Sunday 21st October, The Bollin Valley Way

Macclesfield to Partington following the River Bollin

The Bollin Valley Way is a 25 mile path roughly following the course of the River Bollin. The route starts at Macclesfield Riverside Park and finishes in Partington where the River Bollin empties into the Manchester Ship Canal. The route is varied, following riverside paths, field paths, quiet lanes. And boggy, muddy fields. Well they were boggy and muddy today.

17 LDWA walkers gathered in Partington at 8am this morning. there should have been more, but some forgot, others had changes of plans, some just couldn’t be mithered….oh, and one was poorly. Hope you’re better soon Nancy, we missed your company today. We boarded a coach that would take us to Macclesfield…where we would walk back to Partington. Logical or what?

The journey to Macclesfield wasn’t without excitement….or delay. The coach ground to a halt in a queue of traffic, a queue caused by an errant doggy that had escaped from a dog spa.

Well this IS Cheshire.

It’s a little known fact that the East Lancashire section of the LDWA have amongst it’s membership an elite and highly trained group of dog catchers. It was fortunate indeed that this group just happened to be on board this very coach. With military precision the group sprang into action, and in a very short time the doggy was caught and returned to the rather fraught dog spa lady.

I would tell you who made the actual doggy capture….but modesty forbids. Anyway there’s probably something in the Offishall Secrets Act which would restrict me admitting to being the captor.

Tytherington, Macclesfield

Only slightly delayed, we bailed out of the coach just after 9am –just in time to meet up with Pat (from the Backpackers Club) and her two doggies. Pat lives just a couple of minutes away from our start and she’d decided to join us for the leg into Prestbury – famous for having residents with far too much money.

There was a compulsory photo-call before setting off on the return journey to Partington:

Although the sun was shining brightly it was very cold, the grass was quite frosty. Heading west (which, for those of you who are paying attention will note isn’t East) across fields and footpaths. Prestbury appeared all too quickly and we bade Pat farewell as she wandered off on an alternative route back to her house in Tytherington.

Prestbury

Paparazzi in Prestbury

Newton

En-route to Wilmslow, the Bollin Valley Way winds it’s way through the grounds of some very grand properties as well as farmland – some of which is home to some very strange animals:

     The River Bollin towards Wilmslow

The temperature rose steadily, by 10.30am outer layers were being shed – it was simply too hot in the bright sunshine. Stomachs were soon rumbling so a butty and coffee break was called on the crumbling banks of the Bollin:

Then it was onwards to Wilmslow……

Wilmslow

 …..still following the River Bollin

St Bartholomew's Church, Wilmslow

The trees were well on the turn, their colours quite spectacular – made all the more beautiful by the day’s bright sunshine.

Entering the Carrs, a 70 acre Wilmslow park, there was a pleasant reminder of Henry Boddington and his connection with the area.

The Carrs is made up of a mix of woodland, sports grounds, playgrounds, open grassland….and hilly bits, just for Norman:

Leaving the Carrs behind, Manchester Airport was our next significant landmark. At 12:25 (5 minutes late!) the enormous A380 came into view:

When Manchester Airport’s Runway 2 was built, the River Bollin posed a problem….it was in the way. Inventive engineers designed and built a huge culvert to allow the river to continue on it’s way unhindered.

Manchester Airport

East Lancs LDWA chef extraordinaire posing in front of the culvert

Inside the culvert, the river is on the left of the footway

Some of the crack walkers of East Lancs LDWA approaching the end of the runway

Castle Mill

Even the flatlands of Cheshire can play host to a trig-point

Stomachs were rumbling once again, so another butty and coffee break was called at a pleasant grassy spot adjacent to Hale golf course.

Hale

Rick had been suffering from a nasty cold and he had decided to leave the main party in Hale and then walk home, about 3.5 miles. Our route took us away from the Bollin for a short time, and passed the start-point of our ‘Jump in the Lake’ walk at Bank Hall Lane. You can read about that walk here.

The surviving members of the party continued on their merry way towards the most dangerous section of the route – the crossing of the A56. Fortunately the crossing was successful and the 16 survivors continued unscathed.

Beyond the A56, the Bollin Valley Way follows a permissive path towards Dunham Park. The path is tough going whether it’s wet or dry. Wet and it’s boggy, dry and the hard ground is lumpy – chewed up by cattle.

