The Lovely Southwest... TICK

One thing i always say for my trips is to plan, then plan again. Infact, whilst away, i was having this very discussion on social media with a couple of people. If the importance of this needed confirming it was on Friday. I headed out with only a rough plan in my head. That rough plan was soon thrown in the bin due to my train from Ulverston to Manchester getting terminated at Lancaster due to a door fault. Now to be fair, it was a 156 and it was standing room only. I was stood at the back near the guards door, everytime he closed the doors at a station the rear door had to be pushed closed by hand for the last few inches. In many ways I was able to get off this service and get on to a much more spacious Virgin Trains service. This delay however led me arriving into Stockport a full 90L, then with the Buxton line closed due to the Whaley Bridge dam incident I was left with no option but to play a game of train roulette. 

My friend Jack (@JackAllStations) came and found me at Stockport station, and joined me as i headed off on the line towards his local station Congleton. Now first thing we did was hopped on a Crewe service one stop down to Cheadle Hulme where we planned to the hop on a Stoke service, now unfortunately it kind of went pear shape again and due to a broken down train the Stoke service ended up getting cancelled leaving me and Jack stranded at Cheadle Hulme for an hour, so we went in hunt of a shop and an ice cream! That made the hour more bearable, well that and the thought of delay repay. At this moment i was pleased that Jack had tracked me down at Stockport because had I been stuck at Cheadle Hulme on my own, one might of gone mad sat in the sunshine. The delay also gave me chance to take some photo's of passing units that had been unaffected by the delay. (One of which is to the right). 

After our wait it was quite nice to finally see a train pull up, on we got and headed down the line towards Congleton. At Congleton we had roughly 40 minutes so Jack decided to give me a whistle stop tour of the area and that quick tour included a quick stroll along the canal where by chance i got to take a photo of a CrossCountry voyager heading towards Manchester (Pictured Below). After getting the chance photo we headed back to Congleton station where Jack set me a challenge to get from one platform to another without using steps. Now this was possible, but if you was in a wheelchair you would want to allow a good 15 - 20 minutes to get from one platform to another. After Congleton i decided with all the other issues of the day I would push my luck no more so I  just headed back to my hotel, which for this night was the Travelodge at Stockport. 

Getting up early and making my way to Stockport station for the 0608 service to Bristol. When the train arrived at Stockport i noted it was only a 4 carriage voyager. Now I've caught these trains in the past and have always had to stand or be sat on the floor by the doors. Anyway, asking the train manager how much the upgrade would be to Bristol. At £15 i decided this the upgrade charge was worth it, especially as it includes breakfast and an empty carriage for the whole journey. All i had to do now was convince my pal Jack who was joining me at Stoke for this trip down to Somerset. He gave in when he found out about the bacon bun. 

Now weekend upgrades are something i use often, the quality of what you get for your money varies quite a bit, I have made a note to myself to do a blog about weekend upgrades at a later date 

After a quick change at Bristol to get to Taunton, myself and Jack headed for the taxi rank where we asked the confused taxi driver to take us to Norton Fitzwarren station, even though he wasn't 100% sure where the station was. 

On arrival to Norton Fitzwarren we made what was possibly the oddest entrance to a station I've ever experienced. It was walking inbetween giant piles of gravel and then along some old disused sidings. We then entered the platform which to my shock was a proper platform structure, not a temporary structure as i expected. It was an island platform with one side, on this day, having some vintage carriages that were being used for the sale of cakes and coffee.

Now there has been some debate between station vistors like myself if Norton Fitzwarren should be included in the list of stations to visit due to the station only getting services for one day of the year. My personal opinion, and the reason why i visited on this day was that a national rail service was stopping and allowing paying passengers to board and alight. The train arrived, I was amazed to see how well used this service was. A great example of running special services for special occasions.

After the short journey from Norton Fitzwarren to Bishops Lydeard we alighted with everyone else that was on the train. When alighting the train, myself and Jack noticed that Geoff & Vicky from All the Stations were also on the same train and we went and said hi and had a brief discussion before Geoff took a selfie of us all and posted it to the All the Stations twitter page, post here. 

We then all vanished to take all our own photos. Now this is where Jack and me were to part ways. Jack was off to visit stations down on the Barny line and the Paington line. Check out Jack's twitter post for the day here. 

My plan was for a much more relaxing day out, this was manly because i only needed 5 stations in the soutwest over the two days. I had decided that a trip on the amazing West Somerset Railway to Minehead was in call for. 

So travelling on the West Somerset Railway for me was more than just for the beautiful scenery. I lived in Devon, just over the boarder from Somerset. When i was 16 I went to college in Taunton and over the years living down there i had been on the WSR and also to Minehead a few times. Going to Minehead was a trip down memory lane for me, one which i enjoyed very much so. 

