BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.4.14//EN TZID:Europe/London X-WR-TIMEZONE:Europe/London BEGIN:VEVENT UID:553@rchs.org.uk DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20230223T110000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20230223T150000 DTSTAMP:20230211T074629Z URL:https://rchs.org.uk/events/walk-godley-to-apethorne-junction-and-woodl ey/ SUMMARY:(Walk) Godley to Apethorne Junction and Woodley DESCRIPTION:[caption id="attachment_33171" align="alignright" width="503"] Turntable at Godley Junction (©John Philips: http://oldhyde.blogspot.com/ )[/caption]\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPkease note the change of departure time from Man chester Piccadilly.\n\nA walk (distance 5 miles) led by Roger Brice\, foll owing the CLC line from Godley station to Woodley looking at the sites of Godley Junction\, Brockfield turntable and Apethorne Junction\, with a sho rt diversion (necessitated by access issues) along the towpath of the Lowe r Peak Forest Canal from Apethorne Aqueduct to Woodley. The walk south alo ng the canal to Woodley canal bridge adds points of interest not included in the last NW Group walk (Marple to Woodley) on 26th January. This walk a lso ends at the northern portal of Woodley canal tunnel where it is a shor t walk to Woodley station. There is an opportunity for early escapes at Ap ethorne Aqueduct (Gee Cros) and Apethorne Junction.\n\nThe walk will start from Godley Station at 10.55 a.m. following arrival at 10.49 of the 10.33 departure from Manchester Piccadilly Station. There are no facilities for lunch along the route of the walk and sandwiches are recommended.  Retur n by train from Woodley station to Manchester Piccadilly for onward travel \; ex Woodley train departures are at 14.50\, 15.21\, 16.20  and 16.51.\n \nAfter 450yds partly uphill on a quiet road from Godley station the walk is largely flat and along well surfaced footpaths.\n\nThe CLC line from Go dley Junction to Apethorne Junction opened in 1866\, completing a line fro m a junction with the Great Central line (from Woodhead) at Godley to Stoc kport (Tiviot Dale) and Skelton Junction. This line avoiding Manchester wa s extended to Glazebrook to form a junction with the CLC line from Manches ter to Warrington and Liverpool.\n\nGodley became the point where freight traffic from as far away as Merseyside met with traffic going to and fro o ver the Pennines. Exchange sidings were laid on both the GC and the CLC si des of the junction\; those on the CLC side were known as Brookfold Siding s. Electrification of the Woodhead line in 1954 gave Godley a strategic im portance as it was the point where steam and (subsequently) diesel working s over the former CLC system met with electric services via Woodhead. At  this time a turntable was installed at Brookfold for use by locomotives t ravelling over the CLC lines. The link between Godley and Apethorne became redundant when freight services over Woodhead ceased in 1981. The lines w ere lifted by 1986 the route is now a joint space for cyclists and walkers .\n\nThe approach to Apethorpe Junction is not accessible and the walk cro sses the extant Sheffield &\; Midland Committee line before reaching th e canal. Apethorne aqueduct is one of eight on the Peak Forest Canal. Apet horne Junction is a very short walk from Bridge 9 on the canal. Woodley st ation\, for trains to Manchester or Sheffield (change at Romiley) is a sho rt walk from the viewpoint for the junction but\, time and weather permitt ing a walk along the canal to Woodley Bridge (#12) is recommended. This la tter option completes the full walk of 5 miles.\n\n \;\n\nTrain times were correct on 19th January. \n\nFor additional information or queries co ntact Roger Brice – email: roger.brice@rchs.org.uk or telephone 01625 53 3959 or 07702 30342.\n\n \;\n\n \;\n\n \;\n\n \;\n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n CATEGORIES:North-West END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/London X-LIC-LOCATION:Europe/London BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20221030T010000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0000 TZNAME:GMT END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR