Altrincham to Lymm walk

 The day after walking the Peak Forest canal, I walked the Lymm Railway trail between Altrincham and Lymm, Cheshire.  I heard about this walk through this Youtube video. This trail is part of the Trans Pennine Way.

After arriving at Altrincham by bus, I walked through the town to Dunham Massey car park to reach the start point. I haven’t been to Altrincham since the 1990s and it doesn’t seem to have changed much.  Once there, I began my six mile journey to Lymm.  It was very obvious I was walking a disused railway as it was very wide and the initial few miles was paved with tarmac.  Along the way I came across cyclists and other walkers. 

There were many other signs of the railway such as the cutting and the occasional road bridge over the trail. The trail took me through lovely Cheshire countryside and picturesque farm land.  Before long I reached the outskirts of Lymm, the Trans Pennine continues from here, but I came off the route to head into Lymm for lunch.  Despite being Manchester born and brought up, this was the first time I have been the pretty small town of Lymm.

Manchester City vs AFC Bournemouth

 New EPL season has just started, I'm listening to the above game on BBC Sounds.  I wish I'm listening to it on my second hand DAB radio, but the app will do.

Errwood Hall and Shining Tor

 In the afternoon after hiking the Peak Forest Canal to see Marple locks, we went on another hike to Shining Tor, the highest point in Cheshire.

The hike took us past the ruins of Errwood Hall, and the graves of its former owners, the Grimshaws.  Thankfully the shrine for their former Spanish teacher was still intact and it was filled with devotional items. 

Then it was off to Shining Tor, a peak that is marked by a trig point.  As expected it has stunning views of the local area, especially the Goyt valley.  It’s well worth doing this hike if you are in the area.

Errwood Hall

Shrine at Errwood Hall

Shining Tor trig point.

England vs Pakistan 1st test

 Congratulations England.  What has happened to Pakistan?

Peak forest canal, Marple locks

 In the middle week of my UK visit I was in Stockport and I walked part of the Peak forest canal in Marple with a friend.

This area is the home of Marple locks, a set of 16 numbered stepped locks ascending and descending the Peaks. With a history that goes back to 1804, it still is a piece of remarkable engineering with a short lived operational history thanks to the railways. 

On that day we passed numerous narrowboats and barges using the locks.  The walk took in breaktaking moorland countryside and deciduous forest.  The town of Marple was a delight to visit.

Leigh Busway

On my final, day in Manchester, I went to visit my father’s grave in Bury cemetery and afterwards I took two local buses to Leigh via Bolton, in order to ride of the Leigh Busway or the Leigh-Salford-Manchester Bus Rapid Transit.  It’s not the only busway in the country, but it was certainly the most convenient one for me during my UK trip. 

A busway is a former railway line that has been redeveloped to be a dedicated bus route.  It is a great way to re-use existing infrastructure and using buses is much cheaper than re-activating the old train line with trains or tram.  And bus has the advantage of using normal roads 

To use it, I took the V1 bus route from Leigh, which terminates at Manchester Royal Infirmary, but I got off at Salford Crescent station.  The busway section runs for about six kilometres.  The stops on busway reminded me more of Manchester Metrolink tram stops than bus stops.  In a few places it is still possible to see the old railway cutting.  

The other good thing was that the fare is the same as a normal bus and I was able to use the day rover ticket that I bought earlier in Bury.  

One of the busway stops.

Settle Carlisle railway

 After my enjoyable day in Darlington, I continued my railway related themed UK tour by going on the Settle Carlisle railway from Carlisle to Leeds via Settle. 

After an overnight stay in Carlisle I took the first train to Leeds that went through Settle.  I have been meaning to do this journey for several years and I remember back in the 1980s there were plans to close this section of line but the plans were rejected after a successful campaign by rail enthusiasts.

After leaving Carlisle the train took in some of the most spectacular scenary I have ever seen.  Quaint, remote stations broke up the journey, including Dent station which is the highest mainline station in England at 1150 feet above sea level.  Most of the passengers that boarded and alighted along the way were hikers or cyclists. 

Eventually the train arrived at Settle station with its signal box adorned with a “150th anniversary sign” and marked the end of the actual line. From there the train continued to Skipton, Keighley and finally Leeds, the terminating station where I got off. 

It was most certainly a journey where I spent most of my time looking out the window.  As someone who lives in a country with the most advanced railways in the world, nothing beats a scenic railway that stood the test of time.