Thursday 21 July 2011 – The Salford Trail (Part 5)

Readers may recall previous visits to this trail on 23 February and 23 March.
Having missed Part 4 of the trail, I joined various LDWA stalwarts on the recently published Part 5.  Seven of us set off from a lay-by in Hollins Green.  We were soon joined by the creator of the trail, Roy Bullock, who pointed out the ‘hundred’ marking on the other side of the bridge, denoting the border between Salford and West Derby, two of the six Hundreds of Lancashire.
The hundred of Salford was an ancient division of the historic county of Lancashire, in northern England. It was sometimes known as Salfordshire, the name alluding to its judicial centre being the township of Salford (the suffix -shire meaning the territory was appropriated to the prefixed settlement). It is also known as the Royal Manor of Salford and the Salford wapentake.
The Manor or Hundred of Salford had Anglo-Saxon origins. The Domesday Book recorded that the area was held in 1066 by Edward the Confessor. Salford was recorded as part of the territory of Inter Ripam et Mersam or "Between Ribble and Mersey", and it was included with the information about Cheshire, though it cannot be said clearly to have been part of Cheshire.
The area became a subdivision of the County Palatine of Lancaster (or Lancashire) on its creation in 1182.
So, the history of these parts goes back quite a long way.  There’s more information here (from which the above information has been extracted).
I can’t believe that I failed to photograph ‘Marge and Steel’, the sculpture designed as a gateway into Salford from Warrington. It is symbolic of the Margarine Factory and Irlam Steel Works, one of the biggest in the country, and the contribution made by the local people to the local economy. It is also the first public art on a roundabout in Salford.  The design is based upon an idea developed with the community. Children wanted a modern superhero theme and adults talked about the Steel and Margarine works that used to be here. Retired workers remembered the tea dances they enjoyed. An idea was developed to portray the dance of these two industries which forged people’s lives together in Irlam and Cadishead.
We strolled along between the road and the Manchester Ship Canal.  That was the theme of today’s route.  A high level bridge linking Carrington with Glazebrook was soon reached.  Apparently this used to be a low level bridge across the River Irwell, before the creation of the Ship Canal.  Shortly after the bridge there’s an old shunting engine, fairly recently painted and renovated. Its working life was in the CWS. soap works at Irlam. It had no fire to stoke and its steam reservoir was charged with steam from a boiler in the factory. This avoided the soot and fumes common to other engines. After the closure of the works it fell into disrepair and was due to be scrapped.  Then the local Rotary Club "adopted" the engine and the road building firm building Phase II of the Irlam and Cadishead by-pass (Birse) offered to restore and relocate the engine to a display site by the new road.

The road soon regains the side of the canal, and before passing under another high level bridge, housing the very much alive Manchester to Warrington main line, we observed the entry of the River Mersey into the Ship Canal, at the end of its short journey from Stockport.

Despite being in the industrial heartland of the north west, we were subjected to a short interlude of ‘rain forest?’!

There were lots of flowers to be seen, mostly common to scrubland and meadow, including the Himalayan Balsam shown above, and swathes of Rosebay Willowherb.

Other flowers included vetches, thistles, St John’s wort, ragworts, buddleia, and more.
Emerging from the forest, we headed beside a section of the old bed of the River Irwell that is still full of running water and home to resident swans and ducks.   The river has been incorporated into the Ship Canal, but the Boat House still stands, and, since we were not on a ‘hard core’ LDWA outing, Reg permitted a brief halt for refreshments.  It was a hot day, after all.  Several known addicts would have been unable to walk past the pub anyway.
A little further on, not far from the route of Part 3 of the trail, hordes of workers were busy constructing the City of Salford Stadium, which I understand will shortly be home to ‘Salford City Reds’, a rugby team.

Then we passed under the giant arches of the M60 motorway bridge over the Ship Canal.  It’s rather uglier than the viaducts of the Victorian age, and the graffiti writers must have either very long ladders or a Spiderman kit.

At Barton upon Irwell, where there’s now little evidence of the Irwell, we passed a fish and chip shop reputedly used by Laurel and Hardy when they were in town.  It has changed hands since then.

Across the road, beyond a rather grotty area with a bench where we enjoyed a second lunch and a second instalment of fudge brownies, a swing bridge carries the Bridgewater Canal over the Ship Canal, and indeed over our route, which from here on was on tarmac.

