Saturday 3 June 2023 - A Parkrun, Isabella, and Disney

Wythenshawe parkrun #525: Michael, Isabella and Dinosaur turned up to join Grandad and Grandma.

Isabella is still wearing her coronation Crown!

After the usual warm up, and lots of clapping from Dinosaur when the 'milestones' were announced, Isabella and crew set off behind the 336 participants who made it around the two laps of the course. (Full results are here, for what they are worth.)

Afterwards, coffee from the pony kiosk, and a clamber in the playground.

Meanwhile, Kate, Jacob and Jessica were enjoying themselves in ***** (the picture says it all!)

Friday 2 June 2023 - Y Garn and the Glyders

 
This is one of my favourite walks, and a surprise that I haven't followed the route since 10 October 2018.

Today's weather matched that in 2018, and Sue and I enjoyed he 12km circuit at a leisurely pace, taking over 7 hours compared with the usual 5 hours taken for this walk. I am slowing down.

It was busy by Llyn Ogwen, but we found a space to park about a 15 minute walk from Ogwen Cottage. At least that enabled us to relish the flat start, with good views along Llyn Ogwen.

After an 8 o'clock start from home, a walk, and a leisurely coffee and cake at the Visitor Centre, it was 11 o'clock by the time we set off up the hill.

They have installed some posts with holes that you can look through to see the hill that is named on the post.

The path to Llyn Idwal is very well surfaced and accommodates hundreds of walkers every day.

Tormentil

We left the crowds after reaching Llyn Idwal, and slowly rose up the slopes of Y Garn, meeting just three people before encountering a guided group of 10 or so on the summit. This picture taken near Llyn Idwal shows the majority of our day's route - click on the image for a better version.

The sky was a clear blue colour, but thankfully it wasn't too hot.

The summit of Y Garn reveals good views of the Snowdon massif and beyond - towards the Llŷn Peninsula.

In the other direction, the Carnedds and Tryfan.

Down at Llyn y Cwm, we found a fine spot for lunch, under the beady eyes of a watchful herring gull.

A further short but slow slog got us up to the 1001 metre summit of Glyder Fawr.

There's a good view back to the eroded path up Y Garn.

Ahead, the gnarly summit of Glyder Fach.

There were the usual good views across to Snowdon.

I'm sure we took some pictures at the summit of Glyder Fach, reached with some rock climbing children - Sue must have them.

She then ventured onto the Cantilever rock for a bit of yoga.

Then it was down to the Tryfan col path junction for another break and to finish off our second flask.

The path down from here is strewn with bags of rocks that will be eased into position by way of reparation of the eroded route.

The stile at Tryfan col marks the start of the final, sometimes rocky, descent to Ogwen Cottage.

The water in Llyn Bochlwyd looked pretty cold, but that wasn't putting off some hardy 'wild swimmers'.

Here's the 12km (or so) route, which involves over 1000 metres ascent. It's a classic. Today it took us nearly 7.5 hours, but in the past it has taken just 5 hours.

Fish (three fishes actually) and chips in a park in Ruthin rounded off a great day out.

Thursday 1 June 2023 - A Visit to Wythenshawe Hall

This was a visit by Stockport Walking and Outdoors Group.

The hall was partially destroyed by fire in 2016. Repairs funded by the insurers have been completed, but grants are sought for the renovations needed but not covered by insurance.

There's a fairly new website - here.

Visitors are welcomed (£2 entry fee) on one Sunday - usually the last - each month. The current dates  of these themed visits are here.

Our visit was recorded on the 'Blog' section of the website as follows:

On Thursday June 1st our Chairman Richard gave Stockport Walking & Outdoor Group a guided tour of the Hall. They raised more than £200  for Friends of Wythenshawe Hall and all said they really enjoyed the day. Thanks also to William (Wythenshawe Park Manager), and Pamela, Irene & Deborah from FoWH for making the visit possible.

Here are my pictures of the visit.

Outside, by the side entrance

Richard took us all outside to the fenced in front of the hall 

on the gloriously sunny day for his 'overview' speech

The main room was once the only room, where the entire family lived and 

the smoke from the fire simply left via a hole in the roof

Later, a proper fireplace and much panelling, as the wealth of the family grew

The neatly lined up books in the library aren't real, they are just wooden spines

The tenant's hall / site of chapel has been succesfully renovated

Once upon a time this was a battle zone

The main first floor room is festooned with coats of arms from different eras

The stained glass has been cleaned, and the fire damaged section below has been replaced by an expert

The bed above has been renovated; that shown below is a reconstruction made in the USA

The second floor may once have housed servants' quarters - now it could be a small classroom

At some point, perhaps to save on fuel, the large upstairs fireplace has been 

superseded by a more modest brick effort

The loft space was used as servants' sleeping quarters - very cramped

Here's the (low res) group photo taken for the hall's blog

The visit lasted three hours and was most informative. The Hall is well worth looking around and certainly has a long history.

Later, on the Bridgewater Canal, a coot and its chick; we don't often see coots on the canal