A week of Firsts and Lasts 

Wayne Boyd • 23 May 2019

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

My day on the Talyllyn Railway

by S Boyd • 20 April 2025
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.

Every Last Station on the Llangollen Railway

by S Boyd • 11 April 2025
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

Stations to visit: KILDALE

by Stu • 28 April 2024
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.

Afternoon walk with Bailey

by Stuart • 27 January 2024
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!

The Northumberland Line

by Stuart • 21 January 2024
A blog about the new Northumberland Line that is scheduled to start opening in the Summer of 2024.

Walking the Great Western Railway - Day 4

by Stu • 6 September 2023
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 :)

Walking the Great Western Mainline gallery - Day 3

by Stu • 4 September 2023
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 :)

Walking the Great Western Mainline gallery - Day 2

by Stu • 3 September 2023
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 :)

Walking the Great Western Mainline gallery - Day 1

by Stu • 2 September 2023
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.

Gallery: Weekend Walking around Windermere & Oxenholme

by Stu • 20 August 2023
Walk around Windermere:
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