Favourite Photographs, 23rd August 2016

 

The Bear’s Paw, Frodsham – at the top end of the Sandstone Trail.

You can read my story of when I backpacked the route in 2011.

Favourite photographs 22/8/16

En route to Mallaig, May 2004

Testing the new ViewRanger app

The good folk at Viewranger have improved their already very good navigation app. In order to make sure that it ticked all the right boxes a number of guinea-pigs were recruited to drink coffee, play with the new app, go for a nice little walk…and to drink some beer.

Oli, of Viewranger fame, had arranged this little jolly that had a select group of outdoorsy-types gathering in Castleton at the unearthly hour of 11am….that’s the 11am in the morning, in case you were wondering. Oli, being a sensible sort of chap, had brought reinforcements from Viewranger in case the group decided to revolt at some point during the day. The reinforcements happened to be quite expert on all aspects of the app and they were able to answer any questions we may have had. Like ‘when do we stop for lunch?’.

Those of the gathered throng that didn’t have iPhones or iPads (we were testing the Apple version) were issued with appropriate phones or tablets. After a quick chat to describe the new features and to make sure we were all sufficiently up to speed with the app we were released onto the Peak District’s unsuspecting hills using Viewranger to navigate Oli’s route.

If you’ve already got Viewranger you can view the route here , it’s a nice little route that was designed to test out the new features of Viewranger.

A fine pair of knees and the ‘new’ Viewranger screen

Viewranger ‘Skyline’

One significant additional feature of the new Viewranger are the abililty to be able to identify hills and other features simply by activating the device’s camera and pointing it in the direction of the area of interest. They call this feature ‘Skyline’. This is done using the button on the top right corner of the screen – the one with a question mark. The result is something like this (but without my reflection):

I’m afraid the image above doesn’t illustrate the facility too well. In reality it’s really good and makes Viewranger an even more valuable aid to navigation. The diagonal labels on the screen indicate the various tops, their height and how far away they are.

The little window on the bottom right corner of the screen selects various filters: Peaks, Places, Points of Interest, and Water. Water filters are good.

Another additional feature is the little arrow at the top left corner of the screen. This comes into play when following a route on the app; it points you in the direction you need to be travelling. Good eh?

It’s also possible to grab a screen shot which could be saved, emailed or whatever.

 

It was hot in Castleton, not as hot as the previous day’s 31degC, but still very hot. With this hotness in mind, the route had been tweaked* slightly to avoid the risk of heatstroke, premature exhaustion, dehydration etc.

* tweaked = shortened

Getting to grips with the new app

Oli indicating The One True Way. Uphill.

Hollins Cross

The Vale of Edale

My Samsung S3 Mini running the ‘old’ Viewranger, an iPad running the ‘new’ Viewranger

I didn’t find much difference in the performance of Viewranger operating under Android or Apple (IOS?) although the much larger screen size of the iPad made the app easier to use – and the maps considerably easier to view.

The screen of a smart phone is infinitely clearer than most dedicated GPSs – certainly better than both my SatMap10 and Garmin Etrex20. 

The Skyline facility is certainly far more than a gimmick, it’s a really useful navigational aid. It enable the easy identification more distant features. It’s also possible to customise Skyline. From what I’ve been able to deduce, points of interest can be added to a map or route and these features will be indicated on the Skyline. In addition it’s possible to add route notes, such as ‘Steep decent ahead’, ‘Dragons be here’ etc.

This latest version of the app is initially only going to be available for Apple devices but the Android version is due for release around October.

 

The old Stockport to Sheffield road, closed due to repeated landslips since 1979. I last travelled this road in the early 1970s on my old Triumph T90. Happy days!

To misappropriate a Bradburyism: ‘The final assault on the summit’ of Mam Tor

The gash in the landscape that is Winnats Pass

Mam Tor, ‘Shivering Mountain’

Mam Tor from Speedwell

Winnats Pass from Speedwell

Chilling at the apres debrief

Oli’s description of the route:

Starting from the Castleton National Park Visitor Centre, this walk initially follows the stream of Odin Stitch with great views of Mam Tor before breaking right towards Hollins Cross and the Great Ridge.
A left turn at Hollins Cross provides some wonderful high-level walking that eventually leads to the 517m summit of Mam Tor.
The descent route leads through disused mines and past the impressive caves of Blue John, Treak Cliff, Speedwell and Peak Caverns on its way back to the pubs, shops and cafes of Castleton.

 

Conclusion

I’ve played with Viewranger on and off for a few years but not spent much time learning it’s ins and outs, prefering to stick with my Garmin Etrex20. With Oli and his Viewranger buddies being on hand I soon discovered that the app is really quite straightforward and easy to use – and it’s very useful.

What’s even better, Viewranger is free – you just buy the mapping, eg: All GB National Parks, 1:50K @ £8.50, All NW England 1:50K @ £8.50. I’m looking forward to the release of the Android version of the update, I’ll certainly be making use of it.

Thanks to Oli and his team from Viewranger for a pleasant few hours wandering around, the teas, coffees, beers etc – and their good company.

I was home in time for tea.

