Mobility Scooters?

Following a conversation on the Lancaster walk, I couldn't resist posting this!
(courtesy of: The 'Oldie' Book of Cartoons)

Dining in the former Lancaster Prison!

     John W                   Martin         Anthony      Vic                 Paddy

Lancaster

29th January 7.28 miles
Walkers Vic, Martin, Anthony, Paddy, John W

Heedless of the atrocious weather forecast our intrepid band set off as usual with "Hearts Aglow" and headed for Lancaster. Our numbers were somewhat diminished by ecclesiastical duties and ailing relatives. 

After a little difficulty parking we finally left the car a short distance from "Nazareth House" and set off in spring-like sunshine. We were all clad in in what approximated to Arctic Attire and felt rather absurd as "Normally" dressed folk passed us by. A few minutes later we turned off the road leading into the city centre and followed a beautifully cobbled footpath that led us steeply northwards towards the canal. The steepness of the path was short lived and we soon topped the rise and paused to admire the view over the city and down to the canal before us. We quickly dropped down to the canal and crossed it by a rather handsome bridge meeting as we did two fashionably and sportilly dressed young (ish) ladies wielding TWO poles each and striding out in the opposite direction. Such obvious fitness can be rather depressing. 

And so...once more we found ourselves following a canal into a city centre. The sunshine blessed us still. This rather attractive stretch of canal took us back to the main road through the town. Turning left the road led us down towards the river but we had other things to do first. Not far down the road we came across the entrance to a group of almshouses. These formed an intimate rectangle which contained a small but attractive garden area leading to a tiny chapel. Godliness being demanded by the Victorian guardians of the morality of their impoverished clients. Indeed within the chapel we found instructions for the tenants to be sober, prompt, tidy in their appearance and in bed by 10pm ! 

 Next stop Lancaster Castle and prison were we were unable to resist the temptations of the rather pleasant cafe . Hot chocolates and coffees served by delightful staff and paid for by Martin (I note this so that Martin (and Paddy) will not getaway with  paying again.) The buildings of the prison appeared to be in poor condition, no doubt pleasing to the souls who are no longer incarcerated there. Before leaving we availed ourselves of the "facilities" - no easy task with several layers of clothing keeping out the weather and then worked our way around the raised pathway of the Castle. As we did so a fire alarm went off and we were treated to the site of bewigged judiciary waiting out in the cold for the all clear. One of their number greeted John W as an old friend "Who is she ?" pondered John. She told him ! "Of course" he said. 
A quick visit to the Priory which had ancient connections to Cockersands Abbey (one of our regular walk destinations.) and so down to the River Lune at the Millennium Bridge. A very brief stop and as the weather began to take notice of  the weather forecasters we headed up through the city centre. Past the "Dukes Playhouse"  and Dalton Square and so for  our next brief visit - The Catholic Cathedral. I find this a remarkably uninspiring building BUT...........  A steady plod uphill past the Cathedral and into Williamson Park where we sought the shelter of the Ashton Monument for our lunch. The weather was now decidedly wintry and as we sat in the warmth and shelter of the elegant and magnificent tribute to a loved wife, a fierce blizzard turned the park white. Lunch consumed and on down through the park, passing the rock surrounded pond and out onto the roads again. The weather was now rather unfriendly and with heads down we made our way back to the car which was some distance away.

A walk full of interest with many stops and discussions. Led by Anthony  well done.

Setting off in the sunshine

Approaching Lancaster Castle & Prison

Patterns in the mud - the River Lune

Lunch inside the Ashton Memorial whilst the snow howled outside

"This Blasted Heath!"

Who would have thought that this was Longridge Fell - in colour!

Where's he going?

Martin's on his way into Santa's Grotto!

Longridge Fell

"City Slickers" to "Fell Top Slippers" 

Thursday January 22nd  -  5.5 miles

WALKERS :- Paddy, Harry, John R, Anthony,
                        Mike, Martin, Vic, John W.

