Rail Rover Week 2025

One of my longest running exploration sagas - albeit with a few gaps here and there - is that of Rail Rover Week, an annual treat I inaugurated in 2006 which has become a must-do most years ever since. The chance to uncover more hidden bits of the Heart of England railway network never fails to excite so I pack my trusty satchel for another round of adventures - let the train take the strain...

- A Royal Throne at Ledbury -

I've opted for the 3-in-7 day Flexi Rover ticket this year and it is immediately put to good use with a Herefordshire incursion to the delightful market town of Ledbury. His Majesty Nick is joining me for this Monday leg and therefore meets me in anticipation of catching the 09:50 Hereford train from Birmingham; he's especially impressed to find that Ledbury Station has a wooden throne awaiting him on the platform when we alight. A gentle woodland walk is in the offing as we get our bearings via a pretty apple orchard and the edges of Dog Hill Wood, a semi-ancient patch of woodland with deciduous trees, wild flowers and lots of gnarled roots.

- St Michael & All Angels -

Our chosen woodland track emerges onto Church Street which puts is in prime position for a snoop around St Michael & All Angels, Ledbury's lovely parish church. Its layout is particularly notable for having a completely detached bell tower, so we start by exploring the main chapel (complete with organ recital practice underway, adding an uplifting gravity to proceedings) and then check out the exhibition space in the tower itself. It turns out that bellringing has had its scandalous moments, and the church at one time had a lady hermit - Katherine de Audley - for an anchoress. Being on our best behaviour, we decamp along the narrow cobbled street for a bite to eat in the Prince of Wales; our respective Ploughman's lunches present generous portions with salad, pickles and warm rolls whilst Nick launches into 7.3% Weston's cider!

- The Talbot -

Elsewhere in Ledbury, we make sure to admire the stilted Market House erected atop sixteen pillars; the building was apparently completed in 1688. Another fine landmark is the Barrett Browning Institute with its brown and cream clock tower - it is named after Elizabeth Barrett Browning, one of several noted writers who ensure Ledbury is known for its poetry links. In terms of frequenting other pubs, the standouts are the Feathers Hotel and the Talbot, classic timber-framed coaching inns both of them. The Feathers very much still offers accommodation as well as three local Ledbury Brewery ales, whereas the Talbot is owned by the Wadworth Brewery whose Swordfish ale carries a hint of rum infusion. A final half in the Brewery Inn (a Marston's establishment with plenty of charm in its own right) precedes a heritage walk along the former Ledbury to Gloucester Railway trackbed. A very interesting day all round!

- Heart of Wales Line at Knighton -

Day two falls on Tuesday 17th June and had been earmarked for musings at stations between Shrewsbury and Crewe. The prospect of investigating Wem or Nantwich gets jettisoned once I realise the Heart of Wales train is ready to form a 10:02 Salopian departure; I rarely get much chance to cover this highly-regarded route, which runs as single track for much of its length and takes four hours end-to-end from Shrewsbury to Swansea. I'd only been as far as Craven Arms previously so I pick Knighton as a means of changing that, meaning I just about tickle over the border from Shropshire into Powys. Knighton Station is unstaffed but speaks of faded history, with roses growing up boarded-over window ledges and cobwebs hanging from the rafters. The barrel planters are nicely maintained and the signs emphasise Welsh language.

- Knighton Clock -

Never having been to Knighton before, I'm eager to cram as much as I can into the hour and a half I'm here (Heart of Wales services are irregular so I need to be careful not to get stranded). Broad Street and High Street form a marked junction below the local clock tower, presented to the town in 1872 by the late benefactor Thomas Moore Esquire. A sloping row of independent shops leads uphill, several of the stores carrying the surname Price, while pub options might include the Red Lion, George & Dragon or the Kinsley had their opening hours allowed. The Horse & Jockey does trade from 11am though so I can wander in there for some Robinson's Flagon cider, sitting beside a massive fireplace where you're almost swallowed by the hearth.

- Kings Arms, Church Stretton -

The 12:18 return train appears encouragingly promptly and I'm able to spend a gorgeous afternoon in Church Stretton, a small town hidden amongst the South Shropshire hills close to the Long Mynd expanse of heathland plateau. It's too warm for me to risk any energetic hikes so I concentrate on St Laurence's Church which boasts a selection of thoughtful graveyard quotations, some Shakespearean, some botanical. Naturally I'm inclined to give the local pubs a whirl, most notably the Kings Arms as owned by Joules; they've applied their usual template of dark wood, enamel adverts and traditional painted lettering so this suits me very well, as does the accompanying pint of Lakota Arizona-styled Pale Ale. Old Coppers Malt House then occupies an elegant top of Sandford Avenue townhouse for a follow-up splash of cold cider.

- Train at Chester -

Having swerved Cheshire due to my Tuesday change of plans, I make sure the county gets its time in the spotlight after all come Thursday 19th June. The Roman city of Chester (otherwise known as Caer in Welsh or Deva to the historians among you) beckons for a Rovering revisit, building on my explorations back in 2022. It's never a hardship changing trains at Crewe, such is the station's strategic railway importance, and a clutch of platform pictures get my photos off and running nicely. The shuttle train direct to Chester departs Platform 9 at 10:21 and takes a little over twenty minutes before I reach a city renowned for Rows, walls and its racecourse.

- Chester Canal Basin -

My first priority is to get to grips with the Shropshire Union Canal so from City Road I plot my way down Northgate Locks towards Taylor's Boatyard, part of a historic canal basin. It's such a treat to see the moored narrowboats gleaming in the sunshine, Bridge 126 carrying a plaque dedicated to the waterways campaigner Tom Rolt who was born in Chester in 1910. A short spur branches off to the River Dee via the remains of what used to be an inland port, now a luxury shopping complex. My first pub of the day is the converted industrial premises Telford's Warehouse who do a great line in real ales. Despite the sweltering temperatures, I simply can't resist the prospect of Wantsum's Heart of Darkness Stout, sitting amidst adverts for Black Cat cigarettes and Colmans Starch - this is the life!

- Chester Cathedral -

My Chester sightseeing quest then incorporates some of the City Walls though to Northgate, the Storyhouse arts complex (an innovative facility comprised of library, theatre, cinema and a creative hub) and of course the magnificence of Chester Cathedral, founded as a Benedictine abbey in 1092. History is also seeping through some of my pub picks, especially the Pied Bull (which has its own on-site microbrewery producing beers such as 'Bullseye') and the Boot Inn (a Samuel Smith's time capsule found within the two-storey gallery structures known as The Rows). A repeat call at the Albion is essential, such is the impression its wartime disposition made on my three years ago, and I catch my homeward train as a very happy chap. Cheers!