Tuesday 23rd April, St George’s Day in Altrincham

What better way to celebrate St George’s Day than by having a leap around outside Costello’s, the Dunham Brewery Tap, in Altrincham. This little gathering in Goose Green, one of the oldest parts of Altrincham, is now a permanent fixture in the calendars of both Bollin and Thelwall Morris sides.

Thelwall and Bollin Morris join forces

The continued success of this annual gathering surely can’t have anything to do with the venue….can it?

The long-suffering Rick, more usually spotted clad in walking boots (and other stuff too)

 Showing how it’s done

No fingers were broken in the performance of this dance

A view that has only recently been revealed with the demolishing of some vacant shops

Unfortunately the view above will again disappear once the new hospital is built.

Anyway, it was good. The dancing and the company were excellent, the Dunham beers were as good as ever. Roll on St George’s Day 2014…..mind you, we’ve got May Day to come yet!

 

Ireland, Scotland and Wales all celebrate their traditions with huge amounts of enthusiasm – the English just seem to be embarrassed by their own heritage.

Some more pitchers here.

29th March, Pope visits Mobberley

Breaking News! The Pope makes Good Friday visit to Mobberley

Good Friday and Mobberley can only mean one thing:
Around 80 or so cyclists turned out for this year’s event, not bad considering the cold weather….but at least it was very dry.

In the beginning….

  Meeting at The Bleeding Wolf…which isn’t The Bleeding Wolf anymore

Then on to the first venue…..

…..and the next:

 

The Great Arrival

 

Interesting sidecar outfit

Pedant’s corner:

Meaningless statement: ‘Village Pub and Dining’. What’s that supposed to mean then? And where’s the village??

Easy way to do the ride….if you’re the passenger

 

Get some in!

Papal support crew

The recently elected Pope set something of a precedent by retiring before popping his clogs. He’s setting a further precedent by canvassing his successor:

The route from JJ Towers:

27 miles with around 800’ of up. And down.

Same time, same place next year then.
More piccies here.

3rd January 2013, The Belvedere, Liverpool

Yvonne is one of my bestest mates, we go back a long way. She has perhaps the finest singing voice I’ve ever heard. When she mentioned that a weekly afternoon singaround at a pub in Liverpool might be up my street I didn’t need any persuasion.
Getting the train to Liverpool was favourite, so at around 1.20pm I left Liverpool Lime Street in search of The Belvedere….which isn’t this pub:
A rather strikingly attractive pub across the road from Liverpool Lime Street. A Cain’s Brewery van is in the foreground.
The Walkers brewery is sadly no more. It was bought out by Tetley (in the 1960s or 1970s?) and continued brewing, but as Tetley-Walker. Tetley’s then decided to shut the Walkers brewery and concentrate on their Leeds brewery. There beer wasn’t a patch on Walkers.  

A wet Thursday afternoon in Liverpool

Anyway, to the main reason for this expedition, The Belvedere singaround.
I had the address of the pub, I even had a street map. Liverpool Highways have decided that it would be a real wheeze if they removed many of the street signs in this part of the city. Hilarious it was.

Half an hour later I found the pub, and what a fine establishment it is.

That half hour wasn’t wasted. I wandered around the city and marvelled at the wealth that built this city. Although Liverpool has been through hard times, this part of the city has a wonderfully regal feel to it. Many of the buildings are graceful and serene. Street names (where the signs existed!) echoed the city’s connections with the sea. Liverpool was a very important sea port, sadly much of the trade was human: the slave trade.

I’ll be returning with more time to spare, this city has to be explored at a more leisurely pace.

Anyroadup. The Belvedere sing. And beer.

Both very excellent indeed. The beer I chose was Liverpool Organic Brewery’s Cascade Bitter, 3.7% abv, excellent session beer. I knew there was a reason to travel by train.

The pub is an unspoilt haven: good beer, pickled eggs, good company. Proper, if you know what I mean. 

The singing was as good as it gets, a dozen or so singers in attendance - eleven were very good......well I had a sing too.
Colin, who instigated this singaround, has much to be proud of with his weekly get-together. It attracts some of the very best....apart from me of course. There are no airs and graces to this event, it's just a very enjoyable singaround. There’s not much more to say – other than I’ll be back sooner rather than later.

     

At 4pm I had to leg it back to the station to catch my train home – I wasn’t in too much of a hurry though:

I shouldn’t REALLY have gone today, I couldn’t really spare the time - I’ve got loads of stuff to do. But I'm very glad I did make the effort, Yvonne's introduced me to something really special.

Anyway, a break is good for a chap.

Isn’t it?

29th December, A little out of sync…

Lots of stuff has gone on of late, but yesterday evening I went over to Mark’s in Holmes Chapel to enjoy his excellent hospitality and the good company that is always guaranteed at his ‘At Home’ gatherings.

Music, singing and good conversation in the best of company, fuelled by Mark and Alison’s very competent culinary efforts, were enjoyed until late. Although Holmes Chapel is only around 18 miles from Timperley, at this time of year it’s just too far to cycle there and back in the evening. The only practical way of getting there is to drive. Ho hum.

Music in Mark’s little conservatory

I was delighted to find Emma & Jon in attendance, they’re both excellent company. Emma is the fiddler in the Midgebite Ceilidh Band that I play with, and Jon is a very experienced lightweight backpacker and is a mine of information on the subject.

I had heard from Emma that they had both taken up playing the ukelele. Judging from the sound they were making, they’re both learning fast.

Challenge and cycling matters were discussed at length with Jon, who will be on his 3rd Challenge in 2013.

 Emma and Jon

Challenge matters included discussing the possibilities of carrying musical instruments across the Scottish Highlands. Ukeleles and melodeons were deemed to be just too heavy. Whistles and harmonicas are okay, but when you’re carrying your house on your back you become very aware of every ounce in your pack.

Today has been a busy day dealing with family stuff. I was going to walk with friend John from Bramhall, he had a nice 20 miler lined up. I’m afraid to say I wimped out because of the appallingly wet weather. After such a day there was really only one way to wind down:

Riggwelter is the northern word used to describe a sheep that has fallen on it’s back and can’t get back up. The beer’s good.

The weather forecast for tomorrow isn’t too bad so I’m going for a walk. It will be local – straight from my front door, but with all the awful weather we’ve endured of late I really need to get out.