May 2022 – Notes from Bambi

Central

Days 8 and 9 of the #GreatCentralRouteBack were across the centre of 2 midlands cities: Leicester and Nottingham. According to my informant it was originally called the London Extension of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, but as it was built between the East and West mainlines the Great Central Railway seemed a better name. The route of the line also goes through the centre of Sheffield, but more of that later in the week.

On Day 8 we went through Leicester on the Great Central Way, an off road route that follows the GCR. We found a small cafe for elevenses en route. In the city centre I was also able to visit the Richard III exhibition. It makes you wonder what you might find under a car park.

On Day 9 we crossed Nottingham by tram, some of which follows the route of the GCR or crosses it. In the city centre we also visited the City of Caves exhibition, an exploration of some of the hundreds of sandstone caves that exist under the city. We could hear the trams rumbling overhead.

Unfortunately a shopping centre replaced the old station several decades ago.

Our last stop was Bulwell Forest where there was a GCR brick wall by the road side. Of such are great adventure made.

From my remembered bible: Can anything good come out of (enter name of city or town under consideration).

Song of the day: Underground, over ground, wombling free….

From a Friend of Scholastica and a Member of the Lay Community of St Benedict.

Janet Lees, Nottingham, 31st May 2022.

Track

Days 5 to 7 of the #GreatCentralRouteBack was about following a track or the traces of one, not always walking. With a good map on which we had marked the course of the line we could tell when we were on it, near it or crossing over.

Day 5 I started walking at Onley Lane, South Rugby on a well maintained route called the Great Central Way. Maintained by the Wildlife Trust as a wildlife corridor it is an example of what the whole route could be. Butterflies, beetles, plants: it was just beautiful. Elegant bridges remain in place and extra oases for wildlife have also been engineered. The local Rotary Club have set up some art installations, including some sections of track, as if abandoned by Wallace and Gromit and the old Rugby Central Station getting a makeover.
I met Bob in Rugby and we had a snack in the new station. We then walked north out of the town on the next stretch of the line up to Newton Five Arches, also a Wildlife Trust site.

On Day 6 the traces of the track were less easy to follow, and there were a lot of nettles in places. Bob started at Newtown Five Arches, crossing the M6 near junction 1 (only a little more than 3 weeks since I was alongside junction 2). I started at Shawell, battling my way through the nettles to meet Bob. He carried on to Lutterworth back and forth to paths near the route of the line, while I drove to Lutterworth and walked the section north of Station Road (no station left). After that the line gets caught up into the route of the M1.

Day 7 was a different opportunity on the heritage Great Central Main Line railway from Leicester North to Loughborough Central. We had to change round the order of our days in order to travel on the GCML on a day when trains were running. It made a pleasant change to sit back and enjoy the route with steam or diesel. We made sure we sampled refreshments at each station.

Tomorrow we’ll be walking again.

From my remembered bible: My soul is restored.

Put me back on track.

From a Friend of Scholastica and a Member of the Lay Community of St Benedict.

Janet Lees, 27, 28,29 May 2022, Leicestershire.

Trace

Do you know the old man, who lives along the track,
I look over my shoulder: does anyone go back?
The old key is hanging on the door by a thread,
And the tune of this song is going round in my head.

These two days on the Jurassic Way, crossing back and forth over the route of the Great Central Railway are bound together by traces of what remains of that now disused line. We walk many disused railway lines and can only lament that this is no longer a working line or viable as an off road walking route of any length.

It’s called the Jurassic Way but there are no traces of dinosaurs as far as I could tell. On Wednesday, a grey day, we started at Woodford Halse. I explored the community woodland now in the middle of the former junction. Bob walked onto Charwelton. I caught up with him at Church Charwelton where a 12th century Church stands out in the meadows. We negotiated access to the key from its worthy guardian.

Having completed the section of the route for the day we enjoyed some cake at Draycote Water.

