Northenden – Page 4 – Mick and Liesel's Antics

Bath, bridge and backpack

The children returned to school during what turned out to be one of the hottest weeks of Summer. Even though, meteorlogically speaking, it is now Autumn. William and Martha both look very smart in their uniforms, but mainly, Martha is very proud of her new backpack.

I did ask how long she was going away for, but apparently this is just for one 6-hour day at school. It puts my old school satchel, and later on, briefcase, into perspective.

Meanwhile, half a world away, Helen has been getting to know baby Gypsy.

Bambi and Brett are very lucky to have such a wonderful auntie (and babysitter) in their orbit, and I’m sure, if Helen has anything to do with it, young Gypsy will be well pampered!

We haven’t had to pay a cheque into a bank for a long time, but Liesel’s had one gathering dust for a few months now. The nearest branch of our bank is now in Sale, so we had no choice but to drive there.

We didn’t spend much time there as we were en route to Plumley. This was a place I don’t think I’d heard of before last week. So, when someone on a walk mentioned it, I looked up Plomley. Yes, I was thinking of the man who devised Desert Island Discs, Roy. Needless to say, I couldn’t find it. Plumley, however, was the venue for a group walk this week. We parked up in the railway station car park and waited for everyone else to arrive by train. And yes, the train was late, leaving us time to explore the station.

The walk was circular, about four miles in length, and very enjoyable, as long as you dodged the nettles. We passed by Holford Hall, but couldn’t actually see it through the trees… maybe that’s another day out sometime.

The half the blackberries were sweet and juicy and half sour. Yes, I ate two, one of each. At about the halfway point, we stopped for a snack. Some of our number sat on the old, rusty gas pipes that the sign told us not to climb on.

Where the path was really overgrown, with long grass and everything, I was very conscious of every tickle. I really didn’t want to be attacked by a tick. Well, I didn’t want to be bitten by anything at all, like I was last week. Especially as some of those bites are still quite itchy. Yes, I could wear proper leg coverings, but on the whole, I am much more comfortable wearing shorts. And, with legs as good as mine, why should I conceal them?

Some signs are meant to be ignored, right? It was a real struggle to get over this bridge, with several barriers, bollards, fences, all to be negotiated, moved or climbed over. I let some of the others go first, just to make sure the bridge could bear the weight of pedestrians.

We bade farewell to our fellow travellers at the station, and returned home, dropping our friend Sue off at the fire station where we’d found her earlier on.

It was a glorious, hot, sunny week, so it felt wrong to be stuck inside. We went outside for a stroll each day but then indoors, Liesel had some work to do, and I continued prepping radio shows and yes, sorting out the photos.

One morning, we went out and were horrified at how dirty the car was. And so were all the others in the neighbourhood. Overnight, it had rained, and several tonnes of Saharan sand were deposited on the streets of Northenden.

Because of the heat and humidity, the walk today was shorter than usual. And in one of the parks, we saw evidence of gun crime in Wythenshawe.

We collected the children from school and brought them home. The best entertainment we could offer on such a warm day was to play in the bath. And as if to prove they’re growing up, they asked to get in the bath separately.

And, playing in the bath was fun to watch. It’s amazing what stories you can invent with a set of stackable beakers and a few dinosaurs.

After dinner, we took them home, and hope they had a good night’s sleep before non-uniform Friday at school. There were to be bouncy castles too, postponed from the end of last term, because it was just too wet.

Back at home, we started packing for our upcoming weekend adventure.

The radio show this week featured songs with titles that are also the names of TV programmes or films, especially when the two are not connected. Tributes to TV shows such as Top of the Pops and Ready Steady Go are amongst the highlights. If you missed the initial broadcast on Wythenshawe Radio, you can catch up here on Mixcloud.

Litter, lollies and Leghs

Northenden briefly became the centre of the universe this week. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds were playing at Wythenshawe Park, supported by a couple of other bands. From the comfort of our luxury apartment, we could hear the soundcheck early in the day. And even in the evening, we could hear the bands playing. Unfortunately, what we heard was very bass-heavy, so we couldn’t identify any particular tune. I’m sure they would have played some Oasis songs, but I was in the land of nod well before the end of the show. Friends of ours who attended later said they had a wonderful time, despite the short, sharp torrential downpour late in the afternoon.

By way of marking the occasion, Northenden Fringe Festival was organised over a couple of days. I went up and down the main road, looking for music, but didn’t find any. There was a group of people outside the theatre, but I think they’d finished. But don’t take anything away from the local shops.

Meanwhile, Jenny and family went away for the weekend. Martha and William’s other grandparents, Alan and Una, were celebrating their Golden Wedding Anniversary. Congratulations to Alan and Una!

Alan and Una with the grandchildren William, Martha, Emily and Annabel

This week, we walked in a couple of places new to us. Jenny invited us to join them for a walk at Errwood Reservoir, in the Peak District. I thought, a reservoir, that’ll be fairly flat, then.

From the car park, we walked along the road and then started following a track towards the woods. The incline increased slowly. William was running much of the time, mostly off the track, and both the children picked up sticks every now and then.

The fireweed was quite profuse, and if you look closely at the picture, you’ll see the flies were too.

I don’t think these were the culprits, but we were all being bitten by small, annoying, flying microdots. Legs, arms, back of my neck and my forehead were all affected. Some of the bites didn’t attract itchy attention until a few days afterwards. I haven’t been this spotty since I was a teenager.

But after walking up a long, long hill, I was becoming short of breath. My coping mechanism is to walk 100 steps, have a short break, then go another 100 steps. Well, that reduced to 50. What I should have done was have a complete rest for 20 minutes, half an hour, and start again. Liam pointed out that we were two-thirds of the way up the hill. The contours on the OS map were just about on top of each other! I groaned inwardly. Thinking of how far I’d already climbed, I knew there was no way I could do half of that again. So, reluctantly, I told the others to carry on, and I turned round. But by now, even walking downhill was ridiculously hard work. I was still stopping every few steps. At least, until I found a nice log to sit down on for several minutes. But them flies. Can’t see them flying around, but sometimes catch sight of one on your skin when you feel a sharp sting.

I found the ruins of Errwood Hall. For some reason, it hadn’t registered with my brain that it was indeed just a ruin. I’d anticipated walking around a stately home and then enjoying a cup of coffee with a huge slice of cake. Huh. Unfortunately, even the ruins are out of bounds right now.

Along the path, there was a pile of fencing and another warning: Danger, Forestry Work, Follow all signs and instructions. Well, I try to do the right thing, but try as I might, I could not find any other signs nor instructions. Instead, I followed the path all the way back to the car park where, I was pleased to say, the ice cream van was still in place. I took my Magnum back along the path enjoyed it while sitting on a bench overlooking the reservoir. Very peaceful.

When the others reappeared, Martha was very excited because she’d seen her first wild animal.

We swapped stories about our bug bites. “Guess how many times I’ve been bitten, William?” I asked. “Twenty thousand billion” was his surprisingly accurate response.

As it was quite late in the day by now, we decided to dine out. Bayleaf Lounge in Bollington was our choice and I spent much of the rest of the day trying to recall why the name ‘Bollington’ rung a bell. Days later, I still can’t remember. But the Indian meal was delicious, even if for a while, the children weren’t that interested in it!

After the meal, the owner of the establishment came over with mint chocolates for us, plus a lollipop for each of the children. He asked us to put up positive reviews, and while we enjoyed the meal, I’m not sure any of us do positive reviews for anything.

