Friday 4 January 2019 – Around Oughtrington

At very short notice, five of us turned up for this Friday morning ramble around Oughtrington and Lymm Dam, starting in Lymm town centre.

After watching the dismemberment of Lymm Cross (or were they just taking down the Christmas decorations?), we headed to the end of Pepper Street and then down Sutch Lane to cross the Bridgewater Canal via Lloyd’s Bridge.



Then an easy towpath stroll took us past Lymm Marina, where ‘The Duke’ was in residence next to ‘The Mistress’.



Here’s today’s gang – Sue, Keith, Carol and Paul. Happy to be out in the fresh air, but needing to walk briskly to stay warm.



We crossed back over the canal at Agden Bridge and took easy field paths back towards Lymm. Jen Darling covers this route in her ‘Walks in North Cheshire’ book, but it’s roughly the reverse of a route that I’ve taken on numerous occasions, sometimes on a summer’s evening.

Rather than follow Jen’s route straight back to Lymm, I prefer to take a path around Lymm Dam and over Crosfield Bridge before descending to one of Lymm’s excellent cafés. Sexton’s Tea Rooms were today’s choice.

There’s an information board describing the wildlife of Lymm Dam. It doesn’t mention the resident cormorants.




Crosfield Bridge gets ever more dilapidated.



Below the next picture, which shows the bridge in all its faded glory, is an extract from Lymm Village’s website with a bit of historical information.

The History of Lymm Dam

The creation and development of one of Lymm's most well-known beauty spots

Turnpike trust

In the early part of the 19th Century a road was constructed by the Turnpike Trust between Warrington and Stockport. The Trust had been granted the right to charge a toll fare on this road which is now the present day A56. It seems that even back then there was concern over traffic congestion as local opposition prevented the road from coming through the centre of the village. A toll bar was placed on the road of the Church slope which is still sometimes referred to as 'Penny Hill' today. The only way of crossing the valley below the Church was via a path leading to a footbridge over what was then 'a pool and stream'. They therefore began to construct an earth dam across the valley in 1824 and as a consequence the lake known today as Lymm Dam was created.

Beechwood estate

At the time of Lymm Dam's creation, the area it was constructed on was part of the Lymm Hall Estate which owned much of the village. The estate was split into sections in 1848 and several were sold off including what is now Lymm Dam, Lymm Rugby Club and the area of land between. The section of the estate which comprised Lymm Dam was bought by a local solicitor named Thomas Ridgeway.# Ridgeway built 'a large opulent manor house' at the site which is now Lymm Rugby Club on Crouchley Lane. He lived here in the house and the estate which were known as 'Beechwood' for 20 years before he sold the estate to a Cotton Trader from Manchester called George Dewhurst. Dewhurst had a considerable level of influence in Lymm and figured prominently in the Victorian village for many years at the time. He and his family lived on the Beechwood estate until the close of the 19th Century. By this time they had largely withdrawn from life in the village. The house was eventually demolished in the 1930s but some of aspects of the estate still remain today. What are today Lymm Rugby Club's changing rooms were once the old stable block, and the wall which runs alongside the pitch was part of the horses' exercise paddock. The stone archway which featured as the entrance to the Beechwood estate can still be found along Crouchley Lane. Furthermore, the Wishing Bridge round Lymm Dam and the small boat house are also legacies of the Dewhurst era.

William Lever

The land was then owned by a man called William Lever who intended to make considerable changes to the area. It was he who constructed the large concrete bridge at the southern end of Lymm Dam known as the Crosfield Bridge. He was also accountable for the avenues which border Lymm Dam, these currently being Lakeside Road, The Avenue and the bridleway running along the eastern boundary of Lymm Dam. The avenues were planted with alternating Lombardy poplar and English elm trees. Lever had planned to use these avenues as part of a residential development to house his workers. However, for reasons unknown*, the houses were never built. The Crosfield Bridge and the rows of trees which lead up to it stand as a legacy of a period of Lymm Dam's history and serve as a reminder of how different the site could have looked today. Unfortunately the elm trees died due to Dutch elm disease in the 1980s, however the poplars remain and have become one of Lymm Dam's most recognisable features clearly visible from a distance.

* There is some debate about whether the soap baron (Lever) did a deal with the salt baron whereby they would not interfere with each other’s activities. As Lymm is in a ‘salt’ area, Lever may have abandoned his project in order to protect his wider interests.

Here’s today’s route – 10 km with about 50 metres ascent (ie – flat), taking a couple of hours.



# John Lord comments:
Hi there I have just read with interest your section on the Beechwood Estate. I thought you may be interested to know the having studied the Dewhurst family quite extensively I can tell you that the manor House was not built by Thomas Ridgway the SOLICITOR since he was only 1 at the time, but by his Uncle Thomas Ridgway of Ridgway Tea fame. Also the Ridgway family did not live in the Manor House for twenty years since George Dewhurst bought it in 1853 and moved in with his family in 1854. I know that the information you have added to your blog can be found on a number of websites but sadly this is incorrect and copied from one website to another. Also the land purchased by Thomas Ridgway was I believe not part of the Lymm Estate which was I believe broken up in 1846.

Tuesday 1 January 2019 – A Visit to Arnside

After returning to Lyn’s house for a post-parkrun coffee with her and Robert (and to collect some cheese) we headed up to Leighton Moss Bird Reserve for lunch. It was heaving with people, and we had to park by the roadside. However, the café had a free table and the shop provided a squirrel proof bird feeder by way of a Christmas present for me – or should that be for our garden birds?

