A damp day in Timperley should have enabled me to return to indexing our Alpine Trip pictures. If I had got up to Day 49 (tomorrow, perhaps?) I’d have reached Troyes, on our way home. Here there are lots of wineries, and the cathedral has masses of lovely stained glass.
At least my punctures are mended and I’m up to date with emails and a few domestic chores, if not with the never ending task of ‘processing’ photos!
With apologies from Richard, who was a bit tired after a fell race yesterday, it was just Paul and Jeanette who joined me for this morning’s bike ride. The Phoenix Park circuit hadn’t been visited since August, partly because I knew that sections of the Bridgewater Canal towpath would be a bit muddy.
The picture of the Linotype Works, above, is simply for the record, showing the current progress with redevelopment of the site in Altrincham.
The meeting point for this route is Seamons Moss Bridge, which looks smart after having been repaired – apart from a bit of graffiti.
It’s a pleasant enough place to wait. The recently renewed towpath continues for a few hundred metres before it gives way to mud.
Paul and Jeanette arrived on time and we went to the end of the renewed towpath before turning right through woodland full of leaf litter to reach the Trans Pennine Trail (TPT). Between here and Acton Grange Bridge we avoided the towpath, apart from a short section in Lymm, by following the following route (enumerated here for future reference purposes):
TPT > turn left down Whitbarrow Road, just before Lymm Ranger Cabin > straight ahead to canal > sharp right along towpath, under a bridge, then exit at next bridge where the canal goes over Barsbank Lane > turn left to go under the canal and up to the main road > turn right > take second left down Massey Brook Lane > bear right on to Weaste Lane and proceed under M6 motorway > at the end of this road turn right along Cliff Lane and go under the canal to reach a main road > turn right, then immediately left down Bellhouse Lane > go over the canal then soon bear right to stay on Church Lane > turn left down Stockton Lane just before the canal is reached again > continue to traffic lights at Lumbbrook Bridge > turn left away from the canal, then first right > first right again down Greenfields Avenue > right again, onto Waverley Avenue > turn right, then right again onto the main road > turn left just before the canal, down Birchdale Road to the end > turn right and then first left down a bridleway to Hillfoot Farm > go through the buildings, keeping left to join a road with speed bumps > turn left at the end and head up to Appleton Reservoir > turn right and keep straight on over two junctions to reach Acton Grange Bridge.
We were making good time, so we paused here for a coffee/tea and cake break.
The towpath is well surfaced for the next 4 km of this route, to Red Brow Lane. We passed through Moore, where swans and ducks congregate in masses at a particular spot. They are here every time we go by. Just before this we encountered a lady enjoying a coffee on a bench. She pointed to the village shop and told Paul that he could get a pie there if he wanted. “But you have to phone ahead if you want a hot one.”
The towpath continues past Daresbury and its Science Park, part of which is just visible in the next picture.
We left the towpath and followed our usual route to Phoenix Park, and onwards to Norton Priory, timing our arrival perfectly for the 11 am opening time of the café. The coffee and cakes here are really excellent, and we were told that they would be happy to serve us any time after 9 o’clock. So the later than usual (9 am instead of 8.30am) start wasn’t really necessary.
We then managed to keep roads to a minimum to reach the TPT near Morley Common. By now my bike had developed a slow puncture, slowing me down and causing me to stop a couple of times to re-inflate the recalcitrant tyre.
But the sun came out and the old railway line near Dunham looked very pretty in the bright light.
Back at Seamons Moss Bridge, where the TPT car park was full of commuter vehicles (just like our road), our ways parted and I followed the TPT past Altrincham Recycling Centre to get home. This took some time, as my tyre exploded and I’m not very good at replacing inner tubes on the back wheel of a bike with disc brakes. And the replacement tube seems defective, so I foresee a long session with inner tubes tomorrow.
Anyway, it was a lovely ride, in good company, and the ‘winterised’ route was a success, with the lanes that replaced the muddy towpath sections proving to be satisfactorily clear of traffic.
