TGO Challenge 2015

It will be my ninth ‘Challenge’, this year with Sue who will be making her fourth crossing of Scotland by foot (and in a boat across Loch Ness).

I booked some luxurious accommodation a couple of weeks ago and have now managed to link the ‘dots’. We go from Dornie > Cannich > Drumnadrochit > Aviemore > Braemar > Tarfside > North Water Bridge > Nether Woodston, so it’s a short and sociable route this time.

Anquet says 324 km (202 miles) with 11,500 metres ascent, but there’s every chance that the ascent will be much less if we avoid some of the high points we are I am aspiring to (Sue hasn’t been told yet) but will probably avoid.

I know various other bloggers are signed up for this year’s stroll, and Sue and I are looking forward to meeting some of you as well as many old and no doubt new friends, albeit Sue will probably be chatting whilst I bang away at the keyboard… I’ll try to be brief this year; there can’t be too much new to say!

You can click on the above picture to get a bigger version.

Hopefully it will be t-shirt weather again, as it was on much of last year’s Challenge. Here’s a random picture from Day 2 – ascending Sgurr Mhurlagain on a sunny afternoon.

I must get round to doing something with last year’s TGOC pictures!

Thursday 1 January 2015 – The Adlington Circular Walk

Here we are, Robert, Sue, Lyn and me, enjoying New Year’s Day on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal towpath in Adlington. It was to be Lyn’s longest walk since her disastrous arthroscopies over ten years ago.

Louise had joined us for the previous evening, but sadly had to miss the walk on account of being sent going to Coventry.

Instead of spending the last afternoon of the year looking for her boots, Lyn compiled this impressive menu.

On our arrival - thankfully we were armed with panna cotta of the prescribed flavour - we were greeted by Robert’s whispered whimpers over a pan full of belly pork along the lines “how do you want my nuts roasting, Lyn?” followed by Lyn’s sputtered gasp of worried confusion.

Anyway, the evening went very well. The food was delicious and before we knew it Robert had embarked on a ten minute wrestling match with a cathode ray tube in an effort to find an official countdown to the New Year. At least he was more successful than the officials in Manchester’s Piccadilly, whose countdown lasted an additional four minutes due to a tram inadvertently parking itself next to the fireworks.

After a comfy night on a new mattress (thanks Lyn) we enjoyed a lavish breakfast and set off at 10.30 on an Adlington Adventure.

Readers should by now have realised that this is Adlington near Chorley, not the one in Cheshire. Our first landmark was White Bear Marina, one of the very first clients I visited as an auditor when I started work as an articled clerk with Thornton Baker in 1971. I think I’ve aged rather more than the Marina.

Given this reminiscence, and the time of year, ‘The Thief of Time’ seemed an appropriate name over which to ponder.

We soon reached the following sign, confirming that we were ‘on track’. We could hardly go wrong given half an eye on the yellow signs marking the route.

From the above sign, you have this view of Idle Bridge – bridge number 72 on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. The bridge dates from 1795.

The route deserts the canal at Idle Bridge and heads uphill past some major railway bridge works on the Manchester to Preston line, as all the bridges need to be raised for electrification of the line. A huge project with much local disruption.

Onwards we marched, in the direction of Winter Hill, our first Marilyn sighting of the year (only geeks will understand; non geeks can say they have seen a Marilyn, but their friends will just offer looks of bemusement).

The M61 motorway, busy as ever, was crossed and re-crossed.

Then we found ourselves on a path through ‘The Shawes’ which turns out to be the carriage drive from Anderton Hall to the Bolton to Chorley road. Apparently the last hall was built in 1870 and demolished in 1930; I have doubts about this but I can’t find anything to support either the above dates or my doubts.

The carriage drive remains a good path, from which there were signs of life in a nearby giant bird box. Our eyes were glued to it. Eventually a grey squirrel emerged and ran up the tree.

I’ve already commented on the well marked route. Perhaps it is a little too well marked in places!

After crossing the Bolton to Chorley road, the route follows a thin footpath all the way to the Adlington to Blackrod road. The River Douglas is encountered, with numerous bricked remnants of the old bleach works that operated here from the nineteenth century until the 1950s.

The pleasant path is literally yards from the centre of the village.

Some of the old fences seem to have succumbed to ‘ingrowing trees’, some of which have recently been felled. The stumps are studded with plastic vials from which chemicals might perhaps leach into the stumps and prevent further growth that might seriously erode the river bank and give rise to flooding.

In the following image, the fence appears to have been granted victory over this particular tree.

