Day Twenty One (part two) Middlemarch

 After walking through Hyde, I drove 27km down the road to Middlemarch where I walked 18 streets.

247. Snow Avenue
248. Conway Street
249. Mold Street
250. Olive Avenue
251. Garthmyl Road

252. Tawe Street

253. Cardigan Street
254. Clywd Street
255. Brecon Street
256. Milford Street
257. Swansea Street
258. Browns Road
259. Aberfon Street
260. Bank Street
261. Kirk Street
262. Nottage Street
263. South Road
264. West Street

I confess that there are some streets in Middlemarch that I did not walk all of the street because it was not safe.  I walked to the edge of the town and as far as the 100km speed sign and with no footpath, I felt it was not safe to continue further.  

I started my walk at the Middlemarch Railway Station.  The station was opened in 1891 and was part of the Otago Central Railway line.  In 1990, the station and rail line from Middlemarch to Dunedin was taken over by the Taieri Gorge Railway and used for sightseeing train trips up the Taieri Gorge.  Now the train no longer travels as far as Middlemarch and the station is not used anymore.  

At the Middlemarch Railway Station is this 133 year old steam engine which was withdrawn from service and dumped in the Clutha River in 1932 to protect the Roxburgh Branch line from erosion.  In 1992 the remains of the steam engine were discovered.  They were eventually recovered  it is slowly under going restoration. 

Where Olive Street joins Tawe Street is the start (or finish, depending on which way you cycle) of the Central Otago Rail Trail which is a 150km cycle track that follows the old railway line to Clyde.  Built in the 1990's after the railway line was closed the Rail Trail is popular with cyclists.  

 

 

While Middlemarch is part of Dunedin City it is 80km from Dunedin with a population of around 150 people and lies at the base of the Rock and Pillar Range.   It is good walking the streets of Middlemarch as the streets are flat.  One of the streets I walked, Brecon Street started as a normal sealed street and then soon turned into a dirt road then back into a sealed road.  The views of the Rock and Pillar Range from this (and most) streets  in Middlemarch are stunning. 

 

 

Walking the streets of Middlemarch, I saw a number of older churches and one of these is St Chad's Anglican Church, which is 'famous' for having the first church bell sound on the Strath Taieri in 1901.  It is also quite unique because surrounding the church is a beautiful old stone wall and incorporated in the wall is a comfortable stone seat which I took the opportunity to rest in the shade.

 
On my walk around Middlemarch I saw a couple of interesting things, one is these beautiful stone arches beside the railway line. The other is this mural on the side of a building that is a map of the Strath Taieri and Middlemarch area. 

 

Distance walked:  9.4 km  Walking time  1 hr 46 mins    

Total distance: 183.4 km       Total walking  33 hr 53 mins