Dunham  Massey

 The Swan caused a slight delay….not for beer though

The hot weather had caught many unawares and a good few members of our expeditionary force had run out of water. The Swan with Two Nicks (famous for serving very well kept Dunham Massey beers) appeared in the nick of time.

That’s very funny don’t you think: ‘Swan with Two Nicks ‘…’nick’ of time…?

Oh never mind.

Anyway after a pleasant 10 – 15 minute stop we continued on our merry way, leaving the area by following the cobbled track that goes under the Bridgwater Canal and then to field paths towards another pub, The Vine (Sam Smiths) ….I can see a pattern developing here. Anyway, we didn’t stop at The Vine, honest. No, really, we didn’t.

Warburton

Warburton marks the end of the Bollin Valley Way, although strictly speaking the river travels further, entering the canal at Bollin Point. The village used to boast two pubs, sadly only one remains – The Saracen’s Head, famous for, er, Saracens. And appearing on Time Team when the TV team excavated half of Moss Brow Farm across the road from the pub in a fruitless search for bits of ancient Romans.

There were some relics though:

 For Sale, MG: One careful owner

Just a few more field paths, a bit of tarmac, and then:

We say ‘Pah!’ to your sign

Fortunately we’re rufty-tufty long distance walkers and a mere ‘Path Closed’ wasn’t going to bother us! In fact this sign has been here for over a year. The ‘closure’ caused by a short section of path collapsing towards the canal. I think most of our party can swim…so we carried on regardless.  No attempt has been made to carry out any repairs to the path, so we made no attempt to find an alternative route.

Tit for tat. Innit.

Warburton Toll Bridge, Toll: 12p for cars, bicycles & pedestrians go free

The Manchester Ship Canal. Shipless today.

Redbrook Bridge….over Red Brook.

According to the Bollin Valley Way website, this bridge is in a dangerous condition and is another reason for the closure of this section of the route. It looked pretty good to me, supporting even my excessive weight with ease.

Sunset over the canal. Romantic or what?

At 5.45pm we arrived back at our cars, 8.5 hours after we set out from Macclesfield. Allowing for breaks we probably walked at around 3.35mph, not bad for a large group. The route was nominally downhill although there were plenty of little ‘ups’.

Everybody seemed to have enjoyed the walk, it’s a good route and is well-signed. The ground varied from good, dry paths / tarmac, to gloopy bogs and very muddy bits (lots?). I suppose yer average walker out for a bit of a wander wouldn’t do much more than 8 – 10 miles of the route in one go, that in itself would make for interesting walking…without the sore knees and sore feet!

Interestingly, we recced the route exactly 12 months ago – to the day…..and the weather was identical too.

Well I think it’s interesting even if you don’t.

Distance: 25.5-ish miles in about 7.5 hours of walking

Distance SHOULD have been 25 miles…but ‘a little loop’ was introduced mid-walk to avoid some unnecessary tarmac. We probably put an extra half mile on.

Thanks to everyone who came and didn’t complain. In fact thanks to those who DID complain too. The East Lancs LDWA are a great bunch….but don’t tell them I said so. Thanks to Transport Manager John Bullen, to Steve & Viv who first dreamt up the idea, to my Mum and Dad…..

It was a good day out, a nice route, brilliant company, and glorious weather.

More photographs are here.

Anyway I’m off to bed, all this typing is tiring!

Red at night….

Friday 19th October

Yesterday evening I had just nipped out to harass a neighbour, a fellow member of the LDWA, when I was stopped in my tracks by a most amazing sunset. My camera (The Lumix G3) was close to the front door, so…..

I see that Martin also spotted the same splendid sunset. Good, weren’t it Martin?

The last week or so

My mate Chris used to live in nearby Sale, but the last few years he’s been all over the show - everywhere from working for the British Antarctic Survey in both Cambridge and on Rothera, travelling in South America, and now he’s going to move to Australia. On a rare return visit to Sale last week he took the opportunity to call in to demand coffee with menaces.
He though he’d wind me up by rolling up on his rather nice Laverda Jota. He succeeded.
I used to like Chris a lot.

A rare example of a classic bike that isn’t kept in a glass cabinet

That evening it was ceilidh time again. I told you all about the ceilidh and I’m pleased to say that some of you rolled up – you seemed to have enjoyed it.

23rd September, Via de la Plata, Day 5

To Banos de Montemayor…..or the day of the rain

A fast breakfast of toast and marmalade washed down with coffee set me up for the day’s walk. At 7.30am it was quite overcast but still warm.

