Wythenshawe FM – Mick and Liesel's Antics

Thinking about the children

My Dad liked the odd flutter down at the betting shop. Mostly on horse races, sometimes the dogs. And in the olden days, he dutifully filled in the football pools coupon each week. Actually, he won about £100on the pools once, in the 1960s, worth over £2000 in today’s money, so quite a substantial amount. He opened a bank account for the first time ever in his life. When the winnings had all been spent, he closed the account. The bank manager wasn’t happy: “Well, that was a waste of time, wasn’t it?” On the whole though, he wasn’t very lucky. As he said one day, he never had a nice holiday in Jamaica but he was sure Mr William Hill enjoyed a few.

I’m not saying he was a gambling addict, far from it, but I’m glad that that particular, harmless pastime doesn’t appeal to me in the same way. And when it comes to 50-50 chances, I’d never bet, because I’m more than 50% sure that I have genetic architecture that predisposes me to a higher probability of adverse outcomes.

This all came flooding back when I began using buses regularly again, here at home. Whichever bus I’m waiting for, I will almost always see one going in the opposite (wrong) direction first.

And another observation: many buses that pass by are ‘Not in Service’. I know the drivers have different shift times and need to return to the depots or wherever, but there is a very high percentage of buses on the roads here that are not in service. I think I only became aware of this again having seen very few buses in Sydney not picking up passengers for this reason.

The display on this bus wasn’t very helpful. The Airport and Piccadilly Gardens are in opposite directions, being the two termini for route 43. Still, I got to my destination OK.

I do miss this little chap.

After being tortured (slight exaggeration) again by the dental hygienist, I joined the Wednesday walking group. There were 22 of us on this occasion, the first noticeably warm day since I returned.

There’s a lot of confusion between International Book Day, World Book Day and International Day of the Book. Whichever it was, Martha and William joined in the celebrations this year.

The Thursday and Friday walks were less populated and by the end of the week, it was beginning to cool down a bit too.

It’s early stages of World War III since Israel and USA attacked Iran last weekend. That’s presumably just the excuse our local BP garage needed to increase its fuel prices. Wednesday: 138.9p/l, Thursday: 140.9, Friday: 142.9. No, I didn’t join the queue panic-buying petrol. For one thing, I was on the bus and didn’t have the car with me.

On TV, when I can find it, I’ll watch some Paralypics Curling. And I enjoyed another episode of Call the Midwife. It was a somewhat harrowing storyline, to be honest. But, equally, perversely, the best episode ever since it included a beautiful song performed by Mary Hopkin.

Happy International Women’s Day! You can listen again to my Wythenshawe Radio show right here.

Here is your slightly irregular reminder not to rely on AI chatbots:

I asked: if you were to spell out all the numbers from 1 to 1000, how often would you write the letter A? Here is the response:

Alright — let’s work through this step-by-step.

We want to know: how many times does the letter ‘A’ appear when writing out all numbers from 1 to 1000 in words (standard English, no “and” except as part of a number name like “one hundred and one” – wait, let’s clarify that).

—

Step 1: Understanding what we count

When writing numbers in English, there are two common conventions:

1. Without “and”
Example: 101 = “one hundred one” (no ‘a’)
2. With “and”
Example: 101 = “one hundred and one” (one ‘a’ from “and”)

The problem doesn’t specify, but if we want maximum ‘A’ frequency, we use “and” between hundreds and the rest for numbers 101–999.

Let’s also note:

· Zero is not counted (1 to 1000).
· The only letters containing ‘A’ in the standard English number names are:
and, one, eight, hundred, thousand, and maybe others? Let’s check:

Actually:

· and
· hundred
· thousand
· eight? Wait, “eight” has no ‘a’. “Eight” is E-I-G-H-T. No ‘A’. Let’s list properly.

Let’s list all number names and see which have ‘A’.

