Bank Holiday Weekend, cold, cloudy, oh well, what to do?

We drove over to Burton Dasset and then selected a random area to explore, namely the crest of the Oxford Canal near Fenny Compton. Fenny Compton was where the GWR and the S&MJR lines crossed and we were just south of the twin stations, neither of which now stands. The Oxford Canal is considered to be one of the country's most scenic and in this area it certainly lives up to its reputation.

As at Watford Gap, the canal, railway and road all use a similar easier path through the Jurassic escarpment, though the M40 planners chose a separate route just to the west. The railway(s) and canal run close to each other, though with the summer foliage it was hard to see one from the other.

Three photos of S&MJR remnants. First the bridge carrying the S&MJR over the Oxford Canal towards Towcester:

More detail:

Next what remains of the overpass of the old S&MJR over the GWR (Chiltern) main line. Fine Staffordshire Blue brick in evidence:

We then returned home via Edge Hill and found evidence of the EHLR incline (1 in 9) up the escarpment before being able to stop at what may have been the original iron stone workings:

There's a lot more to see up there though the lower part of the old EHLR is entirely off limits within the MoD Marlborough Barracks. Satellite imagery suggests the original lines have been completely erased for the new complex of lines built in 1942 and apparently still in use (using the only 5 miles of S&MJR track left in place).