Thursday 24 September 2026 - Spunch Northenden

 

Sue and I were pleased to be joined by Jenny and Fechin for this exploration of our local area. The Spunch HQ was set up outside 'Northenden Untapped', a lovely little bar on Church Lane. I once nearly bought a house on nearby Royle Green Road. (I settled for 10 Adria Road, Didsbury in the end.) Anyway, we are very familiar with the paths in Wythenshawe Park, including a thorough exploration when I did a 'virtual' London Marathon here.

After the usual pre-Spunch faffing (I always seem to forget to change the display settings from 1 minute to a more comfortable 10 minutes), the four of us congregated on the banks of the River Mersey at point 10. We then wound our way through the housing estates that border Royle Green Road on one side and Didsbury Golf Course on the other side. The housing was linked by various ginnels and bits of woodland such as that shown above.

On reaching Alpha Point on Bradnor Road, we paused to admire a sculpture that none of us had seen before. This is the 'Spire' artwork, classified as a 'localised architectural sculpture'.

Apparently, while the spire has been an established landmark on Bradnor Road since at least the mid-2000s, there is a surprising lack of public registry documentation regarding its exact commissioning date or the specific independent sculptor behind it. It stands as a classic piece of corporate/industrial estate placemaking art from Manchester's late-20th or early-21st-century regeneration era.

The route I'd plotted went through the Industrial Estate to a ginnel that emerges into a housing estate on Roundwood Road. An easy route then led us to Palatine Road and under Princess Parkway. Then into Wythenshawe Park and paths around the eastern perimeter to reach and cross Altrincham Road at Gib Lane. Sue got a bit behind due to encountering a bog and a fence after pausing for a call of nature and failing to secure a short cut.

We passed Jan's house (according to Sue), passed a few more Spunch points, and crossed the main road again by a pharmacy. A familiar gap in the hedge gave access to point 36, after which we romped along paths through the park like the one shown below. You can see that Jenny and Sue, who both have a fast walking pace, have again got ahead of me and Fechin on the lovely sunlit evening. 

After a successful stumble through the park to the Lodge, we again found ourselves in unfamiliar territory as we hastened down Rackhouse Road to a right turn along Yewtree Lane. At one point I thought I was far enough ahead of the others to nip 'off plan' to bag point 27 down Dane Avenue. It took me until the bridge that extends Yewtree Lane over the Parkway to catch up. I was still a bit behind the ladies...

... but I was ahead of Fechin as the sun set behind his right shoulder.

We made our way back to Northenden Untapped pretty quickly from here, picking up an unplanned Spunch point and arriving at the HQ with time in hand that could have permitted another point to be ticked off.. Anyway, we were happy to have visited 38 (39 for me) of the 83 points available, at Sue and Jenny's walking pace. Though Fechin and I would be the first to admit that we had to deploy our jog/shuffle techniques in order to keep up with the comparatively youthful ladies. Fechin and I are both 77 and in his day Fechin was a sub 2½ hour marathon runner. Old age takes its toll! Fechin was further disabled by the end, having blistered both feet. (Should he not know better?!

Here's the route that I took to bag just 39 out of the 83 Spunch points available.

Afterwards it was great to see Andy T ('Spunch Man') and Michelle, with good beer and even better pizzas to round things off, as well as bumping into old acquaintances (Paul Muldoon) and missing others (Alistair Pooler - lost in the dark?)

A Postcard - 19 to 26 September 2026

Dear All

Here's a summary of our week's activities.

Saturday 19 September 2026
Wythenshawe Park's 683rd parkrun provided a full morning's entertainment by the time we had finished and enjoyed our regular post run natter over coffees and cake before making our way home.

Barking dogs are kept at a distance before the start, or the Run Director's briefing can't be heard.

I wonder what Oliver would have made of this in real life...

Here are just a few of the 332 finishers, guzzling anything between a decaffe coffee and George's egg bacon and sausage bun.

L-R: Andy, Jan, Jeanette, Paul, Jenny, George and Owen. Sue left early to go bell ringing.

Full results are here.

Sunday 20 September 2026

Sue and I spent the morning in Wilmslow. A 5km circuit including The Carrs and Black Lake kept me occupied, passing en route this lovely sculpture.

It was the day of the Wilmslow Sprint Triathlon. Sue had entered this and I caught up with her near the start of a 24 kilometre bike ride. This followed a 400 metre swim  - 16 lengths of the local pool.

There's a strict requirement to dismount at the end of the bike leg before The Line' or you are in dead trouble from the over-officious marshall.

Then it's a walk to the transition area where the bike is stashed and running kit donned for two 3 kilometre laps of a moderately easy course.

We finish with Sue jogging in, having taken 1 hour 45 minutes and coming third out of 4 in her age category and in position 115 out of 214 finishers. Well done!

Monday 21 September 2026

Sue and I enjoyed a 6 km stroll along the Bridgewater Canal towpath, to meet Andrew, Richard and Jenny for lunch at Dunham Massey Hall.

A family of swans appeared to think we had brought their lunch.

At one point the foliage had been cleared to offer a good view towards the C18th Whiteoaks Wood obelisk in one direction, and the hall in the opposite direction. 

Legend has it that the obelisk marks the resting place of a reknowned racehorse.

After lunch, a stroll in the park was in order, with me diverting through the nearby golf course to visit the fleshpots of Altrincham for essential supplies.

Later:

A visit to Eagley Jazz Club for an excellent performance of Smooth Jazz from John Hallam and the Tom Kincaid Trio, featuring. John Hallam - Reeds, Tom Kincaid - Keyboard, Dave Tompkins - Bass, and Eryl Roberts - Drums.

Last week's table plan was considered inappropriate, so this week, with an audience of 50 compared with last week's 71, attempt number two was experimented with. I think they'll have a third go at this...

Tuesday 22 September 2026

A regular 5km stroll took me through leafy De Quincey Park in the morning mist. Picture sent to BBC Weatherwatchers but not expecting them to use it. I was right about that.

Thursday 24 September 2026

Sue and I were joined by Jenny and Fechin for 'Spunch Northenden', on which there will be a separate diary entry.



Friday 25 September 2026

Our neighbour, 'D', invited us for coffee and a chat before, very sadly, she and her family move to Egypt. They have been great next door but one neighbours and have watered Sue's plants very efficiently when we have been away during the very dry summer. They leave next week, and will be missed.

Saturday 26 September 2026

These parkruns do come round quickly. Today Wythenshawe Park hosted its 684th such outing.

With ongoing injury issues, I walked then jogged a little (more a sort of shuffle), coming home in 41:35, in position 396 out of 423 finishers. Sue managed 25:21 in position 111.

Here are most of them at the start through the sunlit trees in the park on a lovely morning when feet got wet thanks to the dewy grass.

Afterwards everyone in our little group enjoyed our coffees in the sunshine.

 

L-R: Owen, Sue, Andy, Paul, Jan and George, who's just guzzled another egg, bacon and sausage bun.

The full results are here.

Tuesday 15 September 2026 - The Steel Cotton Rail Trail Stage 3 - Hope to Edale

Six of us met at Piccadilly for the 9:48 to Hope, with Sue W returning after her successful trip to Anglesey. This relatively short walk with no time constraints was an absolute delight.

Field paths took us away from and then back to the railway. Sue found some very healthy looking field mushrooms and Cary provided a bag in which to transport them.

It took a while to escape the environs of Hope.

Soon we were rewarded with views to Lose Hill and the Edale skyline.

Foliage is currently abundent and bright green, but most of the wild flowers are in decline, with Herb Robert, Ragwort and a variety of thistles hanging on in the verges and the fields.

We passed under the railway at Killhill Bridge.

A secret doorway had us wondering ...

Still in the environs of Hope, a welcoming watering hole, but too close to our start today.

Near Normans Farm, we came across a display of 'Norman's Farm Raw Honey' - delicious looking golden honey - £11 a jar, paid into their bank account, so no cash lying around and plenty of honest hikers on the Steel Cotton Trail. We bought three jars. Granddaughter Isabella will love it.

After going under the railway for the last time today, at Bagshaw Bridge, we continued on a narrow road to reach the National Trust Dark Peak Area Office and the Edale End Welcome Barn.

It rather looked as if Paul had beaten us to it, as his latest acquisition was parked outside the Welcome Barn.

Anyway, we carried on past the buildings and were soon confronted with a stone marker that pointed us decisively left, to Jaggers Clough.

The sky darkened as we followed the excellent path into Backside Wood.

A suitable spot for lunch was found, at which point some large, juicy, raindrops decided to join us. They didn't last long.

Backside Wood was home to numerous fungi, a couple of which are shown below.

Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria)  - pretty poisonous

Suillus grevillei (a Boletus variety, edible but this one is past that stage)

Once through the delightful wood, we joined the old packhorse track that runs up Jaggers Clough. A 'Jagger' was a leader of packhorses. This route may have been used to transport lead from the Castleton mines in the 16th century.

The Edale skyline and the fertile valley provided a scenic backdrop as we made progress on a contouring path towards Edale Youth Hostel.

Some Parasol Mushrooms (Macrolepiota procera) were added to our goodie bag.

Just outside the hostel - some striking dahlias.

A straightforward walk down the driveway and across some fields saw us eventually emerging at the church in Edale, where we drained our flasks on a convenient bench before heading for the station and a 3:47 train back to Piccadilly. .

Here's our route - just 12 km with 300 metres ascent, taking about four and a half hours.

Later:

The mushrooms survived intact and formed the basis of a very mushroomy meal. Too mushroomy if anything - we should have saved half of the Giant Puffball.

Next:
I've decided to adjust the remaining stages in order to reduce the long Stage 4 to New Mills. That will now finish comfortably at Chinley. Stage 5 will be Chinley to Marple (16 km). Stage 6 will be Marple to Guide Bridge (14 km). There will be an extra Stage 7, from Guide Bridge to Manchester (9 km) on Tuesday 3 November.

The summary programme, for reference, is here.