GM Ringway, Stage 6

In the beginning.....

From the Greater Manchester Ringway website:

The GM Ringway is Greater Manchester’s walking trail.

"Designed around existing footpaths, parks and waterways, the GM Ringway connects residents and visitors with the city-region’s rich natural and cultural heritage. Green in every way, all 20 stages of the 200-mile (322-km) route are easily accessed by public transport."

This route has been on my 'to-do' list for a while, but it was a post on Ultreia Mancunia that finally kicked me into action. I joined two members, Andrew and Sue, on Stage 6, Strines to Marple. 

My plan to meet Andrew and Sue at Strines station was sabotaged by Northern Trains, who once again lived up to expectations by cancelling my train - with 15 minutes notice. I legged it back home and leapt into my car, getting to Strines at 10am, as arranged.

I was quite familiar with much of the route, Cheshire Tally-Ho! Hare & Hounds cross country running club can sometimes be seen running around, apparently aimlessly, as they attempt to follow a trail of clumps of sawdust that should direct them to a pub with a tin bath filled with mucky, soapy water.

We set off, uphill, to Brookbottom (there seem to be an awful lot of bottoms in this area), following the green and white signs, then on to Mellor Cross for a photo shoot.

 

 

 (No idea why this won't centre align, take it up with Google / Blogger)

We had nice views over to Kinder as we walked east along the muddy (in parts) Black Lane, before eventually turning north along Pole Lane and Shiloh Lane. These are green lanes / tracks, rather than 'country lanes' - I wouldn't want to drive along them!

 Mellor Church was next, soon followed by a pub stop in Mellor itself. I don't drink beer whilst out walking, a pint of tap water suited me perfectly.

Then on through Linnet Clough scout camp, and descending to Bottom's Hall (another bottom).

South through the un-Roman Roman Lakes, and then following the R Goyt as far as Strawberry Hill...where we climbed up hill. Although not up Strawberry Hill. 

North along the Peak Forest Canal tow-path, which, after a bit of jiggery-pokery, took us to Marple railway station, and a train back to Strines - a linear distance of about 2 miles. We'd walked a little over 8 miles, with around 1000ft of ascent.

Thanks to Andrew and Sue for allowing me to tag along, they were great company - and even laughed at my joke.....although perhaps they were just being polite ;-)

I now need to catch up with them, starting with Stage 1, St Peter's Square in Manchester, to Sale Water Park.

 Where we went:

 8.3 miles, 1000ft(ish) of ascent

 

 

 

P2P recce with Judith, a UFO, and a wild camp.

The reason for this test is the continuing problem I have with posting using Open LiveWriter….


The Plan (there’s sometimes A Plan) was to once again recce the route from Hope to New Mills.


Judith had been pressed into proof-reading my written route description, checking that the words on the paper bore some resemblance to the actual route on the ground. 


It proved to be nearly okay…..apart from the odd intruction to head East rather than West. Oh well.

Judith and I met up in Manchester and then hopped onto a train to Hope, arriving around mid-day.

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Our route headed north from Hope station

Christmas Eve Wild Camp, 24th Dec 2019

I managed to escape some of the madness that Christmas has become by a wild camp in the Peak District.

My usual camp spot, suggested to me some time ago by the very excellent Chrissie Dixie, proved to be impractical because of the high winds – so a lower and more sheltered spot was called for.

I wasn’t expecting the wind to be so, er, windy – in fact when I arrived in Edale there was just a gentle breeze, but as I climbed higher the wind got much stronger. After a quick squint at the map I dropped down and wandered up Grindsbrook Clough where I found a lovely flat spot, right next to a water source. Nice.

My tent was up and I was safely and cosily snuggled up in my Akto just as darkness fell. A cheating tea of bread & cheese and Heinz Tomato Cupasoup followed by mince pies & custard (well it WAS Christmas Eve!) sorted out my hunger pangs. 

The evening was spent reading (Laurie Lee’s ‘As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning’) and listening to the Radio 4 type wireless. All was well.

Although it was a breezy, wet night I slept through it all, not waking until 7.30am. After a quick breakfast of porridge and numerous mugs of coffee, I packed up and headed back to Edale and my car. 

I was surprised how many walkers and even runners I met on my walk back to my car. One runner passed me, having run DOWN from Kinder….he must have started early, wherever he came from.

I was back at the car by 10am, and home by 10.45am. Then it was Christmas Day with my family – great fun!

