19th December, Chorlton to Manchester

Following the Floop

I put this walk together at short notice – the weather forecasters had promised a dry day. They lied. I was particularly miffed about this ‘cos I’d washed my bedding and hung it out to dry before leaving home. :-(

Anyroadup, The Plan was to walk into the centre of Manchester using the Fallowfield Loop, or the Floop, and the Ashton Canal towpath. We’d then reward ourselves with a curry. Because we’re worth it.

Over the last couple of years we’ve  been plotting ‘green’ routes into the centre of Manchester, always finishing at This & That, our favouritist eatery. This was our latest idea.

The Metrolink whisked Rick and I from Timperley to Chorlton in norralot of time. We waited until 10.30am to see if anyone was daft enough to join us but they all had their sensible hats on today.

St Werburghs Road, the start of the Floop.

 

We got onto the Fallowfield Loop just by St Werbergh’s Tram stop. We were both quite surprised to find that the track was very well surfaced which made for fast and easy progress. Cold, sunshiny, rainy, and an excellent walking surface

The weather ended up being changeable (at best!) – we had everything from bright sunshine to heavy rain. At one point we had to shelter under a bridge – it provided an ideal opportunity to crack open the flasks to wash down enormous slices of Stollen. It’s nearly Christmas so why not eh?

Platt Brook

The Fallowfield Loop follows part of a former railway line that linked Sheffield Victoria and Manchester Central stations.

We were more than pleasantly surprised to find we had covered around 8 miles of apparently suburban walking actually feels very rural…..to almost quote Gayle’s description of our curry walk last week.

It was an unpleasant, albeit brief, jolt back to ‘reality’ as we left the Floop and crossed the busy A635 Ashton Old Road. Peace and quiet returned as we entered the Fairfield Moravian Settlement – a real oasis of tranquility. If you’ve not been there then you should.

Leaving the Moravian Settlement by the back door we jumped onto the Ashton Canal towpath to head west towards Manchester – and our lunch.

Rain showers continued throughout the day, we both had over-trousers but resisted the temptation put them on –they’re such a faff.  

Pretty!

We arrived at ‘This and That’ on Soap Street at 2.25pm, allowing for our cake & coffee stop we’d been walking 3hrs 40mins = a midgy’s wotsit under 3.3mph, quite a respectable speed. Had we had company on the walk we’d have walked at more sedate pace but as it was we were hungry and a brisk pace was appropriate.

 A hungry rick outside This & That

Late Lunch 

Where we went:

12 miles and damned near flat

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,

Tuesday 3rd September, Another Curry Walk

An email from the Long Suffering Rick gently hinted that a Curry Walk was overdue. I fired off emails to those well known Curry Walk aficionados, Martin & Alan. Alan was predictably enthusiastic, Martin was willing but the flesh it was weak – a particularly painful back problem meant he was virtually immobile. The decision was taken: we’d do the walk and eat Martin’s curry for him. Oh, and drink his beer at the end.

My old friend John had been cajoled into joining us. He’s not that old really, but he does enjoy a curry. And a walk. He’s quite partial to a few decent beers too.

Rick planned the route, it was his fault turn. A tram ride from Timperley whisked us up to our rendezvous point with Alan:  Prestwich on the north side of Manchester.

The Plan (Ho-ho!) was to follow the banks of the River Irwell into the centre of Manchester. To get to the river from our start point meant wandering down a short section of the busy A56 Chester to Broughton (North Yorkshire) road. You can often turn up some real gems if you keep your eyes open when walking through built-up areas, like the delightfully named ‘Railway & Naturalist’ pub:

The Railway & Naturalist, Prestwich

 

Leaving the busy A56 to walk through Prestwich village we passed the old church of St. Mary the Virgin:

The building has been extended over the years You don’t need to look too carefully to spot some of the alterations. Alan knows more about it (and the pub opposite), he and Sheila used to live locally.

 

 

After walking through the wooded graveyard we followed a very good path that took us through Prestwich Clough > Drinkwater Park and then the River Irwell:

Rick doing a map check…..John McN checking the location of his marbles

 

The River Irwell

Most people think that the course that rivers follow as they wend their merry way into busy city centres as being dreary at best. The route the River Irwell took was anything but – it was quite delightful.

The path was very pleasant indeed although there were constant reminders of our close proximity to central Manchester:
  The Manchester skyline, the 550’ 47 storey Beetham Tower on the RHS

 

Manchester City Council appear to have provided comfy seating on the route. Nice, eh?

 

 

I’ve no idea what this is, perhaps a tribute to the area’s industrial past?

 

I think this building may have some connection with the old trolley-bus system that was in use in Manchester until  1966.

A Manchester Trolley-bus in 1966. Pic taken from Wikipedia.

The weirs of the river began to sound unnaturally loud….then I realised I was hearing the rumbling of stomachs. It was getting towards 2pm and we were hungry, hungry, hungry.

Above: the view to Salford from the bridge below:

I can’t imagine local councils forking out for such elaborate signage these days.

 

A sadder-looking River Irwell. The building behind the bridge is the old sorting office. So Alan says. And he knows about these things.

 

Our bee-line to the luxury of ‘This & That’ took us past Manchester Cathedral, a rather magnificent building that is undergoing some restoration work. Whilst this work is being carried out a temporary building has been constructed to serve the faithful:

Manchester Cathedral with the Cathedral Pre-fab to the left.

 

No idea, but it goes to show that you should always look up when in a city centre. Not all the time though.

 

 Getting closer….The Urbis and The Printworks. I can almost smell the curry.

 

Inside the Printworks

 

Gotham City?

 

Moments later….well minutes later actually, (John McN and I found ourselves slightly lost) we entered the hallowed towers of ‘This & That’. No photos of our excellent meal, only the aftermath. We were too damned hungry to be messing with cameras.

 

I enjoyed rice with curried chicken, curried cabbage (wonderful!!), and dahl. All for £4.90.

John McN and Alan, hunger satisfied.

 

The process of rehydration was carried out at the very excellent Ape & Apple where destructive quality control tests were carried out on some of Joe Holt’s finest ales. The ale passed all tests with flying colours. I wouldn’t have expected anything less…but it’s best to be sure.

 

It was great to see Sheila who joined us for a short time before John McN, Rick and I headed off to the tram and then home. She had lager, but she’s a lovely lady.

 

Poor thing. Hot, sweet tea will help.

Alan reckoned we walked 13.3km, that’s around 8.3 miles in English. It was downhill. I know this ‘cos that’s the way that rivers flow.

A grand day out in excellent company. Oh, and we all thoroughly enjoyed Martin’s curry and beer. Thanks Martin, I’ll be down for a coffee in a bit.

You can read Alan’s report here, it has much nicer pics and a map.

More of my pics are here. No photos of the curries or the beer, we were too hungry and thirsty to be mithered.