So that was a pleasant day at a new venue, and so was our next walk. We picked up our friend Michael, who we know from the regular Thrive Manchester walks, and went to Wilmslow railway station. We should have gone by public transport, but when it’s a choice between an 18-minute drive and an awkward bus and train journey that can take over an hour, what are you going to do?

We met up with a group of walkers from Stockport’s Walkaday programme. When the next train arrived, it disgorged several more, and over twenty of us walked from Wilmslow to Alderley Edge. The first mile or so took us through the residential area. We passed by the world-famous Sainsbury Mural, made by Judith Bluck in 1989.

Obviously, you can’t see the whole thing properly because so many cars are parked in front of it. But it tells the story of one of the legends that surrounds Alderley Edge: ‘The Legend of the Iron Gates’.

We saw a few birds later on in the fields and woods, but none as close nor as impressive as this one in Wilmslow.

The walk was led by Su and she knew a few interesting spots. For example, we didn’t expect to see a disused narrow gauge railway line in the woods. It’s been there so long, a tree has grown between the rails.

We were walking on peat for much of the time, enjoying the expanses of heather. There was nothing harder to negotiate than minor undulations, so I had no problem keeping up today.

Lindow Man is a 2000-year old body found in 1984 well preserved in this peat marsh. Hence his nickname, Pete Marsh. He currently resides at the British Museum but it is hoped that he’ll return to Manchester next year for the 40th anniversary. The site of the discovery is well marked. With a stick.

We finished our walk at Alderley Edge station, from where we took a train all the way back to Wilmslow, just one stop.

Liesel’s exciting day concluded with a WI committee meeting while I watched Jessica Lee Morgan performing online.

The Wednesday walk was cancelled this week, but this didn’t prevent some of us from doing it. And just as well: two people had turned up for their first time and we all did our best to make them welcome.

The Thursday walk took place as usual in Wythenshawe, and again, a couple of new people turned up to join us. The most important news I can share is that Costa has fixed the spelling of their Vegan Sausage baps.

The Friday walk took place as usual, but Liesel and I didn’t join it. Instead, we collected the children for what would be their, and our, final visit to Quirky Misfits. Sadly, this coffee shop and gothic stockist of steampunk, skulls, incense, jewellery, crystals and much more quirky stuff, is closing down. So, farewell Lydia and Maria, thanks for all the coffee and good luck for your future endeavours!

But instead of going straight to the coffee shop, we walked from our flat. And both William and Martha were keen to pick some litter on the way.

There were friendly fights over some items, bottles and cans being particularly attractive! In the end, William picked up the longest item, something off a car, while Martha picked up the largest single item, a hub cap, again, off a car.

At one point, we were discussing how disgusting some people are, just throwing their litter on the ground. William sucked on a thoughtful, yet wobbly, tooth, and opined “Why can’t people have some respect for the planet?”

Both children entered the Riverside Park playground through the back door. In other words, rather than walking around to the gate, they climbed over the wooden fence. The playground is much nicer now, there is much less litter blowing around.

We finally reached the shop, and Martha decided to buy a small, pirate’s treasure map in a jar, yes, that is very quirky, plus one of the many fascinating rocks, newly polished.

Because William couldn’t find anything here in Quirky Misfits, he chose a Pokémon magazine in the Co-op next door. I think the main attraction of this magazine was its twenty thousand billion stickers. While in the supermarket, William also decided on what to buy for lunch and take home. Including a water melon. A very heavy water melon. Heavy, yes, but in the end, really juicy and sweet and tasty

The theme for this week’s radio show was Emergency Services, so plenty of sirens and emergency situations. Two hours of fabulous, eclectic music, as heard on Wythenshawe Radio WFM 97.2 on Friday at 2pm. But if you missed it or want to listen again, here it is on Mixcloud.

Usually this blog is written and delivered on a Saturday. But this week is different. Martha was very disappointed when she realised she’d left her treasure map at our place when we took her home. So we invaded their space on Saturday morning to return the bottle and we loved watching both children’s swimming lessons.

As it was such a beautiful, warm day, we decided to go for a walk at Lyme Park. Ironic how hot, Summer days arrive with September, just as the children are about to go back to school.

Lyme Park was very busy, there was even a queue to get in. But we got there in the end. As usual, we walked up the hill towards the entrance of the house. It’s a short but steep slope, and a good indicator of whether my SoB issue will rear its head. It didn’t. And we had a nice wander around the gardens.

We had an ice cream, sea-salted caramel for Liesel, and raspberry ripple for me, if you’re taking notes. We waited on a path for a family to take some pictures, and as we passed them, I prepared to take a photo of my own. “What are you doing?” asked a worried Liesel. “Taking a picture of the house,” I replied. She thought I was shooting the family who were celebrating a young person’s birthday. No, no, I wouldn’t do that. And this is the picture that I took following this exchange.

Not a bad picture, right? There’s only one way it can be improved.

After a well-earned coffee and sandwich break, during which time I admired paintings by the Legh family, former occupants of this, the biggest house in Cheshire, we carried on walking, towards The Cage, down the hill again, over the stream, over the stile, and through the woods.

Some work had been done in these woods, with a bridge over a particularly damp and muddy section. I was a bit short of breath, but nowhere near as bad as at the reservoir a few days earlier. I paced myself, and took advantage of some logs for a bit of a sit down.

We went home and after a refreshing shower, I made a start on the blog. Then we ate supper. After which, I felt ridiculously tired and couldn’t bring myself to continue. So I didn’t.

This morning, we made our way over to Jenny’s quite early and then followed them to Hazel Grove. Today is the start of the Tour of Britain bike race, and today’s stage was from Altricham to Manchester, the long way round, just over 100 miles.

We decided to witness the first, and only, sprint at Hazel Grove.

We arrived at the right time, we had a great spot right by the sprint point. We watched the marshals putting the finishing touches to the barriers, making use of cable ties. Then we watched the man mark the finishing line on the road with white tape. I always assumed those lines were painted.

The children kept themselves busy while waiting for nearly an hour for the race to turn up by playing video games on parents’ phones!

The crowd cheered most of the every-day cyclists who passed by minding their own business and I took advantage of them to practice taking action shots with the phone. I can’t tell you how disappointed I was to discover that when I do a burst shot, I only get 30 pictures. On the old phone, a burst would produce 100 images. Maybe there’s a way to change this number, I thought, but I couldn’t find one.

We monitored the race online but we knew the race was imminent when a large number of police motor bikes roared by. Some had sirens going too. Then the support cars came by, some but not all with spare bikes on top.

Suddenly, after much anticipation, the leaders of the race arrived, and we had a winner:

There were five riders in this leading group, and the rest of the peloton came by just over two minutes later. Far too fast to be able to identify any one individual. It was just a blur of cycle jerseys.

And that was it. Away from home for three hours altogether in the end, for a mere couple of seconds of action! That is the nature of bike races. Back at home, of course we watched the rest of the race into Manchester on TV. But if you were hoping to see footage of our family at the first sprint point, you’ll be disappointed: the camera was concentrating on people on the other side of the road.

As you are now reading it, you’ll be aware that I wrote and published the blog.

That’s all folks!

Art and battery

Some weeks whizz by despite not much happening. This was such a one. Seven days passed by in a flash, or so it seems. Walking around locally still reveals until now unseen works of art.

This was on the pavement just up the road from where we live. A few days later, as we were leaving the flat, we spotted a couple of young girls on bikes in the vicinity. We waved, they waved back, but we don’t really know if they were the perpetrators of this particular crime.

Zha Olu made a welcome return to Boxx2Boxx to perform for a couple of hours. The weather was a bit kinder on this occasion, and there were far more people enjoying the music this time.

I was quite restrained as regards beverages. Just the two coffees and a slice of flapjack. Oh, alright then, I admit, I had a piña colada too, well, so did many other people!

One visitor was especially welcome, he hung around for quite a long time, digging the tunes, but not, as far as I could here, joining in.

I walked home the long way round and actually saw the heron in his old place, on the weir. I think he must be psychic. He knew my plan before I’d even conceived it. I thought I’d walk over the bridge, and creep up on him from his side of the river. The sound of the rushing water would cover up any sound that I might make. I should be able to approach very closely, right? Wrong.

Again, I promised myself that one day, I will take my real camera to the riverside and try to get some really good quality shots. One day.

Guess what I did for the first time since 1966? I watched England’s football team play in a World Cup final, live, on TV. Spain won the game but at least I now knew what the theme for this week’s radio show would be: Seconds.

Later in the day, Liesel and I went for a walk over at Quarry Bank Mill.

We resisted the temptation to taste the grapes growing in the greenhouse, I suspect they’d be incredibly sour. I did sneak a raspberry though, later on, but don’t tell anyone…

We went for a longer stroll along the river Bollin. Along the river. You’d think it would be nice and flat. Oh no, it was surprisingly hilly, there were even stone steps in places. My old body was not anticipting that: a great, if unexpected, workout!

Later in the week, we went out for a twilight walk. Big mistake. Electric bikes going up the road at 40mph. Cars turning the corner at 90mph, tyres screeching and squealing, just missing other cars half parked on the pavement. And then, by the river, swarms and swarms of small, annoying bugs. As the Sun sets of course, the colour drains from the vegetation, literally ‘fade to grey’. But there was one small splash of colour.

The weekly walks organised by Thrive Manchester were all very popular this week, with almost record-breaking attendances. It was nice to see a couple of people back who we haven’t seen for a while, plus a new face.

The thousands of geese in Painswick Park are no longer a novelty, but these little cutie beauties were:

Several weeks ago, I had to buy a new phone. A local shop replaced the battery in my old phone, after which, a series of things went wrong with it. This phone could not be fixed, because the technician had apparently used the wrong sort of glue. The phone would not stay closed. At first, I thought this was because the incorrect glue wasn’t sticking. Over the weeks, though, this old phone has been sitting there on my desk, waiting for me to clear all the data, and reset to factory settings so I could pass it on to be recycled. And it’s been growing. On closer examination, I noticed the battery was in fact slowly inflating, like a balloon. I didn’t want it to explode indoors: that was a worst case scenario of course. So I decided to take the battery out and take it, along with a bagful of other used, dead, domestic batteries, to the tip, just down the road. So I looked up, How to remove the battery from an old Samsung phone. I could safely ignore the instructions telling me how to take the back off the phone. Next step: remove the 15 small screws holding the components together. Yes, 15 small screws. To access the one component that is most likely to be replaced over time: the battery. Sorry to say, I didn’t have the patience to do this today. So I just cut the very small, thin cable connecting the spongey battery to the phone. One day, I’ll acquire a battery, and devote a day to preparing that phone for its next life. 15 screws, I couldn’t believe it! Anyway, we dropped the bag of old batteries off at the tip, and the man there even said he’d drop them off in the right place for us.

The long-term, ongoing project known as ‘sorting out the photos’ continues in the background. Liesel sometimes comments that I take too many pictures. Well, since I started using digital cameras, I have accumulated, gulp, 101,000 pictures. And that collection takes a long, long time to backup. Liesel might have a point, but some of those are probably other people’s pictures, saved from WhatsApp and … yeah, alright, I take too many pictures.

As mentioned before, this week’s radio show was Seconds, to mark England’s Lionesses coming second in the World Cup. You can listen to the show here on Mixcloud. Some special people are mentioned.

Watching Matilda

Suddenly, sunflowers have sprung up all over the neighbourhood. Even Martha and William have pet sunflowers at the moment.

I like sunflowers, not only because they follow the Sun across the sky, and they bring joy whenever you see them, but they are mathematically very satisfying. If you look at the seeds and count the spirals, in any direction, you’ll always find it’s a Fibonacci number. I know this, but I still feel the need to check, just in case nature’s made a mistake.

We didn’t venture far afield this week, too busy at home. But I think we mostly got in our 10,000 steps a day, in Northenden and Wythenshawe.

And hello, Gypsy Ryan, welcome to the world, lots of love to you and new parents Bambi and Brett, friends of Helen in New South Wales. We look forward to meeting you all at some point!

Martha has been asking for a while to revisit Quirky Misfits and this week, Jenny brought her and William along. Coffee and cake were as usual welcome. William wanted to play the games, including Connect 4.

He was very nonchalent about beating me, fair and square, to the point where for a moment, I wondered whether he even realised he’d won the game!

Martha didn’t want to have her picture taken while holding the I Smell Children cushion, no idea why. But she was happy to show off her blue tongue, from the slushy, diluted blue food dye beverage.

Unfortunately, for personal reasons, this coffee shop is closing down in a few weeks time, but I hope the children can come along one more time at least.

We wandered around the corner to the playground in Riverside Park which was fun, although we were all disappointed by the amount of litter flying about. Yes, the bins were full, but some of that stuff had never spent time in a litter bin.

William likes playing hide and seek so we hid and sought for a while, in my case, taking my step count for the day to over 20,000, in case you’re taking notes.

After Jenny and the children left Northenden, Liesel and I walked home, trying to decide where to eat. We got as far as Viet Guy and thought, we’ve been meaning to try this place for years.

The food was very nice, and very filling. Next time, we’ll probably share a starter. It was good to see Vietnamese, or at least, south Asian, people among the clientele.

There’s a photo on the wall, inside the restaurant, of paddy fields. My plan was to take a picture of this, and then write about the new rice-growing paddy fields in Northenden since we’ve been having so much rain recently. In the end, I forgot. And, after such a satisfying meal, it was a long old slog, walking home.

Surprise of the Week. I’m reading some PG Wodehouse stories at the moment, and I was indeed very surprised to see this:

I thought that construction, ‘something something – not!’ was a recent American innovation. You live and learn. This was as earth-shattering to me as when I read Charles Dickens supposedly incorrect use of the word ‘literally’.

Who did we see in concert this week? Well, Martha and William as it happens. All week, they’ve been at the local Dance School, rehearsing and designing the set for their production of Matilda. We joined Jenny and Liam and the other grandparents Alan and Una for an afternoon’s entertainment. Our two did very well, but all sixty children put on a really good show. I resisted the temptation to sing along to School’s Out, and that was to everyone’s benefit.

Martha’s contribution to Matilda’s school library

Earlier, I suggested that’d we’d been quite busy this week. Well, Liesel was doing some actual work, while I was putting together a radio show. At Liesel’s suggestion, the theme this week was Rain. And between us, we came up with over 4 hours of songs about Rain. What to discard? Well, in the end, none. I sent a two-hour show to Wythenshawe Radio as usual, but I uploaded a much longer edition of the show onto Mixcloud. If you have nothing better to do, you can listen to four and a bit hours of Rain-soaked music here.

Imagine my horror and disappointment then, when, watching TV a few days later, they played Joe Brown and the Bruvvers singing Teardrops in the Rain. That would have been a perfect song to play in my own show, if only I’d remembered it. Oh well, listen out for Volume 2, I guess — not!

PSA: I am still trying to work out why for some people, on some devices, under some circumstances, sometimes, my images appear distorted. As an experiment this week, I have not edited the pictures after uploading them to WordPress. Please let me know if you experience changes. Thank you! If the pictures still appear in the incorrect aspect ratio, then I know I can point the finger at WordPress. Please let me know one way or the other, thank you!

Waters and daughters

Water, water everywhere. That was the weekend. Two days of almost constant rain. Our gutter continues to drain in the wrong direction, and there are now at least two other problem gutters on our building. I’m so glad we’re keeping up payments to the management company, I’m sure they’ll send someone to fix the gutters one of these months.

In more watery news, we went to watch the children’s swimming lessons, and we are blown away by how good they both are. I didn’t successfully swim my first stroke until I was 14, and that was in the sea at Hastings, where I benefited from extra buoyancy in the salty water. And I’ve never been able to dive to the bottom of a pool to retrieve a block. In that respect, Martha is like a little mermaid.

Did we go out for a walk this weekend? Of course not. Instead, we re-watched the whole of The Night Porter on TV. And that reminded me, it’s about time I read another John le Carré book. Although I am enjoying a Jeeves story right now. Liesel enjoys the way the bed moves when I’m chortling at PG Wodehouse’s finest work.

But not everyone is averse to being out in the rain. William enjoyed playing football in extreme conditions. Did we go and watch? What do you think?

It stopped. We went for a walk along the river, commenting on high the water was, and how fast-flowing. Hope it calms down a bit before the annual Northenden Boat Race at the end of August!

As soon as we left the flat, Liesel regretted not bringing a coat, it was a little chilly. By the time we got home, we were glad not to have the extra weight, it was warm, hot even, almost like a proper Summer’s day.

It was a nice long walk though, through Millgate Fields and on to Fletcher Moss with its botanical gardens.

After a coffee, we walked into Didsbury and bought a loaf of bread at the newly opened branch of Gail’s the bakery. We’ll still frequent La Chouquette of course, but it was closed today.

We successfully avoided being splashed as cars drove through puddles next to the pavement. I did suggest to Liesel that I carry a large building brick to act as a deterrent, but she vetoed the idea.

My visit to the dental hygienist was uneventful. Don’t know why I mentioned it, really.

It was the last day of Martha and William’s school year and the other grandparents picked them up from school. Liesel and I decided to go to the zoo. Our first plan was to visit a castle, but we thought, it looks like a nice day, ideal for a wander outside. And we did indeed have a good time. True, it did started raining lightly later on, but we visited parts of the zoo that had previously eluded us. And it wasn’t too busy: that was another reason for going today, it’ll be much more busy during the school break.

We wondered why many of the big cats were having a lie down, it was warm, but it wasn’t that hot! It was nice to see some animals for the first time, usually we’re concentrating so much on chasing the children around, we don’t get so far afield.

I went to Wythenshawe for the regular walk with the best of intentions. But by the time we’d all met up, it was raining again. Quite hard, so we decided instead to go straight to the coffee shop. Well, it passed the time, the precipitation continued, teasing us by easing off for a few minutes now and then, but returning with some force. I briefly thought about walking home, but no, I didn’t fancy getting that wet today. Another time maybe.

Liesel joined the walk the following day but I had other plans: I walked over to Didsbury for a massage. Marie Louise Gardens was nice and quiet, I wandered around for a bit, watched the people and the dogs and the squirrels.

And guess where I went for a coffee after my lovely, hard but relaxing massage?

The radio show this week was titled ‘Fathers and Daughters’, so songs by Fathers about their little girls, and by girls about their Daddies. Plus a few Father-Daughter duets. You can catch the show here.

Dear Reader, if the photos appear distorted, in the wrong aspect ratio, please let me know. Tell me how you’re reading the blog, PC, phone, whatever, which browser, and if it’s a recent issue. I’m trying to work out what’s changed in the last few weeks. Thanks very much!

Stench and the Dial of Destiny

One of the things we like about living where we do is the oak tree outside. It sheds dead wood now and then, but so far, the falling logs haven’t bonked anyone on the bonce. Nor did that large branch land on the car parked in the wrong place in the communal car park. We enjoy watching the magpies at play and sometimes fighting, or is that foreplay? And the squirrels: I think there are at least two, one of whom sits sedately when we walk by, while the other one scampers up the tree as soon as we appear. We don’t see many acorns, maybe the squirrels grab them and hide them first. But this week, our tree sprouted something very unusual.

It was meant to be a night out for Liam’s birthday, but sadly, he and Jenny weren’t feeling on top of the world. So Liesel and I used the tickets. We enjoyed an evening of The Best of British Pop Music, played by the Hallé Orchestra, at Bridgewater Hall in Manchester. Pop songs from the last 70 years. We enjoyed it although I personally wouldn’t label some of the chosen songs ‘The Best of British’.

The MC was a certain Ken Bruce, who broadcast on BBC Radio 2 for over thirty years, before recently jumping ship to Greatest Hits Radio. It was good to see him, and he was quite funny.

The vocalists were Laura Tebbutt (who I’ve heard of) and Jon Boydon (not sure) and they did a good job of interpreting the songs. The orchestra was conducted by David Arnold, composer of many James Bond tunes, musical director for the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics, not to mention being on Björk’s first album, Debut, and all-round good egg.

Laura Tebbutt, Jon Boydon and David Arnold

Yes, I feel bad that Liam and Jenny missed the show, but we’re glad the tickets didn’t go to waste!

More live music was seen the following afternoon at Boxx2Boxx. The big surprise though, in passing, was seeing the local Tesco Express all shuttered up.

Later in the week, there was hoarding all around the site, so I think some refurbishment must be taking place, although I’m surprised we didn’t see any publicity in advance.

Anyway, back to Boxx2Boxx, where Zha Olu played for two hours, with a break at halftime, and despite the intermittent rain.

She performed a wide variety of songs, including one by Oasis, two by the Bee Gees; Fleetwood Mac, Britney Spears, Cher, Katy Perry, Amy Winehouse, Killers were all represented.

Quite a few of us were sitting outside, and the rain didn’t deter us. Those two, like me, didn’t have coats. But someone walked down the road and acquired ponchos at the Pound Shop. I assume the hats came from there too. It was a great atmosphere, and I hope there’ll be more music here sometime, and I hope we get to see Zha Olu again at some point. Look her up on YouTube!

This picture was put up on Instagram later: see if you can spot Mick.

We haven’t had visitors for a while, so it was nice to collect Helen and Steve from Gatley Station, so much easier than from Manchester Piccadilly. They’d been in the Lake District for a bit and even as far afield as The Isle of Man.

We ate dinner at The Metropolitan in Didsbury, a nice veggie burger in my case, since you ask. But have some sympathy for Helen and Steve who both wanted fish and chips: alas, the restaurant had sold out!

Why did I take this picture of an old advert hanging in the toilet? Because the model closely resembles my Dad at a young age, and he did indeed use Brylcreem.

Then off to Parrs Wood Cineworld where we watched the newly released Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. It was great fun, and I was pleasantly surprised to hear a Beatles and a David Bowie song in the soundtrack.

Despite the threat of wet weather, we visited Quarry Bank Mill for a bit of a walk, and a wander around the Mill itself.

The dahlias looked good in the rain, and what a coincidence: I just started reading a PG Wodehouse book in which Bertie Wooster’s Aunt Dahlia looms large.

Our visit to the Mill itself took up so much time, that our planned tour of the Apprentices’ House never happened. We’ll get there one day.

We drove Helen and Steve to Leigh where they spent one night and visited a friend before taking the train home.

Liesel attended the WI Craft meeting, with her decorated fairy door, which, I have to say, was much better than all the others on display. I’m sure the fairies prefer it too.

When we walked Hadrian’s Wall in May, Liesel grew a huge blister on her little toe. Fortunately, this was on the final day of the hike. Fast forward to this week. Her toenail fell off. There’s no other way to break the slightly gruesome news. The toe with the big blister shed its nail. Liesel put in under her pillow, but sadly, there’s no such thing as a toenail fairy.

The regular Wednesday walk didn’t take place this week: instead, I returned to the optician to repeat one of the tests. I did better this time. I hope I don’t have to bother the optician for another year.

In the afternoon, we collected Martha and William from school, and brought them home, where they decorated their own fairy doors.

After dinner, we took a pair of tired children home, and against all odds, they didn’t fall asleep in the car.

The Thursday walk was also cancelled, but we both joined Michael on a slightly truncated walk around Wythenshawe, finishing in good time for Liesel to make her physio appointment. In the end, she was so early, that she had time for a bit of a walk in Gatley Carrs. Meanwhile Michael and I enjoyed a coffee in the usual place.

Friday, I returned to Manchester University to help with someone’s MRes research, well, I hope I helped.

When I got home, the predicted rain had stopped, so we went for a walk. One thing we didn’t expect to see was someone camping on Northenden Village Green.

We walked along the river and through the woods, all the way to Wythenshawe Park. I wondered whether any of the coins that I secreted a couple of weeks ago were still available. I remembered some of my hiding places, and I’m pleased that many of the coins had been been discovered. I hope people were sufficiently curious to look up online to see what The Find was all about.

On Wythenshawe Radio, my show’s theme was Memories, songs about memories and forgetting. You can catch it here: don’t forget.

A couple of weeks ago, we went out somewhere and noticed that the car stunk of garlic. Where’s it coming from? Maybe a dropped bite from a service station sandwich? We looked all around the vehicle, but couldn’t work out where the smell was coming from.

In the boot of the car, we have a big black bag, a carry-all bag, with lots of bits and pieces in it, shopping bags now known as ‘bags for life’, our litter pickers and pink council-approved plastic bags for picked litter, plus some other paraphernalia. No, nothing in there was responsible for the odour.

Before our visitors, Helen and Steve, arrived, I took the car in to be washed and valeted inside. I thought whatever the source of the aroma would be hoovered up. The car was nice and clean. And before picking our visitors up from the station, to make room for their luggage, we put the carry-all in the cupboard under the stairs in our block. Nobody goes in there, except the electric meter reader once every six months.

After Helen and Steve had left us, and a couple of days after hosting the grandchildren at home, we thought it was time to retrieve the bag. When I opened the door to the cupboard under the stairs, I was engulfed in a miasma of stench. Garlic. Aha! So, whatever the source of the malodour, we’d pretty much proved it must be in the black bag after all. And, indeed, we realised that we’d not complained about a smelly car at all this week.

We went through the contents of the bag, slowly, methodically, meticulously, one item at a time. And guess what we found in an old, padded but torn, cool bag? A clove of garlic. Why? How did it get there? Our theory is that it’s been there since we took some ingredients with us on our trip to Wales in May. May! It’s been festering in a cool bag, in a black bag, in the boot of the car, in the heat, for over two months! Phew, what a stench. The bag in question has been not so ceremoniously dumped.

My original note was mistyped:
Just one Clive og garlic

Balloons and top tunes

We’re hoping that that isn’t the end of Summer. It’s cooler and we had a lot of rain this week. It was so torrential at one point, that the gutter outside our living room was overflowing again. Our own little Niagara. But we did enjoy watching some birds having a bath there for a few days.

Amongst the usual antics, we spent one day this week in Manchester. The International Festival continues and we saw two more events.

At Factory International’s base, now known as Aviva Studios, a name not universally welcomed, we enjoyed You, Me and the Balloons. Japanese artist Yoyoi Kusama designed an exhibition of inflatables, all covered in polka dots. It’s a fun show to wander round, and her story is very interesting too, if sad and tragic at times.

The Hope of the Polka Dots Buried in Infinity Will Eternally Cover the Universe

The doll, Yayoi-Chan, is a representation of Yayoi herself, well a ‘kawaii’ vison of the happy girlhood she never experienced.

The only sounds we heard were people speaking in hushed tones, the pumps inflating the balloons but mainly Yayoi on-screen reciting a poem, in Japanese.

Yayoi on screen: Song of a Manhattan Suicide Attempt

There was a large sphere, also covered in polka dots. I was intrigued enough to queue up and go inside. There were just a few smaller spheres inside, but the mirror walls gave a sense of infinity. And the bonus was seeing a million doppelgängers of myself.

Another smaller sphere was just for looking into. I’ve seen kaleidoscopes before of course, but this was so much more than that.

In the middle of the exhibit were some cushions, called Clouds. I had a short lie-down on one of the bulky, oversize cushions, so that I could study the lights on the ceiling. Oh and it was nice to lie down for a few minutes, as is often the case, after walking slowly around an exhibit.

We had a few hours to pass between leaving this show and going to the theatre. Let’s spend some time in Festival Square, listen to some tunes, we thought. But as we walked by, we agreed that the music here was far too loud for our delicate, aged lug-holes, this definitely wouldn’t be a relaxing sit down.

So we carried on walking, bumped into Colin from Wythenshawe Radio who was volunteering at the Balloons, and carried on to the Central Library.

While there, we heard a group of musicians jamming just along the way.

Desperate to know the time, we wandered back down to the entrance hall where we were given a warm hand on our entrance. On display here are the hands from the clock from Manchester Town Hall which is closed right now, being refurbished, ready to open up again in 2026.

Outside the Town Hall, space has been reserved for trees, so I hope when the time comes, they install/plant some really mature ones.

Given the propensity for Manchester youths to destroy and vandalise and throw things in the canal, I don’t think saplings would survive very long.

We dined at Wagamama before returning to the Royal Exchange Theatre, this time to see Kimber Lee’s new play, The Untitled F*ck M*ss S**gon Play. It’s a play born of rage over female Asian stereotypes in plays such as Miss Saigon, and all the way back to Puccini’s Madame Butterfly. It is very funny, but there is also a lot to think about. After leaving Manchester, the play moves to London’s Young Vic Theatre, and I would highly recommend it. I’d give it 5 stars.

While in the theatre, we tried to sign into the wifi, but we were spoiled for choice:

The Wednesday walk this week was well-populated, despite the threat of rain. In fact, I did get drizzled on a bit, and afterwards, we all sat inside Boxx2Boxx to drink our coffee. Maia from Factory International joined us today, and I mentioned in passing that I thought the music at Festival Square was too loud. I didn’t wag my finger, I was polite about it.

We missed the excitement around the corner, in Royle Green Road, where the lamppost by the pedestrian crossing had been knocked over by a car. The driver claimed he was going slowly. Not if you knock over a fence and a post like that, and then end up screeching to a halt on the grass verge so far along the road. ‘Slow’ by usual Royle Green Road standards, maybe.

Even though the post had fallen, the green light was still working. And the good news is that repairs were completed within a couple of days.

We just need a new set of railings now.

I went along for my annual eye check in Didsbury. It was a thorough test, and the plan was for me to walk home afterwards. But I’m sorry to say, I wasn’t concentrating, and starting walking along the main road rather than by the river, so I caught a bus for the last bit.

The meeting for Wythenshawe Radio volunteers was interesting and afterwards, I had a nice chat with Roz, who presents a couple of lunchtime shows, and Maria, whom I’ve never met before, but we had communicated in the early days of Radio Northenden.

And for the first time since Jyoti left, I went for a massage which, given the number of clicks and pops, my muscles really needed.

While I was enjoying being pummelled and massaged, Liesel went into Manchester with the WI gang. They visited Castlefield Viaduct and a pub.

My Wythenshawe Radio show this week was a long Coffee break. Despite my best efforts, I didn’t have a guest talking about coffee, so just two hours of music to keep you going. You can listen back here.

Looking up

My radio show recently was about all the local festivals. Time to engage with some, then. So, while Liesel enjoyed coffee with her WI chums over in Didsbury as usual on a Saturday morning, I took the bus to Wythenshawe. GRUB Carnival promised the best street food in Manchester. I thought the town centre would be heaving with stalls and people, but in the end, just five vendors competed for my custom.

The most interesting, to me, was Tasty Vegan Food from West Africa. I consulted Liesel by phone, and bought some puff puffs, both savoury and sweet, something that Liesel has been wanting to try for a long time.

I took the goodies home, ate my half, and left Liesel’s for her. She’s lucky I didn’t consume her share too.

The puff puffs were indeed delicious. And, as it happens, Liesel’s been following this lady on Instagram for a while. Small world, innit?

Didsbury Arts Festival started too, and I thought I’d go along to look at the exhibits later in the week. The one Festival we did get involved with though was Glastonbury. The music was good, even if some of the mixes from the BBC, to my ears, weren’t that good.

Elton John’s performance on Sunday night was brilliant: hit after hit after hit. I watched it all live, but I did record it from TV and from the radio on my PC.

It would have been great to join the crowd at Glastonbury.

Er, no, actually. Even seeing this image on TV made my palms sweat, I wasn’t that far away from a panic attack. I would not want to be in the middle of that lot. Nor would I want to be on the edge of the crowd, somewhere at the back, miles away from the stage. Still, as I said, it was a superb performance. And wonderful to see Ray Cooper, the percussionist, just as energetic as he was that time Sarah and I saw him with Elton, on stage, all those years ago, just the two of them on stage.

Liesel walked over to Fletcher Moss to join the gang from the WI who’d been volunteered to clear the Himalayan balsam from the dipping pond. I walked over a bit later and we met for coffee before walking home. I still don’t know where the dipping pond is.

In the evening, Liesel went out again, this time to her WI Book Group. I recorded a chat with Kyle from Wythenshawe Star Gazers, which I spent a long time editing, for the radio show.

Liesel got up early and went for a solo walk. I got my steps in by joining the regular, organised walk, even though it was shorter. After this, Liesel and I joined our group of choir members in a pub in Gatley for lunch. No, we’re not in the choir, and so far, they haven’t caught on.

It was our turn to collect the children from school again this week, always a joy. They played in the school playground for a short while before we took them home.

Martha demonstrated her new skills, doing a hand-stand, going right over and finishing in the bridge position. From some hanging straps, she was able to pull herself up and through. I told her that I used to do that on tube trains in London, when they had similar straps, but I’m not sure she believed me.

I didn’t perform that stunt too often though, because every time, it felt like my arms would be pulled out of their sockets. And now, I think those straps have all been replaced by something more rigid. That’s progress.

For logistical reasons, we took Martha and William to their own house, where we didn’t play much, or read anything. I think they were tired after a long, hot day at school. Instead, we watched several episodes of Bluey, an animated Australian TV series for children, but us adults enjoy it too, it’s quite funny. Bluey is an anthropomorphic six-year-old Blue Heeler puppy characterised by her abundance of energy, imagination and curiosity of the world. The young dog lives with her family who, I think, are more interesting and fun than, for example, Peppa Pig’s almost dysfunctional yet stereotypical family, useless dad especially.

In the end, I attended all three of the Thrive Manchester organised walks this week, a hat trick. It’s cooler and more humid now, compared with last week, so it often feels like it’s about to rain. But so far, we’ve not been caught in anything too bad.

I mentioned it earlier: the theme of this week’s radio show was Astronomy and my guest was Kyle, from Wythenshawe Star Gazers. Later on in the year, I’m hoping to join them for an evening of observation. If you missed the show on Wythenshawe Radio, you can catch a slightly extended version here on Mixcloud.

Oh. And we never did see anything at Didsbury Arts Festival. Maybe next year.

Carlisle to Northenden and back to normal

Our hosts let us stay in the b&b for a while after the publicised checkout time, and I had a very modest breakfast, since there was to be no major hike. Tammy and Teresa walked to the station with their heavy bags and shortly afterwards, Jyoti, Liesel and I took the taxi: the same cabbie as yesterday, booked by Liesel when he dropped us off yesterday, mainly because he wasn’t Max Verstappen.

Yes, we caught up with Teresa and Tammy at the station. Our trains, theirs to Euston and ours to Manchester, departed from the same platform, albeit over half an hour apart. The second farewells were just as fond as the first.

I wish I’d counted the carriages or containers that made up the long Tesco train as it passed through Carlisle Station.

I probably could have used the facilities closer to where we were sitting, waiting for our train, but it was fun wandering around, getting a few steps in, at least.

And of course, it’s always fun looking down on people.

The two-hour train journey into Manchester was uneventful, but we did pass some very pleasant countryside, which I observed momentarily whilst reading my very exciting book.

And the thought crossed my mind: yep, for the last week or so, we’ve been walking through that sort of thing.

And again, as my mind wandered, the thought occurred: in hotels and b&bs, why do the bathroom materials have to be so hard to identify? All I want to know is whether it’s ‘Shampoo’ or ‘Shower Gel’ or whatever. Yet this vital information is often in very small print at the bottom of the bottle. I don’t care who the manufacturer is, or what it smells of, or what the ingredients are or whether or not the bottle’s recyclable, or what its capacity is. Just tell me what it is, in a big typeface, something that I can read when I don’t have my glasses on in the shower. That’s the whinge of the day.

The taxi ride home from the station was also uneventful. Again, we were glad not to have Stirling Moss driving us.

I think it’s fair to say we took the rest of the day easy. Liesel and Jyoti attended to their blisters. My only one, on a small toe, was caused by a small stone that had entered my shoe via the back door. A new shoe that should be waterproof, but according to the mud stains on my sock, in that corner, wasn’t.

The one commitment I had was to produce a radio show for Friday. This I completed over two days, utilising birthday messages sent by several messages from Jenny’s friends and family. I can’t believe Jenny is that old, I keep doing the arithmetic in my head. Forty years ago this week, to speed things along, Sarah was doing lots of gardening, and enjoying plenty of Indian food.

We invited the family over for dinner, which I think they enjoyed. Martha certainly did.

I wondered how long the ‘rest period’ would be following our hike across the country. It was very easy to not join any of the regular local walks this week. On one occasion I had to go to Boxx2Boxx for a meeting with David and Mary again. I still find it interesting that there are so many services offered locally, but the main problem is informing the people that need to know.

In the afternoon I took a bus into Manchester, to the blood donation centre. To donate blood, I wasn’t just going in to ‘borrow’ some biscuits. Trainee Phoebe looked after me today, and she seemed relieved when I agreed to letting her put the needle in my arm. ‘Well, you’ve got to practice on somebody’, I said.

I think someone must have set the alarm off once too often. They seem pretty desperate for us to press the right button when we want to leave the building.

Before going home, yes of course I had biscuits, custard creams and shortbread, since you ask, plus orange squash. They don’t offer tea or coffee any more, and I hope that’s for medical reasons and not ‘budget cuts’.

The three of us went for a walk at Dunham Massey, it’s close, fairly flat, and at this time of year, very colourful.

But the most exciting event of the day was undoubtedly the arrival of my younger daughter Helen, all the way from Australia. Liesel, Jyoti and I went over and joined the family for dinner. I took one photo. A momentous occasion, and all I got was this non-award winning portrait, which gained negative points for its composition.

When Liesel’s Mom left, Jyoti arrived to take her place. Helen turned up so now it’s time for Jyoti to go home. One in, one out. On Jyoti’s last full day here on this visit, we all went to Chester Zoo. Liesel, Jyoti and I arrived first, and before the others joined us, we actually saw some animals. Exciting, eh? And we saw even more animals when we were a party 7 strong. Yes, sadly, only 7, Liam was left at home to deal with a faulty boiler. We offerered, but I’m so glad they didn’t all come round to ours at 7am for a warm shower.

Martha haunting the golden mantella vivarium

During her time here, Jyoti was often busy knitting hats for the children. She and Liesel with her crochet are very talented.

Another fabulous day then, in fair weather. Liesel, Jyoti and I sadly couldn’t make the comedy night that I’d booked ages ago on account of being absolutely shattered. Plus, Jyoti had to pack as she was leaving us the following day. One in, one out.

We said our goodbyes at Manchester Airport and then, in the afternoon, we went around to Jenny’s again for her 40th birthday party. Alan and Una were there too as well as Andrea, Paul, Annabel and Emily. A party of 13.

It was nice enough to go in the garden too.

It’s Jenny’s day, but of course, most of the attention was on the children, with Martha doing handstands and never quite going all the way over.

And we began to pack for our next little adventure…

When it cooled off a bit later, we went inside and the children entertained us with various dances. Oh to be so uninhibited, I hope they never lose their joie de vivre.

We’d had quite a feast by the time the birthday cake arrived, but that didn’t stop me from having a slice, maybe two, I can’t quite remember, with my coffee.

In technical news, it was time to get my phone repaired. Replace the battery and fix the volume control buttons. Everyone else, it seems, had broken phones since all the slots at the Samsung repair shop were booked. Plan B was to arrange for an engineer or mechanic to come to mine and fix it. Or technician, as I found such people are called.

It was good to see the Mersey again, and on this bright and sunny Sunday, some people were messing about in boats. I watched and waited, but nobody fell in the water.

I do enjoy listening to podcasts, and have subscribed to quite a few. I’m a bit behind right now, but I hadn’t realised quite how many episodes were in the pile to be listened to.

I think it might take a while catch up, between you and me.

In family news: William can now ride a bike. So he cycled and Martha scootered to their local park one afternoon, with Jenny, Helen and me in hot pursuit.

Liesel has begun a couple of new crochet projects: a sheep and a pelican. Can you tell what this is yet?

That’s right, a pelican

For Jenny’s birthday, she and Helen visited Shrigley Hall Hotel and Spa for a relaxing spa session. In a throwback to the olden days, Dad went to collect them at the end of the evening. What did the spa session entail? As far as I could discern, consuming two bottles of wine between them and spending time in the pool. When I arrived, the Sun was about to set, and I realised what a great setting this place was.

I should be ashamed but I’m not. I consumed the TimTams that Helen brought over for me very quickly. ‘Just one more’ says my evil brain far too often. What’s brown and invisible? No TimTams.

And as May drew to a close and the curtains opened on June, someone reminded me that we’re only six months away from Christmas. Yes, maybe, but we don’t need to know that, thank you very much!

Liesel and I took a bus into Manchester and ate a meal at The Allotment, a vegan eatery. They brought an entirely new vegan experience to the table. The service was a little slow maybe, but the food was good. Me, being me, I did begin to panic that we wouldn’t get to the theatre in time, but we did.

We returned to The Royal Exchgange Theatre to watch No Pay? No Way!, by Dario Fo, originally produced in the 1970s, during an earlier economic crisis. This furious and feisty political comedy is an urgent exploration of our global economic reality, says the blurb. It was very funny and some of the dialogue rings true today, in 2023.

And so the day came to get my phone fixed. The technician arrived early and very quickly gave me the bad news. It could not be repaired. Whoever took the phone apart last time had used the wrong kind of glue, and this had leaked onto the motherboard. You’re going to have to get a new phone. That was exactly what I didn’t want him to say. Apart from anything else, I won’t be going back to that tech shop in Northenden again, and I recommend you don’t either. Just because we’d had good service there before doesn’t mean we will now, with different owners.

Meanwhile, Liesel had gone for a nice long walk with the WI at Lindow Common near Wilmslow.

Obviously, I hadn’t planned to go shopping for a phone, so I hadn’t done any research. But I decided to stick with Samsung, so Liesel and I visited The Trafford Centre. Liesel did some other shopping while I pestered Suresh in the Samsung Shop. Some of the information went over my head, but eventually, I made my choice. Its colour? Awesome violet. It’s a bit scary buying an expensive item such as this on the spur of the moment, but it doesn’t happen very often. Thank goodness.

It took over an hour for the process of copying everything over from the old to the new phone. Well, not quite everything. Over the course of the weekend, I noticed some weird omissions. I spent a lot of time over the weekend making sure all my home pages resembled my old, familiar layout, as much as possible. And as Suresh said, I had to sign in again to most of the apps.

Something I couldn’t carry over were the winning streaks from a couple of my daily puzzles: Nerdle and Full Rainbow.

Earlier in the week, I’d prepared two radio shows, one for this week, Walls, and one for next week, Parks, because we’ll be away next week, hooray!

But having a new, reliable phone definitely trumps that.

Northenden to Newcastle to Newburn

One day to go before our next Big Adventure and I spent a couple of hours prepping the next radio show. I’ll be away from the Home Studio for a while and I’ll only have a small window of opportunity to finish it before the deadline. Apart from that, packing the right amount of stuff was the order of the day.

We’re going for a long walk so of course, this was the perfect opportunity to buy a new pair of trainers. It’s not the done thing to go on a major hike with shoes not yet fully worn in, but the old ones are probably a bit too worn out. But I found a pair in the shop that felt comfortable straightaway. Result!

Later on, Liesel dropped Jyoti and me off at Quarry Bank Mill where we had a very pleasant, relaxed wander around the gardens, down by the river Bollin.

Yes, the rhododendrons were out in force, and combined with the sunshine, our mood was lifted several notches on the happiness scale.

We had a look around the Mill itself too, and all its machinery. We’re so lucky that neither of us have ever had to work in such a hostile environment. But what amazing technological and engineering accomplishments from 200 years ago. Just to turn a few plants into tea towels.

Engineers make things that ‘work’ and make things ‘work better’. In the past Quarry Bank relied on the engineering brilliance of a few key men. Today, anyone can be an engineer. You just need to be able to think is a certain way. There are six habits that engineers all share:
Engineers work out what problem they want to solve
Engineers look for patterns and what connects things rather than just focusing on the smaller details
Engineers adapt and change, learning from what happens when they try things out
Engineers are creative, whether working on their own or with other people
Engineers imagine what the end result might look like
Engineers tinker. They test, try, improve and experiment!
There is an engineer in all of us.

What an inspiring sign for budding engineers.

In the evening, we all enjoyed a comedy night at Northenden Theatre, just up the road.

