Saturday 20 June 2009 - Molveno

Molveno is one of our favourite places.

We reached here without a hitch and with the assistance of the local Tourist Information Office the three of us - Sue, Mike and I - are happily installed in the Europa Hotel, where the view from our balcony is very similar to this one, with a fine aspect of the lake.

It has been a surprisingly sunny day (given the dire forecast), but the brollies are now out and we are revising our plans concerning a 'lakeside route' and may head more directly towards one of this little town's excellent eateries.
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

Saturday 20 June 2009 - On our travels again

We'll be up bright and early to fly to Milan, for a regular trip to the Dolomites.  We are staying with Collett's in Arabba (as a change from camping in Cortina), and may well enjoy a trip up to the Falzarego Pass, from where the short climb or cablecar ride leads to the balcony of Rifugio Lagazuoi.  The view from that balcony is shown above.

We'll be putting up 'cards' during the week, probably leaving a fuller report until we return, as this promises to be an exceedingly sociable trip.

Topwalks Trips

Just to let you know, evening walk venues for the rest of the year have now been 'planned' and are detailed here on our Topwalks Trips website.

If you live in the Greater Manchester area (or anywhere else for that matter) you are most welcome to join us, usually for just an hour or two, normally finishing (and often starting) at a hostelry.

There are a few other trips as well, that may be of interest.  Feel free to use the 'Contact us' button if you'd like any more information.

If you are curious about what's on this site (it's a bit unwieldy at present) the site map reveals all.

Ciao (just practicing!)

Thursday 18 June 2009 - Dunham Massey Ducks

There are lots of ducks at Dunham Massey.  Mainly mallards, but here they come in many differing 'shades', from albino to the more familiar dark colours, with some light coloured intermediaries such as these.

 

Fed by visitors, the birds are very tame here, even the moorhens were fairly oblivious of people today.

Wednesday 17 June 2009 - A Strutting Peacock in Swettenham

The expected squadron of participants for tonight's walk failed to materialise following a stormy day.  It was just Andrew and I who sat outside the Swettenham Arms with handkerchiefs soaked from swabbing the iron chairs, each with a welcome Black Sheep on the table in front of us.

By now the rain was gone and we readied ourselves for a 9 km stroll based on the DVW (Dane Valley Way), to Holmes Chapel and back. 

Setting off at 7.45, we soon encountered this fine strutting peacock, virtually blocking the lane as he tried to seduce his mate, who watched intently as we passed by, having (I think) provided an  unwelcome interruption to proceedings.

Our route to Holmes Chapel by the south bank of the River Dane was pleasant enough, and after Holmes Chapel we enjoyed fine views towards the magnificent Victorian railway viaduct, recently re-pointed, and in use as we passed by it.

The sun then slowly drifted below the horizon, leaving a lovely sky, with lots of light to guide us back along the northern side of the Dane Valley, towards another welcome helping of Black Sheep.

TGO Challenge 2009 - A Slide Show

  There's now a slide show - restricted to 100 images - click here.

If you want to see the slide show in full screen mode, press F11, or if that fails, on the Internet Toolbar click Tools > Full Screen, and that should work.

I'll leave you to decide which of the two 'Title' screens is most appropriate...

Saturday 13 June 2009 - Welsh Wales

As you may gather from the previous entry, Sue and I nipped down to Dolgellau for the day, so as to join a few friends for an evening at the Red Lion in Dinas Mawddwy.

Sue popped up Cadair Idris.  She encountered hundreds of folk on a 'Three Peaks in 15 hours' adventure - they had set off up Snowdon at 4.30 am, were now on Cadair, and were to drive down to the Brecon Beacons to climb Pen y Fan by 7.30 pm, all in aid of raising £100,000 for a Cardiff charity. 

Good for them.

Meanwhile, I enjoyed a 9 km stroll along the Mawddach Trail to the old toll bridge at Penmaenpool and back.

Very pleasant.