Here’s an overview of the route – 62 km with about 200 metres ascent.
No ride next week, unless P & J arrange one, as I’ll be away.
With his mum and sister being out of sorts with a cold he’d passed on to them, Jacob elected to spend the night in Timperley, far away from his coughing sibling. They were reunited today on our kitchen table. Does Jessica use her kitchen table at home as a chair?
Earlier, Jacob, Sue and I popped round the corner to our local park, Newton Park, which receives lovely light in the morning. The place was deserted. Goal scoring and frisbee throwing skills were practiced.
Mole-cam produced the following result, transmitted by wi-fi before the wearer scampered back down her hole.
Here’s the park, looking into the sun. Not shown is a very dark cloud to the left. When it arrived we waddled off to that kitchen table for a marathon game of Uno.
Note: these pictures were taken with the S9 phone. The picture size has been altered from the S5’s format, back to 4:3 (or maybe that’s just the default setting…). I was particularly impressed with the top snap, taken in our kitchen against the prevailing light – I haven’t needed to adjust it at all apart from changing the size for blogging purposes.
Just 231 of us gathered on a coolish morning in the park.
Her are some of the participants limbering up before the start.
Wythenshawe Hall is slowly emerging from its protective scaffolding. It seems a long time since we use to congregate right next to the building.
Today’s run director was Charley, who managed a dance on the pedestal whilst announcing '”No first timers” and “No tourists” without pausing for breath before moving on to the starting process. Charley and the other marshals did a fine job today as there was a bit of a mix up that caused problems with the results.
So was PB’s PB (21.17) accurately recorded, or was it just a fluke of the faulty timings? There don’t seem to be many people around him, so did he really come in so far ahead, or has he miscounted the laps?
And surely the parkrun is supposed to be undertaken on foot, not on a bike! Not surprising that she came home only narrowly behind PB, who of course can run much faster than the average cyclist.
For anyone confused by all this, don’t worry, it’s just a bit of fun. The full results are here.
This is another route from Jen Darling’s 1990 edition of ‘Pub Walks in Cheshire’, adapted to start at the Anderton Lift Visitor Centre. That was shut, but at least the ‘Pay and Display’ machines had been turned off.
It seems that the Visitor Centre by the huge lift that transfers boats 50 feet between the River Weaver and the Trent & Mersey Canal is only open at weekends at this time of year. I’m not sure whether the lift works outside weekends.
We pootled past the lift and along the canal towpath for a while.
Six of us were on this walk, on a cool but fine morning. We left the towpath via the footbridge that shows in the distance in the above picture.
Easy field walking soon led past Claycroft Farm to a footbridge over Cogshall Brook at SJ 646 764. Here, an obstacle was encountered as the bridge had been declared unsafe and was fenced off. We could have waded the stream – probably knee deep. But we didn’t. We could have turned back. But we didn’t.
We were later classified as ‘rebels’ by the nice ladies in the George & Dragon. Climbing the fence wasn’t exactly straightforward.
Some might say he was ‘resting’ in this position (below). Surely the old geezer wasn’t struggling ‘to get his leg over’? [Just there, he would have a long drop into the water.]
Back on dry land, and another member of the team shows skills that could have been acquired from a period behind bars.
It’s an ungainly exercise, but long legs just reach the safety of a piece of plastic.
Arson is suspected. The two side beams were quite firm, but the bridge really wasn’t in a very good state.
Luckily, I had some cake with which to atone for my ‘poor route finding’, though I got a feeling that everyone had enjoyed this little adventure in a funny sort of way. It certainly added a bit of spice to the walk.
A little further on, we passed the pub that Jen’s 1990 version of this walk starts from. I’ve done it before from this starting point – on 26 March 1995, and on 17 April 2006 – so not on these pages.
The rebels posed dutifully.