For the second day on this part of the Great Central Railway route (Thursday), Bob started at Charwelton Packhorse Bridge, a trace of a much older route in these parts. I started at Staverton and walked towards him. He was able to follow some of the line of the Catesby Tunnel, its airshafts still marching across the landscape. I was walking through arable land: oats, barley and wheat, and crossing some challenging stiles.

Eventually I reached the track bed of the Great Central Railway just south of the Catesby Viaduct. Not officially on a footpath, this right is reserved for the sheep currently in residence, but I do a reasonable impersonation myself.

Bob and I walked back to Staverton together: we then went back to Draycote Water for lunch.
I love to winkle the traces of history from the landscape. There are more sections of the Great Central Railway ahead, some reused, some abandoned.

From my remembered bible: The Shepherd One leads me in peaceful paths.

May I leap one stile at a time!

From a Friend of Scholastica and a Member of the Lay Community of St Benedict.

Janet Lees, Woodford Halse to Staverton, 25-26 May 2022

Celebrate!

In this blog I will celebrate the first two days of the #GreatCentralRouteBack from Marylebone Station. No, we didn’t walk it all. First there was a train to Marylebone which was originally the London terminus of the Great Central line. The first train ran in 1899.

We got off one at West Ruislip to walk back to Denham via Ickenham. Bob grew up with this railway quite literally a back drop to his childhood as it ran at the bottom of the garden. We had a few HS2 works to contend with which meant one of the footpaths was rerouted. Eventually we met the Grand Union Canal at Bridge 182 in the Colne Valley Country Park, a part of the #GrandWalkOut I was walking exactly a week ago. We stopped for lunch at the Denham Visitors Centre.
Our afternoon route was not railway related as we drove along the A40 into Buckinghamshire across the Thame Valley. There’s was something of a mix up over our B and B so we carried onto Winslow where we found room at the Bell Hotel, and some very nice pies.
Day two began at Quainton, named after Queen Edith, consort of Edward the Confessor. It has a lovely windmill and a 15th century preaching Cross. The windmill was celebrating the 100th birthday of Dorothy which proved relevant later.

We went onto Quainton Road Station where the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre resides. The station is closed to main line traffic and Network Rail is currently taking up the track.
It is in Railway Centres like this that the forgotten corners of history are celebrated: a steam car made in Birmingham, in 1951, to run on diesel which was used on Egyptian National Railways until 1962 is awaiting restoration as is Janice, a large steam engine that, made in 1954, worked on South African Railways. There’s much more of course, piles of this and that which is bound to come in handy some day but which should definitely not be wasted.
There were plenty of opportunities to explain our #GreatCentralRouteBack one of which resulted in a conversation with a man who’s father had been a porter at the station ‘back in the day’. He turned out to be Dorothy’s grandson.
He also told us quite a bit about the local section of disused line Bob had hoped to walk. So I set Bob down in Westcott village whilst I went onto Ashendon, where I visited the church, and then to the junction of the former line on the way to Wooton Underwood. I did some rooting around whilst Bob walked there, a period of the day which was more than a bit showery and included a thunderstorm.

We moved onto a different line. The former line between Princes Risborough and Thame is now a Sustrans route called the Phoenix Trail. Bob dropped me near Hinton Crossing and I walked to Towersey. The skies were dramatic and thunder rumbled around but the sun came out again again by the time I’d reached my destination.
There’s more than a tinge of celebration about the Rule of St Benedict, I’m glad to say. These are the bits I like: what psalms to include in worship, how often to shout Alleluia. There’s so much to celebrate in life. Happy Birthday Dorothy and all those celebrating today!

From my remembered bible: God’s voice is like thunder, breaking the trees, and making calves jump.

Come on and celebrate!

From a Friend of Scholastica and a Member of the Lay Community of St Benedict.

Janet Lees, unexpectedly resting at Winslow, 24th May 2022.

Backwards

Day 22 was the final day of the #GrandWalkOut so perhaps it’s no surprise that we would walk backwards. Up until now we had taken our bridges in ascending order but for the last day we would work backwards.

