Lego Days

GCSE results dictated a couple of days at work for Kate, so we enjoyed that time with J and J.

I, and others, have given them Lego sets in the past. It transpires that there was no interest in those at the time. But times have changed and they arrived with several unopened boxes of Lego.

Sue and I enjoyed a few hours of assembly, until all that they had brought was done. Some of our vast reserves were then recovered from our loft. Those sets were marginally too hard, the detail in the instructions having somewhat improved in the course of a generation, but I’m sure the archive will be unearthed again in the future.

The photos speak for themselves. Jess seems to have constructed more than Jacob, but his models were harder.

They both took to photo-bombing each other’s pictures.

After all that exercise, some chocolate was in order. We think it was a Christmas present from their mum. It’s a wonder it lasted so long!

The kitchen table became a gaming zone. Whether on the iPad, iPhone or a card game (we played many rounds of Uno), Jess seemed to get mixed up in the table/chair realm, spending much of the time sitting on the table.

Boules and Frisbee in the park kept them going until dusk, and sometime during the proceedings, in between them helping with some gardening, they managed to produce several trays of cup cakes and a battalion of shortbread.

They slept in the car, all the way home…well behaved children, seen but not heard.

Monday 20 August 2018 – Phoenix Park again

Today Jeanette joined Richard and Paul in meeting me at Seamons Moss Bridge for another 60 km+ bike ride to Phoenix Park and back.

It was a brighter day than last Monday. We all enjoyed the ride past countless herons, swans and moorhens, even more mallards, and a few grey wagtails and other small birds. Thankfully no Canada Geese on this section of canal.

We took the same route as last week to Norton, slightly faster as I could remember the way after just a week. A different route into Phoenix Park saw us passing the landmark of the Urban Cafe, where Paul and Jeanette suffered a jammed chain problem and got a bit misplaced before we all headed down the road and back to the Bridgewater Canal towpath.

Less than five minutes later we arrived at Norton Priory Museum and Gardens, for a long refreshment break.

The reception area seems to contain part of the old priory building. As previously mentioned, a proper visit should be made at some point.

We found a slight improvement to last week’s route back to the Trans Pennine Trail, but once on the trail we managed to leave it for a while by crossing the Ship Canal by the wrong bridge.

After that it was a simple ride back under the canopy of trees along the disused railway line that often features on these pages.

Today my ride took me 62.7 km, with 175 metres ascent, taking 3 hours 42 mins plus stops totalling an hour and 22 minutes. The others took a slightly different route to and from the Seamons Bridge rendezvous. Here’s my route.

Saturday 18 August 2018 – Wythenshawe parkrun number 352

Another Saturday at home = another parkrun. A few pictures here just to keep Dot happy.

Above, Cary fails to outsprint Charlotte to finish in 30.47 in position 178 out of the 287 participants.

Also over 30 minutes, the ‘Breathless in under 32 Minutes’ chatty trio of Sue, Kate and Diana. “We didn’t want to be in the first 200 to finish” they admitted.

However, around the last corner only Diana seemed to be focused on finishing in anything other than an undignified blur.

A little later, in 53.33, Mark (aka Syd), and ‘Tail Walker’ Neil, strolled home in position 286 in search of the last brownie. Luckily for Syd (and as he had placed the order) there was one left for him.

With no root canal treatment scheduled this week, I was able to enjoy a warm down mile with ‘Fast Michael’ and ‘Even Faster Jackie’ whilst my coffee (thanks Paul) cooled down in the Courtyard.

As always, a great way to start the weekend. Full results here.

Thursday 16 August 2018 – A Bimble from the Bells of Peover

The last of Andrew’s ‘Deepest Cheshire’ evening walks of this season (doesn’t the time fly past!) took place, starting from the Bells of Peover pub, from the outside of which the seating that we’ve found convenient in the past has been removed. No matter, we congregated in the beer garden after finding somewhere to park in an overflow area. The place was heaving with diners, having become more a restaurant than the pub as we new it back in the 1970s.

The famous five – Andrew, Richard, Jenny, Sue and Martin, were joined on this occasion by Sue’s old work associate, Manu, for whom a walk involving stiles and tree trunks took her slightly out of her comfort zone.

We set off in bright sunshine despite some ominous moisture on the garden furniture following a recent shower.

The weather had cleared, leaving us to enjoy a bright evening in pleasant countryside – not too hot and not too cold.

Here’s the view in an area named Foxcovert.

After a while, the sun dipped below the horizon and we found ourselves on recently adjusted paths to protect the privacy of the owners of some new homes. The path did however pass through the garden of a large property between Sandy Lane and Heath Lane. It goes to the rear of the house, past an ornamental pond with plastic swans in residence.

At the front of the house a fleet of sheep have been deployed to mow the lawn (or are they just pretending?).

An old willow tree observes the goings on in lofty silence.

At the end of Heath Lane, we turned left onto Townfield Lane before walking carefully along the wide verge of the boy racing venue known as the A50 road, where the intelligentsia seem to think that all the ‘50’ signs refer to the number of the road and not to the speed limit. 

The Drovers Arms in Allostock started life as a farmhouse and spent many years as a hostelry, before closing in 2010 and subsequently being acquired by Equiport as a venue for the manufacture of horse rugs and riding jackets. At least it’s not a derelict shell like some former pubs featured on these pages.

Here’s what it looked like in 2009.

From the Drovers Arms it’s a pleasant stroll back through fields beside a busy stream to our starting point, where the ancient St Oswald’s Church, dating from 1269, stands next to the Bells of Peover (so named after a former owner, not by virtue of its proximity to the church).

An excellent little outing, concluded as darkness was falling. Thanks go to Andrew for organising this series of walks, and hopefully there will be some more to enjoy next year. I’ll also be arranging some winter evening walks in the environs of Timperley and Altrincham.

