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The stained glass has been cleaned, and the fire damaged section below has been replaced by an expert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superseded by a more modest brick effort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

21 to 23 January 2022 - Some Pictures for Dot

These days we look after Isabella on Fridays. Here she is, last week, sitting on her favourite chair giving 'Mummy Bear' a drink, etc.

Saturday morning: Sue went out walking; I did Wythenshawe parkrun. Here are some of the finishers. Note the tutus - it's 22 day of 22 year = tutu!

The Hall has been smartened up since the fire. But this picture was taken from behind a high fence.

There were very few folk in the Courtyard Tearoom. Most of them were in the queue outside, waiting for the kettle to boil.

Later, a family Sunday lunch. Great to see everyone (nine of us squeezed around our dining table), and a real live doll for Jessica to cuddle. I'm not sure what the 'doll' (sporting 'teething cheeks) thought about it....

Saturday 7 November 2020 - (not)parkrun number 138

This excellent picture of Wythenshawe Hall, taken last night, is courtesy of the Wythenshawe parkrun Facebook page.

It's a shame that the hall is surrounded by a high fence and is not open to visitors. One day....

Our Saturday mornings start with a (not)parkrun on a pleasant course around Timperley. I kept Sue waiting back at home after finishing this morning due to some photo stops.

It's good to have such a nice route from our front door, outside which Sue insisted on a 'selfie' once I'd got back. Out of my 139 daily outings since the middle of June, 138 of which have been recorded, probably about 100 have been on the route around Timperley that has a slight variant that keeps feet dry in wet weather when the usual route that we took today gets a bit waterlogged.

Parkrunning friend Annie then joined us on Zoom from Yorkshire to take part in Vassos Alexander's weekly parkrun quiz. We scored 11/15 - one of our better weeks, and enjoyed a chat with Annie

After that, (purely out of habit) we cycled to Wythenshawe Park, where the car park and the children's playground were both full of pairs of people/children.

By chance, and remaining strictly in pairs, we came across a few folk who were following the same habit as us in order to get some exercise. Sue gave an impromptu yoga demonstration. Others joined in. I ate some cake that had kindly been provided by Owen, and I shared out a few bits of fudge that had gravitated into my bag.

So despite the enhanced state of Lockdown, we managed to enjoy a fairly 'new normal' Saturday morning.

Saturday 17 August 2019 - Wythenshawe parkrun number 404

 

A break in the rainy weather enabled us to enjoy a 'routine' parkrun on the normal course, with 285 attendees from near and far (eg from the USA).

 

It's good to see the hall looking much better, some three and a half years after it was set on fire. Hopefully the big green fence through which the above picture was taken, may soon be removed.

 

By way of a reminder, the following three images are of boards attached to the green fence. I think I've posted them before, but if you want to read them properly you'll get a better image by clicking on each picture.

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, it was a pretty uneventful run - my slowest since March after a week with very little exercise. I went back up the course to run in with Owen and Annie, who are pictured below on the finishing straight.

 

 

The usual socialising outside the Courtyard Tearoom took place, and several people expressed interest in joining me and Sue and Cary on a walking trip to Andalucia with Collett's from 2 to 9 November. I think there are still a couple of twin rooms available.

 

Full results from the run are here.

A Wet Day in Timperley

 

It's rare that it rains all day in Timperley, but it did today - even for a while when the sun came out.

 

We've had the pleasure of a visit from Jessica for a couple of days (one of which I spent ferrying Great Grandma Dot between Eccleshall and Manchester for an eye hospital appointment - all is well thanks to monthly injections to stave off AMD).

 

Lots of baking has taken place - most of yesterday, in fact, and she helped me make brownies this morning.

 

 

A visit to the Glass House at Wythenshawe Park offered the opportunity of saying hello to the fairies of Wythenshawe, who are dwarfed by the giant carp, and by the lilies pictured above.

 

 

 

 

The workers' cottages are 'bijou'.

 

 

A climb to our loft was needed to provide ammunition for another assignment, before some colouring books became the focus of attention.

 

 

It was great to have you, Jess, and we hope you'll stay here again soon.

 

The slight delay in this posting is entirely due to Anthony Doerr's beautifully written tale - 'All the Light we Cannot See'.

Saturday 8 June 2019 – Wythenshawe parkrun Number 394 Reaches the Moon

On Friday, Run Director Andy advertised Wythenshawe parkrun as follows:

“One runner tomorrow will cover the final 5k to take us to the moon. Will you be the lucky recipient of this specially crafted finish token? There will be cheese (and rain).”

 

Andy’s prediction of ‘rain’ seems to have put people off, despite the offer of a prize. So only 263 people participated. One of the stalwarts was seen to hang back in the hope that he could bring home the bacon (cheese) (brie).

The result is evident from the top picture that shows that stalwart runner receiving his award, described later by Andy as follows:

“Rocket man Paul Barber finished in #210 and achieved the moon landing. This is particularly poignant as Paul was there for lift off at our first ever event back in August 2011. Enjoy your cheese Paul! Next stop Mars!”

Today’s run took Wythenshawe’s total ‘mileage’ to 384,665 km, which apparently secures a moon landing for Paul and the 53 folk who finished behind him. The rest of us must have nearly made it, but remain in limbo, a bit like Wythenshawe Hall. 

There was little sign of any security today, so bikes were leant against the fence in the rain, whilst Oliver looked on, stridently bemused as ever.

Andy’s magic wand produced a break in the rain of about 40 minutes, just enough time for his pre run briefing.

Luckily it stayed dry for the run, which I did in a similar time to last week’s effort at Stafford – I slowed for a while to encourage a youngster who eventually stopped for a rest rather than collapse. Sensible lad, he still got a personal best time.

Meanwhile, Sue jogged round about three minutes slower than last week – here she is at the finish.

 

True to his word, Andy provided cheese from his moon mine, and oranges from his orchard in sunny Sale. There was also cake, and miraculously the gazebo didn’t blow away.

We hadn’t been to this parkrun for a while, so despite finishing the run before 9.30, it was after 11 am when we finally dragged ourselves away from a sociable morning in the café.

Full results are here.