As we strolled on through Eccles, the sky above the International Worship Centre, where we resisted the temptation to call in for refreshments at its café, caught my eye.

We tramped on through Eccles and into the large area of Salford Quays and its splendid regeneration projects.  It all looks rather smart these days – a far cry from a few years ago.  This isn’t far from the docks I visited to see my cousin Philip when he worked as a merchant seaman in the late ‘60s.

The Imperial War Museum North is well worth a visit if you have time.

MediaCityUK looks as if it will be a great place to work, with its own Metrolink station, for all those people from the BBC who are complaining about having to be based there!

We halted for a while outside the Lowry Centre, full today of graduating students in their finery with their doting parents.  Roy went home, but the rest of us enjoyed a coffee, rather incongruous in our walking gear amongst all the smart suits, before moving on to conclude the walk where it started several months ago, outside Salford Quays Metrolink station.
Here’s the route – 16km with minimal ascent.  It took us all day, but less plodding walkers should take 3 to 4 hours over the interesting route.

This entry mentions just a few of the many points of interest on this predominantly urban walk.  Whilst country walks have great merit, outings such as this one can be most educational in an entirely different way.
Roy has written about the Salford Trail in great detail here, and Reg has written up today’s outing here.
There’s a bit more information annotated to this slide show.
Roll on the next ‘Plod’.

Tuesday 19 July 2011 – A Cheshire Ramble

Steve and JJ sometimes lead walks for the East Lancs Group of the Long Distance Walkers Association (LDWA).  They have an idea that the group will enjoy a 15 mile trample across the fields of Cheshire.

These walks are taken seriously.  Much planning is necessary, with many reconnaissance trips to suss out the best route.  Today was one such ‘recce’.

Starting as instructed from King’s Road in Wilmslow, I found myself totally alone, and having no idea of the planned route I decided to start by lapping the car.  I should have known – JJ was driving.  He eventually turned up, deposited Steve and Viv, and rushed off to take delivery of a staircase.

Our route comprised a circuit of Alderley Edge, starting in Wilmslow and heading across Lindow Moss, often visited on these pages, but not from quite this direction.  It’s always good to explore new paths…

JJ was waiting for us, in disguise; the staircase hoax wouldn’t fool us, surely?

I could swear I saw a couple of wallaby and a family of emu in the background – an elaborate hoax, even for JJ.

It had been raining.  The undergrowth, mainly nettles, balsam and willowherb, had been growing apace.  It was sodden.  So were we.  Steve came off best as he had shorts.  But he did get nettle rash.

By and by we came upon the new Alderley Edge by-pass.  The old rights of way have now been re-opened and we found our way across easily.  A local farmer, upset by the whole enterprise and the wide swathe of the new road through prime farmland, had confirmed this to Steve.

Here you can see the new road, with Alderley Edge beyond.

After passing through a tomato factory, we reached the hamlet of Nether Alderley, where there’s an attractive church, St Mary’s, dating from the 14th century.  The yew tree is apparently 1200 years old!  There’s lots more information on this interesting place in this Wikipedia link, extracts from which are reiterated below.

The large building in the graveyard – the Stanley Mausoleum – was built in 1909 by Edward Lyulph, 4th Lord Stanley. He died in 1925 and it contains his ashes and those of his wife, Mary Katherine, who died in 1929. The mausoleum is built in ashlar buff and red sandstone with a Kerridge stone-slate roof. It was designed in the neo-Jacobean style by Paul Phipps, and is rectangular in shape, with two storeys and a three-bay north front. The central bay contains a door, above which is the Stanley crest, a three-light window and a date plaque in the gable. On the sides of the upper storey are three four-light windows. Inside the mausoleum is a white marble sarcophagus.

There’s also a sandstone schoolhouse in the churchyard, built in 1628; the school room was on the ground floor and the schoolmaster's accommodation was above. A large room was added to the rear in 1817, and in 1908 the building was restored and presented to the parish by Lord Stanley.  It is now used as a parish hall and is listed Grade II.

Across the road from the church and from Millbrook Cottage Guesthouse, is Nether Alderley Mill, a National Trust property dating from the 15th century. The watermill is one of only four virtually complete corn mills in Cheshire, and is a grade II* listed building. The mill was in active use until 1939, and was acquired by the National Trust in 1950. A period of extensive renovation followed, although the present machinery is about 100 years old. The mill is powered by a pair of overshot Victorian water wheels arranged in tandem and fed by the mill pond behind the building. The Trust regularly demonstrates grinding flour.

