Monday to Friday 5 to 9 August 2024 - A Trip to Center Parcs Whinfell

This posting will probably only be of interest to the family. Click on any image for a slideshow.

Last Monday, six of us - me, Sue, Kate, Jacob and Jessica, plus Jacob's friend Seb, made our way to 14 Forresters Lane, at Whinfell Center Parcs near Penrith.

The boys had a stomach bug that miraculously didn't find its way to any of the rest of us, but they were laid low for a while.

A walk around the 'village' (there can be up to nearly 5000 visitors at any one time) took us past some tree houses that cost a fortune to stay in. As you can see, our accommodation was more modest, albeit perfectly adequate (apart from its oven, which only Sue could operate!).

After we had all enjoyed a 5km walk around the perimeter, Sue and Seb went on a quad bike safari. Great fun, and not without incident.

Not all of us saw the resident red squirrels, but we did see this deer, pottering about in the village.

Kate, Jess and Sue enjoyed an 'aerial adventure'.

Back outside the house, some baby hares were nestling in the grass. 

Their mum was attentive and soon moved her babies to a more secret location.

The mum mallard was not so attentive - she preferred preening to mothering.

I was appointed photographer for a kayaking interlude.

There were five soggy bottoms.

A half hour of 'football fun', in the sports hall, tested some forgotten skills.

Meanwhile, a tough jigsaw was nearing completion.

Apart from ping pong, various  folk enjoyed a game of pool, and some family fun games in the squash courts. As well as lots of watching the Olympics (mainly me).

Shortly before we left number 14 on Friday morning, the jigsaw was finished.

Our final morning was based in a cabane in the aquatic centre. £30 for three hours. A good spot with a TV.

Then after some more ping pong and pool, we went home. 

Thanks for your company everyone, that was a lovely few days. Waterproofs were used for about five minutes - not bad for the Lake District!

Sunday 4 August 2024 - Didsbury Beach

I've not reported on Saturday's parkrun, or today's Community Run - both of them enjoyable and sociable, but no pictures were taken. What a contrast with the Sizzler - in the parkrun my slower time of 30:34 saw me in position 191/310.

Anyway, this afternoon Sue and I popped over to Didsbury for a family outing with Isabella and her mum and dad. She fancied going to the beach, and enjoyed every minute of the outing.

This was good practice for going to Scarborough in a few weeks' time.

It's great to have a beach (even if the sand seems to come and go) a few minutes walk from home, near the centre of a major city. Kingfishers patrol this stretch of the River Mersey, though we didn't notice any today..

What we did notice, frolicking on the opposite bank and in the water the other side of the river, were three juvenile river otters. Well I never! Later: no!!! we now realise that these were adult mink, not otters.

Beyond the beach, the Mersey heads off towards Manchester. The otters' playground is on the left bank in the next picture, beside rather inaccessible woodland. The otters move quickly and are well camouflaged; my attempts to photograph them all failed.

What a lovely afternoon.

There will now be a short interlude (holiday) from postings. Enjoy your holidays.

Thursday 1 August 2024 - A Sale Sizzler

We joined Paul and Jeanette for an evening 5km race around Wythenshawe Park. Running clubs from far and wide come to enjoy the fast course on which I've reported before.

I got round in my quickest time for over a year (28:25), finishing in position 479 out of 495 finishers. The others did better than that:

Paul - position 299, 21:26

Jeanette - position 458, 27:11

Sue - position 403, 24:37

Here we are at the start.

495 runners receive a briefing.

Jeanette looked particularly fresh and happy at the end, not having participated in a race for some time.

The gentleman pictured below arrived just in time to receive the award for being quickest in his age group.

The lovely warm evening graduated to dusk as we cycled home after the last of this year's four Sizzlers, this being the only one I could attend.

Full results are here.

Tuesday 30 July 2024 - Around Alderley Edge

This was another of Tony Bowerman's 'Mysterious Cheshire' walks. Number 13. It starts from the National Trust Car Park on Alderley Edge, what3words: tulip.gentle.tried

The Wizard of Edge restaurant is currently closed, but the Tearoom is open.

This sign confirms that the pub is closed, but the Tearoom is thriving

After turning right in front of the tearooms, the path goes for a few hundred metres to reach a curve to the left, where stone steps after a 5mph sign lead up to the Engine Vein, where mining took place from Bronze Age times over 4000 years ago.

Before returning to the main track, I reached an area at the top of the Engine Vein, where the land is being allowed to collapse by way of natural processes.

A left turn back at the main path leads to a junction where a large sandstone block is known as the Golden Stone. Tony Bowerman's book provides more information on this and many more of the features encountered on this walk.

Here we follow the signs to Stormy Point, passing to the left of good views to parts of Greater Manchester and Derbyshire, where the Lyme Cage folly can be seen.

The rocky summit of Stormy Point is soon reached.

Mine entrances are blocked off within the slot like excavation known as the 'Devil's Grave'.

Our route continues ahead, past a knarly veteran tree.

 

The path descends (above) before rising to the summit of Saddle Bole (below).

After returning to Stormy Point, the lower of two paths is taken to reach a slab-sided stone trough.

A second trough, this one oval and carved from a single piece of sandstone, is just around the corner. This is the Holy Well.

The path soon reaches a planked section, followed by steep uphill steps just visible in the next picture.

At the top of the steps, we take the path to the right, then 10 metres further on the yellow path sign to the right is ignored in favour of a narrow path that leads steeply up to a well surfaced path along the lip of the edge.

This good path leads to Castle Rock, with more fine views across the Cheshire Plain and beyond.

Continuing briefly beside a fence, we double back at the first opportunity and soon descend down stone steps past two stone posts.

At the bottom of the slope we head left past a low overhang.

About 100 metres on, as the path starts to dip downhill, the Wizard's Well is reached.

Our route turns around here and goes back past the bottom of the stone steps and posts, along a path that runs below the Edge.

We continue along the path pictured above, passing the steps that descend to the Holy Well. A drystone wall is soon seen on the right. This denotes a walled off area containing a roofed reservoir. The wall is followed around a corner to the right, then we rise to the left to a mound surmounted by a plaque that denotes the Armada Beacon.

Continuing on beyond the Beacon, a path wide enough for wheelchairs leads back to the National Trust car park.

Here's the route, just 3.5km with 75 metres ascent. It took me around an hour, but you could savour this area by taking twice as long as that, especially if you have Tony's excellent book to hand..