 

On the way I passed a number of common plants, and realised (after the Wood Avens) that the camera had been set on 'tungsten' mode for some time (hence the rather odd tinge to recent images).

From the top:
Herb Bennet / Wood Avens (Geum urbanum)
Germander Speedwell (Veronica chamaedrys) - or similar
Dog Rose (Rosa canina)
Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum)
Black Medick (Medicago lupulina)
Red Campion (Silene dioica)

Back at Dolgellau, we rendezvoused successfully and enjoyed tea and cake at Parliament House, a lovely family run coffee shop with a gallery of excellent images from Andrew Kime.

Meanwhile, the Welsh Castles Relay, was in progress, a change-over point being more or less next to our car in the car park.  Never mind, we thought, we'll escape to the Red Lion at Dinas Mawddwy.  So we went there.  But we didn't escape, as unbeknown to us the next section of the relay finished some 10 miles away at the doors of the aforesaid Red Lion!  Clever, huh!

But the weather was lovely, and we very much enjoyed the annual dinner of the 'Twenty-Fifth Annual Castleton Dinner Meet'.

Exciting stuff, what? 

I'll take my pen then.

A Day Out

A well preserved ancient stone circle forms part of the boundary of the cricket pitch.

Where are we?

Here's an extract from 'The Dolgellau Town Trail' page on one of Dolgellau's many on-line information sources:

"The Marian, Dolgellau's main green space and one of its greatest assets, was given in trust to the town in 1811. It has been the focus of the town's leisure activities for generations. By the 16th century there was a bowling green surrounded by ditches to keep out grazing animals. It lay under the car park. A hollow in the grass in the cricket outfield marks the site of a cockpit. The stone circle was set up in 1948 to proclaim the National Eisteddfod of Wales the following year. Using stone-age technology for advertising in this way is a peculiarly Welsh phenomenon."

So it's not ancient at all!

Canalside

The Bridgewater Canal is now in its summer plumage.

The bramble is in flower and the blackberry fruits are already forming.

The bees are busy.

The elder is flowering.

This shrub has a lovely flower.  Can anyone identify it for me?

Swine Flu - The Antidote

June 1 to 6, 2009 - A Walk based on The Dales Way

I'm not doing a detailed index for this trip.  To view all the postings, scroll down the page from here, clicking on 'Older Posts' at the bottom right of each page, until you get to 'Windermere to Manchester - A Plan' - an entry posted on 30 May.  Work upwards from there, clicking on 'Newer Posts' at the bottom left of the page when you reach the top of the page (if you see what I mean).

I've uploaded some images from the trip here.  Click on the slideshow button to view the show, the parameters for which are easy adjusted by placing the cursor near the bottom of the screen.
I hope you enjoy them.

Here are the statistics for the trip:
Day 1 - Windermere to Potter Tarn - 19 km, 650 metres ascent - 6.2 hours including 0.8 hours breaks
Day 2 - Potter Tarn to Dent - 44 km, 1240 metres ascent - 12.6 hours including 2.3 hours breaks
Day 3 - Dent to Kettlewell - 46 km, 1300 metres ascent - 11.9 hours including 2.3 hours breaks
Day 4 - Kettlewell to White Wells - 40 km, 950 metres ascent - 11.9 hours including 2.4 hours breaks
Day 5 - White Wells to Jerusalem Farm - 36 km, 940 metres ascent - 11.5 hours including 2.0 hours breaks
Day 6 - Jerusalem Farm to Ripponden  - 10 km, 350 metres ascent - 2.6 hours including no breaks
TOTAL: 195 km (122 miles) with 5430 metres ascent

My detailed route plan, which I stuck to up to Ripponden with only very minor deviations, is here.

Gayle's excellent report on the Denholme to Ripponden section is here.

My kit list is similar to that for the TGO Challenge (here), plus the Phreerunner tent and a few other items - I was probably carrying an acceptable average of about 15 kilos.  I may comment on specific items in a separate posting.

