# history and heritage (blogs) — RSS Amplifier Recent posts from the 2 feeds in the RSS Amplifier directory that cover history and heritage. Page: Feed: --- ## [Leek – The Roaches](https://walkmidlands.co.uk/2026/08/13/leek-the-roaches/) _2026-08-13 · Josh Allen · Walk Midlands_ Circular walk from the north Staffordshire market town of Leek out into the Peak District to the prominent and enigmatic Roaches gristone edge. ## [Radical Selly Oak Walking Tour 2026 (part of the Walkspace Autumn Season)](https://walkmidlands.co.uk/2026/08/09/radical-selly-oak-walking-tour-2026-part-of-the-walkspace-autumn-season/) _2026-08-09 · Josh Allen · Walk Midlands_ Squats, Street Theatre, Skateboarding and More: a walking tour of Selly Oak's radical spaces. Part of the Walkspace Autumn Season 2026 on 23rd August 2026 ## [Changes to the Walk Midlands publishing Schedule](https://walkmidlands.co.uk/2026/08/06/changes-to-the-walk-midlands-publishing-schedule/) _2026-08-06 · Josh Allen · Walk Midlands_ From August 2026 Walk Midlands publishing schedule is changing. ## [Scenic landscape with a language all of its own](https://thebeyonder.co.uk/2026/08/03/scenic-landscape-with-a-language-all-of-its-own/) _2026-08-03 · andrew · The Beyonder_ WHEN is a short path not a short path? When it’s a lonning, perhaps. At least, that would be the Cumbrian answer to this riddle, according to old friend and colleague Alan Cleaver (aka @thelonningsguy), who’s become something of an expert on picturesque country lanes all over the Lake District. So much so that he … Continue reading Scenic landscape with a language all of its own → The post Scenic… ## [Birmingham – Birmingham Botanical Gardens](https://walkmidlands.co.uk/2026/07/30/birmingham-birmingham-botanical-gardens/) _2026-07-30 · Josh Allen · Walk Midlands_ Walk from central Birmingham to the historic, much visited, Birmingham Botanical Gardens mostly along the Worcester and Birmingham Canal. ## [Kidsgrove – Biddulph Grange](https://walkmidlands.co.uk/2026/07/23/kidsgrove-biddulph-grange/) _2026-07-23 · Josh Allen · Walk Midlands_ Walk from Kidsgrove to the unique Grade One listed Biddulph Grange garden and country park via Mow Cop and Biddulph town centre. ## [Boldmere – Four Oaks](https://walkmidlands.co.uk/2026/07/16/boldmere-four-oaks/) _2026-07-16 · Josh Allen · Walk Midlands_ Walk in Sutton Coldfield north Birmingham from Boldmere in the south to Four Oaks in the north of the town across Sutton Park, a vast public park that is also a deeply historic National Nature Reserve. ## [Coventry – London Road Cemetery](https://walkmidlands.co.uk/2026/07/10/coventry-london-road-cemetery/) _2026-07-10 · Josh Allen · Walk Midlands_ Walk from Coventry Railway Station the short distance to the Grade II\*, park like, Coventry Road Cemetery designed by Joseph Paxton famed for later being the architect of the Crystal Palace. ## [Worcester – Madresfield](https://walkmidlands.co.uk/2026/07/02/worcester-madresfield/) _2026-07-02 · Josh Allen · Walk Midlands_ Walk from the heart of Worcester across the River Severn and River Teme and through the grounds of Madresfield Court a house with connections to both Evelyn Waugh and Charles Dickens, ending in Great Malvern. ## [Riverside railway with royal connections](https://thebeyonder.co.uk/2026/07/01/riverside-railway-with-royal-connections/) _2026-07-01 · andrew · The Beyonder_ IT’S 1966 and the full impact of the Beeching cuts is being felt across the country, with the closure of dozens of rural branch lines. Just three years after Richard Beeching’s controversial first report on the reshaping of Britain’s railways, more than 2,000 route miles have already been closed. By the end of 1968 another … Continue reading Riverside railway with royal connections → The post… ## [Non-custodial Crypto Payments & Escrow (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/hnAEol3dK4j5) _2026-07-01 · **Sponsored**_ Accept multi-chain crypto with trustless escrow, instant confirmations, and no KYC ## [Birmingham – Selly Manor](https://walkmidlands.co.uk/2026/06/25/birmingham-selly-manor/) _2026-06-25 · Josh Allen · Walk Midlands_ Walk from central Birmingham to the historic Selly Manor and Minworth Greaves with medieval origins in Bournville, mostly along the Worcester and Birmingham Canal. ## [Waterhouses – Hulme End](https://walkmidlands.co.uk/2026/06/18/waterhouses-hulme-end/) _2026-06-18 · Josh Allen · Walk Midlands_ Walk along the Manifold Way, a highly significant former light railway route along the River Hamps and River Manifold limestone gorges in the