—

Digit names (0-9):

· zero (no A)
· one (O-N-E) → no A
· two (no A)
· three (no A)
· four (no A)
· five (no A)
· six (no A)
· seven (no A)
· eight (no A)
· nine (no A)

Teens:

· ten (no A)
· eleven (no A)
· twelve (no A)
· thirteen (no A)
· fourteen (no A)
· fifteen (no A)
· sixteen (no A)
· seventeen (no A)
· eighteen (no A)
· nineteen (no A)

Tens (20–90):

· twenty (no A)
· thirty (no A)
· forty (no A)
· fifty (no A)
· sixty (no A)
· seventy (no A)
· eighty (no A)
· ninety (no A)

Hundred, thousand, and:

· hundred → yes, 1 A in “hundred”
· thousand → yes, 1 A in “thousand”
· and → yes, 1 A in “and”

—

So the only words with ‘A’ are:

· hundred (1 A)
· thousand (1 A)
· and (1 A)

And digits/teens/tens have no A.

—

Step 2: Counting numbers with ‘A’

Since no 1–9 have A, and 10–19 have no A, and 20–99 have no A, it means only numbers where the word “hundred”, “thousand”, or “and” appear can contain ‘A’.

1. Numbers 100–999:

Let’s pick the pattern:

· 100 = “one hundred” → one A (from hundred)
· 101 = “one hundred and one” → two A’s (hundred + and)
· 110 = “one hundred and ten” → two A’s (hundred + and)
· 115 = “one hundred and fifteen” → two A’s
· 120 = “one hundred and twenty” → two A’s
· 199 = “one hundred and ninety nine” → two A’s

So:
For 100: “hundred” → 1 A
For 101–199 (except 100): each has “hundred and” → 2 A’s.

Let’s check 200–299: same pattern:
200 = “two hundred” → 1 A
201–299: each = “two hundred and X” → 2 A’s

That pattern holds for all hundreds blocks (100–999):

Block N00: “N hundred” → 1 A
Block N01–N99: “N hundred and …” → 2 A’s

So per hundred block:

Count of ‘A’s for that block:

· N00: 1 A
· N01–N99: 99 numbers × 2 A’s = 198 A’s

Total for block = 1 + 198 = 199 A’s.

There are 9 such blocks (100–199, 200–299, …, 900–999).

So A’s from 100–999 = 9 × 199 = 1791 A’s.

—

Step 3: Number 1000

“One thousand” → one A in “thousand”. So 1 A.

—

Step 4: Check if 1–99 have any ‘A’

No. 1–99 have no ‘A’ because none of their words contain ‘A’.

—

Step 5: Total

From 1–99: 0 A’s
From 100–999: 1791 A’s
From 1000: 1 A

Total = 0 + 1791 + 1 = 1792 A’s

Home Alone

At home, there have been a few schemes over the years where we can recycle the blister packs that medication now comes in. All of these schemes soon stopped for whatever reason. Here, in Sydney, we can leave such blister packs in Chemist Warehouse and they then either recycle them (we hope) or just throw away. And this morning, I disposed of three weeks worth of blister packs while waiting to meet Helen, Brent and Keiran by Warringah Mall.

Liesel and I took the bus from our b&b and Helen pushed the pram from home. The B-line bus was packed, so Liesel and I had to sit upstairs. A nice quick ride into Sydney and we finally had a chance to say a proper hello at Wynyard. Where the postcode is 2000.

Here is a rare photograph of Sydney Opera House taken from the upper deck of a B-line bus as it crosses Sydney Harbour Bridge.

We walked to The Rocks, another historic area in Sydney. The walk was mostly downhill and we even had to negotiate a few steps with the pram.

PaniQ Room is Sydney’s original and favourite Escape Room. It’s a fun and exciting way to spend some time with friends, family or colleagues and exercise your mind. This was our venue for an hour of adventurous missions, puzzles and riddles. Our mission was to restore a video tape to a hidden safe before The Godfather realised that it had been stolen. We enjoyed solving the puzzles, and following up a couple of misleading leads that led nowhere.

The music from The Godfather played throughout, and I for one felt it was time to watch those films again. There are no photos from the escape room itself, of course, we can’t reveal the secrets. We escaped with seven minutes to spare: Liesel and I were very glad to have Brent’s and Helen’s younger brains ticking over a bit faster than ours.

The successful escapists with Mafia hats

Yes, Brent is holding some gak while Helen and I are sporting cigars.

The Saturday market was crowded, and I wondered how many of the people were passengers from the cruise ship, Discovery Princess today.

Ancient Feelings (2025) by Thomas J Price

This sculpture caught my eye outside the Museum of Contemporary Art. The 1.5-tonne, 3-metre-high head of a woman is cast in golden bronze.