Dawn Bailey, Big Lou, Pauline Ayer, Bella Humphries

The MC was ‘Big Lou’ Jones, who I’ve seen before, and the other comedians to look out for in the future were Pauline Ayer, Bella Humphries, Dawn Bailey and Chris Oxenberry. They were all very funny but I only remembered to take pictures of four out of the five. And how nice to see a majority of female performers, yet sad that even now in the 21st century, it’s so unusual, it has to be commented on.

Late to bed, early to rise, makes a man tired. We had to rise early as a taxi was taking us to the coach station in Manchester. There was of course a spate of last-minute packing, and as usual, we were in that limbo between taking too much stuff and leaving something vital behind.

The cab driver was very fast. Well, he slowed down for speed cameras and sometimes stopped for red lights. Liesel felt nauseous and opened the window in case she needed to throw up. But we arrived in one piece, walked from the coach station to the temporary bus stop down the road, via Manchester’s Gay Village, and enjoyed a much more leisurely ride on the National Express to Newcastle.

I slept for a bit, did some puzzles, read my book but didn’t listen to any podcasts, which I’d come prepared to do. Overall, an uneventful coach ride but the highlight was passing by the Angel of the North.

This work of art by Antony Gormley has only been standing there for a quarter of a century but this is the closest we’ve been to it. So far.

In Newcastle, we had a 15-minute walk to our accommodation for the night. The first landmark we saw was St Mary’s Cathedral.

But, carrying heavy bags, we didn’t pay a visit. The second landmark was the iconic Tyne Bridge. Google Maps insisted that we’d arrived at our destination but it was wrong. The Premier Inn was down below. A reminder that Google Maps isn’t very helpful in the third dimension. The other thing that surprised us was the number of gulls all around the bridge. What a racket!

The third landmark was The Sage, Gateshead, over the river. It’s designed to look like three ships approaching in the fog, and I’m sure one day, we’ll go to a concert there.

We couldn’t check in yet, so we left our bags behind the desk, and went for a walk along the river. So many choices of food on offer, and what a great atmosphere.

Jyoti, Liesel and I did visit Newcastle’s other Cathedral, drawn in by the sound of organ music. Later, a boy’s choir started to sing, a wonderful noise and a reminder to me that I’m not really choir material, no matter how polite the other members of Northenden Choir might be to my face

Here are the colourful Maddisons that stand out in scarlet, blue and gold. Medieval St Nicholas’ Church once shone with colour, before the Reformation dictated plain stone and bare walls for churches.

Wealthy coal merchant Lionel Maddison paid for this memorial to his parents, Elizabeth and Henry, in the 1630s, Lionel was an alderman, sheriff and mayor, like his father before him. He was involved in Newcastle’s two wealthiest Companies – the Merchant Adventurers and Hostmen.

Our luck was in as we enjoyed a photography exhibition here in the cathedral too. Peter Marlow has taken pictures of all 42 of England’s cathedrals, and these photos were on display here. So of course, I had to take a picture of Guildford Cathedral while visiting Newcastle Cathedral.

I had a nice chat with someone who volunteers at this Cathedral, who has walked Hadrian’s Wall several times, who comes from Aberdeen but now considers themselves total Anglikised (sic).

The three of us crossed the Millennium Bridge, walked along the river and back over the Swing Bridge. This was of course all good training for the start of our long hike the following day.

At the hotel we met our fellow walkers from the USA, Teresa and her sister Tammy. I’d met Teresa before, in Portland, and she hasn’t changed a bit.

A personal recommendation took us to Träkol, by the By The River Brew Co. Thanks, Ross! We had a very nice meal, the four American ladies each choosing lamb, while I enjoyed a nut roast. The whole place is built inside old shipping containers, but you can’t really tell once you’re inside.

Our hotel room looked out over the Tyne Bridge, but here’s an unusual sight.

Yes, it’s a hotel window that you can actually open. Not too wide, mind, otherwise them pesky gulls might fly in.

The routine for the next few days is that we have breakfast, and we have to have our bags ready by 9.00am. Then some haulage fairies will take those bags to our next stop. We can walk with just the bare necessities for the day.

We could have walked to the start point of the Hadrian’s Wall Walk, or Hadrian’s Way, but we chose to take a taxi instead. It was only about three miles, but it seemed much longer in the cab, knowing we’d be walking back again!

The Roman soldier at Segundum Bath House and Fort, at Wallsend, wished us well on our travels and we set off in a mainly westerly direction. The weather was perfect, and we made good time. Actually, in hindsight, I wonder if we set off a bit too fast to start with, we ended up with various aches and pains.

This first day wasn’t too hilly, but it was a hard surface all the way. We were looking our for the iconic bridges far too early, well, maybe that was just me!

On one path, we saw a couple of discarded supermarket trolleys. As Liesel remarked, if this were Manchester, they would have been in the river by now. In any case, one of our party decided to have an easy ride.

Jyoti, Teresa and Tammy (in the trolley)

On this day, we never deviated far from the river Tyne. And the route itself was well signposted. It was Hadrian’s Walk at this point, because there’s not really a lot of the Wall to see. But from the next day, we would see the occasional section of well-preserved Roman wall.

I can’t remember who first noticed it and yelled ‘Bridge ahoy’, but we soon found ourselves back in Newcastle. It was canny to see wor old bridgey friends again. Picking up the lingo.

Last night, we’d been talking about Costco. So imagine our surprise when we actually saw one today. What a shame it was on the other side of a very wide river with no bridge nor ferry in sight! (Or, what a relief!)

We saw some bits of old wall, but weren’t convinced they were older than Victorian. Still, we can dream.

To bring us back to real life and remind us of more recent history, we passed this memorial in Scotswood.

In memory of the 38 men and boys who tragically lost their lives in the Montagu View Pit Disaster on 30th March 1925, when an inrush of water from a burst seam flooded the mine shaft. The pit was finally closed on 13th November 1959

The pitman, pony and tank depict our past heritage. The house represents the present regeneration of our community. The children are our future.

The official unveiling took place on 9th June 2012 by Councillor Hazel Stephenson and children from Scotswood Village Nursery, Scotswood Village Playgroup and Bridgewater School. The children and local community were involved in the design. The sculpture was made by Xceptional Designs.

In Remembrance of “Men of Steel”.

We stopped for a late lunch at Healthworks Lemington Centre. Jyoti fulfilled her dream, finding a scone with clotted cream. I think we all realised we should have stopped sooner for a break. Various muscles ached but the break helped a lot.

Just a quick (-ish) jaunt to our final destination for the day and we nearly had our first disaster.

Jyoti went down to the river and from where I was standing, it looked like she was in the river. Hence the photo. But then she dropped something, and I assumed it had fallen into the water. Big sighs of relief all round when the phone was picked up from solid ground.

I don’t think I’d heard of the Battle of Newburn Ford before, but we came across a memorial to it with a very good description of the events leading up to it. And it all boils down to religion, of course.

And look, the sky is still blue, a nice way to complete our first day. We stayed at The Keelman’s Lodging, Newburn, after 11 miles and in my case, over 32,000 steps. There’s a micro-brewery here that we didn’t take advantage of, on this occasion.

After confirming that none of us fell foul of the rules, we dined well. Unsure of what dessert to have, Jyoti decided on a bowl of custard.

Yes, an Olympic-size pool of custard. And look at that bloke next to her, concentrating hard on his rhubarb crumble.

The night ended too soon, we could have done with a little more sleep, but we met up early for a hearty breakfast before beginning Day 2 of our hike.