Here’s our route – 6 km with minimal ascent, in a very leisurely hour and a half.

Comment notification in Blogger

Back in May, Google’s Blogger product stopped sending emails to bloggers notifying them of comments received. This meant that we had to go into the Blogger dashboard to view comments, and for new postings we could receive comments by email after sending a dummy comment and ticking the notification box.

Today I found the following advice on how to fix the issue, and it does seem to work for me.

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“For anyone using Blogger: if you haven't been receiving email notification of blog comments this is how to fix the issue.

1. Go into Blogger - Settings - Email
2. Delete your email address in the box for comment notification
3. Click SAVE SETTINGS
4. Add your email back and click SAVE SETTINGS

You should receive an email where you confirm that you want to subscribe to receive email  notifications of comments.
If you use any comment moderation, you need to repeat the same steps under Settings - Posts, Comments, Sharing
AND, if you have been using the Email Post To (under Settings - Email), you need to copy the addresses, delete, SAVE SETTINGS, paste them back and SAVE SETTINGS. The recipients will receive an email where they can authorize receiving the posts.”

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Other News
We have a spare 40” Samsung LCD TV if anyone wants one. Six or seven years old but it should work fine. Let us know (martin@topwalks.com).

Wednesday 15 August 2018 – Pomona Metrolink Construction

A repeat of last Tuesday’s bike ride. Just a bit of exercise, but I stopped to take a couple of pictures by the Ship Canal where the Metrolink extension from Pomona to the Trafford Centre is being constructed.

Hopefully they’ll tidy up the site when they’ve finished.

This is a dry route with a good surface at all times of the year, which is very handy for an off road ride. There’s less than a couple of km on roads, though the section from the BBC studios to Eccles is on a cycle track next to the road.

Here’s the route again – 26km, 40 metres ascent, in an hour and a quarter or so today. Easy (and quicker) on a road bike if you have one.

Monday 13 August 2018 – Another Bike Ride to Phoenix Park (Runcorn)

Andy Wright recommended this route a couple of years ago, and I enjoyed the ride on 18 September 2016. A detailed record of that ride is here, so I’ll make this one brief.

I met Richard and Paul at 8.30 am at Seamons Moss Bridge, where the repair work is continuing at a pedestrian pace. At least the necessary diversion is very short, and pedestrians and cyclists are allowed over the bridge.

This bridge, next to the now defunct Bay Malton pub, marks the end of industrial Altrincham and the start of the Cheshire countryside through which the Bridgewater Canal now passes. Here’s the view in the other direction, towards Cheshire.

As before, the towpath was followed all the way through Lymm to Stockton Heath. There are occasional signs indicating ‘no bikes’, but today the towpath was firm and I can’t see that we were doing any harm by using it with courtesy on our bikes. Apart from one woman, everyone was friendly and no objections were raised. Later on our ride, some narrower and muddier paths were encountered on the Trans Pennine Trail that is a recognised cycling route.

We took a short break from the towpath between Stockton Heath and Acton Grange Bridge, using bridleways and quiet lanes by way of variety.

Here’s the view from, and the team at, Acton Grange Bridge.

Leaving the towpath at Red Brow Lane, we followed tarmac to muddle our way into Town Park then Phoenix Park, where the Urban Cafe that I used in 2016 was sadly closed down..

Andy W had usefully commented that we might find a café at Norton Priory, so we found our way past a building side to the canal again, and a footbridge that led into the grounds of Norton Priory Museum & Gardens. The Brooke Café saw to our needs (coffee and cake), and the whole site looked worthy of a longer visit.

The cycle path through Moore Meadows was a big improvement over my previous route, and we soon found ourselves next to the Manchester Ship Canal, hidden from view for a few kilometres until we reached the well signposted Trans Pennine Trail and familiar ground closer to home.

By now the drizzle was thickening and when we looked back to the bridge seen below ahead of us, that same bridge was engulfed in a watery mist that was slowly gaining ground on us.

The good news was that the wind was behind us. The bad news was that it was carrying with it ever heavier rain. By the time I got home I was still warm, but literally ‘soaked to the skin’, leaving a big puddle on the kitchen floor…

Here’s the route, by way of an overview, many alternative options being feasible. My route from home was 63 km with 150 metres ascent, taking 4 hours plus stops. An excellent ride, and thanks to Richard and Paul for joining me.

Same time, same place, similar route next week – Monday 20 August.

Saturday 11 August 2018 – Wythenshawe parkrun number 351

Saturday morning, 8.45: Oliver is omnipresent in Wythenshawe Park, and has had plenty of time to learn his ‘First Timer’s Briefing’ script.

Meanwhile, the hordes gather for this week’s bout of weekend exercise.

Just before 9 am: Today’s Run Director, Tris, mounts his rostrum to address 311 assembled runners from all over the country.

“We aren’t sole users of the park, dogs on short leads, children to look after their accompanying adults, cake thanks to Catherine Lay, etc, etc.”

Nearly half an hour later, elite volunteer Ken (his elite runner status is on hold until after his forthcoming knee operation) keeps the dogs at bay whilst some quicker runners are heading for the finish.

Ron storms past Syd to finish in 28.49.

Unlike this sub-30 pushchair, Syd still has a lap to go…

The pushchair is ahead of Diana, Charlotte, Sue and Cary, who all fail the 30 minute hurdle. [Does that matter? No, it’s just an observation to pad out this text!]

Sue and Cary were having a good chat, anyway.

Afterwards the hordes strolled round the corner and crowded into the spacious quarters of the Courtyard Tea Room.

As always, a splendid way to start the weekend.

Full results are here.

And congratulations to Gayle, who has been doing quite a bit of running recently and achieved a Personal Best in Stuttgart this morning.