After three consecutive Urban ambles we returned with a little trepidation to the countryside meeting at John W's in Grimsargh to travel a few miles through Longridge  to Jeffrey Hill.  Our slight hesitancy was caused by a covering of snow on the fells. Snow of itself has never been a deterrent but the sodden state of the ground beneath it might have made walking treacherous and tiring. Nothing daunted, by 10 o'clock we had parked the cars and were tramping slowly through the snow heading for the woodland on the horizon. The usual magnificent views to be enjoyed along the "Long Ridge" were sadly obscured by a damp haze which filled the Loud Valley below us. The snow, which  turns the ordinary into a  magical wonderland, worked it's charms on the group who were smilingly in awe of the beauty of their surroundings, (OOh ! That a bit OTT John ?  -- Naw !) The crunching of the snow beneath our boots and the "cuck cuck cuck " of the red grouse simply  added an auditory dimension to the wintry delights of the day.   After a mile or so we turned away from the fell edge and rose slowly to the drystone wall which forms a sort of spine long that part of the fell, Over the wall and a left turn saw us following a track alongside the wall untill we came to gate that led us back through the wall where the Triangulation Post on Spire Hill could just be seen gleaming white in the distance. Arriving at the post - Coffee time. Before setting off again Martin fitted his "Ice chains" to his boots. Anthony already had them on. Off again and a few minutes later we plunged deep into the gloomy forest as we followed a narrow rocky footpath downwards. . This eventually swung to the right and widened into quite a broad forestry track and then  led us out of the trees and onto a "Proper" woodland track.  The footpath almost immediately swung off to the left and disappeared into the trees. We took the decision to enjoy the open levelness of the maintrack for a little while longer knowing that we could pick up the footpath a little further on.  Just before we rejoined the footpath we met three young ladies walking their dogs. One of the young ladies turned to John W and said "Do you remember me ? You taught me to play the guitar and YOU WERE GOOD"  (Aw c'mon fellas I HAD to put that in ) She is now a police officer in Blaccburn. And so onward. We left the Track to drop steeply down the fellside through an area which looked like a wasteland covered in stumps with saplings beginning to sprout all over. As we came to the end of the wasteland our path was blocked by several large fallen trees. Long legged Paddy and Mike clambered over them but those of us vertically and arthritically challenged had to divert at the expense of bush grabbed headgear and rucsacs.  A few minutes later we encountered a most magnificent tree which almost demanded that we had our lunch beneath it's sheltering limbs . It also offered its roots a seats What a generous beech tree, (The beech is sometimes referred to as the "Mother" of the woodlands.) The next section of the walk was along a tarmacced section of road and then a right turn leading us back up to the fell top. Here we passed some quite eccentric looking farmhouses each one unique in it's appearance and decorative imaginativeness (is that a proper word ?) Now we began to struggle.  The path became narrow and tortuous as we plodded upwards. Worse was to come as we lost the path and had to battle though rough, snow laden heather which hid deep clefts and foot tripping barriers. It was a real challenge but at last we reached a proper track again. From here it was simply a matter of following the track gently upwards to where we rejoined our original route and followed it back to the cars,

An inspiring, beautiful walk but definitely challenging.

 "Underneath the spreading chestnut tree"  Beech tree actually. Bilbo Baggins has just left.

                                                          Arriving at the trig point - Spire Hill

                                                               Negotiating the fallen trees

                                  Out of the darkness into the light. Mike creates a snowfall.

                                     The bridge creaks whilst Martin examines an interesting bush

Going to the gym?

(Thanks Martin)

MANCHESTER - Etihad and More

15th January  5+ Miles
Walkers:- John W, John R, Anthony, Vic, Martin.

We have risen from the dead ! After last weeks graveyard shift a walk from Salford Quays proved to be full of interest. After some skillful "Traffic Management" and a bit of dizzy driving at the Quays we parked the car in the gloomy basement of the multi-storey car park at the Lowry Outlet Centre. A quick visit to some excellent "facilities" and off to catch the tram (metro). This took us to Castlefields where we dropped down to the canal and soon found a sheltered spot for our 11 o'clock coffee break. It was actually 11.30 and we had mulled wine too. Once refreshed we retraced our steps a short distance before continuing along the canal until we found the junction where the Rochdale and the Ashton canals parted company. but not before a little embarrassment. The canal was partially closed and at times it was not possible to stick to the towpath. At one point the towpath ended and the way appeared to be along a wooden walkway in front of some rather prestigious looking offices. We duly trotted along this, waving cheerfully to the "inmates" working at their desks on the other side of the windows. The walkway led up to the road. One which we could happily follow BUT the gate was locked and unclimb-able to a bunch of 70 year olds. We had to go back, once again waving but this time, weakly and sheepishly to the "watchers" at the windows. Before this, Vic, ever the optimist had tried all the keys on his keyring to see if one might open the lock, NO !

Back on track we followed the Ashton canal leading  us towards the Etihad Stadium and the "Velopark"  As we followed the canal it showed us many faces from the disgustingly sordid to  the inspiringly magnificent with superb buildings both old and new !  Being the sad old farts that we are (some of us) we couldn;t resist a chorus or two of "Dirty Old Town" as we followed the canal through Salford,

I found my love by the gasworks croft

dreamed a dream by the old canal 

Kissed my girl by the factory wall

Dirty Old Town, Dirty Old Town.

And later as we passed through Ancoats the song "Matchstalks Men and Matchstalks Cats and Dogs" somehow had to be sung...well a bit of it anyway.

"Parts of Ancoats where I used to play."

