10th December, Mick and Gayle go for a Curry

…without Mick

Being as wot Mick and Gayle were staying in the sunny north-west for a few days I thought it might be nice to go for a walk and go for a curry with them. Mick ended up having to work for the day so it was just Gayle and I doing the walking.

We decided to walk from Oldham, close to where Mick was working, into the centre of Manchester. The idea was to keep to a green a route as possible, ie: minimal tarmac, I think we succeeded.

Gayle met me off the tram at Oldham Mumps(that’s a place, not a disease) and we wandered off south-ish through Oldham’s Alexander Park to pick up the River Medlock. It was quite cold – it’s the altitude you know. Oldham’s quite a lot of feet above sea level….and December isn’t the warmest month of the year.

Park Bridge Iron Works, more info on it’s website

Trundling along the not always dry banks of the River Medlock we made good time through Daisy Nook Country Park. I marched, whilst Gayle wobbled across the M60 motorway, busy with traffic.  

At a very conveniently sited picnic table, a coffee, flap jack, scone and another flapjack break (in the rain) was taken. Well, it would have been rude not to – it’s not every day you find a vacant picnic table, even in December.

Suitably refreshed and refuelled we faced some splodgy, muddy walking. Along with added navigational challenges and some wind-driven hail and rainy stuff we eventually gained the heady heights of the banks of the Rochdale Canal.

Canals that run into and through former industrial areas often look grim and depressing, but spending just a little time looking around and exploring can unearth some really interesting sites (and sights). 

Leaving the canal towpath in Manchester it was time to hit the streets. The rain was only raining a bit but it was still quite cold…..the temptation of a yummy curry was becoming too much to bear. Not before a quick photo-shoot in Stevenson Square in Manchester’s Northern Quarter:

Manchester’s former Smithfield Fish Market, once famous for selling fish.

Approaching our destination, This and That, our rumbling stomachs were heard by Alan R …who’s stomach was also rumbling loudly. I’m not sure what Gayle thought of our favourite curry emporium, perhaps she was too polite to say, but I suspect she enjoyed the experience. There wasn’t much left on her plate afterwards!

A pint or two at the the very fine Holt’s house, the Ape & Apple, provided the necessary apres-curry rehydration. Alan’s partner, Sheila, joined us for a short time before it was time for us all to make tracks. Trams took Gayle back north to Oldham Mumps, and me to the southern flatlands of Cheshire. We’d had a pleasant day out and once again managed to put the world to rights. We’re good at that sort of thing.

Manchester’s Cenotaph, recently moved to the other side of St Peter’s Square to allow for the square’s redevelopment

Where we went:

11 miles, with rather more down than up

Oh, and just for a giggle I took my SatMap GPS to record the route – although I didn’t rely on it, I left that to my trusty Garmin Etrex20.

The route was recorded as being 11 miles on the Garmin, whilst the SatMap stopped recording the route soon after we set off. Nowt new there then,