Sue didn’t know what to make of it all…

The following picture was taken just a few metres further along the path, which has now passed under the railway arch. The small object just below the parapet is another tree that appears to be growing in the bricks of the viaduct. Did the early Victorian engineers use fertiliser in their construction activities in the late 1830s?

The locals in Adlington have certainly been very busy with their signs for walkers. Well done them!

The late 18th century canal bridge looks less susceptible to rogue trees than the nearby railway bridge.

Our circuit ended back on the towpath for the short stroll back to White Bear Marina, then to Lyn’s house for lunch, just as the heavens opened for the rest of the day.

Here’s our route - 10 km, with 100 metres ascent, taking 2.25 hours. Very enjoyable, and a good way to start the New Year.

New Year’s Day - 2015

After New Year’s Eve with Lyn, Robert and Louise, and a blast around the Adlington Circular Walk (post to follow), Sue and I had the pleasure of spending much of New Year’s Day 2015 with grandson Jacob.

He’s getting on for four years old, so I wonder whether in days to come he might come to read this entry with just a glimmer of recollection. I hope so.

Sue had bought what appeared to be a bag of fur balls, a few beady eyes, and a couple of small pieces of felt. Oh, and she found a Most Important tube of glue.

The three year old’s hands are as dextrous already as many an adult would aspire to, and soon the balls of fur has been transformed into a stegosaurus and a small group of sea creatures called ‘Nemo and Friends’.

Jacob was very happy with his achievement, and the furry balls were still intact when they left the house with him nearly 24 hours later.

It really was a pleasure to have you Jacob, especially as you slept until nearly six o’clock. (Previously you’ve been wide awake before five o’clock.) We hope you visit us again soon.

Christmas 2014 in Timperley

Kate and Simon provided an excellent Christmas Day lunch in not Timperley, but Bacup. Thanks you two – a lovely day.

Boxing Day saw us in Nantwich as usual. Jessica was feeling a little less snotty today. Non competitive (?) card games were enjoyed by all the adults.

Saturday morning found Sue and me sloshing our way around the icy 5 km Parkrun course at Wythenshawe Park.

It was a lovely sunrise, as we arrived.

143 folk gathered for some fun in the mud.

The 'icy weather' finish at Wythenshawe Parkrun avoids the slippery tarmac, in favour of the slippery grass. Oliver Cromwell oversees the proceedings.

Later (it soon clouded over) Sue and I strolled down to Dunham Massey along the canal towpath in mud and in the remnants of a Boxing Day snowstorm. Forecast sleet didn’t really come to anything.

We went as far as the ‘Swan’, returning via Dunham Massey (wheelhouse pictured below) and Dunham golf course.

As we crossed the golf course, with lots of firm warnings about giving way to golfers, I pondered why we should do that – surely the footpath was there long before the golf course and it’s the golfers who should give way?

Anyway, after passing a pair of flirting bullfinches and evidence of sledging down the banks of the reservoir, we strolled on to Altrincham for essential supplies then a tram home for lunch after this pleasant 11 km outing.

Today, Sunday, was supposed to be one of those cold grey days when it doesn’t go above freezing. It dawned bright and sunny and stayed that way all day. A lovely day, albeit the frost has not moved from anywhere shaded from the sun, whose warmth has resulted in much steaming from surfaces exposed to it.

A bike ride to the canal junction near Taylor’s Bridge saw me pausing for a few photos. As I took this one there was a ‘plop’ into the canal as the camera strap fished out my gate key whose brass visage sunk slowly to the bottom.

Sue (luckily at home to let me in) was most amused, but tables were soon turned when she managed to lock herself inside our porch!

Towards Manchester, in Old Trafford, the canal had iced over, with swans ploughing through like icebreakers, and black headed gulls standing seemingly happily on the thin ice. There were lots of people out walking, running and cycling, so much care was needed to avoid any ‘incidents’, particularly as the low sum is blinding when travelling south along the towpath.

So that was Christmas. There’s no mountain of left over food, and the odour of smoked haddock from a fish pie that we’ll share with Mike will entice me downstairs as soon as I’ve pressed the ‘publish’ button.

Happy Days…

Some links:

A 29 image slideshow covering all the above.
A 15 image slideshow from the Parkrun.
Parkrun UK.
Wythenshawe Parkrun number 168 – results.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Seasons Greetings to all our readers. Those who want to can find Sue’s brief Christmas letter here.

Time to refill that glass of sherry, I think, having been bashing away at this keyboard for the last couple of hours in an effort to ‘catch up’. I particularly enjoyed reading, copying and pasting Andy’s Parkrun report.

Saturday 20 December 2014 – Wythenshawe Parkrun number 167

‘Parkrun’ has become quite an institution, currently growing faster than ever after the tenth anniversary of the inaugural run in Bushey Park.