We wandered around Circular Quay to the Opera House where we enjoyed lunch, outside, in the shade, avoiding the bright sunshine. Food and drink was ordered by QR code and disappointingly, the servers just walked our food and drink to the table, no roller skates involved.

Actually, we were underneath the Opera House, quite a daft place to sit, in retrospect. 161,000 tonnes of bricks and tiles above us, all held up by this pillar.

Helen and Brent lending their support too

My last ferry ride of this visit down under was enjoyable, and we then spent some time in Manly, listening to a busking sax player and buying a couple of things, before catching the bus back to Brookvale. We walked to 4 Pines Brewery where we met Nat and Rob. Later, Jacqui joined us, but it was a very brief, hot in the Sun, final meeting.

Walking along the road, we passed this delightful, attractive and very tasty plant.

No, I didn’t taste it: we all know that everything in Australia is designed to kill us! It’s very pretty, though.

Fuel by Night was the venue for Liesel’s and my final dinner here on this trip. This venue is a coffee bar by day, and is open for meals a couple of nights a week. Liesel and I caught the bus back to our b&b while Helen and Brent walked back home. Some quick packing before bed.

We’d walked quite a lot this week, further (for me, at least) than any single week at home since Winter set in.

Our final breakfast, at SeaSprout, was more than satisfactory, eggs benny, but without the ham, thank you very much. We’d finished packing at our b&b and Brent and Helen took us backbac collect it and drive it around to their flat.

Unbelievably, it was Liesel’s and my 20th wedding anniversary the following day, and we would be away from each other. What a lovely surprise to receive a present from the whole family: Helen, Brent, Keiran, Jenny, Liam, Martha and William.

Grandad, Oma, Martha, William and Keiran

Yes, we are officially a pendemonium of cockatoos! This picture was drawn by friends of Helen and Brent and I was able to pack it in my case to take home.

It’s always sad saying goodbye after such a good visit. I took an Uber to the airport. Liesel’s flight was several hours after mine, and Helen drove her, later on. I’m not at all jealous that Liesel spent a few hours longer with Keiran, honest.

The airport experience was OK. The flight to Abu Dhabi was long but OK. Glad I ordered Indian vegetarian food this time.

I didn’t expect to see a camel in the airport, but life is full of surprises.

I saw more of Abu Dhabi airport this time, there was a much longer walk between my arrival gate and the departure gate. Plus, I had to go through a security check this time.

It’s a very clean place, and the architecture is very interesting. Every posh shop you can imagine is here, and I walked right past every single one. Sorry, Liesel, wedding anniversary or not, I can’t afford the jewellery here!

The flight to Manchester was OK, long, and I just wanted to get there.

A quick taxi ride home and then straight to bed, having been awake for over 30 hours. Nice to be in my own bed, of course, but not so keen on the significantly colder temperature at home.

Most of the week, I was either asleep, thinking about sleep or fighting off sleep. At the last minute, I booked a ticket for a concert, hoping I wouldn’t nod off in the middle of it.

I took a bus into Manchester and a cab back home after the show. In late 1974, I had the opportunity to see Tubular Bells performed live at the Royal Albert Hall. I didn’t go. I’ve waited half a century for this. Yes, I saw Tubular Bells performed live, in its entirety, at the Bridgewater Hall.

Part one of the show featured excerpts from Tubular Bells II and III. And a fabulous performance of Moonlight Shadow. The composer, Mike Oldfield, wasn’t here but if he were, I’m sure he would have received a rapturous round of applause. The actual players certainly did. The 7 (or was it 8?) -piece band was led by Robin Smith, one of Mike Oldfield’s long-term collaborators

Did I fall asleep? Not a chance. The music was far too engaging, even from the Gallery, which is like the Upper Upper Circle, the only section with tickets available by the time I bought one.

For some reason, maybe I was still tired and a bit more fragile and sensitive than usual, but I found the music to be very emotional. It took me back to 1974 when I shared accommodation with the two best flat-mates anyone could ever wish for, so I’m sending lots of love and positive thoughts to Ann and Chrissy 😊❤️.

That late night was followed by an early morning visit to a health professional who extracted some blood for a few tests. Did I go back to bed when I returned home? I might have, I know I missed the 11 o’clock walk!

When I did venture out, though, I was very happy to see early signs of Spring. A bed of crocuses adorns the village green.

