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?)

Here are the official results for the 120 minute participants (there were another 56 people in the 60 and 90 minute categories).

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.

Baguley Hall

During our regular 'post run' coffee session in the courtyard tea room at Wythenshawe Hall, Jan mentioned that much good work has been taking place at nearby Baguley Hall. So I went along to see for myself and found an open day in full swing with musicians and stalls by way of perhaps the first chance for the public to enter the grounds since the sale in 2025 by Historic England to a charity called Heritage Trust North West. 

The internet reveals:

The manor was built in the 14th Century by a medieval knight called Sir William de Baggiley (also spelt Baguley), who lived during the reign of King Edward II (1307-1327), and the structure later became a farmhouse.

It was used as a council workshop for around 40 years before a decision was taken by the Manchester City Corporation in 1967 to demolish the building, which triggered a public petition that included over 6,000 signatures.

Later that year, the Wythenshawe MP Alf Morris spoke in Parliament against the planned demolition of Baguley Hall, urging that: "Everything possible should be done to preserve this historic building for posterity".

Since 1968, the building has been owned by the government and for more than 50 years the structure was maintained by English Heritage.

Tours of the Hall are now being arranged.

On my visit the grounds were lined by stalls and musicians, selling all manner of wares.

Several information boards indicated that the hall was part of the estate owned by the Tatton family, the first mention of which dates back to 1290, when they were living in the hamlet of Kenworthy, about a mile from the site of the current Wythenshawe Hall. 

Robert de Tatton had lands in nearby Northenden in 1297 and in 1370 a Robert de Tatton of Kenworthy received land in 'Wythinshawe' as part of the settlement when he married Alice, the daughter and heiress of William de Masey of Wythinhagh, and was given all her lands and tenements, rents and services.

So this building was part of the estate owned by the Tatton family, one of very few families who preserved an unbroken line as owners of a large estate from the 14th to the 20th Century.*

It'll be interesting to go inside the building. Here's another extract from the internet and a picture of the interior:

Baguley Hall includes one of the oldest surviving medieval timber-framed halls in England and some of the wooden beams are more than 50cm (20in) thick.

A central hearth once provided cooking and heating for the medieval household.

Catherine Dewar, the North West Regional Director at Historic England, said: "What's really special about Baguley Hall is that it's open to the roof, rather than a lot of medieval halls, which have been sub-divided and have another room above".

"It means your eyes just go upwards because you can see right up to the ceiling".

So ended a short but interesting visit. Thanks go to Jan for bringing this to my attention.

* Members of my own family may be interested to know that a line of their forebears can be traced back to the marriage of Rainaldus de Balliole to Aimeria in 1082 as part of the Weston of Weston Under Lizard pedigree that later merged with the Weston of Rugeley pedigree, so we can trace our family tree back about 30 generations. What was life like for all those generations - that's a project?!

Here's a video that includes film of the interior.

Saturday 4 July 2026 - Wythenshawe parkrun #673

Back to normal, after missing a few weeks - there are no parkruns in Romania, and very few people out running there - and it's one of Richard Evans' quick briefings before 404 runners and walkers set off on two laps of the nice dry course with no obstacles.

And they are off.

I was even closer to the back than usual as an Ischia bursitis (aka Pain in the Bum) problem means that for the moment running is out of the question for me. I tracked Mark Jones (yellow t-shirt below) all the way to the finish, my walking pace just matching his run/walk technique.

That gave me time for a short chat with Mark Critchley, who was marshalling at Far Bridge.

Looking back from there - there were very few people behind me as I walked round in 46:51, in position 396/404.

Full results are here, and Jeanette was able to brag about coming seventh in the age related results, just ahead of Paul and Sue. After being plagued with injuries for so long, this was a great achievement. (Don't overdo it Jeanette!)

Time for a well earned coffee and cake.

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