Saturday 6 June 2009 - Fair Weather Walkers

This final 'mobile' image is of the disused railway viaduct at Hewenden - one of many fine man-made structures in the area. It was taken yesterday shortly before I met Mick and Gayle and the weather changed.

The weather certainly did change, with 'winter gear' being deployed. We decided not to seek refuge at Mick's mum's house, as Mick wanted to test his new mattress - a Thermarest Neo-Air thingy. (He liked it!)

Jerusalem Farm campsite has good drainage. It needed it last night.

This morning we woke to the sound of a gargling magpie, got an early start as planned, and enjoyed a stroll by the river to Luddenden Foot. A pleasant walk by the canal (in the wrong direction for 'Manchester - 30 miles') was followed by a steep ascent to Sowerby. From there we dropped back to the Ryburn valley, down a steep cobbled path. Having already seen Mick test the braking power of his rucksack on some earlier cobbles, we were understandably very careful here - using the deep wet grass either side of the cobbles as much as we could.

"Nice weather for ducks" chirped the postman, as he delivered to posh houses on the east bank of the river beyond Triangle. Here the pleasant woodland and a disused railway led us eventually to the metropolis of Ripponden.

We'd been walking in the rain for nearly three hours. We were perhaps a little damp generally, but our feet (subject to Sealskinz/goretex socks) could justifiably be described as 'soggy'. Mine were soaking wet.

The café in Ripponden served excellent tea and bacon/egg butties. We lingered there.

Then Sue arrived. She showed me the choice of trainers and boots she had brought for me to change in to due to a sore ankle. The trainers would be a vast improvement over my Crocs, which aren't the premium footwear for slippery cobbles. She had thoughtfully packed some waterproof socks as well.

The rain thickened.

"Rain all weekend, is the forecast" said Sue.

"Let's go home!"

"What! How could we!"

The rain lashed down as we chauffered M + G on the short drive to Mick's mum's house, and it continued unabated as we sloshed back home to Manchester.

A hot bath, some nice meals, and a lazy weekend sorting the photos from a sunny 120+ mile walk. Better than a 40+ mile walk in the rain with a sore ankle from Ripponden to Timperley, via Crowden?

I thought so. That section can wait until its scenery can be enjoyed in the sun - today some of it was in Cold Cloud.

Readers are of course welcome to their own opinion, but hopefully by Monday I'll have uploaded some images from the 'Windermere to Ripponden' route to an on-line album for all to peruse.
Now done.

I'll put a link, and some summary information for this most enjoyable trip, on the next posting.

Have a nice weekend, everyone.

Friday 5 June 2009 - M & G Come For A Walk

What happens? Mick and Gayle arrive, and it rains - it had started to 'spot' when the previous posting was sent.

We had enjoyed some excellent fish 'n chips at our rendezvous point in Denholme, where the only pub opens at 2pm, and had 'provisioned' at the Co-op, but by the time we passed Thornton Moor Reservoir it had cooled considerably and the rain became persistent.

Good navigation and chatting don't always go together, we noted, as we wandered vaguely along the thin blue line I'd plotted to Jerusalem Camp Site near Booth.

The tea shop at Ogden Water provided a welcome break and an entertaining dialogue between Mick and the deaf attendant.
Mick: "Three teas, please?"
Lady: "We sell polos."
Mick: "Three teas, please?"
Lady: "We sell chocolate."
Mick: "Three teas, please?"
Lady: "Would you like to buy an ice cream?"
Mick: "Aha" - realises he is standing next to the tea machine.

After that the rain eased as we strolled onwards to the campsite and got our tents up in lighter rain than the current deluge.

It's a small site, but we are showered and I've washed some clothes - who knows when they will dry! All is well and we are cosy and cooking in our respective tents.

There's no photo with this, as no signal at camp and only a weak one up this hill.

So that's it for today?

Well - before M & G joined me......

I woke to two deep long belches. An insomniac sheep?