Staffordshire Peak District, from Waterhouses to Hulme End. ## [Rural railway built on granite foundations](https://thebeyonder.co.uk/2026/05/24/rural-railway-built-on-granite-foundations/) _2026-05-24 · andrew · The Beyonder_ THE railwaymania that engulfed the country in the 1840s meant that there was no shortage of ideas about different ways in which the Aberdeenshire market town of Alford could be added to the railway map. One proposal would have seen the Deeside Railway extended from its Banchory terminus north through Lumphanan and Cushnie to Alford. … Continue reading Rural railway built on granite foundations →… ## [Last lingering remains of the ‘Meldrum train’](https://thebeyonder.co.uk/2026/05/14/last-lingering-remains-of-the-meldrum-train/) _2026-05-14 · andrew · The Beyonder_ IT’S the best part of a century since passenger trains ran into the Aberdeenshire village of Oldmeldrum, and perhaps it’s not so hard to understand why the service didn’t survive longer. The five-mile branch line from Inverurie on the Aberdeen to Inverness main line was seen as a way of revitalising the fortunes of what … Continue reading Last lingering remains of the ‘Meldrum train’ → The post… ## [Fond memories of Macduff’s forgotten railway](https://thebeyonder.co.uk/2026/05/07/fond-memories-of-macduffs-forgotten-railway/) _2026-05-07 · andrew · The Beyonder_ PERHAPS it should come as no surprise that so few remnants can be found of the old branch line to Macduff. Meandering for almost 30 miles through rural Aberdeenshire towards the coast, it was dogged by financial challenges from its inception and the fishing and farming traffic its promoters dreamed of never materialised. Indeed the … Continue reading Fond memories of Macduff’s forgotten railway →… ## [Mellower moments on the long road to maturity](https://thebeyonder.co.uk/2026/05/03/mellower-moments-on-the-long-road-to-maturity/) _2026-05-03 · andrew · The Beyonder_ Teddy's making slow, steady progess on the journey to adulthood The post Mellower moments on the long road to maturity first appeared on The Beyonder . ## [Smell of steam and sea air on the Moray Coast line](https://thebeyonder.co.uk/2026/04/28/smell-of-steam-and-sea-air-on-the-moray-coast-line/) _2026-04-28 · andrew · The Beyonder_ IMAGINE a railway line with stations so rural you can hear only birdsong and the bleating of sheep when you stand on the platform. Imagine a route with spectacular views over clifftops and picturesque fishing villages, with the shimmering North Sea stretching off to the distant horizon. For 80-odd years, such experiences were a reality … Continue reading Smell of steam and sea air on the Moray… ## [Crumbling remnants of the branch line to Banff](https://thebeyonder.co.uk/2026/04/19/crumbling-remnants-of-the-branch-line-to-banff/) _2026-04-19 · andrew · The Beyonder_ IT’S August 1975 and I’m standing on the platform of the dilapidated Banff station on the Moray coast surveying the remains of a once proud little terminus. I’m 17 and if I do take any pictures with my very unreliable camera, they have been long lost. But unbeknown to me, a fellow enthusiast arrived at … Continue reading Crumbling remnants of the branch line to Banff → The post Crumbling remnants… ## [Moray Coast line is gone, but not forgotten](https://thebeyonder.co.uk/2026/04/19/moray-coast-line-is-gone-but-not-forgotten/) _2026-04-19 · andrew · The Beyonder_ IT WAS in the summer of 1974 that I discovered the appeal of exploring old railway stations and closed railway lines. Perhaps it was a timely transition from teenage trainspotter to railway historian, but the trigger was a glorious summer holiday exploring the railways of the Lake District with schoolfriends. Based in a small cottage … Continue reading Moray Coast line is gone, but not forgotten →… ## [100,000 Bonus Points Await You (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/0LPxajHhhgBc) _2026-04-19 · **Sponsored**_ Earn 100,000 bonus points after spending $5,000 in the first 3 months. ## [Steam graveyard where the dead came back to life](https://thebeyonder.co.uk/2026/04/15/steam-graveyard-where-the-dead-came-back-to-life/) _2026-04-15 · andrew · The Beyonder_ I WASN’T to know it at the time, but when I travelled by train for my first day at secondary school in September 1968, I had missed the official end of steam on British Railways by only a matter of weeks. Within days, someone had introduced me to my first Ian Allan “combined volume” listing … Continue reading Steam graveyard where the dead came back to life → The post Steam graveyard where the…