Hostal Asturias

Walking north from Hostal Asturias, the first couple of miles were on tarmac but there was very little traffic – in fact I don’t recall any cars passing me. The map shows a railway running parallel to the road – I don’t think too many trains run these days though:

Dr Beeching would be proud

Although the road was traffic-free I was glad to get back on to footpaths. I frequently came across some pretty purple flowers on the paths – a type of crocus?

The wind got up, driving thick clouds around the surrounding hills. Flashes of lightning lit up the clouds, rumbles of distant thunder became frequent – but so far the rain all around hadn’t done anything other than threaten me with a soaking.

This way…maybe

Once again the route was diverted. This time there were very clear signs directing me uphill and into some woodland. I followed the signs and the footpath into thickening undergrowth until a big drop stopped my in my tracks, there was no way I could continue forward. I reckon the well worn footpath only gets used by peregrinos doing exactly the same as me: walking as far as the natural barrier of a 20ft drop and then walking back again.

Paprika factory 

I managed to get to a road that would take me in more or less the right direction….and then it started to rain, and boy did it rain! I’d decided to take a lightweight waterproof, my Ron Hill waterproof running jacket. Lightweight and packing into a small stuff bag, this jacket has served me well on wet days when running in the UK. Except it wasn’t man enough to handle Spanish rain.

Back on the route again 

The wet

I stayed dry for an hour or so but then I started to get wet. Fortunately the small town of Aldeanueva del Camino hove into view and I leapt into a welcoming bar / restaurant that was doing good business feeding and watering a coach party of tourists.

The rain got heavier as I downed two cups of coffee and a bacon and cheese bocadillo, thankfully it has eased off when it was time to leave.

Well it eased for a short time, then it hammered down and I got well-drenched all the way to Banos de Montemayor. Oh well, at least the rain wasn’t too cold.

The albergue

I eventually found the albergue, the top floor of the local (public) museum. It was quite strange to have Joe Public wandering around the building, examining the exhibits….whilst I was struggling to keep my exhibits concealed as I wandered back from the shower.

 The wet view from the albergue bedroom window

I’ll let you translate this one, I’m getting tired.

The rain continued on and off all afternoon and evening. This was the turning point in the weather, I wouldn’t experience the very high temperatures of the last few days again on this trip.

I enjoyed a very nice menu del dia meal in the evening, then it was time for bed. And another meal….but this time I was on the menu.

….well, it LOOKED clean 

Total distance for the day: around 26km

22nd September, Via de la Plata, Day 4

To Arco de Caparra and Jarilla

The rather rushed start to the day left my head in a bit of a whirl. The previous evening’s apparently fruitless attempt at arranging for a taxi had in fact worked. In my very best Spanish, Flemish, German and French (along with a smattering of English) I had phoned the local taxi man to try to order a taxi to avoid the first 10km of busy tarmac. I was quite convinced this very nice man thought that I was some kind of lunatic who was hell bent on making nuisance phone calls and irritating the hell out of him and his wife.

I crawled out of my bed at 6.50am to make a coffee and do the other things a chap needs to do first thing in the morning, when I heard a car pull up outside the albergue….and then a rattling on the front door. It was Señor Taxi Driver – my nuisance phone call had worked! Fortunately I had most of my kit packed so I managed to dress (T-shirt inside out!), pack my sleeping bag and snatch something to eat from the breakfast table, all in less than 10 minutes.

15 minutes later Señor Taxi Driver delivered me to a bar in Carcaboso (pronounced ‘Karackabouso’) where I was able to enjoyed a couple of cups of cafe con leche for that oh-so-very important dose of caffeine.

I was absolutely delighted to catch up with Ully once again, he had pushed on to Carcaboso the previous afternoon and had secured lodgings in the town. We spent 10 minutes comparing notes before he set off towards Arco de Caparra.

A freshly laundered Ully ready to hit the trail

Ully was walking at around 4-5kph, a similar pace to me so I didn’t expect to see him again that day – my two coffees were going to delay me by a good 20 – 25 minutes.

At 8am I left the bar and looked for the tell-tale yellow arrows to direct me out of the town onto the Camino. Pop music was blasting away somewhere, I couldn’t tell where it was coming from – well not for a few minutes anyway. Then I came a cross this:

Carcaboso was having some sort of all-night bash designed to keep the residents awake all the previous night, Beer and wine were flowing, there was dancing and folks were really enjoying themselves. Now I like my beer, I’ll even stay up late at night in the interests of beer consumption – but not ALL night. I’ve since discovered that this hoolie last NINE DAYS, that’s one hell of a bash!

