Friday 4th March 2011 and my plan this time around was to visit Tamworth and Rugby, starting from Wolverhampton on the Lime Street train and changing at Stafford where I can join London Midland’s London Euston service along the Trent Valley. This all went remarkably smoothly despite a slight delay out of Wolverhampton and a chap on the refreshments trolley going through a range of offers in very precise detail.
To Tamworth then, hoping to build on my previous (somewhat limited) memories of the town. These vaguely constituted a family visit down by the castle and the river, a brief Rail Rover call when Tamworth Station seemed like a depressing mass of concrete, and the Burton day out with Rog and Woody when we found the Arriva depot and had a quick pint. Other than that I pretty much had a blank canvas to work with.
TAMWORTH STATION: I arrive bang on schedule at 10:47 and find that the station is still as I remember it – i.e. grim, very much in keeping with it’s Trent Valley neighbours in being just the positive side of awful. The platforms feel exposed and windswept as I negotiate the ugly staircases up and down from the high level. The frontage is nowt to write home about either - in fact I’ve seen multi-storey car parks that are prettier – so all things considered I don’t have much affection for the place at all.
TAMWORTH TOWN TOUR: It’s a relief to leave the station behind and head into the town. The Tweedale Arms Hotel immediately attracts my attention, sitting on the roundabout just outside the station, and this is quickly followed by the Albert, a Banks’s pub with a painted blue and white side sign. Aldergate brings me into territory familiar from my visit with Woody and Rog, whereby the Arriva depot is enticing as a transport location but the garage doors are closed today so there’s no peeking inside to be had, spoilsports!
- Tamworth Arriva Garage -Heading down Corporation Street next and the Silk Kite catches my eye - I think this is the place where Rog, Woody and I had our quick pint last time we were here. The pub is a Lloyds No. 1 Bar featuring a nice art deco style exterior with a period clock, whilst The Tavern in the Town on the opposite corner also seems recognisable from that previous encounter. Church Street includes an old corner Co-op store as I briefly investigate Lichfield Road for photos of the Three Tuns and a place called Vertigo.
TAMWORTH CASTLE: An about turn and it’s time to go on a castle hunt. The Castle Hotel is a good clue to start with, then I spot the castle lodge looking inviting as the road leads down to Ladybridge over the River Anker. Tamworth Castle itself is truly a momentous structure, perched on high as a testimony to the town’s history as the ‘ancient capital of Mercia’. The main building seems to all be intact and is a popular tourist attraction whereby visitors can explore the rooms and exhibitions inside. It wasn’t open today so I made do with a perimeter walk and a few external shots, admiring the views looking out over the surrounding parkland with a bandstand and some elegant flowerbed terraces.
- Tamworth Castle -The river was also key to Tamworth’s development and Ladybridge is certainly an elegant old feature. I dodge the geese and swans to get a photo then retreat back into town, arriving on Market Street to admire the impressive Town Hall and accompanying statue of former Prime Minister Robert Peel. The history lesson continues with a wander up to St Editha's Church, standing proud with the war memorial and modern town library also close at hand.
The rest of my Tamworth experience involves a look at the bus stops on Victoria Road (hoping to get photos of routes such as the 8 and 9 to Hockley), a quick browse within the library and the chance discovery of some charming almshouses on the corner of Spinning School Lane. It's fair to say that the town has definitely made a good impression and I somewhat reluctantly make my way back to the station for my next train.
I’m aiming to catch the 12:47 Euston service down to Rugby but the cancellation of the preceding journey due to overtime issues with ASLEF means the train is rammed full and I opt to give it a swerve. In need of a contingency plan I decide a visit to Stone is in order - the 13:31 departure will do nicely, so its back into Tamworth for a spot of lunch in the meantime.
STONE STATION: The 13:31 arrives promptly and just over half an hour later I alight to explore a location that has been on the Paul hitlist for some considerable time. For a few years there was no service here but this has thankfully restored so it's great to see the station back in use and with a direct service to London at that. And what a station it is! Admittedly platform 2 isn’t up to much, with a brick bunker of a passenger shelter that wouldn’t look out of place at Bordesley, and the red footbridge is also on the basic side. Platform 1 however has the delightful old station building, presenting quite an elegant ornate platform side and then with the main frontage facing down the railway drive. There’s also a curious outbuilding tucked under the footbridge that seemed to have half of its roof missing.
- Stone Station -I gather a few platform shots then cross the bridge to investigate that main frontage complete with the all-important station lettering. The building looks used without necessarily being open, and the glazed area around the back looks quite smart, possibly even as a private residence or meeting space. The station sits neatly in a junction fork so there are lines on either side, and the station drive brings me down to a level crossing marked with a totem sign.
STONE TOUR: My local photos of the town begin with The Talbot, a corner pub overlooking the level crossing. Station Road takes me by St Dominic’s Priory School to emerge at Granville Square almost by accident. The square contains the bus stops familiar from my rail replacement rides on the X1 (a little Bennetts minibus is on hand for a sneaky shot) and also includes the war memorial, a period café and the Poste of Stone (the local Wetherspoons). The Crown and Anchor also features as a black and white timber-framed building next to Granville’s Café, an appealing spot.
- Granville Square -Next I investigate the pedestrianised High Street stretching down – can’t say I’ve noticed this before so the town is obviously more substantial than I’d anticipated. The street plays host to regular farmers markets and festivals which can be extremely popular, and the buildings here include the rather grand and historic Crown Hotel, the narrower Red Lion pub and the town library - nice!
PUB TIME: The bottom of High Street brings me to the Trent & Mersey Canal as a couple of further pubs catch my eye - the Star is a canalside Bank's looking very traditional next to lock 27, whilst the Swan Inn is a John Joule's free house on the main road. I was just about ready for a pint and was torn over which inn to choose, but the Joule’s factor intrigued me and a sign suggesting the Swan was a local CAMRA pub of the year proved the clincher. I was rewarded with a cracking pub experience: a lively bar, an excellent local pint (Lymestone's Foundation Stone is brewed in the town) and some interesting decorations including an array of pump clips on the ceiling and a framed illustrated Staffordshire Pub Crawl sketch on the wall. To top it off, the radio was even playing 'Turn to Stone' by ELO, uncanny or what??
- Workhouse Bridge -TRENT & MERSEY: Pint supped I now concentrate on the canal with a walk up the locks to the outskirts of town. The Star sits next to Bridge 93 (a bland modern structure but the accompanying lock is appealing)., then the canal opens out a little with some moorings and the heritage of Joule’s Former Brewery site. Workhouse Bridge (No. 94) is a little askew and irregular then Bridge 95 is equally distinctive with separate portals for boat and foot traffic. Bridge 96 would also be charming but is rather blighted by pipeworks and this marks the limit of my walking – the bridge is adorned with ‘Welcome to Stone’ messages suggesting I’ve reached the edge of town, so I turn around and head back the way I came.
I retrace my steps to Limekiln Lock (No. 30) where a path over a railway crossing leads me back to the station. I still have a bit of time to kill so a further loop of the town ensues, traffic building in the rush hour as kids pour out of the local school. I make my way to Granville Square and spot a Titanic pub, the Royal Exchange, which could be worth a pint for future reference. A final few photos of Granville Square and it's time to say goodbye, returning to the station for my 16:02 connection back to Stafford.
So that was the tale of how I got ‘Stoned’ during my Great Escape, a cracking Staffordshire adventure and excellent value to boot. Today definitely whetted my appetite for my (hopefully) forthcoming Rail Rover outings and I would urge London Midland continue to offer the promotion so that I can enjoy similar adventures in future!
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