Alton Station Landmark Trust, Summer 2012

2012’s Landmark Trust visit was to Alton Station, which is remarkably close to Alton Towers in Staffordshire. After the wettest few months every in the history of Britain (only slightly exaggeration) it cleared slightly and, as the rest of the country started to work out whether the Olympics were a good thing or not, we were away from the rush in the station building.

Photos below anyway.

We had the whole of the old station building to ourselves. This is the main waiting room building which had the kitchen, main room, a bathroom and one bedroom in:

And here’s Iain getting in the way of it:

There was also the second building which was the station master’s house (I believe), with two more bedrooms, bathrooms and a sitting room:

The tracks had long since gone and the line was now a footpath, and the station made a handy seating spot:

This is the end of the waiting room building, and also an excellent spot for barbecues:

And from the far end of the platform:

As it was a footpath we did get a fair amount of passing traffic (foot, horse and bike) but no unwelcome visitors in the waiting room itself which had apparently happened in the past when walkers think it’s a tea-room. The private sign may help, but then again not many people read them:

The station from the opposite platform, which was well overgrown now. I’d always watched post-apocalyptic films and didn’t think the plants would take over deserted buildings as quickly as they show, but the growth on the abandoned station shows that maybe the set designers are right:

Both station buildings together:

The station master’s house had a balcony, and here’s Ann on it:

The canopy on the front of the waiting room which was a good place for consuming the previously mentioned barbecue, as long as the temperature held up in the early evening. It was also a great place for mosquitoe spotting as there were a few patches of standing water in front of the platform:

Another shot of the station master’s house:

And from the front:

As mentioned, the path was used by walkers, cyclists and riders alike:

We walked along the path to the next village, Oakamoor where there’s a weir:

… and flowers:

Also the pubs weren’t bad there in Oakamoor. The walk wasn’t too far as even the unfit (Kerry) and the pensioners made it:

Using a load of Kerry’s Nectar or some other reward points we had free entry to Trentham Gardens, which was a bit like a National Trust property except there was music playing in the cafes just to lower the tone:

Weeping Angel alert:

And finally some wildlife. The slope up to the road was one big maze of rabbit warrens and there were rabbits a-plenty:

The station was a fine place to stay. The closest we got to experiencing Alton Towers was watching the coachloads of people going up and down the main road from down on our quiet platform. The weather could have been better, but it had cleared a lot from the weeks before – and we don’t expect much from July in England anyway. Having now stayed in the station, Ingestre Pavilion and Tixall Gatehouse (which is highly recommended) we may have exhausted the Landmark Trust’s Stafforshire offerings, though.