Playing the Pieman’s Birthday Ceilidh

The world famous (in Manchester) HopGoblin Big Band were invited to play for Mike’s birthday bash in Crime Crook, County Durham. We had a right good time…and I think Mike did too.

The crew bus set a course north and off we trundled. We stopped off at Richmond, famous for me & No2 son Nicholas stopping there on our Coast-to-Coast walk (he was 8 years old at the time) getting on for 30 years ago, and having a nice car park by the river. And a public loo.

We took photographs, ate butties, went to the loo, and then continued on our way to the northlands.  

Mike had sorted accommodation for the supergroup, HopGoblin Big Band: The Pink House. Which was very pink. And had a hot tub.

We (mostly) arrived on the Friday, and spent a jolly evening eating too much, probably drinking a bit too much, feeding Mike and Lucky, and generally have a lovely time. Mike and Lucky left us at around 10pm, in search of a nice malt….but don’t tell Mrs Pie, she might give him a hard time.

After dinner music and stuff. Notice how cheerful we all are.

Next morning, at stupid o'clock, I nipped out for a nice little 5 mile run. It was only a bit very hilly. Nice though.

Mid-morning saw us (Ho-ho!….see what I did there?) going to Barnard Castle. 

 

The last time I was here was 20+ years ago, on the occasion of the late and lamented Teesdale Thrash.

We had lunch, wandered around the town, played some music, got bitten by midges (in the middle of November!) and generally had a nice time.

Back at the (pink) ranch we prepared for the evening’s fun, games, and dancing. It was good. I ate too much. Some folk drank too much. Most of Mike’s guests danced a lot. 

 HopGoblin playing an inbetweeny warm-up tune: Jenny Lynd Polka 

Wanna buy a guitar? £5 to you.

Anton's Chocolate Cake & Chips, right - on so many levels

Happy Birthday Cake

 Rob in dance caller mode

It was lovely to see Geoff & Chrissie for the first time in far too long, and to finally meet up with  Li Yang – famous for walking stupidly long distances whilst grinning and enjoying every minute of it.

We all had a lovely, lovely evening. And we sang Happy Birthday to Mike. And I remembered how to play the tune.

It was all good.

The wild after gig party: about to chuck a telly out of the window.  We're just so Rock 'n Roll.

Back at the ranch we were all buzzing, it was past 3am when I finally hit the sack.

Next day was Remembrance Sunday, a day I always treat with respect, and I took myself off to observe the two minute silence.

A charabanc outing to Durham was on the cards for Sunday. Only my second visit to the city, it’s quite beautiful. You should go. There had been a Remembrance Day parade earlier in the day, there were lots of ex-servicemen and women still around. 

We had lunch, visited the cathedral, busked a bit, and generally played at being tourists. The busking bit ended up earning us enough dosh to pay the car park charge, plus around £1.50 ea – the big time at last.

That evening we met up with Mike & Margaret at a pub. We hoped to play some music but the grumpy landlady wasn’t having any of it. How different to our musical trips to Spain and Portugal where playing and singing in bars and cafés was deemed compulsory.

Next day we headed for home, not directly, but via a Saxon church up the road in Escomb – a fascinating building.

 

 

 

A further deviation to our homeward course was called for, I needed to call in to Leeds to see Lilo & Trish, it was really lovely to see them again – it must be ten years since we last met.

And then I went home, unloaded the crew-bus, and crashed out for an hour – it had been a busy and fun weekend!

Thanks to Mike for asking us to play at his special birthday ceilidh, to Margaret (Mrs Pie) who made sure we all ate far too much and to both of them for making us all feel so very welcome.

Oh, and my thanks to the rest of the wonderful HopGoblin Big Band for venturing north and being forced to enjoy themselves, it’s hard work being in a supergroup y’know.

Now the bad news: we’ll be back.

A few more pics from Rob, who, amongst many other things he's good at, is a pretty marvellously gifted photographer:

 If you're not bored to death by now, the rest of the photographs are here.

 

 

Fireworks Avoidance 5th Nov 2021

It was that time of the year again, LTD needed to get away from the bonfire night flash-bangs, and seeing as Mike and I don’t need much of an excuse to get out, we headed off to the Howgills for a cheeky overnighter.

