Sunday 8 January 2017 – A Walk from Derbyshire Bridge

The sun was trying to emerge as we passed through Macclesfield, but the Cat & Fiddle road had a different agenda. We spent the whole day in variable amounts of cloud and rain, despite a favourable forecast.

Eleven of us met at Derbyshire Bridge, from where Sue W led us south, past noisy but largely hidden red grouse, eventually arriving at Three Shire Heads amongst a flurry of walkers, cyclists, and trial bikers.

Elevenses turned out to be ‘twelveses’, or should that read ‘noonses’? Anyway, Sue’s box of CCS was soon depleted. At this point the rain intensified. Waterproofs were needed.

Soon it was time to cross the bridge and head up a sometimes muddy path to gain the Cat & Fiddle via the Dane Valley, where a dipper added colour to the scene, and Danebower Hollow.

The Cat & Fiddle remains sadly closed, with Robinsons still looking for a suitable tenant, so lunch was taken outside the pub, where a picnic bench served its purpose.

A couple of wimps headed back down the road to their car from here, but the rest of us enjoyed the path towards Shining Tor before turning down to Stake Clough and on to Goyt’s Clough beside the infant River Goyt. Even in the mist this was a pleasant route.

We finished reasonably early, before 3 o’clock, giving us a leisurely winter’s afternoon before popping round for dinner and Rummikub with Mike and Sarah in Northern Moor.

Here’s our route – 16km, 500 metres ascent, taking about 4.5 hours.

Saturday 7 January 2017 – Wythenshawe parkrun number 270 – A Cakefest

We know from our backpacking etc trips with Cary that he survives on a diet of Cake. Lots of it. So it was perhaps no surprise that he turned up for his 100th Wythenshawe parkrun with the masterpiece pictured above.

That picture and the one below were taken by Andy Wright well before Sue and I and over 330 others turned up in time for the 9.00 am start. Andy is one of a small core team that habitually arrives about an hour early on dark winter mornings in order to set up the course, distributing bollards, markers and signs in an effort for the event to run smoothly, which it always does, even if last minute route changes prove necessary. This has happened in the past due to waterlogged areas and on one occasion due to an inebriated member of the public who was stuck up a tree that was surrounded by fire engines and blocked paths when we arrived for the run.

Our thanks go out to all these stalwarts. (Spot the Wolves supporter – he left early and was rewarded with a fine result at Stoke.)

I snatched this close-up of the cake before the start.

It was a misty morning. The course was muddy and slow, but the turnout was excellent. Here are some familiar faces at the start.

Sue and I still had calf and other injuries, so we jogged around at gentle paces, enjoying a chat with people as they went past. The results are here.

Today’s Run Director was Ralph (pictured on the right of Andy’s second image above). His team ensured that everything ‘ran’ smoothly, and he even wrote the Run Report in time for me to reproduce it here:

What a CAKE way to start 2017

Posted on January 8, 2017 by wythenshaweoffice

Wythenshawe parkrun

Event number 270

7th January 2017

What a way to start the New Year. 335 fantastic parkrunners, 25 fabulous volunteers and 1 stunning cake.

Sorry folks but headlines have to go to Cary O'Donnell's 100th Wythenshawe parkrun celebration cake. Anyone who hopes to win the 2017 cake of the year award is going to have to produce something amazing to knock Cary off the top spot. Yes I know it is only the first week but if you saw the cake and the detail that was put into the decoration of it I think you'd agree. For those of you who missed it here it is.

All the detail is there - the old hall, car park, far bridge, muddy passage, farm animals, trees, Cromwell, marshals in hi-vis vests, parkrunners and of course, the parkrun logo. The cake went down well with everyone who sampled it and even Cromwell enjoyed the occasion - he was last seen in the café but unfortunately didn't survive the experience. No-one has admitted to his disappearance!!

A huge thank you to Cary for this masterpiece in baking.

Now to the running.

As mentioned above we had 335 runners on a slightly foggy but otherwise ideal morning for parkrunning. Of these 69 were running at Wythenshawe for the first time with 45 yes 45 taking part in their first ever parkruns. We had tourists from places as far afield as South Manchester, Reading, Norwich and Birmingham. We hope you all enjoyed the experience and will return again and again and again and ……

There were 35 personal bests. Too many to name individually but I will mention 3. Edward Lord who achieved his first PB since 21st of May last year, Andrew Grant who on his 11th parkrun managed a time under 30 minutes for the first time and Carole Partington for achieving a quirky PB time of 33.33. Well done to everyone who achieved a PB and to those of you who didn't - keep on trying you'll get there one day.

There were 3 parkrun milestones - Scott Wilson doing his 50th parkrun and Kieron Walsh and Colm Mulhern both doing their 100th parkruns. Congratulations to you all.