The flagstones of the timber-framed roof, which extend almost to ground level, weigh about 200 tons.

Beyond Nether Alderley, Bradford Lane leads inexorably towards the Edge, climbing imperceptibly to its 190 metre summit.

The route goes through pleasant woodland, though it was very dark here today, under the steely grey clouds.

Alderley Edge has appeared on these pages on several occasions.  Readers may be pleased to learn that I forgot to take any pictures today.

Himalayan Balsam (Impatiens glandulifera) accompanied us for most of today’s walk, soaking us from time to time as we hacked through its water-laden foliage.  If you look carefully you can see a bee, and apparently some bee keepers are great fans of the plant, from which an excellent flavour of honey is said to result.

Eventually we made it to the Bollin Valley Way.  We noticed that the path to our right was still impassable due to a landslip, requiring an alternative route to Prestbury.  There are no such problems in the Wilmslow direction, new stiles and fingerposts having been recently installed.  There are even intricate carvings on this fingerpost, below the circular plaques.

On the outskirts of Wilmslow, JJ eventually appeared, claiming to have taken successful if rather belated delivery of his new staircase.  He was looking friskier than usual!

 
We had seen no other ramblers, but on gaining the byways of Wilmslow we were joined at times by the dog walking fraternity.

The balsam is rampant in the Bollin Valley, and the citizens of Wilmslow are trying to do something about it…

Here’s our route – 25km, with 250 metres ascent, in a little less than 6 hours.  An excellent local stroll for us, but of how much interest to the sturdy chaps from East Lancs LDWA?  We shall see…

A slide show of all 29 pictures taken today is here.

I recorded the route on the Garmin Gadget, the result of which is shown below.  It gives the exact route – perhaps useful to Steve and JJ should they want to transfer it to a GPS or tweak the route, which could easily be extended to encompass an interesting circuit around Styal.

Sunday 17 July 2011 – Training for the Cairngorm Challenge (aka ‘A Wet Day in the Peak District’)

No, I’m not entered for the Cairngorm Challenge. But Richard is entered for the 100km Gold Route, and is trying to build up his fitness for the event on 10 September.  Given the forecast for rough weather, I’d suggested he got some miles into his legs by doing a 65km circuit from home using the canal towpaths and the Trans Pennine Trail, but he insisted on a Peak District rendezvous.

So, we assembled at a picnic spot near Robin Hood’s Cave, below Stanage, on the outskirts of Sheffield.

To our surprise, it wasn’t raining, but the light was flat and very few photos were taken.  Amazingly, Richard’s route was fairly dry, despite yesterday’s rain, although about half of it was along quiet tarmac lanes.  The off-road sections were superb, and no uphill pushes were needed, though he did choose an exceedingly technical descent back to the cars from Stanedge Pole (see points 5 to 1 below).  Richard’s full suspension coped better than my rickety old machine, from which I had to dismount for safety a few times on the rocky sections with drop offs.  Next time I’ll take the easier track below Stanage Edge to join the road at point 327.  Nevertheless, it was good fun.

By the time we reached Stanedge Pole (pictured) on our figure of eight loop, it was indeed raining.

Just as well then, that we chose a relatively short outing taking only just over 2½ hours, as the rain got heavier whilst we luxuriated after the ride in Outside’s café in Hathersage.

Here’s the Anquet ‘take’ on our route – 25km with 666 metres ascent.  I reckon it could easily be done in two hours if you didn’t keep stopping like we did.

I used my ‘Garmin Gadget’ on this occasion, and it produced the following result:

Click on ‘View Details’ if you want to see the full works, and if you roll your cursor over the map you can change the scale.

What fun!

Saturday 16 July 2011 - Training for the Jungfrau Marathon (aka ‘A Wet Day in the Peak District’)

No, I’m not entered for the Jungfrau Marathon. But Alastair is entered, and is trying to build up his fitness for the event on 10 September.  He had done a hilly 13 mile run earlier in the week but had ordered “around 20 miles with at least 1500 metres ascent” for today’s outing. I’d originally planned the Langdale Horseshoe, but this substitute close to home seemed a reasonable FWA (Foul Weather Alternative).

