View from Oban Bothy

View from Oban Bothy

Monday, 25 February 2013

Sunday 24th February, Walkies

After yesterday’s music & singing rehearsal at Rick’s we decided a walk was needed to stretch our legs and clear our brains.
And so it was that at around 8.45am this morning we met up at the top of our respective roads and hit the Bridgewater Canal towpath at Timperley Station bridge.
It was a bit chilly when we set out, around 1degC. It was Rick’s fault (when it’s not his fault, it’s mine – and today it was his turn). Rick suggested a route that was pretty-well the reverse of the route I used to use to run into work – when I had a job.
P1010407A victim of the treacherous waters of the Bridgewater Canal
P1010408
After about 3 miles of towpath walking we left the canal and walked underneath the canal aquaduct to join the banks of the Mersey:
P1010409
Banks of the Mersey? Sounds like the name of a monologue…..
Sale Water Park was on our left, it was reputedly formed by the extraction of gravel used to build the M60 motorway.
Then Jackson’s Boat footbridge – which seemed to have spawned a partner:
imageThe new bridge is to carry one of the many Metrolink Tram lines that seem to be popping up all over the place.
Leaving Sale Water Park far behind, we next came to Chorlton Water Park.

Our last bridge of the day, which took us over the Mersey and away from Chorlton Water Park, through Kenworthy Woods and then towards Wythenshawe Park. Worra lorra parks.
P1010412 Bridge over the River Kwai Mersey
Turning west (eh?) through Wythenshawe Park towards Timperley, it was still damned cold. My Buffalo was a good choice for today’s walk. A bit of tarmac and we were back in Timperley.

10 miles of flatness. Nice though.

image

Saturday 23rd February. A bit of a trot

I needed a USB wireless dongley sticky-thing – and I also needed to get out for a bit of a stretch.
Our rather good local computer shop, Grapevine Computers in Altrincham, always come up trumps for me – decent kit at the right price, off the shelf – and they know what they’re talking about.
I devised a bit of a circuitous running route that would enable me to grab a bit of exercise, take me over ground where I might spot fallen wood for the woodburner – and get into Altrincham for the computer gubbins.
Beechfields, Brook’s Drive and Altrincham Golf Course provided traffic-free bits of the route, unfortunately the rest was tarmac. We can’t all live in a part of the country with wilderness on our doorstep….worse luck!
It was to be a good morning: I spotted loads of fallen wood (a job for tomorrow), bought a rather fancier USB wireless thingy than I knew existed (it’s loads faster than other wireless dongles I’ve used previously) – and it snowed. But only a bit.
On the route back to home I spotted a bit of history:
image 
I may nip back tomorrow with a tin of Brasso
Wilson’s Brewery, once of Newton Heath, Manchester, were one of the most prolific suppliers of beer to pubs in the Manchester area. After amalgamating with Websters of Halifax, the brewery closed in 1987 and the brand ceased to exist in 1998.

The whole trip took me around 90 minutes which was fine.

6.3 miles of flatness:

Altrincham 10km

Wednesday, 20 February 2013

20th February, Petition for Trump Inquiry

The very excellent Laura posted details of the Petition for Trump Inquiry calling on the Scottish Parliament, through the Public Petitions Committee, to urge the Scottish Government to hold a public inquiry into the way local government, Scottish Ministers and other relevant public bodies conducted themselves throughout their dealings with the Trump Organisation in relation to the Menie project.

trump-youre-fired

Trump: Image from www.examiner.com

You know what to do.

Sunday, 17 February 2013

Sunday 17th February, Sunset in Cheshire

Whilst en-route to the Clonter Opera Theatre this evening, I thought the sunset was rather nice:
P1010396 Jodrell Bank Radio Telescope
P1010401
Jodrell Bank and a tree
P1010403Jodrell Bank 10 minutes later
Jodrell Bank is quite a fancy bit of kit – you can read all about it here.
Both the Clonter Opera Theatre and Jodrell Bank are well worth a visit if you’re around these parts.

The photographs were taken with my Lumix DMC-FS40.

Saturday 16th February, Tally-Ho!

The training for training continues….