Ian and Rona were at home in Arnside as predicted. Cooking duties prevented Rona from joining us, but Duncan was at his parents’ house and came along on a romp up Arnside Knott.

It was a particularly clear day with fine views deep into the Lake District.

We started beside the Kent Estuary, with the tide rapidly ebbing.

The views widened as we soared up the gentle ascent of Arnside Knott.

A viewpoint was soon reached. We thought we could see right through the Lake District to Skiddaw in the superb visibility.

The low sun provided good reflections in Morecambe Bay.

We were, of course, obliged to visit the summit, getting 2019 off to a good ‘hill start’.

A quick romp down, then we picked up the car from Ian and Rona’s house and spent a happy hour with Conrad (aka Sir Hugh), whose tea and biscuits were much appreciated. Thanks Conrad, and it was great to see you looking in such good form. Have a great 2019.

Here’s our route – 7 km with 165 metres ascent, taking about 1.75 hours. Always a pleasure.

1 January 2019 – Haigh Woodland parkrun

Sue and I enjoyed a lie in at Lyn’s house in Adlington. We made it to Haigh Country Park in plenty of time for the 10.30 start of the Haigh Woodland New Year’s Day parkrun. Another eight tourists from Wythenshawe had made a much earlier start and had run in the 9 o’clock start at Witton parkrun near Blackburn before heading to this fine venue.

The picture above shows our team, after the event. Charley and Jenn seem to have been shrunk by the effort of two parkruns in one morning. I hope they have recovered!

It was a beautiful start to 2019, with a brilliant blue sky and a thermometer showing plus signs. Some 260 folk milled about at the start.

I was close behind Andy H after a couple of kilometres – it’s very unusual for me to do a sub 4 minute kilometre. But after that I fell back and more than twenty people passed me as I slogged back up the hill at 6 minute kilometre pace a little later.

Sue wasn’t far behind me – I only just got the camera out in time.

Andy H is a glutton for punishment – I think he went back to the bottom of the hill to commune with Kate and coax her into a fast finish.

That was a lovely way to start 2019 – just a shame that I forgot to bring any brownies.

Full results are here. I did this parkrun a couple of years ago – results here, but there was no blog report. Interestingly, I came in 40th position on both occasions.

Happy New Year!

Sue and I enjoyed the hospitality and good company of Lyn and Robert, Chris and Gerry, and Louise, for an excellent meal and a smidgeing of partying to see the New Year in.

Luckily, I only took two photos – the top one just as the starter arrived, and the one below - taken just after I had served the fish course (Robert was busy in the kitchen tending to his duck legs). My duties over, I relaxed into a state in which no further pictures were taken by me.

Robert’s group photo taken towards the end of the evening is included below.

Saturday 29 December 2018 – Christmas at Dunham Massey

Saturday brought a visit from J and J, whose parents sadly both had to work. That gave Sue and me the opportunity to visit ‘Christmas at Dunham Massey’ that folk have been raving about. It comprises an after dark visit to the Winter Garden, where an illuminated route took us an hour to negotiate.

It came up to expectations, starting with a long illuminated archway past puzzled daffodils. I forgot to turn on the flash setting – I still have to learn the camera settings on the S9 phone, but it does seem to perform ok in conditions of low light.

It was hard to capture the ambience, as the colours kept changing.

We have many daylight pictures of the ‘shiny bark’ silver birch trees pictured below.

The route was spiced with numerous interesting lighting effects.

Jacob was required, in order to obtain a badge at the end, to take a selfie with Dasher. All Santa’s reindeer could be found at some point in the garden.

There were some giant reindeer scattered amongst the life-size ones. Below, you can see people passing through the legs of the animal in the middle of the picture.

A bubble machine combined with imaginative lighting provided fun for all.

The large lawn was festooned with lights that changed colour to the sound of Christmas music.

This is Jessica’s ‘selfie’ with Dancer. “Wifi selfie” she said, “… I have an implant.”

The rose garden was nicely lit, with the cash tills of vendors of gourmet marshmallows ringing merrily. There were plenty of toasting coals, and the fare was delicious. If you wanted to, you could bring your own marshmallows.

Returning towards the hall, we passed through an area of dangling baubles that constantly changed colour.

I wonder what the resident swans think of all this?

After exiting the Winter Garden, we passed the front of the hall, where a white bearded gent was frantically distributing some late presents.

The hour in the garden was followed by an hour on some children’s rides. Jacob zipped up and down the Helter Skelter.

They both enjoyed the bucking bronco ride.

At the exit, a waterfall danced to the sound of Christmas music. I have a two minute video of this that I haven’t worked out how to download from the phone. Probably just as well – this posting is quite cheesy enough without that video!

I think everyone enjoyed their evening out – the lighting effects were certainly well up to expectation.

Saturday 29 December 2018 – Wythenshawe parkrun number 371

“Is nobody else taking this seriously?” quipped Paul, displaying his brand new (lack of) hair style!

Meanwhile, Jenn perched on the ‘Run Director’s Bollard’ to deliver the usual briefing to today’s 236 participants.

Waiting at the finish line, stalwart volunteers Norma and Jane. The event couldn’t run without people like these to scan barcodes and carry out a number of other duties. (I won’t divulge their nickname!)

Here’s an unusual snap, as I’m normally the one with the camera. Thanks go to another volunteer, Jan, for this picture taken at the end of the first lap. Despite the impression of motion, this is the point at which I discover that I’ve gone too fast. Today was no exception; most of those pictured behind me had passed me by the time I got to this point, about 20 metres from the finish, on the second lap.

Today’s full results are here, but it was primarily a social occasion, with a good chat with some regulars in the café afterwards.