Sue and I ran again at Wythenshawe (my 74th and her 20th outing), on a day when times didn’t matter, not that they ever do really.

Here are a few more pictures from today.

A dignified tree and Santa.

Wallys and reindeer are for ever, not just for Christmas. Note disapproving Oliver C in the background.

The wet trunk clings to everywhere, including the bottom of my smooth-soled trainers. It was hard work…

The ‘Grinches’ won the family award.

Wythenshawe’s course director, Andy, enjoys – with assistance from Oliver C - putting together post run reports, and the efforts of the enthusiastic organisers and volunteer marshalls seem to rub off on everyone, making these Saturday morning outings a highlight of the week for many of us.

I hope Andy (aka ‘The Willowy Blonde’) doesn’t mind me reproducing his report on this week’s run here:

Well, that was rather festive wasn’t it?

We asked you to turn up in your Christmas-themed outfits and boy, did you oblige.  Santas, reindeer, elves, Grinches, trees, fairies and, er, crocodiles (I’m sure it’s a Christmas theme somewhere in the world) all made for a jolly get-together in the puddles and mud of Wythenshawe park under the disapproving gaze of Oliver Cromwell.

Puddles are perhaps not an accurate description as can be seen from the pictures below.  A large lake has recently formed on the main path and the first loop was more water than grass (so maybe the crocodile outfit was not completely misjudged).  Having negotiated that lot, our 168 intrepid runners had further mud and slippery grass to contend with in all the usual places so most of our lovely outfits were looking rather sodden and brown by the end.

You might be able to spot the odd runner in among the puddles

For those of you visiting Wythenshawe for the first time, it’s not always that wet.  Come back in July and you might get a dry run.  There were tourists from Durham and Arrow Valley and one of these, Mike Hudson, claimed the arbitrary distinction of being 20,000^th finisher and so notched up the 100,000^th kilometre.

A clearly emotional Mike Hudson trying to hold it all together after being informed of his landmark position

I know you all love the stats so the most important ones for the day were that 73 bacon and 24 sausage sandwiches were served to appreciative runners in the Courtyard Café afterwards.  A big thanks to them for this as it added to the festive atmosphere as everyone gathered to compare degrees of muddiness of legs and eagerly awaited the awarding of the fancy dress prizes.  This year both men’s and ladies’ prizes went to trees Martin Banfield and Julia Reynolds – take a bough both of you (sorry), and the family prize was stolen by Grinch family Walker.

The Grinch family

A spruced Martin plus a deer friend

The results table may show that there were only two official PBs but the beauty of parkrun is that you can have has many different categories of PB as you like.  I personally set a new wet fairy best and I’m sure others will have found a PB category for their outfit/weather condition combination.

The first three men home were Roger Preece who was all revved up in his dog collar (arguably not in fancy dress) followed by the Willowy Blond, then Santa Fishwick and for the ladies it was Hope Rodgers, Beatrice Cordingley and Wendy Terry.

The first four finishers

Let’s not forget the wonderful volunteers who were led this week by Run Director Tris Pocock.  Thanks to you all for helping the rest of us to enjoy ourselves.  The roster was made up of Alison Cardwell, Jackie Cordingley, Barbara Dunn, Linda Edmondson, Vicky Fletcher (and assorted family members), Ralph Gilchrist, Kate Holloway, Alan Lamb, Katharine, Alex and Jonathan Lay, Jenny Miles, Dorothy Muldoon and Sue Strickland.  Not forgetting Laura Morris who started on finish tokens then hopped to barcode scanning when her father had finished his run and took over finish tokens.

We need volunteers every week and so please try to make yourselves available every so often.  It is fun and does give you a different view on how the whole thing works.  Check the roster (http://www.parkrun.org.uk/wythenshawe/futureroster/) and you’ll see we have plenty of spaces in the coming weeks.

With that I’ll bid you all a very merry Christmas and hope that Santa brings you loads of new running gear to equip you for your weekly 5k fixes.

Cheers

Andy

Well done Andy. You and yours are stars.

Thursday 18 December 2014 – Shutlingsloe

Just for the record, here’s a short report on our annual evening walk up Shutlingsloe.

Sue and I were joined by Graham B, Andrew J, and families Evans and Roberts – eleven of us in total. After heavy rain all day and a dire forecast (90% chance of rain) we braved the elements and much to our surprise enjoyed a brief window of calm, dry, warm weather for the two hour outing. By the time we reached the Leathers Smithy pub it was raining again, and tipping down when we left the pub.

