My Top 5 stations in the South East

Stuart Boyd • 7 February 2021

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...

After the delights of my South West top 5, it's time to head along the south coast and take a look at my South East Top 5 stations!

5. Christs Hospital

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Station: Christs Hospital

Line: Arun Valley Line

County: West Sussex

Managed By: Southern


This was one of those stations that turned out to be a pleasant surprise. In more ways than one. Christs Hospital  was one of those stations where the trains pass each other, which means regardless of direction you visit the station from, you're going to have an hour wait. As it was, due to some earlier disruption a service had this added as an additional stop for another passenger. I took full advantage of this, which meant I was able to get an hour ahead of my plan. 


As it turned out, I wish I had had an hour at the station to explore the local area. It was like a disused station and a real station all in one. It is on my list of places to revisit to explore at a much more leisurely pace. 

4. Shoreham (Kent)

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Station: Shoreham (Kent)

Line: Blackfriers to Sevenoaks

County: Kent

Managed By: Southeastern


Shoreham was a station that alone isn't all that special, but it definitely makes the top 5 for me due to the lovely area around the station. The station buildings could be made to look magnificent again, unfortunately the station buildings have been allowed to become a little worse for wear.


The village of Shoreham is absolutely delightful. To be honest, it felt so out of place, the village felt like it belonged in rural Devon. On the day I visited here I was travelling about with my mate Dave. While we was walking into the village to find a shop, we decided that we would change our plan to allow longer in the village.

3. Normans Bay

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Station: Normans Bay

Line: East Coastway Line

County: East Sussex

Managed By: Southern


The East Coastway Line is one that I knew very little about, to be fair, anything south of London I was unfamiliar of. All I did know was what Google Maps showed me. When I alighted I was amazed by the breeze blowing in from the sea.


Now normally first thing I do when I alight a train is try and get a photo of the train departing. On this occasion though all I had on my mind was 'must visit the beach'. So that's what I did. I love the coastline here in Britain, so any station close to the coast is always going to result in me wanting to visit the beach.

2. Wye

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Station: Wye

Line: Ashford to Ramsgate Line

County: Kent

Managed By: Sotheastern


Wye is a flippin amazing station, it has it all. A footbridge, a manual level crossing, a lovely station building. Everything anyone could want from a remote station. 


The first thing that amazed me at this station was the spectacular manual level crossing. I've not been for a while, so I really hope the manual level crossing is still in use. The station building is a lovely traditional stone bricked station building.


Just when you think you have found all the beauty that there was, then there was even more, all be it in the form of the remains of an old signal box.

1. Doleham

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Station: Doleham

Line: Marshlink Line

County: East Sussex

Managed By: Southern


A very awkward station for me to visit it was. But WOW was it worth it. This station required me waking up at 0430 to get the first train out of Folkestone West to Ashford Int before heading on the Southern service to Doleham. One of only 2 trains to call at the station at the time of my visit. 


When I alighted, I was met to a magnificent sunset which would accompany me for a beautiful walk through some country lanes to Three Oaks. As most of my followers know, my favourite type of stations tend to be the ones of a remote variety. This definitely ticks that box! Now there is a slightly more usable service at the station I would urge anyone who is in the area to pay the station a visit and take a walk to Three Oaks. There is even a pub near Three Oaks station to re hydrate after the walk ;-)  

DAY 3 Look back - Walking the scenic railways of Wales

by Stuart • 21 September 2024
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 2 Look back - Walking the scenic railways of Wales

by Stuart • 21 September 2024
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 1 Look back - Walking the scenic railways of Wales

by Stuart • 20 September 2024
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!

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.
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