Arriving at Lostock Gralam

In Cheshire.

Review of 2024 : July

The second half of the year, the weather was not that good but i did manage to visit Buckinghamshire for three weeks in a row! Firstly, i revisited Monks and Princes Risborough in some terrible rain. Then i went to Denham, ticking off the Golf Club railway station and walking to the other station. Finally, i went to Great Missenden, a place i have only travelled through before but not stopped at until now.

Switching to Warwickshire, i also visited Kenilworth to update my railway station images.

Project Deblogification/Rhapsody reached an important milestone when the Calling At railway station blog was switched to archive mode only and new content would only be appearing on my new website from now on. Three other blogs would follow suit over the next few months.

Song of the month was "calling" by Immortal Girlfriend.

Model layout progress

There has been some progress at last with the new layout. I have decided to ditch the mini-loop plan and instead have a small end-to-end layout with a small terminus. A layout plan has been finalised and is starting to come together. I am trying a few different techniques with this layout including using a ballast mat. Hopefully, progress will continue into the new year.

Review of 2024 : June

We reach the half way point of the year. The month began not with a rail adventure but a coach adventure! I wanted to try the FlixBus so took it down to London and explored the City of London. I was back on the rails the following week, updating my images at Bermuda Park and Bedworth stations. I also took some photos at Stafford.

Later in the month i revisited Henley-in-Arden, also to update my station photos. Finally, i also revisited Ambergate and took some photos along the Cromford Canal.

There we go, the first half of the year now completed. Let us see what awaits in the second half.

Song of the month was "ordinary world" by Motion Epic.

Warwickshire Places (30) : Ufton

The village of Ufton is in the centre of the county between Leamington Spa and Southam.

The village was known as Ulchtune in the Domesday Book, the name may be derived from Ulla who was a Danish chief in the area during pre-Norman times. Ufton was granted to Coventry Priory in 1043 and remained in monastic hands for most of the subsequent centuries until the Reformation. In later times much of the manor was owned by Oxford University's Balliol College though was not very valuable land.

The parish church of St Michael has 13th century origins though much of the current church is 14th and 15th century. 

In modern times Ufton has won an award for being the best village in Warwickshire. Ufton has no railway station though the Grand Union Canal passes to the north of Ufton.

Tutbury & Hatton

Yesterday i headed up to the Staffordshire/Derbyshire border to revisit Tutbury and Hatton (which are either side of the border). Tutbury has more to see, including it's rather lovely church which i was able to enter. I was unable to get to see the castle though, i failed to do this when i came here before a few years ago. Tutbury castle is certainly able to keep this invader out!

Hatton does not have that much of interest, apart from a large Nestlé factory which makes the air smell of coffee! You can see my Tutbury photos here and Hatton here.

Review of 2024 : May

May was quite a busy month, the process of updating my photos of Warwickshire's railway stations hit high gear. We started off with a trip to Wood End, Tanworth and Danzey. There was a visit to Liverpool next, staying in the south of the city for a change.

Then came the big one, Polesworth! Polesworth railway station has only one train a day, and very early in the day it runs too. I had to get to Nuneaton by just after 6am to catch the only train to Polesworth that day. I was the only passenger who got off too, so on the 16th of May 2024 i was Polesworth station's only patron. A pretty surreal experience.

Then came the Severn Valley Railway diesel gala, always one of the year's highlights. Finally, i returned to Guildford for some more travelling around Surrey. A two day trip which helped me tick off quite a few stations.

Song of the month was "like a child" by Sferro X Tommy 96 featuring Mecha Maiko.

Church update : St Peter & St Paul, King's Sutton

I last visited King's Sutton a number of years ago, the church of St Peter and St Paul was just #9 in the Churches series back in 2017! On my previous visit i had not been able to get too close due to a dog in the churchyard which had barked at me aggressively! Luckily on my return trip a short while ago the dog was not around!

So, I was able to take a much better look at this fine church with it's tall spire including inside the church which is also in good condition.

Dialing a 706L

The second GPO 706L dialphone i have received actually has a working dial unlike the first, so how about some retro dialing action?

The Beaver is built

Project #110, a De Havilland Canada Beaver has now been completed (well once the varnish applied earlier dries). It has turned out pretty well apart from a semi-nightmare with the decals. That means i have now completed three model projects this year but the aim is to get a fourth done before the end of the year. So, i will need to start that pretty soon.

