Here’s the canal today. Still frozen, but grotty. There’s even a palette on it in the distance. The ice is remarkably thick, but generally not quite strong enough to stand on.
It’s raining, cold, and fairly miserable here in Timperley.
Especially as Sue has gone…
…to Egypt. She says it’s warm there.
There’s only one thing for it…
Late last night I finally pressed the ‘send’ button, delivering my route across Scotland in the last two weeks of May to be vetted.
It’s a low level route – 320 km (200 miles) with about 8600 metres of ascent and absolutely no summits. There are numerous opportunities for ‘refreshments’.
Just in case my feet are ‘itchy’ around that time, I’ve provided my vetter with some ‘FWAs’ – Fine Weather Alternatives. In the unlikely event of having the weather and the energy, these alternatives involve an additional 8600 metres ascent, and bring my Munro count for the journey to …
…zero!
So, for double the ascent and an extra 30 km (19 miles), I can still contrive to stay below the 3000 ft snowline. So no crampons will be needed?
I do hope to get up a few minor summits, though.
Here’s the route:
Lochailort > Glenfinnan > Corran > Corrour > Killicrankie > Glenshee > Clova > Tarfside > North Water Bridge > a sand dune near Montrose.
It’s rumoured that the Corran ferry won’t be running, so a completely new route may be necessary!
I don’t expect to see anything like the above ice crystals, now a distant memory, as the Bridgewater Canal, whilst still having a covering of ice, is now defaced by a rather unsightly layer of debris.
I think the only thing that got me out of bed on this rainy (the first for ages) morning was the fact that two rendezvous had been arranged. It’s probably also the same reason that both John and Graham were on time, and cheerily set off with me from beside Ridgegate Reservoir, and along the snowy track that rises gently up Nessit Hill in Macclesfield Forest.
Don’t they look cheerful, despite the dark morning in wind and rain? Even with the brightness of the snow, the automatic flash kicked in a lot today.
After we had passed through the trees and on to the open moor, we found ourselves in cloud, of varying density, almost all the way back to the cars.
Crampon prints looked incongruous in the now very soft snow. We would have preferred it to be firmer, but the thaw had to start sometime.
Here (below), Graham and John pause briefly on the summit of Shutlingsloe, which had an Arctic Feel to it today, before slithering down its eastern flank towards Wildboarclough, where we met a 4 x 4 progressing slowly up a snow laden farm track. On seeing us emerge from the cloud the driver shrugged, placed his vehicle into reverse, and drove backwards for half a mile down the difficult track…
…another failed postal delivery. But we can vouch that he tried!
Certain readers will not appreciate this, but due to afternoon commitments we were forced to pass by the Crag Inn, in favour of a stop for tea and sandwiches in the snow, which had drifted.
Eventually we started a descent down an ancient ‘holloway’, where John paused thoughtfully before negotiating some cornices.
The Hanging Gate Inn, which sadly we had to pass due to pressing engagements, was surprisingly busy this Friday lunch time.
But we had to continue through deep snow, along a section of the Gritstone Trail, eventually emerging at the Leather’s Smithy (sadly no time to visit it) and Kate’s ponies.
A short stroll along the road concluded this excellent work out, albeit the 11 km with 500 metres ascent took half an hour longer than the customary 3 hours, due to having to battle our way through the snow.
John has just delivered his pictures, so I may add more, but having already pressed the ‘publish’ button by mistake, I’d better press it again now. Apologies to ‘Google readers’ who may also have seen the incomplete (now deleted) version of this posting.
“If it takes me 2 hours to get from my front door to my garage, how long will it take me to reach our meeting point!”
What a wimp!
Then, an enticing message arrived from Notchy:
“Can we tempt you out into Deepest Cheshire?
Here's what's on offer:
- Can't match the eye-popping beauty of last week, but at least our "slush" remains white(ish)
- Clear and treated roads all the way to our drive
- Coffee and biscuits at 10ish in warm kitchen
- Short circuit round the fields and lanes broken by a bar lunch
- Tea and cakes before heading home.”
So, by soon after 11 o’clock we had topped up with coffee and biscuits and were striding across frozen fields under a heavy, and rather loose, sky.
I stopped to say hello to these fine and friendly beasts.
It was hard to keep pace with Andrew and Sue, who strode on with great purpose.
The local ploughmen may be somewhat rotund, if they regularly partake of the lunches on offer here, and the Hydes Original and Kodiak Gold also went down very well. As did the roaring fire.
Sue is feeling a bit better these days, making a very slow recovery from her back condition and incurring a little less nerve pain than over past months.
Andrew proudly pointed out his local hill, on private land – so we couldn’t ‘bag’ it – rising to the oxygen deprived height of 102 metres.
Soon afterwards, with the sky exhibiting increasing looseness and the surfaces re-whitening, we were tucking into a pot of tea and some very fruity cake back in the warmth of Lower Withington’s Aga Kitchen.
Then Sue and I adjourned to The Ashlea for a most pleasurable meal with some TGO Challengers (aka The Backpackers Club).
Here’s an approximation of our route – 11 km, 77 metres ascent, 2 hours 45 minutes in the snow:
There are a few more images from today, here.
After an enjoyable first attempt at this sport, I headed along to Wythenshawe Park – very close to home – where Manchester and District Orienteering Club (MDOC) – were putting on another Saturday morning event suitable for beginners.
John Jocys, esteemed fellow resident of Timperley, and veteran of several TGO Challenges and numerous orienteering events, joined me on this occasion, and we set off together on Part 1 of a two part ‘Sprint’ event.