At least ‘Two Hours of Heavy Rain’ were expected, and we timed our 8.30am departure from Tegg’s Nose car park to coincide precisely with the star of the predicted deluge.

In our haste, we omitted to actually go over Tegg’s Nose, and headed straight down the less slippery path towards Clough House and the track around Teggsnose Reservoir.

It was lashing down. A brief spell along the Gritstone Trail took us to Ridgegate Reservoir, from where a gentle ascent (this is a lovely descent in the other direction on a mountain bike) through Macclesfield Forest, close to its south western edge, led to the familiar slabs of the motorway that heads quickly to the fine summit of Shutlingsloe.

As you can see, the views were magnificent.

We took the path that leads south, curving around to descend to Wildboarclough, rather than the precipitous route directly from the summit. The view through the blanket of rain was soon regained.

Past a gaggle of despondent D of E Award students, we paused briefly on a bench by the bridge at Wildboarclough, before going up the road to the east, past St Saviour’s Church, built between 1901 and 1904.

Heading due east along good paths after taking the lane past Crag Hall, the meeting of Cheshire with Staffordshire and Derbyshire was soon attained at Three Shire Heads, a place usually thronging with folk on a summer’s weekend morning. It was deserted. There were very few people ‘out’ today.

The Staffordshire path took a familiar route to Flash. The sandy surface had turned into slurry. I was pleased that the Keen walking shoes I’ve been testing withstood this – the waterproof membrane still seems to be effective, though today I should have employed the ankle gaiters that I use with these shoes for cycling in wet conditions.

The pub in the high village of Flash was not yet open. We had been moving too fast!  This pub, the New Inn, is apparently the 4th highest in England.

Luckily, there’s a tea shop up the road, and another pub, the Knights’ Table (the third highest pub in England), that was open. We chose the tea shop, and indulged in its cakes. I created a small pond with the water from my rucksack cover. Al’s clothes drained to form a larger pond. Describing his outer shell as ‘waterproofs’ would be incorrect. Perhaps they once fitted that description, but judging by the state of the rest of his clothes, his entire wardrobe for today had the absorption qualities of blotting paper.

Luckily, by the time Al had enjoyed a second cuppa, the sky had exhausted itself after ‘Two Hours of Heavy Rain’, and our outer layers (mine are completely waterproof, Al’s are perhaps vaguely wind-resistant) could be stashed for a few minutes as we strolled along to Readyleech Green and the path over Axe Edge Moor to cross the main A537 road. We continued north to reach the lane to Derbyshire Bridge, near where a bedraggled group of Duke of Edinburgh Award children were puzzling over a map and being advised by their mentor, who judging by the stickers on his car was a highly qualified outdoors professional without whom these youths would be lucky to survive a day on the obscure paths of the Peak District. I‘m sure that in days past the children would be allowed to learn from the odd mistake, but these days their every move seems to be closely monitored. (Just an impression; I may be wrong.)

The rain had restarted by the time we reached the Cat & Fiddle, the second highest pub in England.  [The highest, of course, is the Tan Hill Inn.]  More sustenance was taken on board, together with other walkers (just a couple) and bikers (just a couple) in what is usually a busy place.  I just managed a snapshot in between the clouds that regularly descended right down to our feet to douse anyone foolish enough to be out and about.

Shortly before we reached Shining Tor, the high point of the walk, we lunched in the shelter of a high wall.  It didn’t take long.  Al had already scoffed most of his provisions; mine were limited.

We rushed on to Shining Tor.  Al shot straight past the summit and slew to a halt.

He had spotted White Nancy, our next objective, in the far distance.
”My shins are starting to hurt” he announced.  Well, we had been keeping up a fair pace - he was supposed to be training for a marathon.  Anyway, discretion is the better part of valour, so we cut the planned route by a few miles and headed straight back to Tegg’s Nose, via Lamaload Reservoir, which looked as if it badly needed today’s rain.

There were good views towards Shutlingsloe.

We did manage the 20 mile target, but failed miserably to get to 1500 metres ascent.  The route plotted on Anquet shows 33 km (21 miles) with 1269 metres ascent.

But according to my Garmin gadget (see below) the distance was actually 34 km, though we only ascended 934 metres – quite a startling discrepancy.

The rain had cleared dramatically between showers at the end of the walk, which we finished at 4pm.  Here, Al can be seen striding towards the finish, from where the Cambrian Mountains could be seen very clearly, some 100km away.