Freaks in the Peaks 8–10th July 2016

8^th -10^th July 2016

Venue:
Lymm Youth & Community Centre
11, Bridgewater Street, Lymm, Cheshire WA13 0AB
OS: SJ682873
Link to Streetmap

Lymm is a picturesque Cheshire village situated 5 miles East of Warrington. It offers some superb dancing venues, pubs serving very decent beer (and food!), a microbrewery and brewery tap, teashops, a chippy and loads of eating places. If you’re lucky you might spot Sooty & Sweep!
Visit Lymm.com to find out more!
If you look REALLY hard there’s an arrow in the centre of the maps below that indicates the location of the venue.








PUBLIC TRANSPORT LINKS:
Lymm is served with regular buses from Altrincham and Warrington. Timetables can be viewed here. Altrincham and Warrington have main railway stations

ACCESS BY ROAD:

Lymm is easily accessible by road, it’s less than 2 miles from M6 Junction 20.


 

ACCOMMODATION:

Indoor camping at the venue: Lymm Youth & Community Centre
The car park adjacent to the Community Centre may <koff!> be very suitable for campervans.
Campsite, 3.5 miles from Lymm: Hollybank Caravan Park
Ibis Hotel adjacent to M6 Junction 20
Lymm Hotel close to the centre of the village
Other hotels can be viewed here
The Bridgewater Canal passes within yards of the Community Centre, overnight mooring is popular.

ABOUT THE VENUE:

Lymm Youth and Community Centre is a modern building that offers everything needed for a Freaks weekend…..apart from pans in the kitchens!
Details of the venue can be found on the centre’s website.
 

Freaks in the Peaks, Lymm 2016

Friday Evening:
Meet at the Centre or at the Spread Eagle pub (100 yards from the Community Centre) for chat, music, singing.

Saturday:
Breakfast (do your own or the very excellent Saxton’s Teashop)
10am: Dance Workshop
1pm: Lunch
4pm: Saxton’s Teashop for tea & buns, or one of the very excellent pubs in the village for something stronger
Evening: communal meal followed by ceilidh.

Sunday:
Breakfast
10am: Walking dance tour. This is an easy walk that takes in the prettiest and interesting parts of the immediate area: Lymm Dam, Bridgewater Canal, Lymm Cross, The TransPennine Trail etc.
Late lunch at the Spread Eagle
4pm: Back to the Community Centre to clean up, lock up and go home.

There are local Morris sides, we hope that at least some of their dancers will come and join in the fun.
Bollin Morris
Thelwall Morris and Lymm Morris
Earl of Stamford Morris

MORE DETAILS TO FOLLOW VERY SHORTLY!

….and if you’ve got this far and you’re wondering what on earth this is all about, check out the Freaks in the Peaks website

Tractor Porn

AlanR, of 'A Blog on the Landscape' fame, really appreciates this sort of thing.
He'll be along shortly to identify each and everyone of these beauties, snapped at the recent Dunham May Queen ceremony.

Timperley Sunset….

…and brain-straightening

Yesterday’s late evening walk featured loads of midgies (not the biting kind) and whole squadrons of bats and swallows, all eager to enjoy an in-flight meal.

There was a nice sunset too.

St Georges Pool

From the Packet House road bridge

Only a short one last night: 5 miles / 8460 steps in 1hr 40m

Steps

Since having to bail out of this year’s TGO Challenge (due to family health reasons and other stuff) I’ve been out walking most days – well mainly evenings actually. The walks have all been local and of between 5 and 10 miles at a reasonably brisk pace.

I’ve just totted up my mileage for these local walks; since returning from the Challenge (ten days ago) I’ve walked 77 miles = 125,714 steps….for those wot are interested.

The walks have been pleasant diversions to other stuff: Apart from unusually high levels of grief, PLUS family health issues etc, I’ve been working hard to make one of my flats habitable. Walks, as most walkers know, are great for straightening the head as well as good exercise.

The easiest way out of suburbia from here is via the Duke’s Cut where it’s possible to walk north into Manchester or south-west towards Warrington. This makes it my most frequently used escape route.

Yesterday evening’s little walk was augmented by Sue & Martin and Long Suffering Rick – who was taking a break from a hectic weekend of dance at Chester Folk Festival.

The idea was mine, the route was Rick’s. Much of it was over ground we’d covered before although there was some ground not at all familiar to me – surprising, considering how close it is to home.

Briefly, our route followed the canal towpath towards Dunham, a wander along the footpaths of Dunham’s golf course, some quiet paths and roads into and through Altrincham, across Alltrincham golf course (where the local yoof were taking full advantage of the lack of golfers….we were all 14 once. I think)

Here’s (approximately) where we went:

7.5 miles of absolute flatness:

This route may not be entirely accurate, I’m a little unclear as to how we crossed Dunham’s golf course.

Evenings at this time of year offer great levels of light for photography. I took some snaps of the old Linotype & Machinery factory in Broadheath.

These first two were taken with my soon to be replaced Lumix DMC-SZ3 on a cloudy evening last week:

 

The second two were taken yesterday evening using my Samsung S3 Mini camera-phone thingy:

It seems that the L&M factory, quite a local landmark and once the employer of thousands, is being redeveloped to provide yet more housing. How things change.

It’s going to create traffic mayem, there’s no sign of any improvement to the local infrastucture. Oh well. 

Anyroadup, we had a lovely little walk and managed to catch up with all the scandal etc. This evening I may take the bike out – just for a change. I need the exercise.