Saturday 4 October 2008 - SWCP - Plymouth to Noss Mayo

Modus operandi:

Car - Bus - Walk - Boat - Walk - Taxi - Walk - Car - Walk

15 km walk - 11.00 to 16.00, 600 metres ascent.

An exciting hour lurching down narrow Devon lanes on the top deck of a bus was just one of several modes of transport today.

The SWCP encounters several estuaries hereabouts, and some ferries have already stopped for the winter.

Forecast rain appeared only in brief flurries, and with a following wind we 'stormed' along.

Long refreshment stops at Monty's in Plymouth and the Old Mill in Wembury restrained us to within 45 minutes of our taxi rendezvous. Dolphin and whale rescues, and 3 vessels in trouble, proved a distraction but turned out to be training/hoaxes.

A hedge provided shelter before the taxi arrived 30 minutes early.

Sue, at Cellars B&B, kindly lifted us to The Ship in Noss Mayo, where we contributed to the upkeep of the owners' Bentley and Range Rover. Then it was back to our 'house in the garden' of this B&B, which itself is one third of the 'summer house' built in 1882 for the Lady of the Manor.

Sue is pictured lunching on 'Tuorta da nusch' (nut cake), received on Thursday in a food parcel from Markus, the kindly Austrian. Taa Markus!

Next day

Friday 3 October 2008 - A Trip to Devon

Hartland Point on 29 May 2007

For what seems like many years, a group of us have been traipsing our way around the South West Coast Path (SWCP). It has provided a most enjoyable interlude every late May Bank Holiday. Last year it was a bit of a rush to leave Montrose after the TGO Challenge and start walking in Devon the following day, so this year we have delayed our SWCP trip until now.

Having completed the north Devon and Cornish sections, today we are off to stay in Exeter before making our way to Plymouth to walk to Torcross over the next four days, staying in B&Bs.

It will be a sociable trip. My challenge is to send just one picture a day and limit the posting to 200 words. A true 'Postcard' indeed. You may even get one from Nallo Lady.

Next day

Happy Anniversary

This blog enjoyed its first birthday on 1 October.

After an unbelievable 373 postings incorporating around 1,200 images and 165,000 words.  It has been a busy year!

The purpose has I think been achieved, principally on our two long trips.  Firstly 7 weeks in New Zealand, when regular visits to internet cafés kept us in touch with home, then in the Alps when a new 'phone and the wonderful Italian telecommunication facilities kept us in daily contact with the UK.  In the meantime, the TGO Challenge proved an excellent trip on which to test 'mobile blogging', and many happy hours have been spent behind this desk in Timperley. 

The blog has enjoyed about 18,000 page loads over the year.  That comprises mainly returning 'visitors' who 'follow' the blog.  A new Google widget has provided these with a means of identification, and 4 people admit to being 'followers'.  There are currently a further 17 'subscribers' - more or less the same thing.   In the context of 'outdoor blogs' this makes the Postcard from Timperley a very minor player in comparison with people like Lighthiker, who has over 200 subscribers for his popular treatises on lightweight gear and his adventures with that gear.  Lighthiker (Roman - from Munich) also demonstrates the lack of geographical frontiers when it comes to blogging.  He writes very well in English, as shown yesterday in his observations regarding blogging as a new form of journalism.

I don't regard this as journalism.  No way!  But the blog can be a useful resource to others.  Any posting regarding gear tends to receive a disproportionate amount of attention.  So entries relating to gear should be carefully and truthfully constructed.  Poetic licence should be saved for other topics!  Incidentally, I can't see who is viewing the blog, but the statcounter widget does provide a record of the last 500 page loads - the identities of the pages the visitors have looked at, and various other information including the geographical location of their server.  Thus I know that the page most regularly viewed - Il-Quccija - A Maltese Celebration has nothing to do with the outdoors - it's just something obscure that I wrote about, that Maltese people with young children find a need to learn about on almost a daily basis. 

I know I found some useful blogs with current information when I (very briefly) did a bit of research for our Alps trip.  I don't think the postings here provide very much useful information about the detail of such trips, but I hope they give a feel for what might be expected from such things as a visit to New Zealand, an Alpine backpack, the TGO Challenge, etc.  I plan to create some further 'resource' entries, perhaps by way of separate blogs - this seems to me to have the advantage in some respects over regular web pages, in that a blog has the capacity for comments to be made in a 'forum' style, thus providing a dynamic, interactive means of communication rather than a 'timeless' web page.  But I accept that even the interactive blogs could soon get out of date.  Fun to produce though.

