Olton

I had a rather more modest rail and waterway adventure today, just to Olton in Solihull. Not too far from where i live in Birmingham (and even closer to where i work in Solihull!) The main reason to go was to take some photos of Olton railway station for my Calling At railway station blog as i haven't visited any stations that begin with O yet!

I also took some photos along the Grand Union Canal, another piece of canal i haven't visited before. You can see my photos here.

Castles (1) : Guildford

Guildford Castle dates from not long after the Norman conquest. It was built by one of William the Conqueror's barons in the late 11th century as part of the King's efforts to strengthen his hold on the kingdom. Parts of the shell keep, the oldest part of the castle made of stone, still exist and date from the early 12th century (the original defences being made of wood). The keep itself, the most notable part of the remaining castle, was built in the 1130s.

The castle was used by the Norman Kings as a residence. Henry III turned it into a palace, the royal living apartments were greatly improved by him and moved from the keep to the bailey. The castle's defences were also improved though it was never attacked.

By the late 14th century the castle had fallen out of favour as a royal residence and went into decline. It was used as the county gaol for a while and then after was used for a number of purposes including a residence and for farming. It was sold to the Guildford Corporation in 1885 and opened as pleasure gardens. In latter years the castle has been preserved and parts of the keep have been restored.

Chalfont & Latimer

Chalfont & Latimer is one of the stations at the Buckinghamshire end of the Metropolitan Line and is where the Chesham branch of the Metropolitan Line splits away, a London bound S8 stock train arrives. Its a long way to the city from here.

Walking the waterways (10) : Oxford Canal

The Oxford Canal stretches from Oxford (as you could probably guess) up to near Bedworth in Warwickshire where it joins the Coventry Canal at Hawkesbury Junction. It passes through places like Banbury and Rugby on the way so was (and still is of course) an important waterway. It took 20 years to complete the canal, construction beginning in 1769. The first stretch reached from Bedworth to Napton then further extensions were made (money permitting) to Banbury and finally through to the centre of Oxford in 1790.

The canal was intended to link the Midlands to London with traffic switching to the Thames at Oxford. It did very well initially but declined after the opening of the rival Grand Junction Canal which had a more direct route. However the Northern section remained busy well into the 20th century and carried commercial traffic into the 1960s. Nowadays the Oxford Canal is one of the most popular waterways with pleasure boaters.

The Oxford city end of the canal

Enslow

Rugby

Hawkesbury Junction

Coventry Canal: Bedworth-Longford

Yesterday i visited the Warwickshire town of Bedworth for the first time. My reason to visit was two-fold: some photos of the station for a future post in my station blog of course and also visit the Coventry Canal which runs through the town.

The latter turned into a bit more of a trek than i intended. After awhile i decided instead of turning back to just keep going and in doing so reached Hawkesbury Junction where the Oxford Canal begins and then through to Longford where i left the canal and caught a train at Coventry Arena station (and thus can add that to the station blog too!) You can see my photos here.