I'll be back!
Stuart Boyd • 26 July 2019
Monday 22nd July 2019: North East - It was a pleasure.
Well today was my final day in the North East and it was looking like it was going to be a scorcher. Thankfully i didn't have many stations planned today, that is partly to allow time to travel to Manchester to meet up with my partner, but also so i could have time to visit Locomotion which is a 5 minuet walk from Shildon station.
My day started with a quick trip to Allens West then went back on myself to Eaglescliffe. At Eaglescliff I got my first sighting of a Grand Central train. Up until now i'd only ever see them on pictures on social media. I think their units looked rather slick and stylish. In addition to this, when at Hartlepool the previous day i noticed that they were offering fares from as little as £14.50 from Hartlepool to London which i thought was remarkably cheap!
After a short wait at Eaglescliffe i waited for the service that would take me to Doncaster. On arrival at Doncaster i decided to save myself some time and do a sneaky taxi maneuver. I hopped into a taxi and asked him to take me to North Road station, to say he was a bit perplexed was an understatement. Anyway he took me as i requested. I arrived at North Road and found a single platform that was located next to some old sidings with some very rusty old units sat in the yard. There was also what looked like to be the old platform further up which is now disused. All in all it was a very interesting station that i definitely wasn't expecting.
After a short wait at North Road my train arrived in the form of 142091 which i traveled on up to Shildon. My last station on the Bishop Line. Also Shildon is the home to railway museum "Locomotion'. After some advice on twitter from Jan (@AvfcSquirrel) that i must allow some time to visit the museum i did just that.
Now i will add all my photo's from my visit to my gallery page (which hopes to be launching this weekend). After a lovely walk around the museum i headed back to Shildon station to catch the train southbound, and back to Middlesbrough where another taxi move was in the waiting.
I hoped in a taxi to take me to Marton station. A taxi was always in mind for the upcoming three stations due to the frequency of services it was a lot easier to start in the middle of the three. On the way in the taxi the driver asked me what i was doing so i explained my challenge to him and he told me loads of things about how there used to be more stations in the area many years ago, how he lives near to Great Ayton, but when he catches the train to Whitby he goes into Middlesbrough first as its only way of guaranteeing a seat. Local knowledge is priceless to hear about.
Marton station is a single platform station that serves the Middlesbrough suburb Marton. I was surpriced as the station had a slight rural feel to it up on the platform. Although when i was travelling in the taxi it certainly didn't feel rural, funny what a few bushes and trees can do the mind.
Time for the short hop up the line to Gypsy Lane. While on the short hop i chatted to the guard who had dropped me off earlier in the day at Darlington so was a little puzzled to be picking me up at Marton only a few hours later. Anyway after the quick explanation we arrived at Gypsy Lane where I alighted. Gypsy Lane is a single platform station on the outskirts of Nunthorpe. I had a 5 minuet connection here for my train that would take me to my final station.
Heading back south through Marton i arrived at my final station of the trip. James Cook, Or James Cook University Hospital Station as some people might know it as. Or you might even know it as James Cool depending on which sign you read [See picture below].
After alighting at James Cook i headed towards the main road where i caught the first bus heading into Middlesbrough.
And that was it, that's the end of my North East Adventure for now. I hope to be back by the end of the year to finish off Newcastle/Middlesbrough area.
Until my next blog update.
Happy travels
Stu.
P.S:
On a slight side note, the following day i was at hospital with my partner near Wigan. While travelling to our appointment I was able to tick off another station, Appley Bridge was the one. We can both confirm that the pub (The Boathouse Pub & Kitchen) by the canal near Appley Bridge station serves a fantastic pint! Strongly recommended!
The day started with myself meeting Rob and Jan at Machynlleth station before hoping into Robs car and driving to Tywyn. We decided to arrive in plenty of time as we knew there was a cafe at the station that had a reputation as been very good for a fry up. Given I love a good old fry up I was never going to turn down trying one of these out! I can confirm it was rather brilliant. A nice little surprise was that the fry up was under a tenner! We also got a free drink each as we chose to gift aid our ticket purchase for the trains that day. After we had all devoured our breakfasts we went for a little wander around Tywyn Wharf station before then boarding a train and setting ourselves in for the journey to the other end of the line, Nant Gwernol! Along the way we got to grips with the line, what the other stations looked like from the train, and most importantly, what the footpaths alongside the railway looked like. Footpaths later in the day would turn out to be a bit of a problem.
