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.     

Two Kilts and 3 lungs across Scotland: Pt4

Day 10:

Away at 8am. The midges were biting – this was probably a revenge attack after I gave them such a good seeing-to the previous evening.

Photo for attention. Obv.

More non-existent paths followed, I found it difficult to make decent headway, making a navigational error at one point – although in my defence I was just trying to avoid the man-eating, fetid, swampy bogland. I failed.

For Dawn. And AlanR

 

For Judith

It was hot again. We hit on some tarmac and a section of the Cateran Trail and after a while we arrived at the much anticipated Wee Bear Cafe.

The cafe, in spite of what the website said, was closed. Hrmph.

Loch of Lintrathen

 

 

I really needed a breather so we stopped for an hour or so on a lovely grassy verge and raided our food & drink supplies.

Our water bottles were now empty, but a knock on a front door soon resulted in them being refilled by a nice lady.

Mike had guesstimated where we might camp, but when we got there we needed to nettle-bash our way for quite a while before we eventually found a suitably flat and remote spot – next to a river. And in woodland. And there wasn’t any wind. But there were loads of midges.

If there were any natives or horses around I’m sure I’d have scared the living daylights out of them: I was so hot, sweaty, sticky and (probably) smelly, I needed a good top-to-toe wash down outside of my tent. Thankfully I managed this BEFORE the midge onslaught.

Tea was home made & home dehydrated pasta bolognese, supplemented with the last of my cheese – delish!

Much of the day’s walking was on tarmac, very little in the way of traffic, but still tiring. I slept well.

Cuckoo count: 2

Day 11:

I woke to the sound of a deer barking …or it might have been someone snoring.

The tents were wet with morning dew. The sun was shining brightly but because we were pitched in woodland there was little chance of the tents drying out before we wanted to leave.

We planned on an earlier start so as to avoid the heat of the day

The pollen was playing merry hell with my eyes & nose – clouds of the stuff were released as we walked through the waist-high grass.

Much tarmac again today. We decided on a re-route, going via Kirriemiur where we arrived by 10am. On the face of it this was A Good Thing, but it was a Monday….and Kirriemuir is closed on Mondays.

We managed to find a bakery where Big Bridies were on offer, and if you’ve not had a Big Bridie, you should!

We enjoyed our Big Bridies in public view (it’s legal in Scotland) under the watchful eye of Peter Pan. 

The sun had vanished and it had cooled nicely making the rest of our march quite comfortable.

On to Forfar (Five) and the Caravan Club site where we would camp. I’m a member of the Caravan Club and so enjoy preferential pricing, but it was still bloody expensive for two one-man tents.

Skippy & Julie arrived soon after, we’d not seen them since Glasgow Queen Street. We arranged to meet up with them later for a nosh…..and maybe a beer. Or two.

A pleasant evening followed: much beer plus an excellent meal in the Forfar (Five) Castle Club. If in Forfar (Five) and looking to eat, you won’t go far wrong with this place.

10.30pm skies

A tweetful night followed – birdies sing all night. To make matters worse, Caravan Club sites have illuminated pillars all over the place – 24 hour lightness. I’m sure the overnight lightness kepts the birds awake.

Day 12:

Not a great deal to say about the day’s walking, more tarmac just about sums it up.

The enormous & delicious Scottish breakfast provided by Kenny’s Cafe must be mentioned. I ate too much. Far too much!

Earlier we’d stopped at a butty shop not far from the campsite to pick up butties for lunch. The nice lady in the shop gave us a large punnet of strawberries to help us on our way. Mike was delighted.

Letham, our next port of call, was as closed as Kirriemuir, but we DID find a bakery that supplied us with tea.

 Doors for Rob

On to Friockheim (which isn’t in Germany), the name means ‘'Heather Home' from the Gaelic 'fraoch' (heather) and the German 'heim' (home). It is pronounced 'free-come'. The birth of the village took place soon after 1814 when Thomas Gardyne of Middleton succeeded his brother as the laird of Friock and feued the land to Mr John Andson of Arbroath.’

Info from the Friockheim website.

 Another door for Rob

A pub presented itself, just in time. In we went, and although it didn’t serve food, we stayed…until quite late actually. Skippy and Julie joined us, and as there was a football match on the telly the pub filled up with supporters eager to watch it in the company of their mates.

It was a lovely surprise to see Marion, famous for lots of things – especially as renowned bacon butty maker at Tarfside.

It was a warm night, and another good night’s sleep followed.

Day 13 – the last day:

A not particularly early start on the final leg of our Challenge, and after a very splendid breakfast, we left Friockheim at around 10am, once again on tarmac.

The pub after the night before

The next pub...closed

 Yet another door for Rob

My feet were complaining, the hard surfaces weren’t doing them any favours at all. To be fair, my boots were well shot, I thought they’d last the Challenge but was mistaken – they’re now ready to be used as plant pots by my front door!

Strawberries!

Minor roads took us to Inverkeilor where we intended to catch a bus to Montrose after we wet our boots in the North Sea.

4km later we arrived at Lunan, it was a VERY long 4km!

 The North Sea...at last

Boots were dipped into the briny, then Mike decided a dip was in order. I rested on the beach, drinking water and eating cheese & oatcakes.

Photographs were taken, a shell from Oban was chucked into the sea – and that was it. Challenge completed, job done.

I ordered a taxi to whisk us off to Montrose to sign out, it cost more or less the same as the bus fare – a no-brainer!

It was wonderful to see the Challenge team of Ali, Alan, Mick, Gayle, and many others – far better than just speaking to them on the phone as we had done on our coast-to-coast crossing of Scotland.

We signed out, drank tea, ate bisuits, collected our certificates and Challenge T-shirts, and that was it – until TGOC2022.

Thanks to Sue & Ali who made TGOC2021 happen, without their drive and determination it couldn’t, wouldn’t have happened. Thanks to the phone-answerers too – Alan, Mick, and Gayle, who carried out the duties to perfection!

Special thanks to Mike, who made me laugh a lot and helped me to walk across Scotland.

 

Midnight in Montrose

 I may have had a few beers that evening.

Possibly.

My (very) Happy Face. Honest.

 

  

Note that some the the photos (in the groups of photos) appear out of order. That's because they ARE out of order....ask Blogger / Google, and address complaints to them.