We had to ‘dibb’ 13 controls over a snowy 3 km course. Here’s John, being ‘downloaded’ by Sue Birkinshaw. He claims the sweatiness, on this cold day, was due to his mounting sense of terror and despondency as he traipsed through the snow looking for control number 12, having been long abandoned by his mate.
The second part was over a further 3.5 km route, with 13 more controls. We started in the exact order in which we’d finished the first part, with the same time differences. So I thought I was lucky to be starting just 6 seconds after Alice, who had ‘Orienteer’ written on her back, so she must know what she’s doing (I thought). I tracked her to the second control and without really checking the map, on through a dense thicket to the third. Or so I thought, until she appeared looking a bit flustered and headed off in the opposite direction through deep undergrowth. She’d fooled herself and me. So I went back to the path and navigated my own way round, losing about 3 minutes to fleet of foot teenager Alice. Failing to locate control number 7 until a chasing group caught up with me didn’t help. It was good fun though, despite the long wait for John to finish.
21 people started the sprint, so I was delighted to come in 11th place, second (out of three - 10th, 11th and 12th) in the ‘M60’ class. I’m even more pleased now that I’ve browsed the MDOC website and discovered that Alice, who skillfully shook me off by leading me completely the wrong way, has represented England and that various of the other people who finished ahead seem to have done quite well in an array of British championship events.
Great fun, rounded off with a welcome pint with John at the Gardeners Arms.
Yesterday was allocated to various ‘admin’ jobs, but the wonderfully clear, fine weather continued, so Sue and I couldn’t resist a trip out.
So we set off after lunch, past The Big Blue Snowman, to the local canal.
The surface was very firm, except under the bridges. Here Sue and Mike establish that it’s perfectly safe. Further on there was an ice hockey match in progress!
The canal surface was not its usual texture.
Hoar frost seems to rule OK on a 24 hour basis.
This has to be a little unusual!
And this!
I headed off to collect the car from its annual service, whilst Sue proceeded to Little Bollington and thence to Dunham Massey, taking these excellent sunset images along the way.
A full set of images, should you have the time or inclination, is here.
We have enjoyed some unusual scenes over the past few days.
It snowed on Monday night and continued to accumulate during Tuesday. This is unusual close to central Manchester. So unusual that Jamie recorded a visual diary of his commute to work from Altrincham to Manchester.
With abandoned cars littering the roads, the residents of our street stayed at home or used the trams, which surprised everyone by continuing to work despite the expectation of ‘leaves on the line’.
There’s now even somewhere for passengers heading towards Manchester from Timperley to shelter from the elements, albeit less adequate than their predecessor! Some new trams, designed for ‘rush hour’ use, with narrower seats and wider passageways, have been operating since before Christmas, but I have yet to capture one ‘on film’.
The canal remained frozen.
Drivers played at ‘dodgems’.
We remained at home.
On Wednesday the crisp, clear day enticed us out, but (and the situation remains so) we couldn’t justify getting the car out as the roads remained treacherous. So we walked to Hale and enjoyed a game of Monopoly with some friends whose school was shut but whose mum needed to work. Then we had fun in their garden.
The walk home made us quite glad we hadn’t bothered with the car.
Thursday brought another crisp day, with the sun beating down from a clear blue sky, causing the thermometer to rise to a spectacular minus 5C, the coldest I can recall it at midday around here.
It was lovely, with a very light wind and crisp compacted snow underfoot, though a trip to the dentist by car did test my skills of manoeuvring through deep snow in the remoter parts of a car park in Urmston!
We didn’t have to venture far to get some more wintry images, some of them from angles normally only accessible by boat.
A full set of images, mainly for H and the children, is here.
Hopefully it won’t be too long before we can actually go somewhere more interesting – I’m yearning for the winter tyres we have in Canada that make driving in these conditions relatively easy!
A beautiful afternoon found Sue and me braving more icy paths, this time on a short walk around Rostherne.
Parking up at the Swan at Bucklow Hill, we crossed the busy A556 road and headed down Chapel Lane, which proved to be a sheet of ice. Soon we were able to take to the fields down a pleasant path with frosted grass.
A lovely thatched cottage marks the point where another road is joined.
Short of time, we turned left and stuck to the road to pass Millington Hall on our left, rather than take our usual route past Agden Brook to Booth Bank.
There’s a reluctance to allow the local lads to bag rabbits, etc.
Today we turned right down Millington Lane and headed back to re-cross the A556 and stroll down the quiet lane – closed for pipe laying – to Rostherne. On the way a narrow path is worth taking for the views it affords of Rostherne Mere, the largest natural lake in Cheshire at over 100 feet deep, and a haven for wintering birds.
After being hemmed between a barbed wire fence and a bramble hedge it was liberating to rejoin the icy lane and slither along to St Mary’s church, which sports the oldest lychgate in England – dating from 1640. The church was resplendent in the low afternoon sun.
The churchyard is dotted with tombs of the Egerton family (if you read yesterday’s entry you may recall that they were the owners of the Tatton Estate until it was bequeathed to the National Trust in 1958).
From here we could have returned along the lane directly to Bucklow Hill, but time permitted a diversion through frozen fields of beet, with a flock of fieldfare, to Home Farm, part of the Tatton Park estate.
A wide right of passage had been scoured and fenced off, perhaps for the pipeline, or is a road being built?
After a few metres along the road, a right turn led us back into fields, towards Mere Farm. The sun went down.
A right turn then took us to a final footpath to the left, across more fields to a small Mere, where a sign written in Polish explained that it was a Private fishing ground for Warrington Anglers.
Then we rejoined the lane to return to the car after this brisk 7 km excursion. The route is shown below.
Soon after returning home we noticed the first flurries of a snow storm that was to linger over Cheshire for the next 24 hours!
A full slide show (19 images) is here.
