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Churnet Valley Railway
by jo1976
Living in North Staffordshire, we are lucky enough to have several interesting tourist attractions within easy reach. Amongst them is the Churnet Valley Railway, a heritage railway line running full sized passenger steam trains (and some diesel locomotives) across a section of restored track. We've visited the railway and travelled on a ... steam train several times since the line reopened as a tourist attraction, with our most recent visit being over the recent Easter bank holiday weekend.
The main railway line covers a five and a half mile stretch, running between Froghall to Leekbrook, with three stations along the route at the villages of Froghall, Consall and Cheddleton which is where we caught the train from. We paid £11 for each adult tickets. Children (over five) are normally £5 each, although the Easter weekend featured a 'kids go free' offer. All tickets are return tickets, offering the option of alighting at each station and travelling along the line as many times during the day of purchase as liked, although that is limited slightly by the frequency of the trains and I can't imagine many people do the journey more than once on the same day. I would certainly recommend alighting at each of the stations, not least because there is a pub next to each of the stations.
I suspect many of the regular visitors are adult railway enthusiasts but the line does cater for families and young children with a number of special events held throughout the year. We have previously attended a Thomas the Tank Engine themed event and also taken the kids to see Santa over the Christmas season. I must admit I was slightly disappointed with our most recent experience of the Easter Family Fun Day, where the promise of free kids' events turned out to be a selection of colouring sheets and a few lacklustre sticking and cutting activities, with all of the kids crammed into the tiny waiting room area. I suspect the organisers might have been anticipating wet weather and a poorer turn out so had chosen to hold the activities indoors, but previous years have offered better entertainment for young children, with balloon modellers and entertainment out on the platforms.
The train journey itself is a pleasant enough experience and something of a novelty for our children who very rarely ride on modern trains, let alone steam trains. The steam train does travel fairly slowly but at a nice steady pace and can be quite noisy. My two year old was a little scared when the train first came puffing and whistling into view and was a little wary about boarding it at first. He soon warmed up to it although I must confess that my oldest son (at ten) was a little bored by the whole experience.
The outward journey (Cheddleton to Froghall) is much shorter and takes around twenty minutes, on a scenic stretch through wooded countryside and alongside the banks of the Cauldon Canal. The return journey takes twice as long as the train continues past Cheddleton station and stops at Leekbrook junction, to allow the engine to turn around. This is quite a dull part of the journey, especially for the children, as passengers cannot alight at Leekbrook and there is really nothing to look at whilst waiting for the train to restart. Passengers with toddlers might want to pack a few little treats or distractions for that section of the journey and also be mindful that the train passes through quite a long stretch of tunnel which might be scary for little ones.
There is a small tearoom at both the Cheddleton and Froghall stations, with a nice selection of cakes and treats. There is car parking available at both Cheddleton and Froghall (not Consall) although the car park at Cheddleton is more of a muddy field and does get pretty busy when there are special events. There is some 'overspill' parking and some visitors also end up parking at the Boat (pub) car park which is just over the bridge. There are also toilets available at each station although my husband took the kids to the toilets at Cheddleton and was not impressed by how dirty and grimy they were.
Out of the three stations, Consall is by far the prettiest and the one where it is well worth alighting and spending a bit of time as it is right against the canal. The Black Lion is right next to the station and has a well established reputation for good quality, inexpensive home cooked meals as well as a selection of real ales. The pub is pretty difficult to access by road and, as a child, we used to walk along the length of the canal from Froghall Wharf to get to the Black Lion so travelling by steam train is much more relaxing. Both the Railway (Froghall) and the Boat (Cheddleton) also offer meals but the reputation of both pubs has suffered in recent years with various changes of ownership and periods of closure.
The railway is run entirely by dedicated volunteers, involved in everything from selling the tickets to driving the trains themselves. The CVR have also tried to involve the wider community, offering a share scheme to fund the costs of restoring some of the sections of track and rebuilding some of the stations. There are also plans to expand the line even further, restoring a route that originally went as far as the Potteries.