I found Mike, wrapped around a pint of Black Sheep, and LTD languishing in front of a rather nice fire in a Tebay pub (tsk). I had a pint and some lunch without chips…..Mike had already had his lunch without chips.

It was only a bit chilly and claggy as we set off south, passing a hidden benchmark, to a spot previously spotted by Mike. It wasn’t too far, but far enough to be away from human habitation and fireworks. And the pub.

The appointed spot, with an adjacent sheep fold, was convenient well supplied with water, and parts were even fairly flat, albeit stony.

LTD settled in to build himself a nest

Tents were up in no time, pegs had to go in almost horizontaly because of the stones just under the grass. There was a bit of a breeze, Mike’s Akto made use of a few rocks to keep a couple of pegs in pace. My Scarp ‘seemed’ a little more secure, although as the night wore on….

I tried out a different dinner: cous-cous with a sachet of tuna stirred in. It was good and tasty but needed a cup-a-soup + bread as a starter.

The evening was spent listening to the radio, drinking tea, reading, and periodically checking for the sky to clear…which it didn’t.

By the morning the wind had really got up. At 7am-ish one of my tent pegs popped out with a bang….so at least I was out of bed at a sensible time!

 Slightly wind-blown tents

After breakfast we hastily packed. The strong wind blew my foam mat out of my tent. I thought it was lost but Mike spotted it in the stream. and I was able to rescue it.

It was drizzling quite heavily by the time we got back to Tebay. I was thankful for the flask of hot water I’d left in the car, a quick coffee set me up for the drive home.

Thanks to LTD for allowing me along. Oh, and Mike too.

 

 

NW Air Ambulance Hallowe’en Ceilidh

It was all Greta’s idea. And Bill’s.

The original plan was to try to give something back to the NHS for all the hard work and sacrifices made during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Unfortunately that was going to be an administrative nightmare, so…. 

They came up with A Plan to raise funds for the North West Air Ambulance, a service that relies totally on charitable subscriptions in order to operate. They get no government support.

Now flying helicopters around isn’t cheap, and if our caring Conservative government can’t be mithered to finance this vital emergency service, then we’d try to do our bit.

New Mills Town Hall was hired, the Hopgoblin Big Band all signed-up, and the publicity campaign began: FaceBook, direct emails, word of mouth, knocking on doors, posters in New Mills businesses, fly-posting (tsk), and mithering the blazes out of everyone we came across all, played their part.

It seemed to have worked: the hall was filled on the night, nearly everyone was in fancy dress, and the band were on fire. It was damned hard work, but well worth the effort.

You helped raise:

£1000

from ticket sales, donations, and a raffle.

Pretty good eh? 

So thanks to the good folk of New Mills and those from (much) further afield who came along and bopped to the band – we’re all extremely grateful for your support.  

Oh, and we enjoyed ourselves too!

Photos from the evening are here.

Our next public ceilidh will be on New Year’s Eve, at the Morley Green Club, Wilmslow SK9 5NT. Details will follow shortly.

Tally-Ho! New Mills 25th Sept 2021

The weather had turned warm and humid for our outing from the golf club. JJ led the runners away from the golf course, north along the road for a short distance before turning left and then right up a drive.

The footpath is marked straight across the large pond, so we
skirted the pond and headed north west to a track. Then we took a brief detour up through some woods to Mellor Cross before dropping back down to the track as it joined Back Lane.

We then turned left down the track before gaining the green stuff again via a footpath on the right. A little later we swung left, heading across the Mellor and Towscliffe golf course.

This confused at least one runner who was sure that the path didn’t go that way and so headed off his own way.

Across the golf course and then turned right through a busy
Linnet Clough Scout Camp.

We headed through woodland up to cross Longhurst Lane and curve up to pass Mellor Church, high on the hill. Through the graveyard then north again across Hollywood Road and on to Brook Bottom.

From here we headed to Far Bradshaw and onto Upper Bradshaw Farm and Springbank Farm where we crossed Gun Road.

This was a gentle cure which continued to Ringstones Farm where we took a sharper right turn to reach Hollinsmoor Road.