And then, on the Friday, I dragged myself out of bed so that I could join the regular walk in Wythenshawe Park. There was nobody there. Has the venue changed? Have they changed the start time? Have they all been abducted by aliens? I waited with a coffee for a while, and then I remembered: it’s half-term and the walk was probably cancelled. Did I do the walk anyway? Well, some of it.

The blood test results were all ‘normal’ so I felt safe to book my first donation for nearly a year. I was on the bench because of all the medical tests that I had last year.

Walking on a treadmill at home is just as boring as walking on a treadmill in a gym. You have a treadmill at home? I do, now, yes. Just a cheap one. But it’s been raining so much, I often stay at home rather than go for a walk outside. I thought this piece of equipment might help me get some steps in. One big advantage is, I can listen to my own podcasts and radio shows at home, and not have to listen to the loud EDM in a gym. Watching TV would be good, too, if only the room were set up differently.

And of course, sod’s law. The day after the treadmill was delivered, it was sunny, and said to be the warmest day of the year so far. So, yes, I was encouraged to get out a bit more!

In administrative news, it took a week for me to catch up on emails. I keep unsubscrbing but I still get too many.

I prepped a show for Wythenshawe Radio and sometimes, it takes much longer to go through the process. Too many songs a few seconds shorter than the listed duration mean I have a gap to fill: sometimes a whole new song can be squeezed in, usually I pad with a mix of jingles and old adverts.

While typing on the phone, I kept wondering why the colon (:) was displaying as a semi-colon (;). Don’t tell me the shift key isn’t working? No. The solution was, of course, to wipe the dust off the phone’s screen. Just one speck exactly in the wrong place.

Maybe I just haven’t noticed it before, but this tree in Riverside Park children’s playground jumped out at me this time. Not literally, but I noted it with some surprise. The river was a little higher than usual, not surprising after all the rain. (So glad I was away for three weeks of it.)

This week, the walking group did meet up in Wythenshawe Park. A further sign of Spring grabbed my attention and cheered me up.

A daffodil. This was the first one I saw, but there were plenty more elsewhere in the park. And further afield in Wythenshawe and Northenden.

I watched Martha and William swimming, and they are both so good, much better swimmers than I’ll ever be. Then round to Jenny’s for croissant and coffee, thank you very much!

My latest Wythenshawe Radio show is Ships and Boats

but don’t forget, there are plenty of other shows to listen to here on Mixcloud. Mickscloud. Or, tune in to Wythenshawe Radio WFM 97.2 each Sunday at 4pm to be amongst the first to hear the latest extravaganza!

While I was settling in at home, Liesel was taking her time going back to Anchorage. She spent a couple of days in Honolulu with Trudi and John before flying to Seattle. One night there before the flight to Albuquerque. After a couple of days here, she flew back to Anchorage with her Mom. Temperatures are still below freezing, so although I might complain about it being cold here in Northenden, it’s not that bad, relatively speaking.

Buses, boats and birds

My sister and I agreed to meet at my long-time favourite coffee shop in Manly, Three Beans. I like Manly, it’s full of bright, young, fit and healthy people, so of course, I feel right at home.

It’s a 199 bus to Manly from my b&b and I have to cross a very busy crossroads to get to the bus stop. If I see the 199 approaching, and I have several lanes of traffic to cross, I’m not sure of the traffic lights’ pattern, so I have to wait at 4 or 5 crossings. One time, yes I missed the bus. The next time, the lights were in my favour, the 199 was held up by red lights.

Helen and Keiran joined us just after I’d knocked over Pauline’s berry crush smoothie. Pinky prurply gloop covered the table, the floor, my feet and of course, the provided napkins were nowhere near good enough to mop up the mess. The assistant tried very hard not to laugh at this useless old fart. Will my embarrassment deter me from visiting this establishment again? Nope.

We walked over to the wharf and east Manly Cove beach. Maybe too hot and sunny for Keiran whose sleeping and feeding routines are not entirely predictable nor reliable! So, leaving Helen and Keiran behind, Pauline and I set off for a longer stroll in the sunshine.

A few folks were on the beach, but neither Pauline nor I were tempted. Despite copious amounts of SPF 50, I for one would feel too exposed for too long.