There is room for improvement but I do still feel that the Churnet Valley Railway is an important part of our local and national heritage and offers an alternative family day out.
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Salcey Forest (Northamptonshire)
by thedevilinme
If you tap in the words 'Salcey Forest' and 'Fun' into Google these days you need the family filter, as with many out of the way national park areas very popular with 'dogging' types, the act of outdoor sex with strangers, not a pretty site. Think British porn and then ten times worse. But it's still a nice place to go for walks and bike ... rides in the day time and one of very few forested areas in the centre of the country to still enjoy. It's situated about 7 miles outside of Northampton to the south of the county and the forest constantly being improved by various attractions and events.
It's a former medieval hunting forest where kings and queens, noblemen and landowners, would venture out by foot or horse from their stately homes to crossbow a deer or two. Today it's a commercial forest as well as a tourist attraction with the two working side-by-side.
In 2005 they built a really cool award winning timber skywalk so the visitors can now walk amongst the tree top canopy, some 15 - 18 meters up, which is up to 70ft. Some of the towering old oaks that you can touch by offering your hand are believed to be over 500 years old and some of Britain's oldest tees. Parts of the skywalk walk are good for buggies and wheelchairs and so accessible for all. Granny may not make it up the observation tower.
Things to do aside from the forest walks are what you would expect, an adventure playground for the kids with an excellent café nearby for ice creams and coffee and all sorts of healthy treats. There is a pay and display car park here or you can park free in other areas of the forest. They also have a bookcrossingzone place where you can leave books for others and pick up others for free. It's not popular though in the winter. You used to be able to get there by train some 100 years ago but they ripped up the track in the 1920s. Disused railway tracks and tunnels are always fun things to explore.
The quirky fact of the day for Salcey forest is that during the Second World War, elephants from circuses were put to use to fell the trees. The Elephant Pond - now called - is where the elephants could bathe at the end of the day and kick back. Not only that but they had been ridden to work in the Forest by a genuine Hollywood star, Sabu the Elephant Boy, over in England making a film with Alexander Korda, no less! There are also quirky sculptures ready to surprise you on the various trails.
Although Northampton has the more convenient Harlestone Firs near Althorp House for the kids and dogs to have a run around the walks are somewhat samey up there so if you want to really get out in the countryside then Salcey Forest feels more the wilderness experience, one where you can't hear the nearby roar of a motorway or A-Road to spoil the ambience.
If the spring ever arrives it looks stunning in the forest with all the Blue Bells and snow drops coming through amongst the firs and blackberry bushes. It's a great foraging forest and good for mushrooms if you are that way inclined. The author of the book 'Pollard', my mate Laura Beatty, has a home deep in the forest and it's straight from Hansel & Gretel, really spooky as the gentle wind rustles the tree tops above and creeps dusk through the forest with its cloak of evil darkness. Is there is any scarier place than a forest at night then I would be surprised.
So pack you kids and into the Volvo and have a day there in the spring. In my marathon days I would run the seven miles to the café, have a hot tea and sandwich, and run back to Northampton once every two weeks to tune up for the London marathon. It's a pretty place to be and the medieval side of the forest very much Lord of the Rings stuff with lots of gothic twisted gnarly trees and roots shaped like witches hands, a carpet of thick green moss leading to magical pools to treat those who venture deeper into the forest.
The foot and horse trails are good and if you are stabled nearby you will know that already. Kid's buggies will travel well on the lightly graveled surfaced tracks and they also offer milk warming services in the café if you want to bring babies and toddlers. The toilet block is good although only two in the forest so you will be doing you know what with the bears if you get lost, Salcey Forest not small.
Nearby is Castle Ashby House, star of many Merchant & Ivory bodice ripping movies, and Emberton Park, lots of old gravelpits and boating areas for the kids to have fun in there. Hartwell village that lips the forest is beautiful and has a lovely local pub and great oldie worldly cottages to snap, Olney village down the road straight from a Constable painting, the familiar yellow spring canvas of rape seed soon appearing. Not a lot of Northamptonshire is pretty so head to the Buckinghamshire border for the best bits is my advice.