Friday 15 July 2011 – Lantern Pike

Tonight seven stalwarts of our evening walks congregated in The Pack Horse in Hayfield, under gathering skies. Rain was expected, but only JJ had wimped out, leaving two Richards, Notchy, Nightbird and Diana to brave the elements with Sue and me.

In the event, the rain just about held off, and what drove us indoors in the end were the voracious insects that ganged up on us after the walk as we sat outside The Pack Horse in a bid to enjoy our post walk refreshments.

Our 9km route with 350 metres ascent is shown below.  It’s an excellent summer evening’s excursion, or a short morning or afternoon’s stroll, taking around 2½ hours.

We started down a lane by the Post Office opposite the Pack Horse, then along a path to Swallow House Lane.  The metalled road took us all the way to a row of cottages known as Cliff Villas, shortly beyond which, at Windy Knowle House, a bridleway leads up towards Lantern Pike.  For those with an aversion to tarmac or with few minutes more, you may prefer to walk along the Sett Valley Trail from Hayfield, leaving it at the head of a small reservoir to walk uphill and join our route.

After entering open moorland, a thin path to the left leads immediately up to the 373 metre summit of Lantern Pike.  Here, the assembled masses enjoyed a few bottles of beer on the warm evening. (See header image.)

The views from here are extensive, but with rain imminent it was rather dull tonight.  However, I did manage to capture the view down to Hayfield; Kinder Scout is away to the left, with South Head and Chinley Churn in view.

From the summit, we dropped down to the lower path and took the obvious route north, to Blackshaw Farm, where a right turn led us all the way down, past several idyllic looking properties that were for sale, to the main Glossop Road.

Turning left, we braved the main road for 400 metres before heading into open country once more at Carr Meadow.  Ancient and modern signs directed us towards Edale.  Notchy dashed off worriedly to look for a bridge.

Following Notchy’s inadvertent directions (he had been pointing towards the bridge) we found the good path that heads south east across the moor to a path junction near a white shooting cabin surrounded by railings.

By now the troops were beginning to flag.  Some were asleep on their feet, others were just pretending to be zombies.  Revival CCS was handed out to minimise the risk of casualties.

A sharp right turn, along the path intersected by Notchy’s head, put us on the Snake Path back to Hayfield, which after a few hundred metres follows the left branch where a minor path heads off to the west.

Before we knew it we were on the outskirts of town.  It’s traditional on such evening walks for Sue to befriend a needy nag.  Tonight was no exception.

So, that was a jolly walk!  We all returned to the pub for a beer and a blather in the balmy, not to say ‘moist’ summer air.  Unfortunately the midges drove us straight back inside where we could lounge in the plush chairs of the refurbished tart known as The Pack Horse.

9km, 350 metres ascent, very easy to follow route, 2½ hours.

The next evening walk is on Thursday 28 July:
”Another adventure with Notchy - Deepest Cheshire (2) - starting at 7.30 pm from The Golden Pheasant, Plumley Moor Road, Plumley - SJ 722 753.   7.95 km with 36 metres of ascent, but not all at once.”
All are welcome.

Friday 15 July 2011 - Timperley to Sholver by Bike

Sholver is a little north of Oldham. Kate lives there. The journey takes about 40 minutes by car. I’m in the habit of trying to combine family visits with a bit of exercise, but last time I tried this trip it took me about five hours.

So today I planned an easier line, taking the Bridgewater Canal into Manchester, then the Rochdale Canal out to Chadderton, from where bridleways should take me east through Royton and Shaw and on to Sholver. I reckoned on 35km in about three hours.

My route into Manchester was familiar, but an early setback had me returning home for the map that I would need later, as I headed relentlessly north. The pace slowed as I approached Deansgate, and threaded my way through groups of tourists that seem these days to be a constant reminder of the rehabilitation of Manchester’s city centre and canal network.

I must find a better way through the city centre. The towpath disappears from time to time shortly after it leaves the Castlefield area (pictured above with the Beetham Tower), and a little road work is necessary to get to the point where the Rochdale Canal splits off from the Cheshire Ring canal system and heads north. There’s currently work going on at this point, with the towpath route to the city centre having been closed for at least a year. I managed to find the start of the Rochdale Canal, and headed on up the towpath all the way to Chadderton.