Outdoors bloggers are a growing breed.  Since I started a year ago there have been numerous newcomers, and my list of 'some outdoors bloggers' becomes ever greater. I need to add a few more names to that list - it's always good when newcomers like Mike Knipe  (pictured), with northern pies appear on the scene with their own brand of posting.  I owe Mike an apology - I promised a caving entry today - but have run out of time; he appears to be away for a while anyway.

Time to stop rambling, but not before:
1. Wishing Nick all the very best in his new job at Columbia's Shanghai office.  Those people who may get bored with postings about short local walks and other mundane events should bear in mind that one of this blog's principal raisons d' être is to keep in touch with people like Nick and a number of other 'foreign correspondents' and give them a picture from someone they know in the UK.
2. Saying "hello mum" to my most important reader.
3. Reminding folk that Sue and I also have a website, on which some of our future trips are noted on the programme, and archive pages have details of numerous past trips.  Outdoors bloggers are most welcome to join us - direct e-mail contact is easy via that website.
4. Finally, thank you to all readers of this blog, in particular to those who provide the comments and other feedback that make the whole process more enjoyable.  You know who you are.  Thank you.

Wednesday 1 October 2008 - Eccles Pike

View from the summit of Eccles Pike, towards Kinder Scout

It's a landmark day - the 5th anniversary of my giving up full time work. Tradition dictates a (ever shortening) walk.

It's also the first birthday of this blog, but more of that some other time. Here's my first entry, posted a year ago, when Darren was to be my first reader.


Today, setting off from the Navigation Inn at Buxworth at 12.30 meant that my lunch kit was soon on display. Together with 'winter' boots triggered by showery weather.

This view across to Chinley Churn was fine and bright though, and the sun even made a brief appearance.

Soon I was in yet another Estate owned by the National Trust.

A short, steep climb brought me to the red-rock summit of Eccles Pike, some 360 metres above sea level, with views stretching from Kinder to the north (see above), west down the lower Goyt valley, south across Coombs Moss, and east towards the limestone hills of the White Peak. There's an intricate orientation point, from which this image is a small detail. Whilst the paths were quite boggy and I was glad of the waterproof boots, the signs were very posh. The path signed below heads across the field in the direction indicated by the arrow. Coombs Reservoir is in the distance. The lush green grass showed little sign of having been trampled. I saw just a few casual dog walkers today. "Do Not Stray From The Path" or some such utterance, was the sign that greeted me on this section of the walk at Tunstead Milton! The fence soon disappeared and the path led through Himalayan Balsam, and a marsh, up to Coombs Reservoir, which appeared to be full. A fleet of sailing boats lingered, inactive, on the far shore whilst ducks quacked in the foreground.

After Tunstead Farm an indistinct path led to a boggy hollow before descending pleasantly through fields to join the old Cromford and High Peak Railway. A memorial plaque commemorates the railway's incorporation in 1825.

This fine bridge precedes a suburban section where the old railway line passed very close to workers' accommodation. A section of road through Whaley Bridge led me to the much renovated Peak Forest Canal and an easy walk back to the start, just avoiding a deluge.

Here's the 10 km route, with 350 metres of ascent, which took me nearly 3 hours at a very leisurely pace, including my lunch stop.
On display today were Ragwort, thistles, bright yellow gorse, tormentil and even harebells. Carrion crows outnumbered the jays and magpies, whilst various birds of prey kept a greater distance and blackbirds and grey squirrels scurried in the undergrowth.

Tuesday 30 September 2008 - A Real Camera Shop

Another visit to town saw me tracking down Jem Kime at The Real Camera Co, Sevendale House, 7 Dale Street, Manchester M1 1JA.

I left the old Canon S70 with them for a while and returned to find it repaired sufficiently for the lens to stay out all by itself. "The parts are very worn", I was told. So the repair won't last all that long, but at least the camera is now functioning reasonably normally for a modest outlay of £20.

The shop has masses of 'Real Cameras'. But they offered only a fiver for my old
EOS 300, so I'll hang onto that for the time being. They do seem to be enthusiasts, and may well be able to help for minor repairs, as in the case of my S70.

Jem can be contacted at jem.kime@ntlworld.com

What to do with all the old cameras???

