folkestone East and headed down to seafront where i had a beautiful evening walk along the beach. Before heading to the hotel i took a little walk along the Folkestone Arm.
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On the Friday i had planned to not visit many stations and just relax. That plan changed as i was heading between Ashford International and Canterbury West I traveled through 3 little stations, Wye, Chilham & Chartham. They looked really beautiful so i decided to go and visit them stations. Manual level crossings, Old signal boxes, nice village greens. It really was beautiful.
After these three i went to Canterbury East and then to Selling and Adisham before heading into London via Gillingham, Rainham & Rochester. I soon discovered why i was nervous about London. The walk between Stratford International & Stratford (via the Olympic Park) was heaving, trying to avoid getting run over by bikes & scooters. Anyway, once i dodged all the people i was on a train heading to Angel Road.
So my original plans was to catch the very last train out of Angel Road, unfortunately the closure date was changed meaning my great big plans were in the bin. I've still done the station now, and as i write this I see that it's been delayed again... Who know's when this station will finally close, and more to the point, who knows when Meridian Water will finally open. I never actually realized how close the two stations were going to be. Quite literally a stone throw away, platform to platform anyway.
After Angel Road i made my way to my Travelodge for the night at Enfield.
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Saturday i started the day late, i didn't leave my hotel until 1145. Ticked off some stations in London before heading to Paddington for the final Great Western Railway HST.
The HST journey was amazing, I'll be doing a separate blog for this trip soon. So anyway, lets fast forward to Taunton.
So with the journey ending in Taunton/Exeter i had to find some accommodation. Prices in Exeter and Taunton are very expensive on a Saturday night. Cheapest place i could get was a guest house for £56. I stayed at the Royal Ashton Hotel just 250m from Taunton station. I was very impressed with it overall. Check it out here.
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So it was an early rise on the Sunday, time to head off to Exeter for the first service of the year to Sampford Courtenay and Okehampton.
I started with visiting Sampford Courtenay, the least used station in Devon. Since they only have trains on Summer Sundays it's no surprise really. It was so peaceful and relaxing at the station while i waited for my train back.
After this i got the train back down to Crediton where i went to get breakfast at Wetherspoons. Terrible experience, worst Wetherspoons i've been in for a very long time. 35mins i waited for my breakfast. Anyway, i made it back to the station in time, just. Anyway i then headed up the Tarka line to Kings Nympton. I then headed back to Newton St Cyres and then headed for Okehampton. What a beautiful treat Okehampton was. I mean absolutely beautiful.
After Okehampton it was time to head towards Bristol where my hotel was for the night.
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The Monday was a personal morning, in the afternoon I finally got to tick of Keynsham, a station that had eluded me on a few previous trips. I always got to tick off Bristol Temple Meads properly! Then it was homeward bound.
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Now my trip has finished i look back on this one as one of the best, felt really positive all throughout, and I've learnt things about myself as a person and learnt lots about the challenge. Got to meet several people during this trip, was good to say Hi to say hi to people. If anyone see's me about in the future, feel free to say hi, i might even grab a selfie with you for this blog.
Anyway, until next time.
Stuart