There were two main reasons:public transport made it easier to get to Brentford and we wanted to end in Southall with a celebratory meal.

At Brentford we passed a depot of old red buses before reaching the canal path. It was the first example of looking backwards on today’s route.

Lock 101 is the last lock on the Grand Union Canal. The path back included lots of waterfowl many with babies, an odd floating walkway that gave us the effect of walking on water and several more locks including the Hanwell flight.

At lock 90 at Norwood the bus stop for the E5 to Southall was alongside the tow path so I took the bus option. Bob walked onto Bridge 202 which was the one we had to link up with from Day 21. We met near The Green in Southall, a place Bob and I spent some time during our ministerial training, where we had a lovely meal, before catching the 607 bus back to Uxbridge where we got some ice cream. That’s the best way to complete any walk on a hot day.

With a few days of leisure in London over the weekend, Monday will see us starting the #GreatCentralRouteBack. This will, as near as possible, follow the route of the Great Central Railway. We will walk some parts of the route where that’s still possible, and ride others. Hope to see you there!

From my remembered bible: How many more stories are there?

Alleluia

From a Friend of Scholastica and a Member of the Lay Community of St Benedict.

Note that when we have finished reading through the Rule of St Benedict, we start again!

Janet Lees, Southall, 19.05.2022

Sidetracked

While Bob was in a train back to Manchester for the day, I was sidetracked from the #GrandWalkOut to walk in the Colne Valley. Here are some photos from the walk today.

From my remembered bible: Taste and see, God is good.

Still walking

From a Friend of Scholastica and a Member of the Lay Community of St Benedict.

Janet Lees, Colne Valley Regional Park, 17.05.2022

Missed

Day 21 of the #GrandWalkOut started at the Coy Carp and Bridge 177 of the Grand Union Canal. I began walking and Bob drove onto Denham Country Park and started there.

There was as ever a lot to see, particularly when it came to waterfowl. There were more boats moored along the canalside. I also saw a chicken of the woods, said to be a tasty fungus.

I came across the site of the proposed Colne Valley viaduct for the HS2 line. Not yet built, it has attracted a lot of attention and protestor had attached objections to the fence at the site. Another example in which the natural environment looses out to human activity, this time for the gain of 10 minutes on the journey time from London to Birmingham.

I arrived at Denham deep lock to find that Fran’s Tea Room is not open on Mondays. I was reluctant to hang about until Wednesday to try it. However, the cafe at the Visitors Centre was open and I got some lunch there.

My section of the walk finished for today I planned to catch up with Bob by car. But a series of miscommunications meant I misunderstood the meeting point and went to Brentford. Oops! We were still 6 miles apart. I retraced my route and gathered him up from Southall High Street. He had made it to bridge 202.

It was the first time this walk that we’d manage to miss each other so once in 21 days wasn’t so bad. We were soon back at our new accommodation at Uxbridge where we will be based for the final sections of the #GrandWalkOut this week.

From my remembered bible: Be happy, I have found my lost sheep.

Sorry, I missed you.

From a Friend of Scholastica and a Member of the Lay Community of St Benedict.

Janet Lees, somewhere between Southall and Brentford, 16.05.2022

Work

Day 20 of the #GrandWalkOut and we’re pushing on down the Grand Union Canal to London. It’s a strange kind of work, not exactly a work out and not something that anyone is going to notice, unlike that long ago heavy work that first made the canal network. I started at bridge 159 and King’s Langley and less than half a mile later I’d crossed under the M25.

It was going to be a hot day and lots of boaters were frantically turning handles at lock gates as they nimbly jumped on and off their boats. Sometimes two boats would squeeze into the same lock. At one there was even a warning about crocodiles.

More common were waterfowl of different kinds who seemed to work hard at paddling up and down and quacking. Grove Bridge, number 164, stood out a bit as being a very fine structure. It seems it was restored by Concrete Bob in the 1980s.