Anyway, without the usual hazard of ice, and despite a strong breeze on top, we enjoyed about twenty minutes at the summit, eating, drinking, and enjoying some Christmas classics under the guidance of choir mistress Sue.

The lights of Manchester glowed in the distance, as you can see from the (terrible) header picture of us singing on the summit.

Thanks, everyone, for coming along, especially those who were about to fly off to Chamonix. We hope you found some snow!

This was my third ascent of Shutlingsloe this month, the first being on 2 December in fine weather with the views below:

The same view as the header picture, with the white disc of Jodrell Bank showing clearly.

This is the view across to the Cat and Fiddle.

Finally, a ‘selfie’ in the direction of Tegg’s Nose.

It’s a great little hill, always worth a visit.

Plodders Circumnavigate Three Reservoirs

[There’s been a ‘Christmas Card Interlude’ since my last posting, and a week has passed since Sue and I enjoyed this walk, so the exact details may be lost in the depths of Entwistle Reservoir. But this is roughly what happened]

Norman's 'Elite' Plodders were ready to leave at 10 am sharp, but where were Martin and Sue? They had said they were coming after spending the night in Adlington following Christmas Dinner for their quiz team.

“I’m a member of that team” piped John P “why wasn’t I invited? Let’s leave without them.”

“I’ve sent them the postcode because Martin lost the instructions” advised Don, “they should be here by now.”

Ok, we were late, thanks to Don having used Trip Adviser’s postcode for Jumbles, which had taken us to a housing estate five miles beyond our intended destination.

And we are sorry we forgot to invite you to the meal, John P, your presence may have lifted us from equal second. On the other hand….

So we got going about ten minutes late. Thanks for waiting, folks.

Our first obstacle was the awkward stepping stone crossing below Jumbles Reservoir. Norman led the way. “I’ve done this before” he gurgled, as he swam to safety. “I’ve found a bridge” enthused Bernard, and we all followed him across it.

It was dull and dreich as we headed up to the reservoir. But Plodders always walk with a spring in their stride, especially Norman (who’s ‘elite’).

Past Turton Tower there's a unique castellated bridge. Before the railway line from Bolton to Blackburn could be opened in 1848, the railway company had been required to give an assurance to James Kay, the owner of Turton Tower, that no station would be built within 300 yards of his house and that a large ornamental bridge would be built to carry the continuation of his drive over the line. We made a short diversion to admire the bridge.

Here’s today's Plodder team: Dave, Bernard, Don, Norman (elite), Sue, Ken, Alma, John, Heather and Mike.

Some children never grow up.

"I think the Plodders can pull this off!" said Norman from under his balaclava, then he changed his mind when it occurred to him that Hilary might be inside protecting her assets.

The plaque behind these cake eating three wise men says something about the Chapeltown stocks that they are gazing at in trepidation as to what Norman will order next...

"It took god six days to make the earth - then he rested - then he made man and rested again - finally he made women - since then no bugger ever rested" announced one of the signs on a heavily decorated doorway.

Above Chapeltown, Wayoh Reservoir, built in 1876 and upgraded in 1962, was quite low.

We strolled on beside Wayoh to pass under a magnificent Victorian edifice, Armsgrove Viaduct, built in 1847/48 and still in full use after no obvious signs of maintenance.

Above Wayoh, Turton and Entwistle Reservoir is full to overflowing. Why don't they release some of it into Wayoh?

The good path was inundated in places. The rain didn't help.

We continued in the rain, past the first of many decorated Christmas trees, to the head of the reservoir. There’s clearly only one elite Plodder amongst this lot – the one whose visage was streaming with water, or was it sweat?

"Where's the cafe?" muttered ten accomplices.

We paused for lunch on a log, after admiring the views at the head of the lake.

Not even Norman could be persuaded to mount the giant heron on which he had stood his great grandchild a few days earlier.

After our soggy lunch on the wet log we passed many more gaily decorated trees.

By and by we came upon the Strawbury Duck, a hostelry which used to welcome walkers; we gave its current batch of fine diners a wide berth.

The entire group then followed its bandy legged leader along the path back down to Wayoh Reservoir.

The Black Bull, Edgworth, welcomed us with open arms, and Norman bought everyone a chip for Christmas. He’s a wonderfully generous chap.

A roundabout route, taken due to avoid the embarrassment of finishing before 3 pm, despite a spell in the pub, saw us beside a roaring torrent that led us all the way back to Jumbles.

We were leaderless for a period, whilst Norman swam this section...eventually emerging with his customary gurgles back at Jumbles.

Here’s our excellent route - 18 km, 400 metres ascent, taking 5 hours.

There’s a 39 image slideshow here.

I hope Santa is generous to everyone. Don’t forget to leave him some sherry!