For those who are interested in the "results" First male across the line was John Stockdale followed by Iain Owens and Richard Evans. First female across the line was Hannah Carey followed by Zoe Gmerek and Rachel Rongong.

Bravest parkrunner of the week is Cale McCoy who completed his first ever parkrun on Saturday. After tripping and badly grazing his face last week during his first attempt he bravely turned up again on Saturday for another go. This time he managed to stay injury free and complete the course. Well done Cale.

We wouldn't have been able to have our run if we hadn't had such a good band of able and willing volunteers so on behalf of all the runners a big thank you to the volunteers -

Alan Lamb, Amelia Atack, Amy Mollard, Andy Wright, Andy Holloway, Caroline McGarvey, Clair Potter, David Sinnott, Ethan Spencer, Frank Cordingley, Jackie Cordingley, Jason Wood, Jim Brett, Joe Oliver Evans, Kate Holloway, Ken Burgess, Lydia Mae Jane Dudley, Margaret Tunney, Norma Burgess, Ralph Gilchrist, Ron Carter, Sam McGrath, Victoria Cordingley, William Lord and, Zoe Carter

With apologies to anyone I haven't mentioned or any major omissions I think that's everything.

See you all again this coming Saturday and DFYB.

Ralph

Thanks Ralph. I’m amazed, given the slow conditions (two steps forward, one back in places) that there were so many personal bests, and I was most impressed by Richard’s effort in third place, only 3 seconds outside his PB – it’s only a matter of time before he joins the elite 80% age related club. Go for it, Richard!

Here’s that cake again, with a few annotations. It lasted until about 10.30, by which time some of us were on our second coffees in the Courtyard Café.

Calf report: thanks to our slow pace, Sue and I didn’t noticeably aggravate our injuries, but we subsequently went to see Sarah Pank at in-step footcare (thanks go to Claire H for the recommendation) who gave treatment and advice that was much appreciated, even if we are required to use ice regularly on our injured appendages, and are banned from running until the weekend.

4 to 6 January 2017 – A Visit from Jacob

We had the pleasure of a visit from Jacob due to his term not having started and his mum and dad having gone to work.

Liz lent us some games and jig saws – Hot Wheels (above) and Hullabaloo being the star items that supplemented our own diet of jigsaws, Uno, dominoes and ‘'”Sorry”, to name but a few.

There were daily bike rides to Walton Park, and a long game of Frisbee on a muddy football pitch.

Motorists who potter their way around the M60 may be familiar with the Chill Factor building. Can you spot the ‘Chill Factor’ sign?

Below all the winter based activities is a large ‘soft play’ area called PlayFactore. Excellent for five year olds like Jacob.

It’s not cheap (except for pensioners), and there’s a time limit of two and a half hours. However, for a total of £18 plus a few extra coins for the arcade game pictured below, it was excellent value.

Whilst Sue and I spent most of the time following Jacob around an array tubes, ladders and slides, we did enjoy elevenses. (What’s new!)

There’s a big slide that runs from the top to the bottom level. Jacob’s fast clothing resulted in an involuntary lane change and a bumpy landing. He wouldn’t go down it again, so no photo – he recovered on this bouncy ball…

They were frosty days, but that didn’t stop the bike rides. Here’s Jacob with his main Christmas present.

The Bridgewater Canal was partly frozen, to the extent that the Black-headed gulls were declining to land on the ice, instead attempting, with limited success, to grab Jacob’s crusts whilst flying past. They were showing rather less skill in attempting this, than the magpies that are emptying our bird feeder.

We had a lovely three days and enjoyed Jacob’s company a lot, if not his predilection to waking up full of beans at 5 am. (iPad to the rescue!)

Tuesday 3 January 2017 – A Bike ride to Lymm

Sue and I were pleased to be joined by Grandad Paul, and Isabella, who had taken a break from looking after Great Grandparents and packing for a long haul trip, to enjoy a gentle ride along the Trans Pennine Trail to Lymm and back.

We met near the (now sadly defunct) Bay Malton hostelry, Sue and I having cycled down the canal towpath from home – just over ten minutes.

We’d hoped to go a bit further than Lymm, but it was a chilly, grey day, and whose hands wouldn’t get cold sitting on the back of Paul’s bike?

The surface of this cycleway is starting to deteriorate, but it’s nothing like as bad as it was before the major renovation work carried out a few years ago.

The café in Lymm was excellent. A brilliant place to pause for an hour or so before pedalling slowly back to our nice warm house.

On the way we passed the site of the Railway Inn/Hotel that used to host vibrant folk nights but closed a few years ago and was then destroyed by fire in 2011. Since then the building has been demolished and planning applications have been made, rejected, and resubmitted on a smaller scale. The building currently under construction is the result. Interestingly, the Planning Statement says:

‘The applicant has stated his willingness to contribute toward the maintenance of the Trans-Pennine Trail which sits immediately to the north of the application site.’

