Ashley 7 mile circular 22nd April 2021

The day dawned bright and clear, so rather than continue with the decorating I should have been doing, I went for a walk. Like you do.

I needed to check out a couple of paths that I suspected may have been diverted due to changes close to the Lymm interchange / roundabout thingy. I’m leading a bit of a walk for a couple of members of the After Eight walkers next week, this was the only part of the route I needed to recce.

Parked up in Hale, I trundled down to the R Bollin and followed it’s northern bank on a nice dry footpath, eastwards, almost as far as Castle Mill….famous in the 1960s for it’s solar heated, open air swimming pool. 

The R Bollin near Hale

For Conrad

I only went in the pool a couple of times, it was always bloody freezing – and at 1/ˉ (5p), was a bit too pricey for me. The preferred, cheaper (=free) and much warmer option was to swim in the Bollin – along with all the other kids that didn’t have two pennies to rub together.

 Footbridge over the R Bollin, close to Castle Mill

Crossing the R Bollin by a footbridge I walked south(ish) to join a tarmac road that eventually took me through Ashley, and almost as far as Tatton Park. I could hear the not very distant M56, so much busier now than a few weeks ago – the easing of lockdown restrictions is becoming more and more apparent.

The only recently closed Ashley School - up for sale

The Rev Robin's 'old' church

The M56, still not that busy

 

I eventually crossed the M56 by a footbridge. Peering into some woodland I spotted some shelters - I couldn't tell what was going on, but a group of folk were certainly enjoying themselves.

 You'll have to take my word for it, there were shelters in there.

Re-crossing the R Bollin

 I walked NE back into Hale, re-crossing the R Bollin, and to my car.

I’d only been out 2½hrs but I thoroughly enjoyed my little jaunt. 20 minutes later I was back home and tucking into a rather late breakfast.

Oh, and the footpaths hadn’t been diverted, all was well.

Where I went:

7 miles of very pleasant flatness...I may run it next time

Edale to Chinley 16th April 2021

It was a very last minute decision to hit the hills: at 6.50am I jumped out of bed, 50 minutes later I was running for the train (my first time on public transport for over a year) to head to Edale.

The trains were very quiet, the few passengers on board were, apart from one, wearing facemasks.

By 10am I was heading south to climb up the the heady heights of Mam Tor and Rushup Edge. The sky was blue, the sun shone strongly, but it was chilly – I kept my Velez on for most of the rest of the day.

I initially mis-read this as 'Hardenough Clough'

 

Looking back to Mam Tor from Rushup Edge

 

Not part of the nice view

The views from Rushup Edge were good, apart from a couple of dog-poo bags on the footpath. There’s no excuse for this kind of couldn’t care-lessness, it’s just abdicating reponsibility to the non-existent Dog-Poo Bag Fairy. What sort of people do this?

At the west end of Rushup Edge I headed north up the Pennine Bridleway. I found a nice spot just south of Roych Clough for my lunch – this was the only time I took my Velez off.

For Judith

I followed the PBW to a point just west of South Head where I turned downhill to eventually arrive in Chinley. 15 minutes later my train arrived, I was back home in the late afternoon – just in time for tea.

It was good.

The trains south, beyond Manchester Airport, still aren’t running due to Covid-19, but when they do I’ve got a few routes on my to-do list, including a walk home from Holmes Chapel – I need to get some miles in my legs!

Where I went today: 

Around 9 miles with 1650’ of ascent.

 

Covid-19 and all that

A call from the GP’s surgery – ‘What are you doing on Thursday morning?’ marked the beginning of my journey to sunlit uplands…..no, not those ficticious ones.

Maybe the TGO Challenge and normal life will return this year – I hope so.

Just some of the things miss so much:

My friends and acquaintances, all of them (yes, even you!)

Going to the pub for good beer, stimulating conversation, singing & playing music – or just chilling in a convivial atmosphere.

Playing in the ceilidh band

Getting out for a decent walk

Cheshire Hare & Hounds Tally-Ho!

Backpacking

Camping

Taking my (new-ish to me) caravan out.

….and so much more

Anyroadup:

The jab was painless, after-effects minimal: a very slight feeling of bruising, and a couple of days of all-over body stiffness – a small price to pay.

England has paid a high price for the way the Covid-19 epidemic has been dealt with by the government, fingers crossed this improve now that vaccinations are under way – although this government’s record of dealing with significant challenges doesn’t fill me with confidence. If there’s just a chance of something going pear-shaped then this government will do it’s damnedest to ensure a total screw-up – that’s where their competence lies.

Talking of lies, well I suppose we’re world-beating at something.

