Wednesday 17 June 2026 - Bucharest

 

An early start, and despite a few hiccups Sue and I were in Bucharest and reunited with our luggage by 11am UĶ time (1pm Romanian time)

On the 25 minute journey from airport to city centre we learnt a bit about the ridiculous cost of things here. The fare was £1.08 each.

A short walk from the station saw us in the apartment that we've hired for a few days.

Time to do some planning....

...if not distracted by the view from our writing desk.

Then we took a stroll in nearby Cismigiu Gardens, where Guy and Harriet Pringle spent time in Olivia Manning's 'Fortunes of War', set here in 1939.

Then a stroll around some of the town's impressive buildings before returning home for a cold shower. It's 30ºC here, and quite humid. Lovely blue sky though.

Apart from the odd Ferrari, drivers here are fairly sedate, so life as a pedestrian is fine. The place is however littered with (mainly) green electric scooters that bomb around with takeaway orders etc.

As in other places we've found an Umbrella Street.

There are some very impressive buildings, some of which are on the verge of collapse due to earthquake damage. 

After cooling down under the shower we ventured out to a traditional Romanian restaurant, Casa Romãneascã Ateneu, recommended by our apartment's owner, for an excellent meal. Less than £40 including plenty of rehydration fluid.

PS I sent out a programme of walks yesterday. I thought I had checked the links but some of them don't work. I tried to repair the links but I failed to get our old XP computer on which I rely to update the topwalks.com website, to work. It appears to have a hardware failure. So instead of using the links, readers will have to deploy Google or similar. 

Monday 15 June 2026 - A Bowfell Circuit

A call from Kate and Fiona, who we met last year in Ehrwald, triggered this round of Bowfell, Esk Pike, Allen Crags and Rossett Pike on a fine day with just a few spots of rain as we entered the pub at the end. Sadly Fiona had hurt her knee the previous day, so it was just Kate and one of their dogs, Bengie, that we joined for this walk over four Wainwright summits that Kate hadn't been on before.

The fields in the Langdale valley are full of buttercups just now.

Our ascent route today was The Band, on which we soon had a coffee break to refresh Sue and me after our two hour drive from Timperley.

There were great views back down the valley.

It cooled a little as we rose gently to the summit of Bowfell, but conditions were generally benign for the few people who had ventured out today.

We duly reached the 902 metre summit of Bowfell, with Bengie grinning at his achievement.

Lunch with Bowfell's northern summit and Esk Pike ahead.

Good views across to the Scafells.

Then it was an easy walk, missing out the northrn top of Bowfell, to Esk Pike.

Our route led down to cross a major path and head up to the summit of Allen Crags.

Good views towards the Langdale Pikes from Allen Crags. Becoming hazy.

Back down at the main path, we soon got good views to Angle Tarn and the easy summit, just to the left, of Rossett Pike. Here we started to encounter a 'DofE Gold' group of children who were enjoying day 2 out of a four day expedition before descending to camp in the Langdale valley.

Here, I'm on Rossett Pike with the Lagdale Pikes behind me.

A final tea break before the long descent to Mickleden.

It clouded over, with just a few drops of rain before we reached the pub next to the NT car park, where Fiona and friends and their dogs lay in wait. Bengie's mate Teddy was particularly annoyed at having been overlooked for today's walk.

Here's the route - 17km with 1080 metres ascent.

A great day out and thanks to Kate and Fiona for triggering it and to Kate and Bengie for their excellent company.

Rain and Run

9 June - a quiet time in Timperley. Except for the vegetation, which is growing at a furious rate.

I was looking out for Kingfishers whilst sheltering from a brief shower. They didn't oblige.

By Saturday, it was time for another 5km run. Parkrun's usual venue wasn't available, so we adjourned to the back-up route which is also the original route on which Paul once came in first. I think he still holds the record for the slowest first position.

And so we gathered in the field behind the running track.

After a slow start, I passed Jeanette near the end. Here she is, finishing in front of a lady with a hair problem.

And here's her bag man.

We were slowed down by the grass, but we benefited from what appeared to be a 4.9km course. Full results are here.

