Anyone got a broken heart?

from the Daily Telegraph

Wheelton War Memorial

A rather unusual War Memorial in the centre of Wheelton

Wheelton & White Coppice (2)

To use a footballing metaphor, this was ‘a game of two halves’ (or more accurately, three halves!) weatherwise. Two hours of glorious sunshine, two hours of wetting rain and half an hour of sunshine.

We parked in the village of Wheelton, northwest of Chorley. I suppose three pubs, a garage, a tea-shop, a Police station, a war memorial and a boatyard give it ‘village’ status.

The start of the walk took us back across the main road and past The Dressers Arms. This pub was gutted by fire back in April but a new, enlarged pub is rising phoenix-like from the ashes and hopes to re-open in the near future. 

Leaving the country lanes, we continued across field paths pausing for ‘morning coffee’ by a disused railway bridge. A very formidable looking bull didn't look like he would allow a bunch of kindly ramblers to share his field and an alternative path was quickly established! 

We continued on to the idyllic village of White Coppice. An early lunch was taken here as rain was threatening and Harry doesn’t like soggy butties. True to form, the rain arrived before we had finished eating. (Remember the last time that happened?)

The rain continued and so did our walk taking us past Heapey reservoir and after a brief shelter from the rain, we re-crossed the main road and joined the Leeds Liverpool canal at Whittle Springs.

We continued along the canal past a flight of seven locks rising up to Johnson’s Hillock and the Top Locks pub. From here it was a short walk along the road back into the centre of Wheelton.

The walkers were John R, Harry, Martin, Mike and Anthony.

Wheelton & White Coppice Walk

"Yer not comin' in my field - footpath of no footpath!"

More Photos from Lathom Walk

                                         An elegant bench for coffee break

         One of the gate post of the Lathom estate. The other  was demolished as        
                           a sign of shame when the estate went bankrupt

                       Martin walks the "Straight and Narrow" in Ruff Wood

         The "Newfoundland" dog. I could swear that when asked what the wood      
                                was called the dog said "Ruff !"

Roundheads & Cavaliers

A walk round Lathom - 7.5 miles

Walkers :- Martin, Harry, John R, John W.

A Fascinating walk suggested by Martin.   We parked the car just off the main road South of Burscough and set off through the fields only to be immediately confronted by a notice telling us not to smoke as the "Wells" might explode. Great ! The threatened rain did not materialise and the day slowly got better. Soon we stopped for coffee next to some imposing estate gates. A notice told us that an ancient church could be found along the drive. The church proved to be both beautiful and interesting. A friendly gentleman offered to show us round the interior but his keys wouldn't fit the newly changed locks. The estate was the site of a remarkable siege by the Roundheads on a Royalist house. Here 300 souls,  led by a valiant lady,  held off  a vastly superior force. We continued our walk through the rather flat, arable countryside which gave us panoramic views of the far distance and included Winter Hill and beyond that, Pendle. We eventually arrived at "Ruff Wood" where we met a rather large hairy Dog (and its owner). A "Newfoundland" (not the owner !) Just a few more fields to cross and we were back at the car.

Only for Meanderthals on a diet!

Cheers, John!

Once upon a time in the distant past.......

A fellow Meanderthal  is successfully partaking in a diet in preparation for his holidays. For anyone who cannot match his dedication and will-power, we have details of an alternative designed to overcome any stress that might be involved.

DIETING UNDER STRESS

This diet is designed to help you cope with the stress that builds up during the day.

BREAKFAST: half a grapefruit, one slice of wholemeal toast, 3 fluid ounces skimmed milk.

LUNCH: 4 oz lean boiled chicken breast, 1cup steamed spinach, 1 cup herbal tea,

               1 chocolate chip cookie.

MID AFTERNOON SNACK: rest of cookies in packet, 2 pints chocolate chip ice-cream,

        1 jar hot fudge sauce with nuts, cherries and fresh cream.

DINNER: 2 loaves garlic bread, 1 large pepperoni pizza, 4 cans lager, 3 Snickers or Mars bars.

LATE EVENING SNACK: entire frozen Black Forest Gateau (eaten directly from freezer).