Anyway, back to my journey to Minehead in the current day. Now if meeting two Youtubers in one day wasn't enough, I then had the pleasure of meeting Paul & Rebecca Whitewick who are visiting every disused station. Most of the journey from this point on was spent with the 5 of us talking and enjoying the scenery and the beautiful stations. Geoff and Vicky got off at Dunster station to go and explore some little station that I don't think anyone will ever of visited, Dunster castle. Upon arrival into Minehead i said my farewell to the friendly Whitewicks and we then headed our own ways. 

After a short walk on the seafront I took a walk into town and headed straight for Wetherspoons where i was long overdue a decent meal, it suddenly dawned on me that it had been 36 hours since i had a proper sit down meal anywhere. After that i returned to the sea front for another stroll around before heading back to Minehead station where i had to purchase the obligatory Ice Cream. Ice Cream always tastes better at the beach. I also popped into the gift shop and had to purchase something as a momento of the trip on the WSR. I have a habit of buying book marks everywhere i go, this is not deliberate, it just tends to happen, on this occasion I also bought a tea towel to hang on my wall along site my Fetlar tea towel from my Shetland trip. After the gift shop it was then time to make the return journey to Bishops Lydeard before carrying my journey with GWR to Taunton. After a 30 minute connection at Taunton i headed down to Exeter. 

On arrival into Exeter i made a quick dash to my hotel for the night (The Premier Inn across the road from Exeter St Davids), checked in, dropped my bag off and headed back to the station to catch a train up the Barney line to the last remaining station on the Barney line for me. Lapford was going to be my destination. On the way to Lapford the train was full and standing due to Exeter playing home in the footie. Got chatting to a few fans who were moaning about the long trips to Carlisle the previous season. Turned out the supporters I was talking to wanted to get off at Lapford too. On discovering I was getting off to Lapford they invited me to the pub in the village for  a drink and to discuss football more i suppose. I rejected as I only had a 15 minute connection to make.

Lapford station, like many others on the Barney Line is a request stop and doesn't get many services stopping.  Four services in each direction per day, with an additional service on a Friday, and 4 services on a Sunday. 

After walking around and taking my photos it dawned on me that the train back to Exeter was running late. After looking on Realtime Trains i discovered this was going to have a knock on effect to get the remaining two stations of the day.

On the way down from Lapford back to Exeter St Davids I went and had a chat with the GWR guard for that service who I explained my situation to about only needing these two stations to finish visiting every station in Devon. She made a call to Exeter St Davids to see if there was a way of getting the SWR service to Cranbrook held for me. Unfortunately this was not going to be possible, but she did say that the Duty Manager at St Davids was aware of what I was doing and if I went to the customer service desk they would sort something out for me, and they did. They put me in a taxi at their expense to take me to Cranbrook station. This was excellent and great customer service, as there was another service within the hour, so technically they had no obligation to provide the taxi. However... This great gesture led to a dilemma. My rules state I must board or alight a train at every station, on this occasion a train was replaced with a taxi. I was meant to alight at Cranbrook and then catch a bus to my final station. I had to make a decision, do I class the taxi as using a train, because after all it was a replacement taxi, or do i change my plan and catch the train at Cranbrook. I went with the latter as I felt the taxi just didn't fit the rules of the challenge. 

However doing this led to another complication, the next service towards Exeter wasn't scheduled to stop at Pinhoe meaning I would not be able to alight at that station this day. Annoyed, but undeafeted as i had a back up plan to complete this on the Sunday. 

For now it was time to board my train at Cranbrook, which incedently must have more station signs than any other single platform station anywhere, 7 I counted, after been at Norton Fitzwarren only 12 hours earlier that had no station sign this did seem quite excessive. Off to my hotel for the night, I slept very well that night. 

Everyone knows that you can’t stay at a Premier Inn without consuming an all you can eat breakfast, it’s just wrong to not start the day this way. After devouring far too much food I had to head to Exeter St David’s to go and finish Devon. Pinhoe was my destination with no plan in mind, just the knowledge that this was my last station in Devon. Also my last station in the South West, in my opinion anyway. 

Now the journey to Pinhoe was actually quite an emotional one for me, not because it was Devon ticked, Pinhoe and Cranbrook should both have been done over a year earlier, but due to a fatality at St James Park I had ended up having to suspend the rest of that particular day as I was required by the police to provide statements as I was one of the last people the gentleman had spoken to before getting hit by a train. So passing through St James Park on the way to Pinhoe somehow felt very fitting, but also quite emotional. That was a day that will stick with me long past the end of this challenge. 

I arrived at Pinhoe, took my photos, had a quick walk about whilst thinking about the scale of the achievement to have visited every last station in Cornwall, Devon & Somerset. This was proper turning into an emotional day. I then had a decision to make, 1 hour at Pinhoe or a 20 minute bus journey and some castle time in Exeter! I went for castle time, seeing as there didn’t seem to be a lot around Pinhoe, just houses, this seemed like the correct decision. I jumped on Stagecoach Southwest City service L that took me to within a 3 minute walk of the castle. Had a quick walk around the castle and then took a quick walk around Northernhay Gardens before making my way back towards the Premier Inn to relax for half an hour before checking out. 