Scones on a bench in Great Budworth’s church yard were on offer. But instead we succumbed to the roaring fire inside the George & Dragon, where the ladies took pleasure in serving as good a coffee as I’ve had in a pub. I’m sure they’d have allowed us to eat the scones had we asked.
We discussed the burnt bridge and they were impressed that we’d negotiated the barrier… “Well done you rebels!” A swift repair is hoped for, though it has already extended beyond the 21 day estimated closure period we noticed on a sign as we exited the path.
An easy path led down to Budworth Mere, and a view back to the village and its huge 16th century church.
Field paths took us gently back to the canal towpath. Here, the site of the Lion Salt Works is now a museum worthy, I’m told, of a visit. It has many awards.
Then it was a gentle stroll back to our starting point.
Luckily we were not heading to the signposted destinations.
We passed The Rum Wench. “Shiver Me Timbers” she gurgled.
At last. An opportunity to nosh JJ’s fresh scones. Just as well he’d brought them, what with the Visitor Centre being closed.
Here’s our route – 12 km with about 100 metres ascent. It took us 3.5 hours, including an hour’s worth of stops.
Then we went home. Thanks for the company, folks.
Next:
Friday 30 November
Tegg's Nose and Lamaload Reservoir. Meet at Tegg's Nose Visitor Centre (SJ 950 733) at 10 am for a 9 km stroll to Lamaload Reservoir and back. A537 and Buxton Old Road from Macclesfield.
Déjà vu? Yes, this a repeat of the walk I did with Andrew on 19 October, on which I reported here.
Today’s visit was for the purpose of checking out Jen Darling’s draft wording for the third edition of her ‘Pub Walks in Cheshire’ book. I hope my comments (not included here) will be of value to her.
Autumn has come on apace in the past five weeks. Frost on the stiles and gateposts got onto my gloves and made the ink run on my paperwork. So the walker you saw today wearing only one glove was me. Not that I saw anyone other than a couple of well wrapped dog walkers.
Sleeping on a barge at this time of year has me shivering at the very thought!
The two pictures above were the first taken with my new S9 phone, with its ‘SM-G960F’ camera. The colours actually seem less vibrant than those from the S5 phone. The photo below, from bridge 110, was taken with my old Lumix FT4 waterproof camera. It still performs well.
Neither camera was equipped for pictures of birds, but having watched moorhens squabbling as a kingfisher flew past while I was on the towpath next to the A49 road, I decided to include this image of a Dutton Locks heron, who nervously and cautiously moved away from me as I observed from the other side of the river.
It was a dull day, a recurring feature of these ‘Jen Darling recce’ excursions, but never mind, the air was fresh and the scenery was pleasing.
As I descended towards Acton Brook from Ainsworth Lane the sun attempted to make an appearance. Time for another couple of ‘shots’ with the new phone camera.
There are further illustrations from the route in my earlier report.
I wondered about testing a footpath from SJ 582 748 to SJ 584 745, which would eliminate 400 metres of walking beside a busy road, but it crosses a ploughed field that would be unpleasant to walk across. Farmer 1 – Walkers 0.
A visit to the Leigh Arms pub wasn’t possible today. Extensive refurbishments are in progress, with the re-opening ceremony taking place on 6 December.
Here’s the route – 10 km with about 100 metres of ascent (ie a flat walk), that walkers should manage to complete in 2 to 3 hours.
Tomorrow: meet at the Anderton Boat Lift Visitor Centre (SJ 647 752) at 10 am for a fairly flat 12 km in a similar area.
Today’s big news is that after nearly four years with the Samsung S5 phone, I’ve upgraded to an S9. I’ve left it so late that there’s hardly any increase in the monthly fee. But that means a lot of faffing, setting up the new phone and downloading maps etc. I don’t find it straightforward. I have some technical issues…
Anyway, I’ve taken a break to process some of last week’s photos and I’ve got this far – Black Rock Sands on Tuesday morning. It’s a long walk down that beach from Ynys Cyngar to Criccieth.
