Train GraphicClick on the map to explore geographics
 
I need help
FAQ
Emergency
About .
Travel & transport from BBC stories as at 04:15 19 Mar 2024
- Potholes leave nations' roads at 'breaking point'
Read about the forum [here].
Register [here] - it's free.
What do I gain from registering? [here]
 tomorrow - WWRUG AGM
23/03/24 - Trains restart - Minehead
02/06/24 - Summer Timetable starts
17/08/24 - Bus to Imber

No 'On This Day' events reported for 19th Mar

Train RunningCancelled
06:30 London Paddington to Cheltenham Spa
07:04 Bath Spa to Filton Abbey Wood
07:45 Filton Abbey Wood to Bristol Temple Meads
08:59 Cheltenham Spa to London Paddington
PollsOpen and recent polls
Open to 25/03 16:00 Easter Escape - to where?
Closed 2024-03-16 Should our rail network go cashless
Abbreviation pageAcronymns and abbreviations
Stn ComparatorStation Comparator
Rail newsNews Now - live rail news feed
Site Style 1 2 3 4
Next departures • Bristol Temple MeadsBath SpaChippenhamSwindonDidcot ParkwayReadingLondon PaddingtonMelksham
Exeter St DavidsTauntonWestburyTrowbridgeBristol ParkwayCardiff CentralOxfordCheltenham SpaBirmingham New Street
March 19, 2024, 04:28:36 *
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Forgotten your username or password? - get a reminder
Most recently liked subjects
[99] Where would you recommend for an Easter Escape?
[99] More travels ... more looking at how others do it ...
[95] M25 motorway issue: a most illuminating Twitter thread.
[80] Briefing on forthcoming changes - from GWR on 14.3.2024
[51] Europeran Rail Timetable
[51] Improvements at three Berkshire stations
 
News: A forum for passengers ... with input from rail professionals welcomed too
 
   Home   Help Search Calendar Login Register  
Pages: 1 [2]
  Print  
Author Topic: Where did Finn and I stop for lunch today, 18th July 2019?  (Read 5210 times)
froome
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 901


View Profile Email
« Reply #15 on: July 18, 2019, 22:13:05 »

Very nice little tea shop and garden next to the aqueduct.
It's a nice garden but I wasn't that impressed by the cheese and stuff sandwich I had there last Sunday. Probably should have gone to the pub instead!
Oh dear. Sounds like standards may have slipped. Mind you it was more than two years ago since we last ate there.

Yes, it has gone through a few changes of owner in the last few years, and food standards have changed accordingly. It used to be wonderful, but last time I stopped there I wasn't impressed.
Logged
froome
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 901


View Profile Email
« Reply #16 on: July 18, 2019, 22:16:05 »

Quote from: bradshaw
The K and A lends itself to railway linked walks. Train to Trowbridge, walk to Devizes, bus to Bath.
Train to Pewsey, walk to Devizes and bus to Bath.
Pewsey to Bedwyn is another
Nice level walking with plenty to see.

Unfortunately I didn't spot this thread before someone else came up with the right answer, so I'll go off on a tangent and respond to this instead  Grin

I have cycled the complete length of the K&A towpath from Bath to Reading, and walked a fair bit of it as well. Going east it is reasonably well-surfaced from Widcombe locks at Bath to the eastern outskirts of Devizes (although even on that section there is a dodgy length around Seend). From Theale into Reading it is also reasonably well surfaced, although part of the "towpath" is nowhere near the canal as it passes by the M4 Reading Services. There is a bit of private land there that causes the diversion.

Between Devizes and Theale it is generally only surfaced at the locks and wharves, and the rest of it is grass. Or mud... You can have excellent walks along it as long as there has not been any substantial rain lately, which tends to preclude the winter months because it won't dry out much even if it hasn't rained for a week.

One particularly lousy section is between Froxfield and Hungerford, where it essentially runs along the edge of a field. This field usually contains cattle and, when they want a drink, you can guess where they go to get the water from. Heavy buggers, cows...