After checking out I headed to Exeter St David’s again. Today was always meant to be a jolly, due to the delays the previous day I had to scrap the idea of a trip on the Dartmoor Railway. Thankfully this was the only part of the day that needed to be scrapped. I was still able to carry out the next part of my jolly. A round trip of Devon, including stops at Okehampton, Tavistock, Gunnislake, Plymouth & Dawlish. This was a trip I heard about a week after I visited at the start of the season and since then had always intended to do it on my final trip to Devon.

The round trip consisted with getting the GWR Summer Sunday service from Exeter St David’s to Okehampton. This is a service that runs during the summer only, it was very well used when I caught the first service of the summer in May and I was delighted to see it been very well used again today. Surely there is a need for the Exeter to Okehampton service to become more than just a Summer Sunday service and it to be a 7 day a week service. I don’t say this just based on the amount on the train. Over the last year making trips to Exeter I have also noted how well used the buses are at peak times between Exeter and Okehampton. There is a real need for this service to become a full timetabled 7 day a week service! I could go on more about this, but I’ll refrain for now 😉.

I had my usual walk around the station, was given permission to sit in the drivers seat of D4167 where I took a picture through the winder of the GWR unit about to depart for Exeter. I also made the mistake of going into the gift shop on the station platform. Now when I went in this shop during my visit in May I ended up leaving with a hat, cap and a load of vintage railway magazines. This time I attempted to be more restraining on myself to not spend as much and to keep any purchases as small as possible as I only had my small ruck sack with me so space was limited. As it was I did pretty well, just buying a GWR staff training manual from the 60’s. I bought it with the theory that if I read that I’d be able to drive a train 😉. 

After my usual mull about I headed out of the station and to the waiting bus which would take me on my next leg of my Devon round robin. Okehampton to Gunnislake via Tavistock. This bus service is operated by Plymouth Citybus with funding from Devon County Council and only runs when GWR train services run in the summer. (It wouldn’t be required though if the train line was restored through to Plymouth… Just saying!) The journey was really nice and relaxing, the driver was very friendly and chatty with the passengers, stopping at places where possible to allow passengers to take photos. We even had 15 minute pause at Tavistock giving passengers chance to have a quick wonder around and see the disused viaduct and the river through the town. The journey then continued over the boarder into Cornwall, just over the boarder was Gunnislake where the bus route finished. One of the main reasons, other than the scenery was I wanted to do this journey because it would give me 15 minutes at Gunnislake. Now when I did Gunnislake as part of the challenge, I only had a minute turnaround here. This slightly annoyed me, so this was to correct that and let me get more photo’s and see the immediate area around the station.

The train from Gunnislake was running 18 minutes late which was going to make my connection at Plymouth incredibly tight. When 150219 turned up, a quick chat with the guard led to me understanding the delay was due to a passenger being very drunk at Bere Alston station on the way up from Plymouth. As it was, we made a few minutes up with a quick reverse at Bere Alston and a good run down the valley to Plymouth. Thanks to this, I made the planned connection to get me to Newton Abbot to take me to Dawlish. I was only getting half an hour at Dawlish, but I wanted to come here and see the famous sea wall one final time before it disappears as part of the project to reduce the risk of flooding. Oh and I got an Ice Cream, again it’s compulsory to get an Ice Cream when at the beach. 

I then hopped on a local service from Paignton to Exeter, remarkably it was my first pacer of the trip. This was going to take me back to Exeter for the final part of the Devon Round Robin. The round robin can be done for a remarkable £16 using a Devon Day ranger and the £3 bus ticket. This is a remarkable price when you compare it to other round robins in the UK, Cumbria Round Robin is currently priced at £31.90, pretty much double the price of the Devon Round Robin. This is a trip I would strongly recommend to anyone to do, I just wish GWR, Plymouth Citybus and Devon County Council would promote it more. 

Anyway, a quick connection at Exeter St David’s sent me on my way towards Bristol where I had a very important connection to make, I made the connection that was going to take me to Ashchurch for Tewkesbury. The train was surprisingly very busy between Bristol Temple Meads and Gloucester. It emptied quite considerably at Gloucester and even more alighted at Cheltenham. By the time I got to Ashchurch for Tewkesbury the train was getting pretty empty. Now, something that really annoys me with station names is like the case here, The station should either be called Ashchurch or Tewkesbury. I’d even be ok with Tewkesbury Parkway. But calling it Ashchurch for Tewkesbury is just daft. Anyway, station name aside, it was basically a station that is there to serve a purpose. After the usual photo’s it was time to head to the hotel. Premier Inn Tewkesbury was tonight’s resting place.