There were boaters and walkers to speak to. At one point we discussed a memorial to two workers who had died making a sewer in the 1970s.

At last I was at bridge 167 at Cassiobury Park, now a lovely public park (it was previously the estate of the Earl of Essex) and I hopped on the miniature train for a quick trip, before collecting the car.

Some miles further on Bob had made it to bridge 177 where a cutely named pub, the Coy Carp provided a good resting and lunching spot.

There was work going on round us all the time, and we were also part of it. Not just passive admirers, our work contributed to the work of others, an interlocking system in which most of the contributors are unaware of each other. When we try to live in community according the Rule of St Benedict we try to increase our awareness of the roles played by others and ourselves. How good it would be to raise that awareness to include all humans and beyond that all living species as we collaborate for the thriving of our shared planet.

From my remembered bible: let everything that has (any) breath (left) praise God.

My praise is in my steps.

From a Friend of Scholastica and a Member of the Lay Community of St Benedict.

Janet Lees, West Hyde near Harefield, 14.05.2022.

Wait

Day 19 of the #GrandWalkOut was the day we said goodbye to our comfy glamp at Bragenham. Not just a Heron’s Retreat, it suited us very well. Last night we heard the local muntjac deer barking. Bob enjoyed waiting for the Caledonian Sleeper service to pass by.

We drove to King’s Langley and parked by bridge 159. I started walking back to 157 while Bob went back to Hemel Hempstead on the train and started from bridge 149 to bridge the gap to 157.

Meanwhile I went to the laundrette in King’s Langley High Street. Waiting is associated with launderettes. In my childhood it was a weekly ritual. Nowadays we only use them on epic walks of this kind. Bob came along just as I completed the wash, dry and fold up, to carry the clean things back to Bridge 159.

We stopped at a local farm shop on the way. There were a great number of Red Kites in the area, surfing the wind, soaring and banking and just hanging in the air.

After lunch in a nearby park we drove back to Bourne End to our next accommodation. We spent a restful part of the afternoon have a cool drink at a pub waiting to check in. Later we walked back to the same pub for an excellent Friday evening meal. Fish and chips for me of course.

We are now a week away from our end point in London. Walking and waiting go well together in my experience.

From my remembered bible: The waiting ones will be lifted up on eagles wings.

Wait with me.

From a Friend of Scholastica and a Member of the Lay Community of St Benedict.

Janet Lees, Kings Langley, 13.05.2022.

Air

Day 18 of the #GrandWalkOut started at Tring Station, a short walk from bridge 135. As we set off a group practicing for their DofE were assembling in the car park.

The walk was well stewarded by herons. We saw several including a boat called Heron. We met someone looking for kingfishers but we didn’t see any of those. We did see a pair of grey wagtails. All were enjoying the air.

We also met someone on a mobility scooter who was reminiscing about the old tramway to the gas works at Berkhamsted that he’d seen as a boy. Bob found some photos of it on his phone and we shared those with him before finding an information sign a little further on. The gas plant made gas by extracting it from coal, making coke, the whole cycle being just one contributor to climate change. It ceased at this plant in the 1960s when most of the UK converted to natural gas. But these are just some of the ways in which we are still heating up the climate.

At Berkhamsted there were some excellent fish and chips at the station and the news we were only 33 miles from London. Whilst I visited the castle and the shops, Bob walked onto Bridge 149 at Hemel Hempstead. We both caught the same train back to Tring.

We took a short detour to Aston Hill on the way back. Just one of the places near Tring that Bob enjoyed visiting in the Chilterns. A trig point in a field had us as high as Mouselow Castle in Glossop. So much for hills.

From my remembered bible : I look up at the hills from where I get help. God aids me day and night, never sleeping.

I breathe in, I breathe out.

From a Friend of Scholastica and a Member of the Lay Community of St Benedict.

Janet Lees, Aston Hill, 12.05.2022.