Sunday 28 September 2008 - Another Stroll around Alderley Edge

Nick joined Sue, freshly recovered from jet lag and the excitement of Singapore's F1 circus, and me for our regular stroll around Alderley Edge from the Drum and Monkey.  This walk features on earlier postings from 7 October 2007 and 28 October 2007, since when my entries seem to have become increasingly verbose and picture-laden.

I offer no excuses, I'm afraid, but I'll try not to repeat the content of those early postings.

Here are Nick and Sue at the entrance to the National Trust owned woods of Alderley Edge.



Near the wizard's well, a rock is inscribed:
"Drink of this and take thy fill from the waterfall by the wizard's well"
There was early mist and the first signs of autumn, but still a good tree canopy for numerous tits and scurrying squirrels.



After passing the site of the Armada Beacon and the cliff top mine entrances, we dropped down to the edge of the woods and this mine entrance.



Lots of fungi were on display.  I think this one may be the inedible Common Ink Cap (Coprinus altramentarius).

 

As the cloud cleared, the sun began to beam down through the mature woodland.



The picture below is more or less the site of a hamlet that was demolished in the 1950s, so the trees here are relatively young.



Jodrell Bank's radio telescope appeared on the horizon across sunlit fields.  Three circling buzzards mewed in the distance.  They are very common hereabouts.



The wild flowers are fading, though herb robert is still flourishing.
Most of the gardens hereabouts, in this area inhabited by millionaire footballers, are well out of sight to casual meanderers like us.  But here's an exception.



We paused to collect some luscious blackberries below ivy clad garden walls that are changing colour.



As are the maple trees.



Other trees are laden with berries.



Here's a Red Admiral.  Just for you, Darren, but not up to your standard, I'm afraid.



Thanks go to Nick for providing footwear, hastily grabbed from Nike on his last day there.  Best wishes, Nick, we hope you enjoy your Shanghai challenge with Columbia - we will of course be happy to carry out any testing you may require in UK conditions - our 'year of constant summer' must end sometime! 
Here's the route - it's about 8 km (5 miles) with 290 metres of ascent, and takes 2 to 2½ hours to stroll.

Thursday 25 September 2008 - The Romans in Manchester

I had occasion to pop in to town today. 

Ellis Brigham's shop in Castlefield seemed to have loads of staff and no customers, so I swelled their coffers by £7 by purchasing new tips for my Leki walking poles.  The Makalu Classics - abused for over 12 years now - simply refuse to wear out.  These are their 4th set of tips.

Next to EB's emporium is this, The North Gate: By the middle of the second century AD the Roman fort of Mamucium was rectangular, with a gateway on each side.  This north gate of the fort was on the Roman road that crossed the fort's outer defences and ran into the heart of the civilian settlement.

The reconstruction shows how the defences may have looked around AD200.  Whilst this site was excavated in the 1980's, the Roman inscription above the gate is based on fragments found in the 18th century.  It commemorates a detachment of Raetians and Noricans, known to have been stationed in Manchester.  It also commemorates the Roman Emperor Severus and his sons, who are thought to have commissioned the building of the stone defences.

Here's another view, showing the footprints of some buildings inside the fort. The sheep arrived in 1986, and seem to have worn quite well! My textbook, 'Old England - A Pictorial Museum' (somewhat elderly itself) does not mention the Mamucium fort but it includes the following observation on Roman architecture:

'It is easy to understand how the Roman architecture of Britain should not have been in the best taste.  When the island was permanently settled under Roman dominion, the arts had greatly declined in Rome itself.  In architecture, especially, the introduction of incongruous members, in combination with the general forms derived from the Greeks, produced a corruption which was rapidly advancing in the third century, and which continued to spread till Roman architecture had lost nearly all its original distinctive characters.  The models which the Romans left in Britain, to a people harassed with continual invasion and internal dissension, were no doubt chiefly of this debased character.'

I wonder whether future generations may apply similar comments in relation to 'the west's' modern day constructions in certain far away places. 

Just around the corner is this, the Beetham Tower, at 171 metres currently the tallest building outside London.

 

I have no desire to enter it, or really to do anything other than scurry quickly away.

Tuesday 23 September 2008 - Lake District - a stroll from Mardale Head

By Adam Seat above Haweswater Reservoir

Today's excursion with Andrew (aka Notchy) comprised a high level round from Mardale Head, up beside Gatesgarth Beck, past Adam Seat to Harter Fell, then down to Nan Bield Pass before rising again to Mardale Ill Bell for lunch, then along the superbly renovated path to reach High Street at the Racecourse Hill cairn.

