Walton le Dale

PARK & RIDE..... & WALK 4+ miles.

RIBBLE RAMBLERS :-  Jim, Mike, Anthony, 

                                         Danny, John, Dave.

We parked at the Park and Ride next to Capitol Centre in Walton-le Dale. Almost immediately came across a problem (as well as initially not knowing where we were going).

The track taking us West along the South bank of the Ribble was flooded. 

To quite a depth in places.

We managed to negotiate our way past the flooded bits and spent some time spotting the dreaded "Giant Hogweed" just visible poking through the fence. The weed was spreading along the banks of the river Darwen which the bridge is taking us over.

Once past the flooded stretch Danny deposited himself in a shopping trolley. On the side of the trolley we read "Lots of reduced prices".  WELL.... a discounted Danny.  Can't be bad.

Stop this childish behaviour at once !

Alongside the track were dire warnings about that Nasty Invader "Giant Hogweed."

As we arrived on the Ribble banks we stopped momentarily. No, We're not tired yet it's just that these seemed photogenic spots not to be missed

We soon arrived at the closed "Tram Bridge" Wonderful plans are afoot to replace it with an attractive modern Foot and Cycle bridge.

As I took this photo of Danny standing near the bridge some unkind person remarked "Two ancient relics together".  I think this was most unfair. The bridge looks OK to me.

 

Possibly homeless persons on the river bank in Avenham park ?

 

As we approached the old railway bridge, which we had  to cross, Anthony remembered that as schoolboys we used to cross this bridge to get to the playing fields and because both trains and pedestrians were able to use it, it was known as the "Combination" bridge.

The "County Hotel" a landmark building could be clearly seen from the bridge.

The number of "Love Locks" seem to have increased since our last visit. 

 A seemingly harmless though perhaps a little tacky practice. But why not ?

The ever curious Danny uses his plant identification App to name these flowers.

Here's Dave, supported by his wife Liz, coming to join us at the cafe (the Hub)

....and here we are inside the cafe enjoying the very reasonably price lunches.

Outside, enjoying the sunshine, dozens of mums (some dads) with lots of toddlers were joining in the community activities organised, I think, by the council, Well done.

Dave sets off for home (just outside the park) Liz will meet him half way.

We left the cafe (above) and headed in the opposite direction.

We stopped to look at the confluence of the Ribble and the Darwen ("Darren") rivers.

"There's a ship over there. Why is it not in the water ?"

Just ahead of us now was the London Rd Bridge over the Ribble.

That road sign seems to interest this trio. I wonder why ?

Our way lay over the busy A6 crossing the river. It doesn't look very busy but believe me it was.

The RIVER RIBBLE. 

We followed the south bank on our way out and came back along the North bank, Both equally lovely.........AND......WOULD YOU BELIEVE IT ?
It is tidal right up to this point. Nearly 20 miles from the open sea.

AHA ! Here's the answer to our earlier question\ "Why is that ship not in the water ? "

On the south side of the river was this Nursery. The boat was part of the activities on offer to the children.

After initially taking the wrong side street we soon arrived at the Park and Ride and after a very pleasant walk and lunch . We left for home.

THE END

Sorry about the ego trip but I just couldn't resist this portrait shot taken by Jim Cullen as we neared the end of our walk. Photos taken on our walks usually make me look like an overweight, superannuated garden gnome.

SPAIN

 HOLA ! AMIGOS (and AMIGAS)

In the absence of walks recently I thought I might give a brief report on a holiday taken by two of our group.

After months of incessant rain John and Mike joined a group of mainly elderly friends for a week of warm sunshine in Spain. Benelmadena to be precise on the Costa del Sol,

Mike and John under what Mike suggested could be our "Tree of the Week"

As this was not an official Meanderthal outing our ladies, of course, were with us.

Mike with KATH...........

.....and John with VAL.

A shared Taxi took us to Manchester airport Where Wheelchairs awaited John and Val both of whom had difficulty walking more than a short distance ( Val ...two replacement hips ... John recent new knee) Many thanks to Mike who pushed a perfectly fit (but legless ?) john whilst an airport staff member pushed Val. After passing the usual checks we waited with coffees/teas before boarding the Easy Jet plane and off we went

Saga had booked us into the "Best Siroco" hotel and on arrival we were directed straight to the dining room before going to reception and given our room keys.

 

Unfortunately the welcome meeting the next morning was rather spoiled by this unwelcome guest. We saw no more of these thereafter.

The warm sunshine soon drew us out of the hotel to join friends Bernard and Anthea in a refreshing drink near the pools.

On all Saga holidays trips to local places of interest are a fixture (They used to be free .... no longer ! )

Our first outing took us to this incredibly pretty Mountain Village (town ?)

The name is difficult to pronounce as the G remains silent (or doesn't).

Try it 😖.

The village was steeply hilly so Val and I settled for a drink in the sunshine at the nearest cafe.

Frequent cafe stops are essential for "Oldies" on hot days. 

The lady on the right, draining her cup, called the waiter over and paid for everyone's drinks. (about 12 people) how very generous of her,  THANK YOU !

That's me in the straw hat.

The next day Val and I took the bus to Torremalinos.

Here's Val waiting for the bus lookig very much the elderly English lady on Holiday.

Torremalinos has a less than exemplary reputation. We, however, found it quite charming and relatively quiet as the empty chairs at this cafe show.

Our next visit took us to Nerja and the famous "Balcon de Europe" a sort of fashionable promenade built on a rocky outcrop sticking out into the Mediterranean

We parked outside the centre then walked along the clean white painted side streets into the bustling touristy centre.

Here we are on the "Balcon".

John's fame had obviously come before him. As you can see he was constantly having to fend off the Paparazzi. (This is a complete LIE )

As we walked round on one day we came across these wittily painted steps. I wonder  where "Middle C" is. We did not attempt to climb them as in the heat it would have left us "B Flat"  

There were other interesting places...........

Val and I thought this look like it could be fun so we went in.

 IT WAS RUBBISH !

There was only ONE swing.  The slide was rusty and the See-Saw was broken and the inside rooms were so dark it was hard to see what was going on. So we left.

"In some cool cabana"   as the song goes.  Well it wasn't a cabana it was a cafe but it was a cool retreat from the heat outside in the streets.

In at least one of the sea front cafes it seems the proprietor was not a fan of large bare chested, sweaty tourist in his establishment.  I concur !

The group gathered outside the church in Nerja's main square before heading back to the transport to the Hotel.      Mike and Kath centre stage.

"Why are we waiting ?"  or just taking a breather in the shade.

Looks like only one of the group has spotted the small cobra hissing a warning as they pass by.

Mike and Kath in Mijas

John and Val also in Mijas

Pruning our English roses was never like this.

The food was good, The beds comfortable. The people amazingly kind and friendly and there was lots to do and see   BUT......... This is a MEANDERTHAL blog so I shall finish at this point. 

There were delays coming home . 

We opened our back door at 3.15 am. 

The cat was glad to see us (I think)

THE END

JW