Railway ghostliness

 

Stafford railway station has been empty (ish) and a little ghostly over the last twelve months. It'll be interesting to see if it returns to its former numbers.

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Two close knots

Another for my Stafford Knot collection!  This knot graces the old railway station at Rushton Spencer, though the building (1844) predated the railway line. 

Only 20 yards away from this building is the (Stafford) Knot Inn - which also bears a knot (see its knot) - so, two for one!

Back on the tracks

Back to the daily grind - after the three-day respite that is a Bank Holiday weekend.

The long empty lines (to what, exactly?) out of Tamworth Railway Station rather sum up the feeling.

Stoke at Euston

This photo of the Euston Station western lodge is a companion to my photo of the eastern lodge. The lodges' Victorian frontages list the names of all the towns that you can reach directly from Euston - including Stoke of course.

Warmer outdoors; at Oakamoor

Just now the state of the weather means it's warmer to be outdoors than in.  Our English cave-like houses get to be very cold about now, and (if the weather is as mild as it is at the moment) it is just happier to be outdoors.  (Well, until the sun goes down, and it turns freezing of course!)

One of the best walks in Staffordshire is around Dimmingsdale. Starting at the old Oakamoor rail station (in picture) is best. 
And then making sure that one drops in at the Rambler's Retreat restaurant/cafe - which sits all alone in the woods, waiting for passers-by - makes for a terrific route...

(Oakamoor rail station opened in 1849, as part of the then Churnet Valley Line).

Railway station? Pub?

Codsall has come up with a very neat solution to the problem of what to do with the redundant parts of its railway station's buildings:  convert most of them into a very successful pub - as you see here!

The Station Pub, as you'd guess, has a lot of railway memorabilia; and is the only place I know where one can pace one's drinking by the number of trains going by the window.
Strangely enough, the rail service at Codsall Station seems to have gone from strength to strength in recent years.

Trainspotter's delight

The art of the trainspotter is not dead, thank goodness, though nowadays they have more than just a pen and paper and a log.

Apparently, according to RailForums, Stafford is quite a good station for trainspotting.

Lichfield's small stop

Lichfield Trent Valley is one of those small, bare railway stations which are better called ‘stops’ than stations.  

It has the suffix ‘Trent Valley’ because it was one of the stations on the original, old, and very short, Trent Valley line.