A short stroll north took us to The Knott, with great views across to the west, and north towards Ullswater.  Then it was across to Rampsgill Head, and on to our sixth and final Wainwright of the day, Kidsty Pike, before descending pleasantly over Kidsty Howe and down to the car park at the head of Haweswater Reservoir.

Here's the route - 14 km, with 950 metres ascent, taking from 10.30 to 3.45 including breaks of about an hour. Here's the view back down Haweswater Reservoir, before setting off.

 

 

This rather complicated sign gave us three options.

 

We selected 'Gatesgarth Pass'.  The path is very nicely graded.  Here's Andrew on the ascent.
Up at  Harter Fell, we paused to admire the view along the Reservoir and beyond to the Pennines. Sunlit Lakeland summits lined up on the western horizon. 
The Kentmere hills provided a fine foreground to the view across Morecambe Bay. 
The path rose gently up to High Street.  It has recently been rebuilt and is in superb condition, as are many Lakeland paths these days.  It's just as well really, given the large number of people we saw in this comparatively obscure corner of the District.  We encountered 50-80 people on the hills today, probably as many as Sue and I were seeing each week in the Alps. 
The Knott revealed sunny vistas to the north, with Ullswater just visible.  Ravens circled above. 
The picture below shows Andrew on the thin path up to Rampsgill Head, with The Knott behind him and Helvellyn and its neighbours behind that. 
These mountain bikers may have been enjoying a great 22 mile  route from Patterdale that passes this way. 
We paused at Kidsty Pike to finish our provisions and admire three fine looking stags far below us in Riggindale.  A large female red deer studied us intently from a couple of hundred metres away.  We must have stood out very clearly on her horizon.  Sadly they were all far too distant to be captured on camera, and the kestrel that flew around well within range was just too quick!

And so we continued, on down the gently sloping ridge to the edge of the Reservoir and thence back to the car.

 

 

On the way we encountered a superb, ancient looking, path, with upright stones carefully positioned at regular intervals on either side.

 

 

 

And this very clean (I believe it has rained here recently) sheep peered at us across a bed of tormentil.

 

 

Britain at its Best.  A fine walk in the best of company on a lovely late summer's day.  Thank you Andrew for suggesting this day out and acting as chauffeur.

Monday 22 September 2008 - A Brush with the C2C

As you may have gathered, I had the pleasure today of meeting up with Mick and Gayle who are walking Wainwright's Coast to Coast route.

Assisted by my faithful steed, I managed to join them at the excellent Pennine View camp site in Kirkby Stephen by 8.30, in plenty of time to set off with them at 9 o'clock on their comparatively short day to Keld, via Nine Standards Rigg.

I promised M&G that I would find out how the cairns got there. The above link to Wikipedia doesn't really help, but other explanations could be:

• they were constructed by the Roman army to look like troops from a distance and were possibly marked on 18th century maps, or
• they were built when the border reivers came south from the border country to help scare them off before they rustled all the local cattle, or
• maybe they were put up by Victorian hoodwinkers.

Anyway, after admiring the small flock of parakeets that flew over the camp site, M&G were soon at the local Spar shop, stocking up their impressively small and light rucksacks (my day sac was nearly as heavy) and trying to spot the dog. Then it was up to the 4 metre high cairns of Nine Standards Rigg, which were just above the mist line. Beyond here quite a few (over a dozen) C2C'ers were encountered as we negotiated the bogs, peat hags and holes in a bid to reach Whitsundale Beck (below), which provided a scenic lunch stop. Then it was more peat and bog and holes - be very careful of the holes, Mick's freshly laundered trousers soon showed evidence of his inability to stay on his feet - to the haven of Ravenseat, which sported an enticing advertisement for teas. These were served by a sooty Amazon with a small baby.
Apparently she had just quelled a chimney fire.
Once we had escaped from a very local fly zone, it was very pleasant here in the sunshine. But eventually we felt obliged to move on and we soon reached the road on the outskirts of Keld, whence M&G proceeded happily on their way and I returned to locate my car at Black Howe.

Nearly every field around here seems to have an old stone barn in it. They come in all shapes and sizes and states of dilapidation. Here is one of the more impressive ones. Here's the plan of our route - well, M&G went on to Keld, whilst I finished at Black Howe. It was about 21 km, 830 metres of ascent, and took 7 hours including a couple of hours' breaks.

Gayle, Mick, thank you for your excellent company today, it was really good to meet up for the day. Enjoy the rest of your trip, and hope to see you again soon.

Click here for Gayle's posting for today.