The Rochdale Canal, I discovered, has armies of Canada Geese patrolling its banks.

The canal passes factories and old mills, many of which have been refurbished and looked resplendent in today’s bright sunshine. Here’s Regent Mill, the home of Russell Hobbs.

In fact the whole route portrays Manchester as a busy, vibrant working city, albeit not without its ghettos of malaise. 

Despite the largely urban environment, sections of the route were surprisingly ‘countryfied’ and the whole route along the towpath was very pleasant. Much more satisfying than the drive round the M60 motorway.

Believe it or not, I did go wrong a few times, and mistakenly left the canal before I should have done. However, once I’d found the correct departure point, bridleways took me all the way to the outskirts of Shaw, from where a fast downhill road section deposited me on a very rocky track (found at the second attempt) that led virtually to my destination.

“I didn’t know there was a way up there” commented Kate, who has lived in Sholver for a while now.

The 35km plan turned out to be 40km in practice on this occasion, but the timing was around three hours and could be reduced considerably. Especially if I decided to cycle this route in the other direction, in which case it might be a two hour downhill blast!

After all that, Sue arrived by car, we enjoyed a luxurious lunch, and after forgetting to take any pictures of my smiley grandson, we returned to Timperley by car.

Here’s are the stats from my Garmin gadget:

And here’s a map…

One For The Road

Happy Days in the Maritime Alps - here's a pic that missed the cut a few days ago.

Note that I've now replaced the original image with a better version taken with a proper camera!

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A Stroll from Tende to La Brigue

6km, 400 metres ascent, 3 hours, lots of flowers.

Waking to another bright sunny morning (once the shutters had been opened) we enjoyed a leisurely start on our last day in these hills for the time being.

Our host, Julie, took today's photo outside the gite when we were packed up and ready to leave. You may see (if you can spot it) that Sue has succeeded in preventing further damage to her neck by carrying just a light bum bag. Her neck has survived the trip, even if I did find it a little difficult to keep up at times.

Today's relatively low level stroll was taken very slowly as it was hot, and there were lots of flowers to photograph, starting with masses of Melampyrum nemorosum (a kind of Cow Wheat) and moving on to Red Lily and an assortment of stonecrops, including banks of White Stonecrop.

The path started up from Tende's shady campsite, heading through trees towards Col de Boseila, before which it emerged onto an open belvedere with airy drops and fine views back to Tende and south towards the coast.

At the col we admired Julie's friendly and very placid horses before strolling down the path for a welcome beer in La Brigue, a much smaller and less vibrant place than Tende.

It didn't take long to visit most of the village's attractions, after which we wandered down to the station to catch the Italian train to Ventimiglia. This connected with a French train that in the company of Chris from WA (Western Australia - hi Chris) brought us here to Menton, and a comfortable room with a bath (these things can be important) at the Hotel Moderne.

Menton yields happy memories as it was from here that we started our 'Italian Border Route' trip some three years ago.

Sue has been for a swim in the Med, our dirty clothes are now clean and dry, and we are looking forward to a nice meal in the old town of Menton before returning home in the morning.

So, that's it from the Maritime Alps for the time being. It's a wonderful area, great to visit, and you may be 'quite rare' if you are English. James and Helen are the only English we have encountered since the train to Breil.

We hope to encounter SAHH tomorrow....

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A Day in Tende

After nine consecutive days of exercise we've taken a day off.

We waved goodbye to James and Helen, who are off to walk the 'Mont Bégo Loop' over the next couple of days*, and then settled into a couple of chairs outside Hotel du Centre and proceeded to fill ourselves with coffee and Danish pastries whilst enjoying the progress of the Fête, to and fro along the main street of Tende. A jazz band, muletiers, various carriages, dancers, and much more, all conducting a full tour of the town before congregating outside the town hall.

We chose the best possible day for our wind down here.

Then we embarked on a tour of the town that I may describe in fully illustrated detail when we get home. Today's picture is of the Collegiale, a church passed on our tour.

A visit to a bar, then to the fine museum of rock engravings, brought us all the way to 5pm, entry time for the gite d'étape, where we could use the kitchen for a most welcome brew, enjoyed from outside the gite with the fine view of Tende from an earlier posting laid out before us in the soft evening light, and the familiar whistles and acrobatics of the resident swifts to keep us entertained.