We’ll see. I’d anticipate that the ‘applicant’ may construct a fence to deter the prying eyes of those enjoying the trail…

I looked for my old photos of the Railway – couldn’t find them, so I’ve used these images from Google to show what the old place looked like. To be fair, the new structure does show some sympathy with the old design.

This easy ride covered about 24 flat kilometres and took about an hour and forty minutes, plus an hour in the café.

Monday 2 January 2017 – Silverdale

It was a good decision to postpone this visit for 24 hours. We were rewarded with a superb 'blue sky' day.

After another leisurely start we enjoyed coffee and cake at Leighton Moss bird reserve visitor centre, leaving it at around 11 am for a clockwise 19 km stroll around the coast to Silverdale, over Arnside Knott, down to Arnside and a bit more coast, then cross country past sunset at Hawes Water to a pot of tea at the visitor centre before it closed at 4.30.

There were many people about and the paths are well used by locals and visitors alike. Thankfully not as muddy as those around Alderley Edge, and the planning regulations seem to be more sensible here.

The top picture shows me approaching the old Smelt Mill Chimney at Jenny Brown’s Point, after which we meandered through Jack Scout, where the sun shone on these seed heads from a deep blue sky.

Both Wolf House Gallery and the Silverdale Hotel were closed. Perhaps they hadn’t realised that this Monday was a Bank Holiday on which they could have made good profits had they been open.

We’d anticipated our usual haunts being closed, so, with the tide out, we wandered along the slippery shore line to the cove.

There’s a bench, just out of shot to the right in the above picture, which makes an excellent luncheon venue.

Here’s the view over Morecambe Bay from the bench. You can see the Power Stations at Heysham on the horizon.

The robins hereabouts are not afraid of humans.

Nor are the mice. This is one of a pair who were busily constructing a nest in a wall. They ignored our attention, but if we had picked one up I expect a sharp nip would have been our reward.

Sue paused on the ascent of Arnside Knott to attempt some artistry with the frosted leaf litter.

Many pictures were taken from near the 159 metre summit of Arnside Knott. The views across the Kent Estuary to the Lake District were superb, with the higher summits such as Helvellyn and Skiddaw tinged with snow.

Our friends in Arnside – Conrad, and Ian and Rona, were all away, so sadly we passed Conrad’s local Spar shop and Ian and Rona’s house without the pleasure of seeing them. Though a stop of any consequence would have seen us finishing in the dark. The sun set as we passed Hawes Water, still with half an hour to go.

The bird watchers were still present in abundance as we approached the visitor centre well after dusk. We weren’t on a bird spotting mission today, but we did notice a Great Egret near Hazelslack.

Here’s our route – 19.5 km with about 400 metres ascent, taking a little less than five and a half hours.

I’m posting this to avoid getting too far behind. A slideshow will follow, and notes of birds and wild flowers observed this year. (Good intentions, anyway!)

New Year’s Day 2017 – Alderley Edge

A rainy morning led us to revise our plans for the day. Silverdale could wait. So Sue and I waited for the rain to ease after lunch, before setting off to Alderley Edge. As expected it was busy on the Edge, but quiet in the muddy Cheshire fields below. Those green swathes in the view from the Edge above, are full of wetness.

Eventually the sun came out and gave us some pleasureable views towards the skyscrapers of Manchester, sufficiently distant to avoid being an eyesore, with the masts of Winter Hill visible in the distance.

Today we took a shorter version of the walk I enjoyed on 1 April last year, taking the Bollin Valley Way route past Mill Farm. On previous visits this path has been closed due to a landslip into the river, but it’s fine now, and a pleasant walk that skirts the Mottram Hall golf course before rejoining our previous route by a footbridge.

My notes from 1 April record our passing the groundworks for a new residence, which presumably replaces some old barns that meshed well with the landscape. In their place, the O’Connor £millions are constructing a palace that will have great views to the Edge and the Cheshire countryside. It’s a Blot on the Landscape that must be quite upsetting to some of its less ostentatious neighbours.

Our walk proceeded through pleasant, if muddy, countryside towards the Edge, but the last few km towards the Wizard were further blighted by a huge green fence surrounding more extensive building work. How people manage to get permission for this wholesale destruction of the landscape I really don’t know.

Money and influence: 2 – Everyone Else: 0?

Ah well, at least we don’t have to live nearby, and given the number of people and the amount of mud, I think visits to this area might be reserved for dry summer midweek days. Hopefully the construction sites will be sanitised. Anyway, there are plenty of other places to go for a walk…

Having said that, we did have a lovely stroll apart from the eyesores and the mud.