Sue finished in 25:11, position 84 out of 317 participants.

I was in position 224 in 32:25.

A nice bit of exercise...

In the garden this morning (16 June), I turned on Seek to identiy a most persistent noisy bird that turned out to be a coal tit, and after a few minutes the following birds had passed within earshot:

Blackbird
Coal Tit

Dunnock

Goldfinch

Robin

House Sparrow

Carrion Crow

Starling

Jackdaw

Black-headed Gull

Barn Owl

Monday 8 June 2026 - GM Ringway Stage 10 - Newhey to Littleborough (2)

This was another of Jeanette's 'catch-up' walks, as she missed due to injury our previous outing on 19 August 2025, on which I reported at some length here, 

Five of us - me, Sue, Paul, Jeanette and Sue W, plus Rufus, met at Victoria station to catch a tram to Newhey. Thankfully the trams were now working normally so we didn't have to endure a repeat of last week's long bus journey between Victoria and Newhey.

With no café in Newhey to distract us, we got going soon after 10:45, most of us having caught a 9:30 tram from Timperley.

Given that I reported on this route in August, this time I'll just report - in the main - by way of photos and captions. Click on any image for a slideshow.

Newhey - on the slow tram line to Rochdale

I think Conrad arrived here several years ago and forgot where he left his car!

Newhey Stone Circle - probably not as ancient as the BMW above

A memorial to Alan Shaw, next to the cemetery

The memorial stone states:

This field was donated by a friend to Ogden Baptist Chapel
on Oct. 1st 1960
 in memory of Alan Shaw 166 Huddersfield Road, Newhey
 who passed away Nov 23rd 1959.
A perfect friend worthy of remembrance

Foulwater Lodge, a filter for Ogden Reservoir

Ogden Reservoir, still quite low, and the first of a number of wrought iron gates

 to a series of reservoirs that are now passed

Foxgloves have come into flower during the past week, in the warm, showery weather

After just 40 minutes, a pause for elevenses on the remains of an old farmstead

In between reservoirs, a small pond inhabited by Yellow Iris plants

We went nearly all the way around Piethorne Resevoir

Now we are on the Pennine Bridleway, with quite a few people about, looking back to

Piethorne Reservoir and passing beside the much smaller Hanging Lees Reservoir

A sharp descent took us back to the head of Piethorne Reservoir, then past a waterworks building

and a man-made waterfall and stepped weir below Norman Hill Resevoir

A good path leads around the Windy Hills high above the M62 motorway,

passing several stone posts on the route

The local farmer scrapped his Mercedes van several years ago in order to plug a gap in his fence

A flimsy strand of barbed wire and an intimidating notice ensure that we don't venture
 onto the farmer's land, which appears to be an unpleasant bog and hag zone

 that any sensible person would actively try to avoid

Approaching the Windy Hill telecommunications tower, which dates from 1951, at which point we join the Pennine Way and take the footbridge over the motorway, beyond which much recent work has taken place to create a footpath suitable for invalid chairs (see header pictuure)

The paved path leads all the way to the trig point on the top of Blackstone Edge,

our high point for the day

En route - lunch on the Pennine Way, serenaded by skylarks

Blackstone Edge summit and views

After rough going along Blackstone Edge, the Aiggin Stone is reached

There's a plaque next to a cairn that announces the stone as 'a medieaval guide for travelers some 600 years old', but the stone is what Sue is standing next to in the picture below

A sharp left turn takes us downhill, where we soon lose the Pennine Way path

 as we descend towards Littleborough

Foxgloves and Buttercups

On a sunny afternoon the dappled light through the trees is delightful

Beyond a path beside a golf club, rural footpaths lead to a set of picnic benches

 that are a fine venue for afternoon tea, and cake

Ox-eye daisies

After passing a RSPB visitor centre we soon reached the busy tourist spot of Hollingworth Lake

Our path took us down beside new housing to the Rochdale Canal towpath
 and an easy stroll to Littleborough station

Here's our route - 19km with 440 metres ascent, taking us less than 6 hours, after which train and tram got us back to Timperley in a shade over an hour.