A Northern Rail tour

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Tuesday: A friend had managed to obtain vouchers for £10 day rovers on the Northern Rail network – would I care to join him? No arm-twisting required there… The most convenient starting point is Crewe, where we’re off on the 9.34am to Manchester, via the airport. From Manchester we’ll take a ride through the Hope Valley to Sheffield. Our route and schedule is determined by the nature of Northern Rail’s services – they tend to operate the “stoppers” – so we can’t take the Crewe – Stockport – Sheffield route, instead, we’re heading out on the old GCR/MR joint lines through Romiley and Marple, joining the Midland line proper at New Mills.

At Sheffield, we’ve a longish wait for the Huddersfield train – or we can join a Nottingham – Leeds service, and change at Barnsley. We’ve been on Midland metals from New Mills, but at Barnsley, we’re back on the GCR as far as Penistone, along a line which lost its passenger service in 1959, and regained it in 1983 when the direct Sheffield – Penistone line closed. It’s interesting new track, especially the section from Penistone to Huddersfield, which is really up in the hills.

Only minutes after arriving at Huddersfield, we’re off again, to Leeds (LNWR), where we’re straight onto a modern electric unit for Bradford Forster Square (Midland again; the station almost totally unrecognisable from my last visit in the late ’80s). We’d toyed with the idea of a trip to Ilkley, but the times would have been very tight, and it might have meant a late return home – another day, perhaps. A leg stretch now – we need to get to Bradford Interchange, where there’s just time to grab a bite to eat before setting forth for Manchester, via the L&Y Calder Valley route through Hebden Bridge. Another leg stretch through central Manchester to Piccadilly, where we’ve a longish wait (lots of trains to Crewe, but our ticket’s not valid for Virgins or Arrivas…), this time travelling direct through Stockport. Eventually we’re back to our starting point, after an interesting tour on northern rails… (Will the offer be repeated? Fingers crossed – and many thanks again, J)

Northern Rail

Telford to Ironbridge – along old lines

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Monday: We’ve taken the bus to Telford town centre, and we’re walking back. For roughly half the distance (just over 6 miles in total) we’re on, or close to, the Silkin Way, which follows the track of the old Coalport railway. In places, its predecessor, the canal, is also still in water. We leave the trackbed of necessity – there’s a gap, where it used to cross the railway to Ironbridge power station – both now out of use. From this point (near to the old windmill), we’re roughly parallel to the Ironbridge line, and as we descend from Lightmoor, we join the track of an older way – one of the many pre-railway age tramways that ran in these parts. Arriving in Ironbridge, there’s time for tea and cake…

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=369040&Y=306086&A=Y&Z=120

Mitchell’s Fold and Bromlow Callow

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We’re on the western fringe of Shropshire today, in a part of the county where the distant past has some significance. Mitchell’s Fold stone circle is a well-known ancient monument, whose location on this high grassy ridge makes up for a lack of stature – it’s not Stonehenge. Walking on, we arrive at Castle Ring (a pretty straightforward name for a hill fort) – again, not the biggest in these parts, but its situation is dramatic. We take a detour on the way there, to visit the top of Rorrington Hill. No cairn or OS column – the highest point must be found by guesswork. Eventually, we come to Bromlow Callow. I’ve no idea what its history might be, but the round hill topped by a clump of tall trees makes it a distinctive landmark in these parts. The view would be tremendous on a clearer day – it’s hazy again, and we can only just make out the Long Mountain (it may be long, but it’s hardly a mountain) barely five miles away. Our return takes us to the highest point of Stapeley Hill – again, it’s not a mountain, but at least its highest points are marked by rocks and cairns. We could have had better views today, though we did see a hare – he must have been just a few yards away when we startled him. With sunshine and light winds, it’s been another great day out on the hills.

Or view OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=331605&Y=299611&A=Y&Z=120

Watercolour days

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Friday: spring is in the air – and there’s a spring in our steps. It’s not warm, but this is the first day we haven’t needed gloves, scarves, hats etc. With the change in weather has come a haze, shortening our horizons and fading them to shades of watercolour. We’re following a new (for us) route, using a permissive bridleway and gentle gradients to reach Boyne Water, an attractive pool which is larger than one might expect, so near the summit ridge of Brown Clee. Minutes later, we exchange the eastern view – pleasant gentle countryside, for the western view – the indistinct pastel-blue ridges of the border hills. It’s good up here on a day like this, but we can’t stay, and we’re soon threading our way back down between moss- and lichen-clad trees, towards the car and the short journey home.

Or view OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=360140&Y=285876&A=Y&Z=120

Under a clear blue sky: Lyth Hill

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We needed to collect a package in Shrewsbury, some time in the latter part of the afternoon. One of us had thought about calling in on the shops, but the weather was much too good for that. Lyth Hill, just south of the town, would provide us with a reasonable walk. It’s hardly worth calling a hill, barely 550′ at its highest point, but its isolated position provides a panoramic view of the south Shropshire hills, from the Wrekin through the Stretton hills to the distant (and snow-covered) Berwyns. We encountered the noisiest and most insistent sheep we’ve met for a long time (“wave upon wave of demented avengers”), a fine herd of deer (who, fortunately, can’t read the sign at the end of the lane proclaiming “venison for sale”), innumerable horses, and on Lyth Hill itself, one of the highest concentrations of dogs and their walkers for many a mile. As for the fields of Exfords Green – they’re the greenest we’ve seen for a long time. It must be spring.


Or view OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=346640&Y=306321&A=Y&Z=120

Teddy: making Colin look big

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TeddyCentenarian Barclay saddle tank Colin McAndrew, a resident favourite at the Chasewater Railway, is very small, without a doubt – one of the smallest standard gauge steam locomotives in existence. But Teddy*, a 75-year-old upstart Peckett, is without a doubt smaller – 2’0″ diameter driving wheels… Smallest? Quite possibly – and almost certainly the smallest in full working order. Today we spent several pleasant hours beside the line, on the occasion of its spring gala. (It didn’t feel much like spring, though the sun did shine early on). A “Rail Diaries” page will be along in a while – in the meantime, here’s Teddy…

*Originally owned by Teddy Boston, of Cadeby Light Railway fame

The other edge at Wenlock

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The western escarpment is much the better known at the northern end of the Wenlock Edge, with some very pleasant walks from the popular NT car park at Much Wenlock. This route, to the eastern ridge, is less well-known and much quieter. We walk beside the old railway line and through fields, along interesting little wooded pathways. Between the heavy clouds (we’ve managed to dodge the showers) the sky is blue – the landscape is a patchwork of light and shade today.

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=361295&Y=299171&A=Y&Z=120

Just around the corner?

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It’s the 1st of March on Tuesday – St David’s day, and there are signs of spring all around us as we wander down to the river, for tea and cake at Coalport youth hostel, just beside the china works. We’re about 2/3 of the way round, and their shortcake is perfect fuel for the long plod back up the hill…


View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=369175&Y=301571&A=Y&Z=120