After hearing about the Steam Gala on the Llangollen Railway I simply had to see if I could make it work to visit. The day started at the awful time of 0645 with a train from Liverpool Lime Street to Chester. I hopped off at Frogsham on the way in the hunt of a cap in the Morrisons next to the station. Annoyingly thought he supermarket had zero mens clothing. So hopped on the next train to try my luck in Chester. Result, I got a cap! Hopefully this one lasts longer than this trip. I have a habbit of loosing hats! Aftert he great hat hunt I headed back to the station in order to catch the train down to Gobowen where I was meeting my good friend Rob. After the hellos we headed in car to Llangollen and started the great car parking space hunt which was followed by spending 10 minutes trying to work out how to pay for a car park ticket! After all that we headed down to the station and went straight to the platform. Couple of photos taken followed by boarding the first train of the day which would take us the full length of the line to Corwen station. We spent 20 minutes at Corwen before heading back to Glyndyfrdwy station and went for a short walk and took some photos. It was at this point we realised that every service on the line was running late. We boarded our third train and headed to Carrog where we alighted. Took some more photos and then went in search of a pub! The Grouse Inn to be precise. After a 5 minute walk we came across the pub and plonked ourselves in the beer garden with a drink and promply orders some grub! Was rather tasty! After this we headed back to the station, had a look around, bought some gifts in the shop and then headed over to the next train. On the way we asked a member of staff/volunteer what was happening with the timetable and their words was "the timetable is a work of fiction" so from this point we played it by ear with trains. The next stop was Berwyn which is quite possibly the best station on the line! The setting with the river next to the station was super and you simply couldn't stand on the platform and not be impressed! Given the timetable was completly out of the window we decided to just stay at the station and wait for the next train. This arrived and took us back to where we started: Llangollen. The line is a thing of beauty. The scenery was breathtaking, and every member of staff/volunteer we spoke to was great. After a walk around Llangollen we headed for the car and then drove to Machynlleth where i am based for the next few nights. Enjoy below some photos from today. And until next time... Ta for now
Kildale station is located on the very scenic Esk Valley Line that runs from Middlesborough to Whitby. From the June 2024 timetable change the station will see 8 trains per day, 4 in each direction! Although this is a limited service it does give you the opportunity to do some exploring of the area.
I set of on a walk with my sisters dog and headed for the disused canal from Kendal. I followed along disused canal to the village of Natland. I then swapped the disused canal for the river. After following the riverside path, I came across a footbridge that I had planned to use, annoyingly it was closed! Annoyingly I was planning to use this footbridge, due to this there was a lenghty diversion. Thankfully the diversion wasn't a total waste of time, I was able to walk through the beautiful Sizergh Castle and then head back up to my original route plan and headed to Helsington church and view point. After spending a little time chatting with my Dad (who's ashs was scattered there) me and Bailey then headed up to Scout Scar before setting of back down towards Kendal. Upon reaching the River Kent I decided that my feet was still feeling good and I headed back along the river to Hawes Bridge. I then headed up into the village of Natland and then up to Oxenholme where my walk came to an end!
A blog about the new Northumberland Line that is scheduled to start opening in the Summer of 2024.
This walk was a tail of two halves! The day started with walking through Reading suburbs and then through the city centre. Things mid morning took a positive turn as we headed to the The Kennet and Avon Canal which I then followed for the remaineder of the day. Only hopping away from the canal to go on to station platforms. A very enjoyable walk, even in the scorching heat! Stations visted today was: Reading, Reading West, Theale, Aldermaston & ended the day at Midgham. By walking between Aldermaston and Midgham I actually have managed to get a station ahead on my plan which can only be a good thing as I head down to the more difficult reagions of Somerset & Devon next week. Until tomorrow :)
Todays walk was a little bit of a tough one, mainly due to the excessive heat which is only going to get worse as the week goes on. Thinking there will be some early starts coming up to try and miss the worst of the heat! Today was a mixture of roads and walks across fields. Discovered there is some beautiful countryside between Maidenhead and Twyford. I strongly encourage you to take this walk! Stations visited today: Burnham, Taplow, Maidenhead and ended at Twyford. Was great to have Nick Badley along with me today. Make sure to check out and subscribe to his YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@NickBadley . After the walk myself and Nick headed to Windsor where we met up with Coastway Will and had a Nandos dinner where the unlimited refils was very much used again and again! Until tomorrow :)
Todays walk saw me starting at Southall and heading straight to The Grand Union Canal. We followed this for most of the walk today. Stations called at today was: Hayes & Harlington, West Drayton, Iver, Langley before finishing the walk at Slough. Was great to have pals Jack and Dave with me today. Laughed for the most part, especially when we got the wrong place for the London/Buckinghamshire borders. That video on twitter got filmed twice lol. Massive thank you to everyone supporting the event via donations to either/both: Donate to Samaritans: https://justgiving.com/page/greatwesternwalk Support me with the challenge: https://www.gofundme.com/f/GreatWesternWalk My photos from today are below. Daves photos from today can be found here on his Flickr photostream: https://flic.kr/ps/3ppCTV Until tomorrow :)
The first day of the walk from London Paddington to Southall saw me call at Acton Mainline, Ealing Broadway, West Ealing & Hanwell. On the way we saw unexpected viaducts, fancy McDonalds, pretty gardens & nice market squares. Today I was joined by a couple of friends who can be found online at the following places, Please do check their accounts out. Jack All Station: twitter.com/JackAllStations Midland London: youtube.com/@MidlandLondon Below is a selection of photos from today.
Walk around Windermere: