Sentimental Journey.

Still moored below Ironbridge lock no 77 Watford

Another fine day for exploring saw us head off to BW Head Office in Church road to renew our licence for next year. There is only a small staff still operating out of Willow Grange now and they are due to move into their new offices in Clarendon road opposite Watford Junction on the 14th December, then the developers move in. Apparently this is only a temporary measure for 2 - 3 years whilst new premises are built somewhere in Watford.

From BW we headed off to Watford Junction to catch the "Bricketwood Flyer" to St Albans Abbey. The "Bricketwood Flyer" was the nickname affectionately given to the local branch line service train between Watford and St Albans via Bricketwood. These days it appears to be known as the "Abbey Flyer". The last time I took this trip the train consisted of a BR standard 2-6-4 tank loco and 2 carriages.

Back in the early 1960's the branch line was expected to close under Dr Beechings axe which saw many lines closed all over Britain. Surprisingly it survived and has actually been expanded with a new station being built at Garston between the Garston and Meridan housing estates. Even the Bricketwood area has grown with new housing being built over the last 40 or so years which is probably why the line is still in existence today.

The last rolling stock I saw being used on the line were early model DMU's but these days the line has been electrified and a 4 car Silverlink unit is in operation.

Whilst in St Albans we looked for an interesting pub for lunch and we found one called "The Goat" in Sopwell Lane off the main road just above the Abbey railway station. The meals were reasonably priced and so big it was hard to eat it all, so very good value for money. If you are in the town we would recommend this pub and they also do B&B.

819 locks, 1135.5 miles, 33 Tunnels, 39 swing bridges and 19 lift bridges since Nov 2006