RULES

1. If you eat something and no-one sees you, it has no calories.

2. If there is no indication of calorific content on the wrapper, or there is no        wrapper, there are no calories.

3. If you drink diet coke with a Mars bar, the calories of the Mars bar are cancelled out by the coke.

4. Food used for medicinal purposes (eg hot chocolate, toast and Sara Lee cheesecake) never count.

5. Movie related foods do not have additional calories because they are part of the entire entertainment package and not part of one's personal fuel. (eg milkshakes, popcorn,

Haagan Das ice-cream, Murray Mints and Mars bars)

6. Broken biscuits contain no calories because the process of breaking causes calorie leakage.

7. Foods of the same colour have the same number of calories. (eg spinach and pistachio ice-cream, mushrooms and white chocolate)

8. If you fatten up everyone around you - you look thinner.

N.B. Chocolate is a universal colour and may be substituted for any other food colour.

HIMALAYAN HORRORS

Walkers :- Anthony, Mike, Martin, John R, John W.

After a
couple of weeks travelling to the Northern edge of our patch we drove only a few miles East of Preston, parking the car at the bottom of Osbaldeston Lane. We were reluctant to leave the car as the rain hammered on the roof. Eventually, with waterproofs donned we set off on what was planned as an easy walk. We were soon to be disillusioned as a property with acres of manicured lawns and warning signs at interval forced us of the footpath into a bramble tangled and little used woodland path. We forced our way along but not without the odd tumble and a generous helping of scratched and nettled legs . (your own fault John for wearing shorts. ) A short stop for coffee and then the path plunged us down a steep and slippery slope into a dense and seemingly impenetrable area of Himalayan Balsam. The plants completely blocked the path and at times towered over our heads. It took us quite a while to battle our way through onto a much easier riverside path (here we sat and had our lunch) which led us to Osbaldeston Hall. Here a friendly farmer advised us to avoid the footpath (through long wet grass) and follow a different route up through short cut pastures. This led us to Oxendale Hall a rather splendid Tudor (?) mansion again with manicured lawns and splendid gardens  from which fences kept us severely at bay. Once past this we followed a green lane which led quickly to a country lane and so back to the car. A short but rather strenuous walk.

Respect the elderly?

I'm supposed to respect my elders but it's getting harder and harder for me to find one now! 

Kendal no 4

Kendal Castle from Castle Howe

Kendal No 3

A selfie at the obelisk marking the summit of Castle Howe - west of Kendal town centre

Kendal (no. 2)

The River Kent on the southern outskirts of Kendal

 Two Castles walk - Kendal

Walkers - A. Donlan, M Gee, J Russell and J Whittle

As Kendal has long been one of my favourite little towns  it was great to have a walk planned there. Leaving the car at a small bridge beyond Natland we followed the north bank of the River Kent up to the town. This in itself was a delightful "Riparian" ramble. Arriving in the town we payed a visit to one of  Barbara Hepworth's sculptures in the churchyard. We were less than impressed ! We continued through this friendly and interesting town turning up a small side street and eventually climbing up a steep and narrow stone stairway to the first of two castles.(Howe Castle ?) This was now only a grassy mound with an obelisk built upon it. From here we could see right over the rooftops of Kendal to the "Kendal Castle" looking ruinously  romantic in  distance on the other side of the valley. We crossed through the town and climbed up to the second castle. A delightfully well kept ruin (if such there can be) with awesome views all around. From here we descended to the town and followed the south bank of the river back to the car. An exceptionally attractive walk - Well done Anthony.

'Town & Country' (Kendal)

A panorama of the town of Kendal from Castle Hill
(click on the picture to see a bigger view)

'Thank You' from Joe

Thanks to all who sponsored Joe Embery in his 10k assault course for the North West Air Ambulance.
To date he has raised over £400.......

Littledale church

This is the church John refers to below

Littledale Drama

High drama on our Littledale walk as Anthony's does evil things to a ligament (we think) and a bull blocks our path.
A short though quite strenuous  walk in a little known (to us) valley with wonderful views and curious buildings.
Early in the walk a sudden twist left Anthony with a quite painful injury which slowed him down for the rest of the walk.
We passed an abondoned church in the middle of nowhere and subsequently discovered that it was built as a "Free" Anglican church by a Rev. Dodson who left the mainstream Church of England (with others) after a legal wrangle about the true nature of Christian baptism.
We passed Littledale Hall. Once the Dodson family home but in recent times a christian retreat centre and latterly a rehab. centre for drug and alcohol problems.
As our walk drew near to it's end Anthony took a short cut (with Mike) to meet us part way down the road. John, John and Martin continued to the car. Our way was blocked by a LARGE but seemingly docile bull. We took no chances and hopped into the next field to continue to the car park. A good and thoroughly "interesting" walk.

JW

I am at last getting the hang of this.