October 2018

Now that I seem to have worked out a not-very-complicated Open LiveWriter method of posting photographs that works (for now), here are some more:

My Tarte Santiago – thanks to Rita for the recipe 

6th October: Cheshire Hare & Hounds Tally-Ho! trail run from Sparrowpit. A cracking route but a not-very-good venue:

The Hounds…well, some of them

Wells & Injured Wislon returning to base

Only a couple of photos (and a Whinge Warning) from my bike ride to Lymm:

Car parking problems are becoming, er, more problematic. The TransPennine Trail car park in Broadheath is used by those working in the nearby offices and factories. There simply isn’t enough car parking space available, nor is there anything like a decent public transport system in place. Ironically the TransPennine Trail, at this point, follows the course of the railway line that was ripped up as part of the Beeching cuts.

Another sad sight (site?), a matter of a hundred yards or so from the car park above. The Bay Malton pub, once frequented by workers from the adjacent Broadheath industrial area, is now closed.

October is Warburton Souling Play preparation time. We always have a rehearsal, just to make sure that we remember the words and actions from the previous years. And then we retire to to Saracen’s Head in Warburton to compare notes….and drink beer. I couldn’t perform in the play this time round – I had to go to Florida. Again.

The Gang with a potential Souler on his first Play outing

Three generations of Soulers…probably.

And now for something completely different, a quick and tasty dinner of chicken and roast vegetables:

Another trip to Florida:

When it it rains in Florida it gets very wet:

I bought a couple of these filters from Walmart in Clearwater – I didn’t realise that Sawyer are based about 3 miles from our Florida apartment.

Some photos to remind me of our Florida apartment, prior to it being sold. Dad was never happier when he was here, he looked forward to his annual 6 month stays. It was good to see him so happy. I’ll miss the apartment for that.

Ho hum.

September 2018 Pt 4

Onwards to Portugal’s Douro Valley

It was at the end of 2017 that fellow musician Greta casually mentioned that she’d rented an enormous villa in Portugal for a week at the end of September 2018. She went on to ask me if I’d like to come along. After due consideration (about a nanosecond) I said ‘yes please’…and thus started a chain of very agreeable events.

I’d been wanting to finish walking the Via de La Plata Camino but just hadn’t got around to getting my A.I.G., this was the kick in the pants I needed.

Rob, also a musician (and English ceilidh dance caller of great renown) fancied the walk – and he’d also been invited by Greta to join in the Portuguese fun.

And so it came to pass.

Rob and I completed the Via de La Plata and spent a couple of days exploring Santiago de Compostela, staying at Rita’s wonderful AirBnB – definitely THE place to stay. Rita is a wonderful host….we were to return with The Olde Vic Band Ex-Pats, AKA the Olde Vic Band on Tour, a year later – but that’s another story.

Buskers abound in Santiago, entering the cathedral square we came across these two young ladies* playing Gaita Pipes and Pandereta – expertly and with great spirit. (Rob’s video).

Anyroadup, we dragged ourselves away from Santiago de Compostela and travelled by train and bus to meet Greta & Bill in Puebla de Sanabria, a small town that we’ve visited before. Rob, being the highly organised chap that he is, had arranged a really nice hotel for us for norralot of dosh.

 
A wander down the road to a bar / restaurant where we consumed much food, beer, wine and maybe something even more alcoholic – after which we were cajoled into playing music for a couple of hours. I have to say, we didn’t take THAT much cajoling!

It was a very merry bunch that wobbled it’s way back to their hotel that night.

Next morning we clambered onboard Greta’s bus and headed south-ish to the Douro Valley in Portugal where we were to meet up with Pete & Lynda who had driven down from Stockport to join us for the rest of our jolly.

The rest of the week was spent exploring the lovely Douro Valley, it’s vinyards, bars and restaurants.

Some photos of our musical week:

We came across this street entertainer, he was pleased, and a little surprised, that we joined in playing with him.

Playing steam trains in Porto*

A beautifully ornate church in Porto

The River Douro

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Greta giving it some welly on her sax*

This band just appeared, walking down the street in Porto, playing…like you do.*

Collecting grapes on an industrial scale – to make Port.*

We chanced upon this little cafe bar up a back street in Porto. After our excellent meal we played, much to the delight of the other customers – some of whom joined in.

Rob’s pandereta being rather expertly played

A door for Rob. Rob likes doors.

Annoying the locals

Pinhao Railway station artwork:

Some interesting motorcycles. Well *I* think they’re interesting!

Okay, so that last one isn’t a motorcycle, but I still think it’s interesting.

A couple of Rob’s videos that I can’t get to embed in OpenLiveWriter or Blogger. I’m almost certainly doing something wrong….I usually am.

Playing on the waterfront in Porto *

Seranading a tourist cruiser on the R Douro *

* Rob’s photographs or videos