Top 5 stations in the North West
When ever I do a Q&A on Twitter one of the questions I always get is "Which is your favourite station so far?" It is very tough to choose a top 10 nationwide... So I have decided to split it up into a collection of Top 5's...
It's time for my final Top 5 countdown in England, the North West region. Regular followers of me on social media will probably already know which station is number 1, but you might find some surprises for 5-2...
5. Ince & Elton
Station: Ince & Elton
Line: Ellesmere Port – Helsby
County: Cheshire
Managed By: Northern
Ah Ince & Elton, a station I visited on a whim! I remember waking up on a Saturday morning and thinking 'nothing to do today, lets head out on the trains'. So I did. I decided to have an awkward station day, this included Heysham Port, INCE & ELTON and Stanlow & Thornton.
After visiting Heysham Port I headed south to Helsby. There I caught a bus to the village of Elton where I had loads of time to explore the delightful little Cheshire village! After getting some food I headed to the station where I found a station that felt like it was hidden in another world, it's hard to explain, but I'll try... When I was stood on the platform, sandwich in one hand, drink in the other, I couldn't help but feel like I was in the middle of no where. I wasn't, but that was how it felt. And for that reason, Ince & Elton kicks off my top 5 in the North West.
4. Entwistle
Station: Entwistle
Line: Ribble Valley Line
County: Lancashire
Managed By: Northern
Like Ince & Elton, this was another station where I first visited on a whim... I had been at a training course with work in Darwen. This finished earlier than planned. So I headed off to visit some stations. Obviously Darwen was the first of these stations, I then went off to visit Entwistle. I only had about 20 minutes there, so I decided to just take a little walk about out of the station.
I quickly realised that there was much more to visit here, so it's high on the list of places to return to, in fact the first week we come out of lock down I will be heading there to take a much longer walk. A lovely station that is well worth going out of your way to visit.
3. Settle
Station: Settle
Line: Settle & Carlisle Railway
County: North Yorkshire
Managed By: Northern
A station I have visited many times. When ever I visit the Settle & Carlisle line I usually alight the Bentham Line at Giggleswick and take the short walk to Settle.
A magnificent station building, a magnificent footbridge, all set in a magnificent village, that is surrounded by some magnificent scenery. There is nothing to not like about this station. Unfortunately for me the north west is a really tough area to select a top 5 stations for. In any other region, Settle would probably get the number one spot... But this is the North West, the land of beautiful stations!
Should you be lucky enough to visit Settle this summer, you might be lucky enough to catch a HST courtesy of @CharterRail. Check it out, you won't regret it.
2. Dent
Station: Dent
Line: Settle & Carlisle Railway
County: Cumbria
Managed By: Northern
Yep, we are back on the Settle & Carlisle Line for the highest station in England. Needless to say it's in a very remote setting. The village of Dent itself being just short of 5 miles away, meaning most of the people who use this station use it for walking, as have I a few times.
A lovely station building with some of the most breathtaking backdrops you will ever see! It makes the perfect starting point for a lovely walk over the moors to Ribblehead. The walk takes in several viaducts, walking over the Blea Moor, before dropping down to the Ribblehead viaduct.
I always advise walking from Dent, the hill the other way is rather challenging!
1. Nethertown
Station: Nethertown
Line: Cumbrian Coast Line
County: Cumbria
Managed By: Northern
As my regular followers will already know, I really adore this station! Nethertown is not only my favourite station in the North West, it's my favourite station in Great Britain...
I often head to Nethertown to escape from everyday stresses. Something I tend to keep under my cap is I suffer from a mild form of Autism, Asperger’s Syndrome. Over the years I have learnt how to cope with it ultimately, not letting it get in the way of my life and stop me doing a job I love doing. One of the ways I deal with my Asperger’s Syndrome is by every now and then going and having some escape time, some time to work everything out in my head. Nethertown ticks every box in achieving this.
Nethertown is a perfect station to visit if you love coastal walking. A walk I recommend is walking down on to the beach and following the coast along to St Bees, the same can be done the other direction to Braystones. My personal preference is to walk towards St Bees. There are more trains at St Bees than there is at Braystones. Also, St Bees has a couple of pubs that you can pass time in while waiting for a train to take you home again.
One bit of advice I would give you is if you don't want to annoy the driver of the train, don't board at Braystones and alight at Nethertown. I have it on good authority that is a driver’s worst nightmare.