Some new gym equipment has been installed so I had a go at a couple of the exercises. Easy. I reckon twenty seconds is plenty, for a first time, including fifteen chair lifts (I don’t know the names of the various workout techniques so while I can envisage what I did, I can’t name it with any certainty.)

We tried to have a chat with a brush turkey but he wasn’t interested, gobble gobble.

At Little Manly beach, the sign says: “There are severe penalties for taking, attempting to take, harming, possessing, interfering with, buying or selling White’s Seahorse or for damaging their habitat without the appropriate approvals.”

Appropriate approvals? From whom? Either it’s a protected area or it isn’t. Save our seahorses!

Pauline and I had a debate about this incredibly tall pine tree growing in someone’s back garden.

I maintain it’s a real tree, wood, with the crown growing naturally at the top. Pauline thinks it’s concrete or metal. Next time we visit, we’ll take some kind of testing kit.

After meeting up with Helen again, we went for lunch. The sushi train was fun to watch, while trying to grab something appealing without knocking other plates off. It was also interesting to see the cooks make up the sushi, so much faster and more efficient than our efforts at home, when we seem to spend a lot of time removing sticky rice from our fingers.

We wandered along the Corso to the main Manly beach. The sea was much calmer today and a few people were swimming or surfing.

We decided not to walk along towards Shelly Beach, the path was exposed to the hot Sun with minimal, if any, shade. So, sorry, eastern water dragons, you’ll have to wait until next time to see us.

Back in my room, I did some writing. Actual hand-writing. For the first time in ages, I thought I’d send some postcards.

After having breakfast at Hideout Dee Why, I walked up the road to Dee Why library, a quiet place in which to write, with the keyboard this time. A lovely Chinese couple approached and gestured as if to ask whether it was alright to share the table. Go ahead, I said, with a smile.

The lady started getting out a bundle of papers, including passports and I just carried on doing my thing. A library assistant approached and told them, “no, no, he’s over there”. They got up, apologised and went over there, presumably to speak to the real JP.

After a spot of shopping at Aldi, I know how to have a good time, I went over to Helen’s where I was greeted by a little chap outside the front door.

By the time I’d found the keys, he’d disappeared, I assume, into the bushes. But no. He’d slipped under the door, so he was now sitting still in the hallway, wishing he were a chameleon.

After tacos for dinner, we all enjoyed watching more wildlife in the garden. The orange spider wasp was chasing its own dinner, a spider, possibly a huntsman, but ignoring the tiny ants that would have been an easier catch, I would have thought.

Then, as we were leaving the premises, we saw this little beauty:

I told it not to go into Helen’s garden, there are foul beasties in the undergrowth.

As Pauline and I walked down the road to catch the bus back to our respective pads, we heard an awful screeching racket. Cockatoos, they look great, but their call would never appear on a mixtape of relaxing birdsong.

They were singing in the wires, so loud, that a couple of residents came out to see what the noise was all about.

The following morning, there were warnings of smoke drifting down from bush fires on the mid north coast of NSW. I didn’t detect any, but the city itself, Sydney woke to a thick blanket of haze.

I met Pauline for coffee on a return visit to the Hideout. A ten minute walk for me, a bus ride for my sister.

We passed this beauty as we walked again to Dee Why beach, the trunk smooth as Keiran’s bottom. It brought to mind the iconic twin, ghost gums on Larapinta Drive near Alice Springs. Sadly, those trees were destroyed by arsonists in 2013 in the middle of a restoration programme, following some dieback. These ghost gums were regarded by the Arrernte people as living spirits, so this act of vandalism hit the community hard. I have memories of touching, but not hugging, one of them in 2002.

Further down the road, we ingested the great smell of frangipani, or plumeria. Almost pungent in its potency, I was surprised I didn’t have a sneezing fit.

The hibiscus flowers were very bright, you could believe they had internal back lighting.

Today was the day of the annual Fun Run or Sun Run from Dee Why to Manly. It takes place very early in the morning, so we didn’t see any of the action. And we certainly didn’t participate. By the time we were up and about, all the road closures had finished.

After coffee at the beach, Pauline and I set off for Curl Curl. We caught the 166 bus most of the way, got off a couple of stops early, then enjoyed walking along the boardwalk on Curl Curl beach.

As we walked by McKillop Park on Freshwater headland, I thought, that looks like a strange and interesting sculpture, so I looked it up.

It was created by First Nations artist and creative director Nicole Monks and her design studio, mili mili. It is a tribute to the historical significance of signal fires, which were lit on headlands by Aboriginal people for tens of thousands of years. The artwork is an architectural place-maker that marks the beginning of the Northern Beaches Coast Walk. It provides a space for reflection, shared storytelling, and enjoying panoramic ocean views.

And yes, the ocean views were stunning, but a life on the ocean wave was not for us. We tried to have a chat with a cormorant but he was more interested in preening himself.

There were a couple of surfers in the water, but we also came across one up here on the headland.

This statue commemorates Duke Kahanamoku’s historic surfing demonstration at Freshwater Beach headland in December 1914. The Hawaiian Olympic champion swimmer is widely regarded as the “Father of Modern Surfing” and his visit ignited Australia’s passion for the sport. Next time I’m here, I’ll try and remember to walk around to see the front of the statue!

We found Harbord Diggers, a return visit for us, and we met Helen, Brent and Keiran for lunch. We sat at the same table as last time, and Keiran was really engaged with the texture of and the lighting and shadows on the wall behind us.

Knowing from experience that veggie burger and chips here was too much of a challenge, I opted for a tofu poke bowl today. Poky? Again, there was too much food and I couldn’t finish it, despite the many different, tasty flavours.

We were entertained by a delightful singer. I didn’t catch her name but I believe she’s a local, northern beaches artist.

Helen and Brent gave us a lift to the Mall. Then Pauline went back to her place and a bit later, I returned to mine for a late, welcome, afternoon nap.

In the morning, I could smell hot pine, similar to that in a steamy sauna, but it wasn’t unpleasant or acrid, like the anticipated smoke.

We all met at the Mall and caught a B-line bus into Sydney. Not to be confused with the Bee Network in Manchester, of course.

From Wynyard, we walked down the hill to Darling Harbour. Docked on the other side of the harbour is a replica of Captain Cook’s tallship, HMB Endeavour, outside the National Maritime Museum.

But our destination today was the Sea Life Sydney Aquarium. The worst part of the slow meander through the venue is that I’m not walking fast enough for all my steps to be counted by my pedometer. Tens of thousands of steps, no doubt, all lost to the ether, or something.

Keiran slept and fed and I think he enjoyed the lights and the different colours, not to mention the hundreds of other strangers.

There were also octopuses, rays, sharks and of course many, many different tropical fish. The dugong was taken in as a young orphan, cared for and then released into its natural habitat. After a short while, it had lost 25% of its body weight, so they brought it back into captivity where it seems to be thriving now.

Given the curved glass and the subdued lighting, it was quite difficult to take good pictures, but that didn’t prevent us all from trying. Here is an example of some wildlife from one of the tunnels.

Brent, Helen, Keiran, a stranger and some fish

For some reason, this penguin’s stance brought to mind the old Elton John song, I’m Still Standing, and I can’t work out the link between the two, even after several days.

We dined at Helm, just over the way from the aquarium, and on this occasion, I ate just the right, satisfying amount of very nice food.

A thunderstorm was forecast for later in the afternoon. While Brent and Helen took the bus back to Waringah Mall, where they’d parked the car, Pauline and I opted to return by ferry and bus. Both ferry rides, from Darling Harbour to Circular Quay, and from Circular Quay to Manly, were very smooth. The sky was grey and it was cooling down, so it felt as though a storm was on its way.

From the ferry, we noticed a few groups of people climbing up Sydney Harbour Bridge and I thought, never say never, but I’m unlikely to do that, and probably not when there’s a storm a-coming.

I got off the bus just as it started raining but it’s only a 2-minute walk from the bus stop to my b&b. After a long chat with Ann, my host, I retired for a long, late nap. There were a couple of thunderclaps, but mainly, it just rumbled in the distance, we didn’t even have the excitement of seeing any lightning.

If everything technical worked correctly back at home this weekend, you might have heard my show on Wythenshawe Radio, WFM, with the theme: Songs from the Land Down Under, featuring many Aussie artists, some familiar and some new (to me) thanks to Brent and Helen’s input. You can catch the show here… and I hope you jolly well enjoy it!