My very grateful thanks to the researchers, the NHS and staff everywhere, the carers, those who wear face-masks and take the threat of Covid-19 seriously, my GP and all her wonderful staff,….and so many more.

Warburton Souling 2020, Covid-19 edition

The Warburton Souling Play, one of many traditional ritual plays performed up and down the country, was revived in the late 1970s after break of over 40 years.

Setting off for the first night's performance - pre-Covid-19 days

Our Play is performed over a period of 2 weeks, kicking off on the 1st November each year – unless that date falls on a Sunday, in such cases we start the following day. We never perform on a Sunday.

You can read more about our Play here. 

We perform mainly in pubs (tsk) during the two week season….and we, er, rarely go thirsty.

 

Beelzebub, thirst quenched

We’re determined that our local tradition doesn’t die out as so many other plays have. Continuity is important but Covid-19 posed a threat to this year’s tour.

The Enterer

Turkish Champion

 

Enter Zoom.

In order for the Play to be performed safely it was agreed that the Play should be performed remotely from our respective homes using technology. A bit of clever editing has resulted in this:

 

If all goes to plan we should be hitting the road again next November – I certainly hope so, this year has been a disaster for many. To quote a certain ex-Prime Minister, ‘things can only get better’… can’t they?

The show must go on…as somebody else once (probably) said.

 

Soul Cakes - made by the lovely Honor. Last year. Obv.

Covid

I’ll just leave this here.

 

Tally-Ho! from Chinley Sat 10th Oct 2020

The Old Hall in Chinley is rapidly becoming a Club favourite. Located in superb running country, it serves excellent food along with a wide range of well kept, proper beers.

 

 The Old Hall, Chinley

As with last year’s trail from here, the trail layers were Ade, and the man with the money, Tony.

I opted for an early start but was surprised to find some runners had arrived before me. I set off first, leaving the earlier arrivals to chat and get themselves ready for the rigours of the run.

I headed off west, initially on tarmac following the clumps of sawdust down hill to cross the road bridge over the raging Black Brook. It wasn’t long before Hon Prez Park caught me up, we stuck together for the rest of the run.

Photo nicked from Big Ian, because mine was rubbish,

We left the road to climb, running north along Cracken Edge, keeping to the east of Chinley Churn. It was cloudy but dry and we enjoyed good views all around.

 

Passing through some old quarry workings, and scaring the living daylights out some sheep, we could clearly see Mount Famine and South Head, hills that we’d soon be ‘running’ up. We descended to Peep-O’-Day which had just come into view. 

The crossing of the busy A624 marked the start of our climb over Mount Famine. We came across a couple of mountain bikers who were cycling the Pennine Bridleway:

 

Kinder Downfall could be seen doing what Kinder Downfall should: the water was flowing down, not up. We descended the to cross the familiar Pennine Bridleway, and then began a bit of a tug up to the top of South Head, where the wind was very, er, windy.

Summit Cairn, South Head

Heading off South Head

Trail!

The descent from South Head was magnificent. The ground was dry and it was very runnable.

It was now more or less downhill all the way back – but following the trail was tricky at times – leading us through a garden (it was a P.R.O.W.) and going through various, almost hidden, little snickets and ginnels.

The flooded path alongside the sewage farm caused a little concern…..was this the waste outflow? Worse, could it have been the overflowing intake?

Whatever….we continued west along the old Tramway, now a pleasant path, and on final approach to the Old Hall.

Cracken Edge from the  pub

Covid-19 restrictions meant we couldn’t use the tin bath so runners had to make the best of it. I took a flask of hot water and had a quick wash down at my car in the pub car park, others made their own arrangements for removing the worst of the crud. I wasn't too muddy - mainly thanks to the flooded path we'd just run through:

Not too muddy - thanks to the flooded path we'd just run through

Joe was shielding so wasn’t able to stay for the meal. The Warrington lads were under orders from Boris deWaffle Johnson not to mix with the likes of the rest of the Club so they enjoyed a rehydrating pint or two whilst sat outside the pub before heading off and leaving the rest of the runners to enjoy a very fine dinner of steak pudding followed by, er, pudding. Ade didn’t have the steak pudding. Obv.

Then it was time to go time – but not before the Hon Sec made it known that we had lost another venue, the Crag at Wildboarclough. Plans are in hand to replace it with another venue, but in these difficult times finding a pub that is able to accommodate us is no easy task….even assuming pubs aren’t ordered to close, which right now looks very iffy.

Anyroadup. It was a great day, Joe, as always, proved to be the best of company. The route really couldn’t have been better, and the pub, well….tremendous.

Oh, and nobody overtook us….a first!

 Nothing to do with the run, but I always find these railway arches, on the road into Chinley, to be quite striking - the evening sun illuminated them beautifully: