Farnham; Sunday, 12 September, 2021

I had a nice lie-in and a relatively late breakfast before heading out of the hotel and up to the train station to pick up the train a couple of stops down to the end of the line at Alton.

Today Alton is the end of the branch line, but up until the 1970s it was part of a through route from London to Winchester, offering an alternative to the line via Basingstoke, it survived the Beeching cuts of the 1960’s but only just and limped on to 1973 when the line was finally closed to passenger services. By 1977 the Mid-Hants Railway was already reopening sections of the line and the current route between Alton and Alresford was restored by 1985, making it one of the first heritage railways with a direct connection back to the National Rail network.

By chance the railway was running a special service today, which meant there were more trains than normal running, making it easier to see the whole of the line. My train from Farnham arrived at Alton just a couple of minutes before the next train was due to depart so I was able to hop straight on that and head two stops down the line to Ropley.

Ropley is the engineering headquarters of the line and home to the workshops and restoration facilities. Along with the other stations on the line it also has a lot of love poured into it from someone with green fingers as the whole station bloomed with flowers and large toparied trees and shrubs. I had a wander round the exhibits in the museum/workshops and watched as another train came through the station before hopping back on my original train and going one stop back up the line to Medstead and Four Marks.

Medstead is the quietest of the stations on the line, but is possibly the prettiest with a small single storey station and platforms overflowing with planting. I had a brief wander around the station building whilst the steam engine changed ends on the train before hopping back on the train and continuing our journey south back through Ropley and onto the end of the line at Alresford.

At Alresford I hopped out and walked the short distance into the centre of this pretty Georgian Market town to have a quick look around, and grab some lunch in the conveniently located Tescos, before heading back to the station.

The next train ran all the way through to Alton so I hopped on to do the full journey in one leg and to take in the views up the line over the rolling Hampshire countryside. At Alton there was about 10 minutes time to have a quick look round the station before the train returned south to Ropley.

At Ropley I visited the miniature railway – a scaled down train that you can ride on for a short trip alongside the mainline, and a good way to kill a few minutes before the final train of the day back up the Medstead which I caught.

That train then turned into the very final train of the day in service and ran back through Ropley to Alresford where I finished my day on the trains. I walked the short distance back into the town centre to wait the 10 minutes or so for the bus back to Alton – the last direct train having been much earlier in the afternoon. The bus was probably the biggest shock of the afternoon with a whopping £5.70 charge for the single ticket back to Alton.

The bus dropped me off right outside Alton station where there was a train waiting to head back towards London which I hopped onto for the quick trip up to Farnham and then walked back to the hotel to drop my stuff off before heading out to grab a quick dinner.