"Dirty Old time" soon gave way to sparklingly clean and modern "High Tec" sports facilities as we at last reached the ETIHAD Stadium and the Velodrome. We soon turned our backs on the overwhelming bulk of the Etihad Stadium and walked into the wonderful Velodrome. Here made our "Free" way onto very comfortable seats where we sat and ate our lunch in the warm dry main arena where we were treated to the spectacle of "Team G.B." practising on the track . THEY WERE FAST ! Lunch finished and off we go again, A quick visit to the BMX track next door whilst Mr Johnson interrogated the staff and then we left in search of a tram stop to get us back to Media City. WRONG TRAM !! It took us NEARLY to Media City but stiff-legged walk and we arrived at the Lowry Outlet Centre were we had to puzzle out just were we had parked the car. And so to home after a rather good and interesting walk.      Well Done Anthony.

 

Tunnel Vision

Well just lock at these two - Near Ancoats

Headline - "Garden Gnome Visits Ancoats"

Anthony in one of several smelly tunnels enroute

Kath's Plunge Pool!

See John's report......

Guess Where I am?

BLACKPOOL January 8th

Stanley Park and Layton Cemetery (6 to 8 miles ?)

Walkers:- Vic, Anthony, Mike, John R, John W, Martin....... and Kath ?

John W was beguiled (conned) into believing that Layton Cemetery was a place of great interest. (Some of our party will recall the "Fascination" of Winmarleigh Moss ???)  So 9.30 saw us heading out along the motorway to Blackpool. Both Mike and John R professed profound knowledge Blackpool and it's environs so we put our trust in them as our "indian" guides. 20 minutes later we were turning through the main gates of Stanley Park and quickly found a parking spot with a boot-fitting park bench close by. Once suitably accoutred we turned back towards the main gate and skirted the walls of Blackpool Cricket Club before turning back into the park near to the sports centre. A short distance and we were confronted by an elegant circular pond which we were informed once served as a plunge pool for.........Kath ! To our left was the rather splendid Art Deco facade of the park's cafe building. We turned our backs on this and walked the short distance to the Memorial Clock Tower. A few minutes spent examining this before we set off again heading towards the boating lake, home to many and varied waterfowl. As the sun was shining delightfully we chose two of the many benches on offer and settled to our "Brew" time. This as always (bless you Martin) included a warming glass (?) of mulled wine. As we sat, several dog walkers passed us. One stopped to give us a detailed description and natural history of his particularly striking dog -- a Siberian Husky -- a beautiful dog (that's something coming from me) Two passing Community Support Officers helpfully pointed the way to the nearest toilets before we turned towards the bridge over the lake. As we passed the lake the police were handling an inflatable boat and we learnt that they were searching for someone (in the lake ?)  Out of the Park and following the road to the Hospital. Here we left the road to detour through the hospital grounds where at least one member of the group took a rather suspicious interest in the nurses' homes. A brief stop at "The shrine" a disused church which was built to celebrate the fact that no churches in the diocese were damaged during the war. Crossing the busy junction we walked west to Kingscote Road where a right turned led us through a small park (here it started raining) and so on to our original target - Layton Cemetery. Here John's gullibility showed it's hand. A number of prominent citizens had been buried here but could we find them ? ....Ah well it's good to let the dead rest in peace. The weather had decidedly deteriorated and we took a rather draughty, chilly lunchbreak huddled in the lee of the victorian chapel. We did find Aida Queen of the Gipsies (note the spelling) and George Washington Williams, a black civil rights worker who at the behest of King Leopold of the Belgians searched for Stanley and Livingstone only to discover that they were both thoroughly unpleasant gentlemen. In the cemetery an initialy pleasant but eventually sickly smell filled the air. It came from Burtons Biscuit factory close at hand. After a somewhat fruitless search of the headstones we abandoned the operation (after finding the Polish airmens graves and one for John Russell !) and left the graveyard to return to the cars, seeing as we rambled back the new Devonshire Road Primary School which replaced the hugely gaunt victorian school destroyed by fire some years ago. At this point KATH intervened. The end of our walk was lengthened by a search of Kath's childhood stamping grounds in search of "TRAMS" We found (hope your noting this Kath) a Pig Farm. ---- and so to the cars and home. 

A reasonable first walk after the festive break.

My Living Will

Old Age?

Too true!

On the tenth day of Christmas....

On the ninth day of Christmas....

On the eighth day of Christmas....

Government Advice!

The Government has issued new public guidelines and suggested that anyone travelling in the current icy, cold conditions should  ensure they have the following with them.

I thought this must be sound advice so I carried out their instructions to take:

A shovel
Blankets or sleeping bag
Extra clothing including hat and gloves
24 hours worth of food
De-Icer
Rock Salt
Flashlight with spare batteries
Road Flares or Reflective Triangles
Fuel Can
First Aid Kit
Booster cables

I looked like a complete idiot on the bus this morning! 

On the seventh day of Christmas....