Inebriated revellers directed me out of the town, they must have thought this foreigner was a bloody idiot because I seemed to be going round in circles. Eventually I made my escape by three roadside crucifixes:

Definitely back on the Camino….T shirt now correctly aligned

Today’s route went through a large private estate. High fences, CCTV and floodlights kept any would-be trespassers at bay. The local bird life took advantage of some of the CCTV placements:

Judging from the airgun pellet damage on this sign I would say that peregrinos may not be overly welcome in these parts:

By now the sun was high and so was the temperature. My new Tilley hat paid for itself on this walk, even with decent sunglasses the days were very bright.

I was soon back on farm tracks….walking through farms. Spanish farmers like to get every last ounce of use from their machinery:

The modern Via de la Plata follows the original Roman (and later Christian pilgrimage) route. Milarios old and new were either on the modern route or very close to it:

There wasn’t any chance of refreshment on this section of the walk, what appeared to be a bar from a distance was actually a farm house:

 Venta Quemada

I managed to find a little shade for a sit down and a breather – and another of Aldi’s best washed down with a few glugs of corporation pop.

The next few miles were really quite beautiful, following a walled lane for the last few miles to one of the highlights of this trip:

Arco de Caparra

Caparra, according to the tourist info, is no mere museum piece – the Camino actually passes underneath the four-square ‘triumphal arch’, Arco de Caparra. The arch is part of a Roman city which is slowly but surely being excavated and is now quite a tourist attraction.

Excavations of the Roman city of Caparra

Accommodation wasn’t easily available from Caparra but the enterprising owners of Hostal Asturia in nearby Jarilla offer transport from Arco de Caparra to their hostal 8km away. I made a quick phone call (thank heavens for mobile phones) to the hostal and 20 minutes later a minibus arrived to collect 4 peregrinos and whisk us off to cold beer, nice showers, real beds, good food…….need I go on?

Total distance for the day: around 24km….excluding the minibus ride!

Tuesday 9th October, Hashing in Cheshire

Cheshire Hash House Harriers (CH3) runs are always approx 7:45 pm. Always Tuesday (except sometimes). Well that’s what their website says.

My confidence in the health of my knees had been boosted in recent days.

Q: What’s the best way to try to knacker them up again?

A: Go for a run with the Hash.

Last night they ran from the Rifleman in Wilmslow, a rather posh town in north Cheshire. At approx 7:45pm a group of 35 runners set off from the pub to follow a trail made up of bits of tissue paper – usually stuck in hedges or wrapped around bits of barbed wire fence.

5 miles 1 furlong, very little ascent, lots of fun. And mud.

As it was dark I have very little idea of where we actually ran. I can only say that the route was 5 miles 1 furlong in length – which meant we probably ran rather further than that, perhaps 5.5 miles in total. The blue blobs on the map show the VERY approximate route we followed, there could have been more…or less. The run is somewhat shorter than a normal Cheshire Hash, the reason being that the pub had put a fine spread of food on for the runners – and everyone wanted to be back in good time to partake.

The distance was more than adequate for a midweek stretch through muddy fields & tracks, and muddy it was. All the runners were armed with torches, some used head torches, others preferred hand-held torches. Charging around muddy (and worse) fields looking for trail markers is fun, in the dark it’s hilarious!

Heaven knows what the gentlefolk of Wilmslow thought at the strange sight of 35 lights bounding around in the darkness. Occasionally a light would disappear momentarily – usually accompanied by cursing…then followed by laughter. Bogs are easily missed in the dark, even with a decent torch. Judging by the very muddy runners rolling up at the Rifleman at 9pm there must have been plenty of bogs, or we all fell into the same one!

I hadn’t been out with the Hash for a while, my knees being the main reason. I was a little surprised at the pace, I’m sure they didn’t run as fast the last time I was out with them. Later in the evening it was clear that the pace had indeed been faster, mainly because of a number of new and much younger members. It was a good run anyway, I just need to clean the crud of my shoes now.

No photographs of the runners, perhaps next time.

Thanks to Nick & Heather for laying an excellent trail, choosing a very good venue….and sorting the food. Top stuff!