Review of 2024 : April

The Spring and early Summer tends to be my busiest time for travelling about. In April i started with a trip to the Birmingham Museum's depot where most of their collection is stored. I made another trip to London, ticking off stations along the Hammersmith & City Line in west London.

After this i returned to one of my favourite places, Wootton Wawen, to update my photographs of the station (mostly). Finally, i went to Bingham in Nottinghamshire.

A big project was kicked off in April, no not my next book (yet) but Project Deblogification (in fact the actual code name was Project Rhapsody though this was never publicised anywhere, until now anyway). This was an effort to transfer content from most of my blogs to a dedicated website. A lot of work was involved but was completed by the end of the Summer.

Song of the month was "ultraviolet" by Michaela May.

Warwickshire Places (29) : Radford Semele

Radford Semele is a village in central Warwickshire to the east of Leamington Spa.

Remains of a Roman villa have been found close to the village indicating habitation in the area for some time. The village is named for the Saint-Pierre-de-Semilly family of Normandy who were lords of the manor in the early Norman period.

The parish church of St Nicholas dates the 12th century. The church was nearly destroyed by a fire in 2008 which left only the tower and the shell of the main building remaining. The church has now been rebuilt. Another old building in Radford Semele which was nearly lost was the 16th century pub the White Lion which was badly damaged in 2006 in another fire. The pub has also now been restored.

Review of 2024 : March

My book was officially out and about, and my publisher asked me if i would like to do a follow-up, on the railway stations of Warwickshire. Naturally i said yes and began to immediately set about updating my images of Warwickshire's stations starting with Earlswood. I managed to make it down to the Marston Vale Line, finally after February's train failure, and was able to tick off Lidlington.

Next was a trip to London, i based my trip around Wimbledon and some good time on the London trams. Then came a trip to Stratford, i was able to update my images at Stratford Parkway though bad weather and a flooded towpath meant i had to abandon part 2 of my plan.

Then at the end of the month it was time for a big trip away. Armed with a Kennet Day Ranger i visited many stations around Reading and Newbury. I also visited the Kennet & Avon Canal and had a look around Reading and a couple of places in Berkshire too.

After the set back in February, March was back to being a busy month. I also built the board for my next generation model railway layout, though as yet in early December the track has not been finalised or nailed down. Part of the reason for this delay was the big new project i began in April...

Song of the month was "timeline" by The Ice Choir.

Whatstandwell

Today i headed up to Derbyshire and revisited Whatstandwell. I have been before but usually i go for the Tramway museum which is a very (very!) steep walk from the village. This time though i wanted to do a walk along the Cromford canal. The weather was not very good but the storm hitting Britain was not that bad up in the dales. You can see my canal photos here and my other Whatstandwell photos here.

Church update : All Saints, Oakham

Returning to Oakham this year i had the opportunity to revisit the fine church of All Saints. I was able to go inside this time. Parts of the church date from the 13th century though most of the main church is 15th and is in very good condition. The font though is 13th century. 

Review of 2024 : February

January has therefore been a rollicking start to the year but at the end of the month things changed. I was afflicted with Bell's Palsy, which is a condition where half of your face is paralysed. It didn't hurt but wasn't very nice (eating and drinking was certainly an adventure). Luckily within a couple of weeks i was well on the way to recovery.

In early February i did a canal walk in Birmingham, visiting two canals. After that came my first attempt this year to visit the Marston Vale Line, it ended in failure when a train broke down. This wouldn't be the first time i had trouble visiting this long off distant and remote land in ..er.. Bedfordshire! I had more luck with visiting Landywood.

Later in the month i visited Congleton in Cheshire and the Macclesfield Canal. Following that was a trip to Kirkby-in-Ashfield though my trip was curtailed by another train failure, i certainly wasn't having much luck this month! Finally, on leap day i went to Derby.

My book was officially released this month though i did not see it in a shop until March. Song of the month was "ocean" by Jessie Frye.

A little trip to the Tower

I went down to London at the weekend, mostly it was to see my in-laws before Christmas but i also had time to finally track down the Roman wall fragment i had failed to find earlier in the year (though i had actually been very close to it!) I also took some photos of the Tower of London. You can see my photos here.