---The Café----
Breakfast, Snacks, Brunch, Lunch, Afternoon Tea and everything inbetween.
Speciality Teas, Chocolate and Barista Coffees.
Children's Menu * Ice Cream Parlour * Takeaways * Play Area
Seating for 50+ inside, 80 outside. Major cards accepted.
1/2 mile from the Tree Top Walk and on the 6 mile Woodpecker Nature Trail.
Well-behaved Dogs (on a lead) and Children always welcome.
Car Parking * £1 for the first hour or £3 for the day or £28 pass for the year.
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Brixworth Country Park (Northants)
by thedevilinme
In March 2012 we were told we were suffering drought and a hosepipe ban would be enforced in Northamptonshire. The expansive and attractive Pitsford Reservoir that supplies Northampton with its water, and situated next to Brixworth Country Park, was at 69% capacity and falling. To locals this was not unusual and they have seen far worse ... in the last 50 years. After the wettest April and June on record the panic was quickly over and the reservoir was back to its normal levels, about 87%, which kind of debunks the idea that Britain can suffer any serious effects of global warming if the correction can be made so quickly by that thing we call traditional British weather. A couple of months of wiggle on that obstinate and irritable Jet Stream and the rain did cometh. How does that capricious Jet Stream fit into the man made global warming models we wonder? We are now being told by the same climatologists that Britain having its wettest year on record was also down to global warming, even though it was a degree colder in the UK last year because of all the rain. Global warming hype is simply to raise personal taxes to make up for the shortfall big business refuse to contribute to the Treasury now by hiding it in tax havens.
Now the point on global warming and a country park in little old Northamptonshire is that the weather makes this park a very different place to go as the water levels are up and down in the reservoir across the seasons. When the water is low you can walk out to little islands of what used to be here before they flooded the valley and when it's tipping over the edge it's alive with wildlife. They have a private sailing club on the reservoir and you can hire out small rowing or motor boats to fish but its still an effort to get out on the water to enjoy it. The sailing club is rather sniffy and middle-class and more about the social side consumption of alcohol in the clubhouse than helping kids enjoy sailing.
The Brixworth Park is a relatively new facility and opened back in 1997. It has a small café, toilets, a play and picnic area and cycles for hire, a nice touch to encourage fitness and getting out and about. Its £2.50 parking although there is free parking nearby. It's a great place to launch yourself on the long walks around the reservoir and for the kids to get up close and feed the ducks and swans. Unfortunately, due to the intimacy of the parking along the reservoir edge, it's becoming a 'dogging' spot for locals, the act of watching others have sex in cars. The council has employed wardens to keep and eye out but unfortunately that's exactly what one warden did and was found out by the local cops to be not only watching but joining in, as reported in the local paper.
The walks are blustery and the full circuit nearly 8 miles long so not for amateurs, great views of the reservoir and local wildlife all the way around. The paths are graveled for walkers and cyclists and so if you do live in Northamptonshire well worth a look down there. The reservoir has a certain stillness and calm to it and a great escape from the town. I like to cycle up there to get away from it. You can also take the misses or partner up there as there are great sunsets and cozy picnic areas around the reservoir.
The small village of Brixworth is just up the hill from the park and has tea rooms and pubs to enjoy on a warm summers evening. The smallish park is very wildlife centered with bird hides and things to do for the kids and young adults around that wildlife, getting involved if they so choose, a very hands on place. They have a 'naturetots' group for preschool kids every third Wednesday of the month at 3pm where they can pet birds and animals. They also do things like country skills for all ages, like coppice techniques (hedges) and conservation, like tagging birds. It's a good place to go to breath real air and see that all is well in the eco system and all very normal and there will be no global warming. But you will need a car to get out there.
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