Here’s our route – 12 km with about 200 metres gentle ascent back up to the Edge. Allow 2.5 to 3 hours.

On relection, we made the best of the day – start the year as you mean to carry on…

Have fun.

Saturday 31 December 2016 – An Energetic Morning

Sue and I were up at 7.45, in time to pedal down to Wythenshawe for the parkrun. 5.7 km in about 18 minutes. My route is shown, it’s a pavement and minor roads route, whereas Sue takes the main roads.

Due to a calf strain, I volunteered to run at the back of the 276 participants who turned up today. A plump lady called Zoe was taking her first short steps in trying to get fitter. A group of five encouraged her around the 5 km course, which includes two laps of the bottom loop shown below. Chatting with stalwarts, Ralph, Ron and Claire made the slow pace bearable. A stroll in the park in good company, with coffee from a flask and cake from a tin at the end, as the Courtyard café is on holiday. My time of 55.58 was not the fastest for a 5km run!

Then came the energetic bit. Paul wanted to give his new mountain bike (he’s pictured with it above before it got too muddy) an outing, so I pedalled back to the canal at Brooklands, then down to the Bay Malton to meet him and son Greg. We went back along the canal towpath, leaving it at Stretford for a convoluted route to the Jackson’s Boat bridge, before joining the Fallowfield Loop route along the disused railway tracks, through increasing amounts of rubbish to Gorton and on to join the Ashton Canal near Sports City. From there we followed the canal as best we could, despite a diversion along Whitworth Street, all the way home for me, and home via the Bay Malton for Paul and Greg. I did 49.5 km, and by the time they got home, Paul and Greg had probably done something similar. Here’s the route – if you click on the image it should go a bit bigger. There are a multitude of routes around here, but the Fallowfield Loop is worth a try for an easy off-road jaunt.

That’s it for 2016, all in all a pretty excellent year.

Have a great New Year…

[Homework for Paul: go back down to the bridge at Watersmeet and try to go over without falling off!]

A Visit from Jessica

This entry is family biased, so skip it if you aren’t interested. Great Grandmas read on!

Yesterday morning Sue and I wandered off to the shops before taking delivery of a grandchild. The path through Woodheys, beside Baguley Brook, was particularly attractive in the morning light.

Jessica duly arrived. At three and a bit she is at a delightful age. Ready to help with everything, well beyond nappies and ‘accidents’, and very amenable and self sufficient.

Whilst I went for a short jog along the canal towpath and established that my sore calf was still very sore, Sue and Jess played on the frost covered swings at Newton Park. It was parky, but a good 30-40 minutes was spent on this one swing…

Pasta and tuna with a cheese sauce had the youngster craving for more. “This is nice” she remarked, “I’ve been asking for pasta all week”. It seems that Christmas leftovers in Bacup didn’t feature pasta.

‘Frozen’ (a film) was watched whilst I checked out some diary entries from 1993. What delights you have to come! Unlike her older brother, this little girl is a Good Sleeper. After a reading of my cousin’s book, ‘Seen and not Heard’, she embarked instantly on an eleven hour sleep. Sue and I both wish we could match that!

So we were able to have our customary holiday lie in. Sue and I have received some panettone for Christmas, and are enjoying it for breakfast. “What’s that?” Jess asked, “we don’t have that at home”. She soon got the hang of removing the paper and tucking in to this Christmas classic. The coco pops were returned to their packet.

We are running short of mince pies, so Sue decided to make Jamie Oliver’s filo version. This involves brushing filo pastry with melted butter. A great job for a three year old.

Then we fed the birds and Jess waited by the window to watch them enjoying the worms. “While I’m here I may as well wash up” she was telling me.

Then, after some fun with Play Dough, Jess went home. What a delight she was to have for 24 hours. We hope she can come again soon (in between our globe-trotting).

Sunny in Stretford

It’s almost exactly three years since I wrote about the Stretford Reach sculpture. That was on one of those lovely sunny frosty winter days, the like of which we are now experiencing. The sculpture is beside a bridge by Stretford Metro Station, just beyond the Watch House Cruising Club building pictured above.

We are ‘at home’, with jobs to do and a little local excitement, so exercise comprises things like our 27/12 walk to Dunham Massey and on to Altrincham, and yesterday’s ‘lollipop’ bike ride – along the canal to Throstle Nest Bridge, then beside the Ship Canal to Barton swing bridge beyond Eccles, returning along the canal towpath past the Trafford Centre to regain the stick of the lollipop.

It’s about 26 km. Allow up to an hour and a half, depending on your pace. Yesterday was a perfect day for this bike ride as the surface of the canal towpath is pretty frost resistant, but you did need to wrap up well!