The tent shook.

"Yer not allowed to camp on moorland."

'Moron' I thought.

"Don't worry, I'll be away early."

"Mek shore y'are" came the response.

A distant clock chimed midnight.

'Moron' I thought.

I slept well, and soon after the crack of dawn I was being led by a strolling curlew up to Ilkley Crags on a fine but cool morning.

Mist lay in the valleys and smoke rose lazily from a distant power station. The 12 apostles (an ancient stone circle) were soon passed, after which an easy amble past curlew and plovers took me beyond the cotton grass zone to Otley Road, where frantic commuters tore past 'Dick Hudsons' pub as they rushed to work.

My pace was slower. I was soon back in the 'bluebell zone', with narrow paths weaving between the posh estates of the horsey and famous of Yorkshire.

I passed 'Woodpecker Man', his cameras focused on a hole in a tree a few metres away, in lovely woodland where red campion fought for space with greater stitchwort and marsh marigolds lined the banks of a brook.

It was a lovely, varied route. I was proud of my hastily devised blue line on the map. I made lots of notes today on a number of points of interest, but they'll just have to wait for an editing session, as it's going dark here and sleep is needed.

Goodnight.

Decided no further edit needed - just a link (here) to Mick and Gayle's report.

Mick + Gayle Arrive

It starts to rain!

Urban Arteries

I'm now sitting on a grassy bank under a main road at (wrong - this was a new road overhead, waypoint 53 still being some way off!) waypoint number 53, imaginatively named 'A650 road'. The roads, rivers, canals and railways hereabouts vie for space with each other, and with ancient ways like the walled one shown, that I'm following through lovely woods.

Back on the Dales Way

After pleasant South Pennine moorland from Ilkley, with curlews and plovers in plenty, the cotton grass has been replaced by the buttercup fields through which this 'Bradford to Ilkley Link' section of the Dales Way passes.

Thursday 4 June 2009 - The Dales Way

I've not walked the Dales Way before, though I've covered most of it in day walks. I didn't walk it all this time, but it's fair to say this trip has covered most of the route.

It is a fine excursion - low level but very scenic, passing through some of the best of English countryside.

You may think I rushed it. I didn't. I've just taken advantage of, and enjoyed, some of those long summer days that seem to pass all too quickly.

I commend the Dales Way, but you should plan it according to your own preferences. For example, the Racehorses Hotel in Kettlewell doesn't serve breakfast until 9am. Not much use for me, but perhaps ideal for some.

Today, roughly chronologically:

Dew - midges - sock washing - noisy crows and oyster catchers at camp - overcast - not a breath of wind - peewits, gulls - curlews huffing and chuffing - 150 year old lime kiln with resident ferret - breakfast number 2 - Shop on the Green at Burnsall (resisted temptation) - delicious looking mushrooms - peaty coloured river - chatty fly fisherman (he hooked one, it got away 'six today, all about 2 pounds, they all go back' he said) - dipper - ornamental bridges in the Bolton Estate - Strid Wood (SSSI - rare plants + fungi, and Sessile Oaks) - wild garlic - 'The Bodger's Workshop' - the Strid Restaurant (if only I'd known!) - Bolton Abbey - wearing Crocs, I brave the stepping stones (fun) - mallard families - weirs - converted mills - leave Dales Way - join Millennium Way - Swastika Stone (in the wrong place?) - Dog Walkers of Ilkley - White Wells - quiet - camp - noisy sheep - the Fit Workers of Ilkley - joggers - mountain bikers - nice meal - chuffing magpies - spots of rain - hot chocolate - all quiet....

White Wells

This place must have some history that I'll research when I get home. Here's a link.

It's deserted, apart from the Dog Walkers of Ilkley. About half a km short of Ilkley Crags, but equipped with a toilet and a flat patch of grass.

A 'no brainer'. I hope nobody turfs me off!

Wrong! This is The Swastika Stone!

Curious?

The Swastika Stone (I think)...