There is also a tunnel at Burbage and the towpath leaves the canal for a bit and starts again on the other side.

In case anyone is interested, here s the the view that Streetview gives of that bit of railway at Avoncliff: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.3391305,-2.283005,3a,53.4y,244.92h,86.44t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s3RFZGUu3H-tFey_KUmYMuw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656



From experience, I wouldn't recommend going along it out of Bath in icy weather. It can be a sheet of ice and absolutely treacherous.

Any other time, though, it is a wonderful cycle or walk.
Logged
johnneyw
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 2248


From station to station, back to Bristol city....


View Profile
« Reply #17 on: July 18, 2019, 22:46:53 »

Avoncliffe aqueduct with lunch at the Cross Guns, which my gran used to keep a long time ago.
It is a pleasant walk from Bradford on Avon, we used occasionally wander all the way to Bath. The good thing about the K & A is that there are pubs every four miles!

Correct. Well, there's a redundant 'e' in your answer. Avoncliff.

Lunch was indeed partaken in the Cross Guns. I drove down the lane to the pub. Losing my passenger side wing mirror in the process. A partially fallen woodeb fence post hidden by greenery took out the mirror.

But what a fantastic location to have lunch and leisurely shandy. I sat by the riverside, watching the trout in the shallows. With barges crossing the aquaduct and trains passing through Avoncliff Station across the river.

Another location I'd highly recommended. And whilst I drove there, I'd suggest taking the train and then doing the walk along the canal to Bradford-on-Avon.






So annoying, I thought I had a head start on one of BNMs fiendish quizzes and I had to go out before the solution was revealed. It's an area I've walked a lot. I do salute your choice of day out location though, it's almost unreasonably lovely there.
Logged
Chris from Nailsea
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 17865


I am not railway staff


View Profile Email
« Reply #18 on: July 18, 2019, 23:25:50 »

Losing my passenger side wing mirror in the process. A partially fallen wooden fence post hidden by greenery took out the mirror.

Been there: done that.  Roll Eyes

With barges crossing the aquaduct ...

It's an aqueduct, and they are narrowboats, not barges.  Grin

Logged

William Huskisson MP (Member of Parliament) was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830.  Many more have died in the same way since then.  Don't take a chance: stop, look, listen.

"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner."  Discuss.
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 40644



View Profile WWW Email
« Reply #19 on: July 19, 2019, 04:59:15 »


With barges crossing the aquaduct ...

It's an aqueduct, and they are narrowboats, not barges.  Grin

The picture is a narrowboat (width just under 7 foot) but there are also some barges (width just under 14 foot) that will pass across Avoncliff Aquaduct on the Kennet and Avon canal.  The majority of canals in the UK (United Kingdom) have locks and other structures just 7 foot wide, hence the prevalence of narrowboats even on broad canals such as the K&A; narrow boats can pass through locks side by side on such a broad beam canal.
Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
johnneyw
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 2248


From station to station, back to Bristol city....


View Profile
« Reply #20 on: July 19, 2019, 07:41:26 »

It's also a do-able walk from Avoncliff to Iford (although with a bit of climb out of the valley) where one can experience the delights of the Peto Italianate Gardens. It's a real gem, even from the outside with the ornate bridge over the river at the front. The Iford Estate is also home to Iford Cider but at present it seems to be online ordering only although I first came across it at the Bath Christmas Market. It's rather nice! 😁
Logged
Bmblbzzz
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 4256


View Profile
« Reply #21 on: July 19, 2019, 09:10:51 »

Quote from: bradshaw
The K and A lends itself to railway linked walks. Train to Trowbridge, walk to Devizes, bus to Bath.
Train to Pewsey, walk to Devizes and bus to Bath.
Pewsey to Bedwyn is another
Nice level walking with plenty to see.