A quick right then left saw us back on the green stuff, bypassing Hollins Farm and on our way to Briargrove Farm. Some members received abuse for crossing the garden here, although it is a right of way and signposted. We took to Briargrove Road for a short distance, then right out onto the fields again, across to Mellor Road. A right then a left to skirt Broadhurst Plantation crossing Pole Lane and onto Primrose lane. 

A sharp left then took us on the last leg before the finish, and we rejoined the outward course to gain the safety of the clubhouse.

The weather for the trail layers had started dull, with a sprinkling of rain, but had brightened up and by the finish it was warm and sunny, so after changing in the well appointed changing rooms (no shower), we purchased some refreshment and sat at the tables outside to await the arrival of the runners.

 

Wells: Trail-Layer Extraordinaire

 

 Sawdust Trail

 Paper Trail

Joe Park was accompanied by a guest of JJ, Paul who seemed to have enjoyed it all. Rick Riding, Des Winterbone and Tommy all arrived from various directions having followed the trail creatively and soon joined us at the table.

David Bell, Ian Jenks, Ian Brown, Mike Eastwood, Steve Murray, Rob McHarry, Andy Coatsworth and Shotgun all arrived in various states dependant on their level of effort. 

When all were back, and refreshed we went inside to sit at tables with tablecloths for our repast. Steak pie, chips and peas, or veggie option, was followed by a very good cheesecake, and money was politely collected.

The Trail of the Season award for last season, which consisted of three runs due to the pandemic, was awarded to  JJ, so any hopes of this years being the best were dashed.

Suitably refreshed and rested we then dispersed to find our way home.

Where we went:

8 miles with around 1200’ of ascent….according to the OS app

Words by Wells, Route by JJ, Trail Laying by Wells & JJ, pics by JJ.

Note that some of the photos are out of order....Blogger strikes again.

NW Air Ambulance Fund Raiser: 30th October 2021

HopGoblin Ceilidh Band have always run our New Year's Eve and Summer Solstice ceilidhs as not-for-profit, ticket money goes to hire the hall and to pay for materials needed on the night, the band doesn't get paid.

We're charging a bit more for this one because it's a fund-raiser for NW Air Ambulance, an emergency service that relies totally on charitable donations - the government pays nothing.

The band have paid for the hire of New Mills Town Hall, again the band won't take a fee, so the maximum amount of cash can go to support North West Air Ambulance.

Tickets available soon.

Thanks - and we hope to see you on the night!

 

A bit of the Bollin Valley Way 1st Aug 2021

A short walk was called for by the After Eights Walkers. The Bollin Valley Way was only down the road from JJ Towers, so at 8.30am I met up with Kay to walk a small section of the route. Kay, an enthusiastic member of the After Eights.

We parked up just outside Styal, which rather conveniently sits on the River Bollin.

It was raining, not heavily, but enough to need a waterproof jacket.

Trundling eastwards, through The Carrs (a rather nice public park), we passed the local Junior Park Run being set up – it’s a popular one.

 L > R: Amy, the 42kg Wilma (who was Wendy), Kay

Kay met a dog, she likes dogs. A lot. This is Wilma, a rescue dog, formerly known as Wendy. Like so many labradors, she was very playful, energetic, and extremely sociable. And this particular labrador, at 42kg, was rather overweight – a legacy of her previous owner. Amy, her new owner who lived very locally, had got to grips with the situation and was getting Wilma out for two long walks each day. Although looking at Wilma’s energy levels I’m not too sure who was taking who for a walk!

Our route was easy to follow, there were plenty of Bollin Valley Way signs to follow – getting lost really wasn’t an option.

By now the rain had stopped, the sun was showing itself, and it was warming up. Waterproofs were put away.

We left the River Bollin for a short while, cutting through the grounds of the rather posh Mottram Hall Hotel (on public footpaths), battled though a Triffid infested path, before rejoining the river to return to our cars.

Mancunian lovers of proper beer may recognise the name above the arch

 

We covered around 8½ miles of very pleasant flatness, and were back at our cars around 3 hours after setting off. Nice.

I’ll repeat the route sometime soon (avoiding the Triffids), but as a run rather than a walk.

Thanks to Kay for joining me – maybe more After Eights will join us next time.

The route can be found here…..as long as Viewranger still works.