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Stuart Boyd • 29 October 2021
On this day (31st October) in 2018 I was visiting St James Park, a station in the suburbs of Exeter.
I was visiting the station as part of one of my first major trips of the challenge. A trip that had seen me visit most of Cornwall and a decent amount of Devon, but on my 2nd to last day of the trip, things took a sad turn.
I was stood on the southbound platform awaiting for my train which would take me to Newcourt. While I was waiting for the train I noticed a gent on the opposite platform. After a short while this chap jumped down onto the tracks and walked across the lines and jumped up onto the platform I was stood on. He then approached me and asked if I had a lighter on me for his cigarette. I replied with a no, and that was all that was said.
I remember thinking 'he really shouldn't be crossing the tracks' but he then stood back near the fence and I assumed he was Ok and was waiting for a train. My train to Newcourt approached and I boarded and was on my way. A short wait at Newcourt before heading to Exeter St Davids when I boarded a train for Feniton. The journey to Feniton went without issue. At Feniton I hopped on a bus and headed to Whimple where I had intended to board a train to Pinhoe.
Sadly at Whimple, I noticed the departure screens were showing "Delayed" and then shortly later changing to "Cancelled". A quick look on my phone and I learnt that my train had been terminated at Honiton. At this point my heart sank, I learnt that the delay and following cancellation was due to a fatality at St James Park... I knew immediately who it was, my heart was in pieces!
I managed to find a bus service which took me back into Exeter. I decided to head back to St James Park and speak to the British Transport Police. My suspicions were confirmed, the person that had been hit was indeed the gentleman I had seen and very briefly exchange words with. I was one of the last people to speak to this gentleman.
I gave a statement to the BTP officer and then went for a long walk around Exeter before heading to my hotel. The questions I asked myself that evening are the same questions I have asked myself over a hundred time since. The questions are along the lines of
- Could I have done more
- Should I of reported him to the police for trespass
- Should I of asked him if he was ok
- Would he still be alive if I had done any of the above
These questions haunt me all the time, every time I see a tweet about another fatality on the railways. The answer I always come back to myself is "Yh, but I wasn't to know, but now I do know, I must do everything I can do to help prevent this happening again"
So what do I do differently now:
- I report any trespass sightings to the BTP. Not to get anyone in trouble, but more to get them the help they might need, be that life saving help, or education on the dangers of taking shortcuts across the tracks.
- Say hi to other people, acknowledge people and say things like "alright" or "how you doing". Many ignore me, but those short sentences might be all that is needed to make them feel wanted, make them change their way of thinking.
I've not written this blog in looking for sympathy, or for attention. I have chose this year to write this short blog as mental health issue calls to charities like Samaritans are higher than ever. Mental health affects people in different ways, it does different things to you, it can make you think there is no way out...
You might not know who you are talking too, but by just saying a word or two, you might help someone more than you could imagine.
To the gentleman who asked for a lighter, I'm sorry I didn't have a lighter, I'm sorry I didn't ask how you was.
RIP fella.
If anyone can spare a few quid, please consider donating it to the Samaritans.
This can simply be done by visiting the below link:
Donate to Samaritans | Donations | Samaritans Charity Donations
Day three of the walk saw me starting nice and early at Llandudno Junction. With one simple aim, to get as far along the Conwy Valley as possible! Betws-y-Coed was the minimum target for the day. On this day I was joined by KD ( @roadsignreporter over on YouTube ). Walking to Glan Conwy was easy enough for us both, I kicked myself that I hadn't pushed myself the day before! Blooming beer! After Glan Conwy it was time for the first of the many hills that Wales was going to throw at me during this walk. We had to head up the steep hills to avoid walking along the very busy footpathless A470. You can see the scale of the diversion on the Strava map at the bottom. Things improved at Tal-y-Cafn when we arrived at the lovely station. Had a good chat with the Network Rail level crossing staff there who refilled our water bottles for us. After this we headed across the fields and along the B5106 which we would follow mostly until Betws-y-Coed. Only really leaving the road to pop to the required stations to walk too. We had a nice surprise at Dalgarrog when we came across the Dolgarrog Railway Society platform where we chatted with one of the members. They told us about the work they are doing with the site. Was a really nice break from walking. Between Dolgarrog and Llanrwst our pace slowed down a fair bit, I think this was down to the heat, and it became clear Betws-y-Coed was going to be the end point for the day! We reached the village and the road kindly dropped us off at the Spar shop and bakery so was able to stock up on some essential cakes and drinks. Shout out to the TfW guard on the train back to Llandudno Junction who kindly wavered the fare for the journey. Was much appreciated!
Day two of the walk saw me walking from Bangor to Llandudno Junction. This day was a lovely walk mostly along the North Wales Coast Path. With getting ahead of schedule the day before I was able to relax a little today. So the target today was Penmaenmawr, anything after that was a bonus. On this day I was joined by friend and boss. Special mention to Ian, honestly without him keeping me on full pay while on these charity walks they simply wouldn't be able to happen! We stopped at the beach café at Penmaenmawr where comically we was counting out pennies to pay for our lunch as the café didn't accept card! While having lunch we looked at how far we would be able to walk. We set our target on Glan Conwy. We was going well following the A55 right until we arrived at Conwy where we went to a pub for a pint... After this we decided that with beer in us we wasn't going to be making it to Glan Conwy. Instead we slowly made our way to Llandudno Junction where we called it a day!
Day one of the walk would see me walk from Holyhead to Bangor. This was not the original plan. The original plan was to only walk to Bodorgan. But upon reaching Bodorgan and just missing a train I decided to push on and just see how far I could get! Sadly on day one I was on my own that day. But that was probably a good thing, I don't think many would of approved of walking 32 miles!
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.