27 to 31 October 2026 - A few days in Timperley

This one's for Conrad. I regularly pass this small piece of automobile history on my walk into Altrincham - VW Beetle from about 1972.

On Wednesday, a visit to RHS Bridgewater. I went by bike (an hour's ride from home, avoiding the M60's traffic jams) and met Sue, Selwa and Zakariah (8) at a half-term event where children could touch or hold a Great Land Snail (slimy), a tarantula (kept in a box), a cockroach (lazy) and a python called Monty (friendly). 

Then we went up to the recently opened Chinese Streamside Garden. This is a celebration of the long connection between British and Chinese horticulture. It was a fairly dull afternoon and the light was fading, so there will be better pictures in the future - those below are the best I could manage on the day.

Here's a bit more background - as always, click on the image for a more readable version.

I've been up and down this stretch of the Bridgewater Canal many times. On my return to Timperley, a couple of snaps taken by way of an excuse for a breather.

There are a couple of similar shipwrecks that need attention from the workboats that patrol the canal.

Friday morning - and a walk into De Quincey Park, where the recently fallen trees are being converted to logs and chippings.

 

Friday afternoon - fun with the Playmobil farm and the school, and discovery in a drawer of a new garden and a snack shop that cleverly dispenses cold drinks.

Saturday morning - Wythenshawe parkrun on a cool morning. Nearly 400 participants and marshals had the opportunity to admire the lovely ambiance of our local park, overseen by Oliver Cromwell himself.

It's Halloween. Enough said.

Between them, these two skeletons appear to have three hands!

And off they go, on the lovely morning.

One of the skeletons was seen attempting to marshal at Middle Bridge, the other one managed to get round the 5km course in 43 minutes.

Saturday evening - the skeleton adjourned to a Spunch event in Bramhall, where lots of child skeletons were encountered in a frenzy of scaredness.

The ginnels and passageways of Bramhall were thoroughly explored, and a skeleton emerged from a crypt.

Later, after John Archer had been scared off home, the 'Crown and Conspirator' hostelry was a good place to wind down and enjoy refreshments and food.

Here's an extract from the results. Rather annoyingly, the skeleton missed one of the 'pins' and was beaten home by its 'minder'.:

The 10.4 km green line with arrows below reveals the clockwise route that was taken in the search for dark ginnels and secret crypts of Bramhall. Many children were frightened.