Unfortunately I didn't spot this thread before someone else came up with the right answer, so I'll go off on a tangent and respond to this instead  Grin

I have cycled the complete length of the K&A towpath from Bath to Reading, and walked a fair bit of it as well. Going east it is reasonably well-surfaced from Widcombe locks at Bath to the eastern outskirts of Devizes (although even on that section there is a dodgy length around Seend). From Theale into Reading it is also reasonably well surfaced, although part of the "towpath" is nowhere near the canal as it passes by the M4 Reading Services. There is a bit of private land there that causes the diversion.

Between Devizes and Theale it is generally only surfaced at the locks and wharves, and the rest of it is grass. Or mud... You can have excellent walks along it as long as there has not been any substantial rain lately, which tends to preclude the winter months because it won't dry out much even if it hasn't rained for a week.

One particularly lousy section is between Froxfield and Hungerford, where it essentially runs along the edge of a field. This field usually contains cattle and, when they want a drink, you can guess where they go to get the water from. Heavy buggers, cows...

There is also a tunnel at Burbage and the towpath leaves the canal for a bit and starts again on the other side.

In case anyone is interested, here s the the view that Streetview gives of that bit of railway at Avoncliff: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.3391305,-2.283005,3a,53.4y,244.92h,86.44t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s3RFZGUu3H-tFey_KUmYMuw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656


I'm impressed that you've cycled the whole length. I've cycled it from Bath to Devizes and also odd bits around Hungerford, but those were so bumpy and muddy it put me off trying the rest. West of Devizes it's great. Slow progress but speed is not what canals are about, either on the water or the tow path. I love seeing the herons which stand impassively as you pass a couple of feet from them!
Logged

Waiting at Pilning for the midnight sleeper to Prague.
CyclingSid
Data Manager
Hero Member
******
Posts: 1912


Hockley viaduct


View Profile
« Reply #22 on: July 19, 2019, 10:52:08 »

Cycled Hungerford to Newbury last Saturday. Better than last time I did it. Seem to have solved a particularly bad bit of "surface dressing" i.e. filling a hole with two inches of gravel (which the Brompton didn't like). Rest of Newbury to Reading is reasonable, but the detour round Burghfield Mill is not very attractive as you say.
Logged
Robin Summerhill
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 1145


View Profile Email
« Reply #23 on: July 19, 2019, 11:03:48 »

Quote from: CyclingSid
Cycled Hungerford to Newbury last Saturday.

Did you spot the bit of broad gauge rail being used for bridge strengthening at Kintbury?
Logged
CyclingSid
Data Manager
Hero Member
******
Posts: 1912


Hockley viaduct


View Profile
« Reply #24 on: July 20, 2019, 07:43:36 »

No I didn't, more attention being paid to looking for the horse barge.
Logged
Do you have something you would like to add to this thread, or would you like to raise a new question at the Coffee Shop? Please [register] (it is free) if you have not done so before, or login (at the top of this page) if you already have an account - we would love to read what you have to say!

You can find out more about how this forum works [here] - that will link you to a copy of the forum agreement that you can read before you join, and tell you very much more about how we operate. We are an independent forum, provided and run by customers of Great Western Railway, for customers of Great Western Railway and we welcome railway professionals as members too, in either a personal or official capacity. Views expressed in posts are not necessarily the views of the operators of the forum.

As well as posting messages onto existing threads, and starting new subjects, members can communicate with each other through personal messages if they wish. And once members have made a certain number of posts, they will automatically be admitted to the "frequent posters club", where subjects not-for-public-domain are discussed; anything from the occasional rant to meetups we may be having ...

 
Pages: 1 [2]
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Powered by SMF 1.1.2 | SMF © 2006-2007, Simple Machines LLC Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!
This forum is provided by customers of Great Western Railway (formerly First Great Western), and the views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that the content provided by one of our posters contravenes our posting rules (email link to report). Forum hosted by Well House Consultants

Jump to top of pageJump to Forum Home Page