*J + H enjoyed walk number 22 from Palanfré after leaving us. They even saw a Man Orchid. Hope they have a photo...

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Saturday 9 July 2011 - A Walk from Refuge des Merveilles

16km, 600 metres ascent, 7.7 hours.

Today we completed the 'Mont Bégo Loop', all the way back to Casterino by 3.45, in plenty of time for the 4.30 bus to Tende.

We slept surprisingly well in the huge dormitory at Merveilles, perhaps because it was well ventilated.

Breakfast was sparse but well organised. "Terrible" commented the organiser of Gilles's trip, on the content of his repast. Plenty of bread, and a decent sized bowl of coffee, but just one little cube of butter and a single mini-carton of jam.

But the setting beside Lac Long Superiore on this brilliantly sunny morning was wonderful. Everyone seemed cheerful as they set off, mostly in large groups, some with guides.

The path led past numerous information boards for the Copper and early Bronze Age rock engravings that date back 5000 years. We lingered to admire the engravings and catch up with our diaries after the turmoil of last night's socialising! Marmots and wheatears monitored us closely.

In rock dominated scenery strewn with small lakes, the path led through fields of spring and trumpet gentians, bright blue amongst the multi-coloured pansies.

Finally, we exited the zone that is protected as a National Monument, and after chatting to a warden who was guarding the engravings I was allowed to reinstate my walking poles for the steep ascent to Baisse de Valmasque, 2549 metres. This was the highest we got today. It has commanding views back along our morning's route, and onwards to Lac du Basto and the ring of jagged peaks beyond.

From here, the ascent of Mont Bégo looks an easy undertaking. I think Susan went up from here. There are apparently great views towards the Mediterranean, especially early in the morning. Perhaps a bivouac near the summit would yield a huge dividend.

Sadly, plan C's time constraints didn't permit us the indulgence of that ascent, and after lingering on the sunny col we descended regretfully towards Refuge de Valmasque, stopping for lunch above Lac Vert (pictured, with the Refuge in the background just above the lake).

Of the three lakes, Basto, Noir and Vert, two were very scenic despite their conspicuous dams, but Noir, the central one, looked rather sad in its half full state.

We called in at the Refuge for refreshments. You are correct, Susan, in conjecting that Plan D could have involved staying there. We didn't enquire, but judging by the number of people we saw today, it may well have been fully booked.

Turning to Alan's comment about this area's perceived likeness to the Picos de Europa in Spain...
Well, it's hotter here, less temperate (ie drier), more Alpine, with perhaps a wider range of flora and fauna, higher mountains, more mountain huts, fewer canals, more towns, better constructed paths, etc, etc. So, I wouldn't really say there's much of a likeness, except that both areas sport wonderful mountain scenery.
Congrats on booking a trip to NZ, Alan, we are sure you'll enjoy that one.

The route back to Casterino from the Refuge started along a narrow and twisting rocky path, eventually passing below some fine waterfalls before ambling along a steadily improving jeep track to join a metalled road for the final thirty minutes of this fine two-day excursion.

We lazed in the sun at Casterino before cruising down the hairpins back to Tende to a frantic Tour de France commentary blaring from the radio of the battered bus. It occurred to us that Casterino would be a fine finishing point for a stage of that race.

Back in Tende, who did we find already installed in Hotel du Centre? James and Helen - no doubt as a result of the recommendation in Gillian's book. (You should get a commission, Gillian!) Thanks to Gillian's efforts on our behalf - Plan C - we were also booked into an excellent double room for €45 for the two of us. Thanks again, G.

We think it may have been one of the last rooms in Tende as this weekend the town celebrates the Fête de Saint Éloi.

So after a welcome shower we adjourned to La Margueria for a leisurely salad and pizza (we arrived early, it would be wise to reserve a table if dining after 7.15), during which the festivities of the Fête slowly began to wind up, with the main action commencing shortly before 10pm.

Crowds gathered in front of the flag bedecked Town Hall. As darkness fell and the birds came in to roost, folk dancers accompanied by a squeeze box (JJ would have been in his element) started the fun. A fire was lit under a pine tree erected for the occasion, and bangers attached to the trunk exploded when the flames reached them.

The crowd was large, but we were tired so went to bed, missing an unexpected firework display that according to Helen was excellent. The explosions were still echoing around the hills as we drifted off to sleep.

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