The opportunity to go “running through cow fields (and other cow things) in all weathers and conditions just for the fun of it” was not to be missed, so just before 2pm I set off to follow the sawdust trail laid by Mark Taylor and Tommy Markham. The weather was good: sunshine, warm – a pleasant change compared to the weather we had been enduring of late.
Today’s pub was an old favourite of the Cheshire Tally-Ho!, The Cross Keys at Uppermill, on the western edge of the Saddleworth Moors. I ran most of the route with Ian J – he was suffering from the back-end of a very bad cold so I thought there might be a chance I could keep up with him.
P1010350Ian running up Pots & Pans 
Running (Ho-ho!) south to climb up the local tourist honey-pot hill, Pots & Pans, was relatively easy – the ground was reasonably dry and the gradient not too steep. The views were good:
P1010351  Every ascent has a descent and our descent took us down to Dovestones Reservoir. The track was a little tricky and even with fell-running shoes I kept slipping and sliding until we got down to the bottom.
P1010362On Alderman’s Hill, above Dovestone’s Reservoir
P1010371 Dovestone’s from the dam
Continuing south, following the eastern edge of the reservoir and on good tracks, we headed to the half-way point of the trail – a footbridge across the stream that runs through Chew Valley.
It was here that some of the faster hounds caught us up:
P1010373As is often the case when following trail in company, chatting too much leads to losing the trail – even when the trails is laid as well as this one. After a good 2-3 minutes of yakking….we were lost. Well not quite lost, but we were certainly off the trail. Fortunately we had half an idea of  where the route should go and we followed our instincts – which proved to be correct.
Although the photo above shows a well-surfaced track, it wasn’t long before we we running over more typical Tally-Ho ground:
P1010380
It wasn’t all as bad, and by the time Rob caught us up we were back on half-decent tracks again: 
P1010386You’ll notice that all the other runners were catching us up. In our defence, Ian and I weren’t 100%…..mind you, even if I was 100% I don’t think I’d have done much better!
P1010387Not far from the end now 
Tally-Ho! trails always feature a dinner after the run. Prior to dinner we get cleaned up and changed. Use of the club’s tin bath is the preferred method of getting clean – it certainly encourages runners to get round the route as quickly as possible – those who finish late suffer rather gritty bath water:
P1010389It was a good run – a bit heavy on tarmac, but to be honest that suited me today. I’m completely out of condition and an easy run was just what I needed.
A good dinner of meat & potato pie with mushy peas and red cabbage, followed by fruit pie and custard refuelled the runners very satisfactorily. Rehydration was made possible by consuming vast amounts of well-kept John-Willie Lees….not for me though, I was driving.
P1010392Hungry runners waiting to be fed 

8.5 miles with around 1800’ of ascent. Good.

Cross Keys 2013 route Thanks go to Tommy Markham and Mark Taylor for a very well-laid trail.

Thursday, 14 February 2013

14th February, Valentine Venture

Knackered knees, amongst many other things, have buggered up my running & walking of late. I planned a gentle (sadly mainly tarmac) run in an attempt to gain some fitness in advance of a training trip coming up.
The following route was devised as a gentle run / walk – enough to remind heart & lungs what they are there for, but not too much so as to overly jangle my knackered knees.
It all seemed to go swimmingly well with only two enforced stops to give my L knee a good talking to.
image Just under 8 miles with around 300’ of up and downery. And it didn’t rain.
Nice. I’ll do it again next week, but before that there’s a 8-9 mile Tally-Ho! trail run in Saddleworth on Saturday. Well kept JW Lees, good food, good company….and hopefully a good route. And mud.

Sunday, 10 February 2013

Saturday 9th February, Kidney Research

NP+1 (aka Neezup) were asked to play at a fundraising ceilidh last night. The event was held in aid of Kidney Research UK at Oughtrington Primary School, near Lymm, Cheshire.

It was well supported and I’m fairly sure the charity made a few bob out of the event.  The band had a great time, the audience were very enthusiastic….and they fed us. It was fun. A good result for all – especially those who enjoy gherkins, of which there were many.

Gherkins that is.

 

P1010315 Alison in gherkin demolition mode

P1010317A willow in the process of being stripped

P1010319 Half of NP+1 in action

P1010322 All of NP+1 in action (L > R: RJP, JJ, Les, the long-suffering Rick)

Unfortunately I don’t have a photo of Rob, our rather excellent caller. Next time perhaps….if he stands still long enough.

Anyroadup, I need to buy some gherkins. I’d forgotten how good they are.

I wonder if they can be dehydrated for backpacking>

Lyme Park to Buxton, 18th July 2024

  A text message from my mate Vinny suggested we might go for a bit of a walk, he quite fancied Lyme Park to Buxton. It promised to be a ...