Everything’s Alright

The funniest thing I saw recently wasn’t on TV, it was through my window. I think it’s a new little puppy in the house over the road. It escaped and even though its legs were much shorter than theirs, it outran the two men chasing it down the road, in the rain and in their slippers. Did they ever catch it? I expect so, but once they were round the corner and out of sight, I stopped watching. But now, of course, I’m waiting for a repeat performance. And a comment I often heard out on the streets in regards to a dog’s bad behaviour came to mind: “Ooh, he’s never done that before”. Yes he has.

They’ve dug up Royle Green Road in recent times for gas works, water pipes and fibre optics. And they’re digging it up again soon for major gas works, closing the whole road in the process. I don’t know how I’ll be able to leave the flat in the car, there’s only one way out, soon to be blocked. So, to avoid that problem, I’m going walkabout.

But first, here’s a lovely picture of Keiran, just short of two months old, reading the book that his late, great Granny made a generation ago. This book has been enjoyed by many children over the years and deservedly so, it was a labour of love by Sarah.

So, then, we’re now over two weeks into the new year and what have I done? Just the usual daily routine, never quite enough exercise, probably a bit too much of the wrong sort of food.

Here’s a Public Service Announcement. When you visit Northenden, don’t trust the direction signs.

For example, this one is pointing in the wrong direction to the library. That facility can now be found in the Church Hall at St Wilfrid’s Church. And if you’re happy to see the Public Toilets signposted, don’t get too excited. They’ve been closed for at least as long as we’ve lived here, over seven years. Indeed, the building is now a very welcome coffee bar. Very handy after a stroll along the river.

It’s been mentioned before, but the temperature in Anchorage continues to make me uncomfortable, even though I’m not there. -18°F translates to -27.77777°C. I’d be sitting inside the freezer to warm up. Instead, I’m going to take a big trip south

Manchester always delights when the Sun’s out and on this day, there were two Suns in the sunset. Yes, a lyric from a Pink Floyd song.

Yes, we haven’t had a lot of Sun recently so I thought I’d add an extra one to the sky over Manchester, with the aid of AI, of course.

Hard to believe but it’s nearly 40 years since Sarah, Pauline and I attended the London premiere of the film Labyrinth. Of course, we all hoped David Bowie would be in attendance, but he wasn’t. Jennifer Connelly, who plays Sarah in the film, joined us, as well as Prince Charles and Diana, although they were in the posh seats. I mention this because to celebrate the anniversary, it’s being shown in some cinemas here again. No, I haven’t been yet. But very soon, I will be battling the drop bears.

In terms of Wythenshawe Radio, the next several shows have been made and delivered, so I’m hoping they’ll be uploaded and played out at the right time, while I’m away. You can always have a look at Mixcloud and listen to any of over 140 of Mick the Knife’s shows.

I’ll see you soon, from down under… put the kettle on, Helen…

Treemendous

Happy New Year! Yes, a little bit late, but we’ve been busy doing a lot, and sometimes doing nothing at all. And so it goes. Which reminds me, I found the source of a quote I like. ‘We are put on this Earth to fart around.’ Thanks, Kurt Vonnegut. He also came to mind recently when I listened to Curious Cases on Radio 4. They were talking about ice, its formation and the more than twenty states of ice. I wondered whether Ice-9 as described in Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut was one of those twenty. No. Apparently, it’s totally fictitious. So that’s a shame. Although, given its properties, maybe not. I think I’ll have to re-read the novel.

So while farting around, I continued playing with some AI tools.

Eat your heart out, Christopher Wren.

On BBC iPlayer, I watched an animated reconstruction of the old Doctor Who story, The Celestial Toymaker. I was reminded of where I probably heard a particular joke for the first time, and I have been repeating it ever since.

The answer is ‘an umbrella’ for you at the back.

One day, over Christmas, Martha admitted she didn’t get the joke. When I explained, her face lit up like the Christmas tree she was standing next to.

Christmas was fun. Alan and Una invited me over to their place for Christmas lunch. On the way, I stopped off at Jenny’s and spent Christmas morning with the family. I think it’s sad that our excitement about Christmas diminishes as we get older. But it was fun to spend time with Martha and William.

Obviously, I didn’t have a tree in our luxury apartment, so here’s a picture of Jenny’s.

Underneath, huge piles of presents and at least one of the children was eating chocolates from the tree… I didn’t indulge.

We played a game called Codenames, that was good fun. And we had video chats with Helen and Keiran, celebrating his first Christmas, and with Liesel.

