Medley: parkrun, jazz, bike ride to Moore

Reflections on our Trossachs trip. (That's my type of jigsaw!)

After spending Friday with Isabella, Sue and I assembled on Saturday morning for Wythenshawe parkrun #606. It went well for most of us. Full results are here. There were only 266 bar code tokens to sort, and with Jane's help we did that so quickly, despite the tokens being damp from the drizzle, that it didn't warrant any volunteer credits.

Monday lunchtime found us at Eagley Jazz Club for their first ever lunchtime performance. The Chicago Teddy Bears were excellent, though the line-up had to be adjusted to compensate for the band members who still hold down daytime jobs.

Just for the record, this is how the gig was advertised:

Our doors will be open from 11am and the band will play 12 noon to 1pm, followed by a 45-minute interval when pasties (meat & potato or cheese), peas and red cabbage will be available for you to purchase for £3.  The bar will be open as usual.  We will also have the raffle (all prize donations will be welcomed!) and a sweet or 2 to round off the interval!   

The second half will commence at 1.45pm to 2.45pm, giving you time to avoid the school traffic and rush hour.   

The lineup of the Chicago Teddy Bears is:

Jim Lucas: Trumpet, Andrew Mackenzie: Trombone, Liam Byrne: Reeds, Dean Revera: Bass (absent today), Brian Singleton: Drums, Rae Owens: Banjo, guitar (Bass today) and band leader, plus today only - Ian McCann on guitar and banjo. A superb lineup; this event promises to be a real ''cracker''!

The committee was hoping for an audience of 40. The turnout was 74, so the whole event was a great success.

Tuesday was a (programmed) bike ride to Moore and back. On another cool morning, nobody turned up to accompany me on this ride over familiar ground. It was a nice ride, hampered only by a collapsing seat post, and despite having a bag of tools and tubes I didn't have the tape that would have eased the problem. (So I have one bike with a loose seat post whilst the seat post on my other bike is jammed solid!)

The ride starts along the towpath to the end of the surfaced section shortly beyond the site of the Bay Malton. It's muddy beyond this and the towpath is closed due to the damage caused by an inundated culvert in storms earier this year.

Looking back along the canal towards Altrincham

When I started using this route a few years ago, the path shown below, linking the towpath with the Trans Pennine Trail (TPT) didn't exist. You cycled through the woodland on the left, and you still can do that, but this (sometimes boggy) field path has far fewer tree routes to contend with.

Soon the TPT route along the old railway line is reached. It's followed all the way to beyond Lymm, though currently one section is closed due to it being resurfaced.

After crossing under the canal in Lymm, my route follows minor roads and tracks, eventually crossing back over the canal in Grappenhall, where I've taken the next picture from the canal bridge.

After crossing and re-crossing the towpath yet again, I eventually arrive at Moore. The 'Phoenix Park' route (also here) is left here in favour of a path near the Ship Canal that eventually joins the TPT to go through Warrington to Thelwall, where the next picture was taken. The bridge on the left houses the old railway line that the TPT joins a little further on. There's a ruin of a building on the right on the banks of the Ship Canal that had me wondering as to its use.

Anyway, the resurfacing of the trail from Warrington to beyond Lymm has drastiically sanitised this section of the TPT. The mountain bike isn't really needed (but it's all I've got).

The TPT is then followed more or less as per the outward route, returning home along the towpath on which I started out at 9:30.

Today's ride was 30 miles (47km), taking a little over three and a half hours at a gentle pace with just 150 metres of gentle ascents. Always a pleasant way of getting a bit of exercise, and home by lunchtime.