Round at the other grandparents, we were joined by their other grandchildren, Annabel and Emily. So there were eleven of us around the table for a gorgeous, and huge, Christmas lunch. Thank you very much Una, great job, and so much delicious food!

Yeah, I too thought that the cousins were about to break into a rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody, but they didn’t.

After a couple of hours, I was still too full to eat a slice of the Christmas cake, that Martha had made with the help of her Nana. I took a slice home and it really was nice!

It’s been too long since I’ve included a picture of Keiran. So here he is, just a couple of days after Christmas.

I joined Jenny, Liam, Martha and William at Factory International in Manchester to watch Shaun the Sheep’s Circus Show. Plenty of acrobatics and circus skills on display, and they make it all look so easy.

But the big shock of the day was seeing William when he took his hat off.

Losing his hair like that inspired me to remove the beard that I have been nurturing for a month and to have a haircut. Not as extreme as his, though.

So on the one hand, it was a fun Christmas. On the other hand, it was the worst Christmas ever, because there was no Doctor Who Special on TV ! There’s a consensus that this was one of the worst years ever for Christmas TV. So glad I have books to read and radio shows to prepare.

Walking around Northenden was alright. The Sun appeared briefly from time to time, but in general, it was just colder and more unpleasant than it has been for quite a while.

Meanwhile, Keiran paid his first visit to Taronga Zoo in Sydney to bring in the new year.

I didn’t stay up to see the new year in. No, I was in bed listening to the fireworks while reading.

And suddenly, it was proper Winter. Temperatures below zero. Frost on the cars. People slipping on the pavement outside. But then, unpleasant as it is, at least it’s not -25°C like it is in Anchorage. Brrr, just the thought of that makes me feel uncomfortable.

I joined the family for dinner just a couple of days before school re-started. I’d missed seeing the snow fall, so it was a surprise that afternoon to see it sprinkled everywhere. Not enough snow to make a snowman, but Martha had made a larger than usual snowball. She was interested to see how long it would last before it thawed completely.

The regular walks have resumed and earlier today, we wandered through the woods which were less muddy than I expected. But a couple of trees have fallen over. Or, if they’re really old, I suppose I should say they’ve taken a fall.

I’ve been working on a few radio shows so that I don’t have to think about them when I’m away in a couple of weeks.

Last week’s was a 3-hour special, in which I remembered musicians who died in 2025. Lots of them. You can listen to the whole extravaganza here.

Fun with the Grandies

There is no doubt about it: Keiran is the cutest baby, ever, in the history of the universe. He’s doing very well, eating, sleeping and getting to know his parents. He’s gaining weight, which is great, but I must admit, I am a bit jealous of his luxuriant, dark hair.

It rained torrentially all day, so I was considering taking a taxi to Bramhall. Fortunately, the rain eased off, so I drove, passing by, or through, several large puddles on the way, and I parked around the corner from Simply Books. I was here to see Janina Ramirez talking about her new book, Legenda. I was just in time, but what I didn’t realise was that the event had been put back half an hour, to allow everyone, including Janina, to reach the venue despite the flooding in the area.

While hanging about, I looked at some of the books on offer. I enjoyed Gavin & Stacey on TV but I probably won’t get around to reading these two books, described thus on the covers:

• Joanna Page: Lush! from Swansea to Stacey and everything in between.
• Ruth Jones and James Corden: When Gavin met Stacey and everything in between.

Janina Ramirez is very bubbly, enthusiastic about her subject and very friendly. Her talk was fascinating of course, and I look forward to reading the book.

She very kindly recorded a message for Liesel which will, I’m sure, be treasured!

Keiran and Helen returned home on Brent’s birthday and he’s already gadding about town.

Liesel arrived back home in Northenden after spending a night in Albuquerque where her Mom will stay with Buzz, Neil and Gabe for a couple of weeks. Manchester Airport Terminal 2 is very modern, but I find the road signs confusing and/or misleading. And sometimes, Google Maps doesn’t help much, either. I circumnavigated more than one roundabout.

Liesel wanted to be home now so as not to miss William’s birthday again. So we visited a couple of bakers to get the requested cakes for the birthday celebration. Due to heavy traffic everywhere, we arrived at Jenny’s later than planned, just before school pick-up time. We walked to school with Jenny and the children were very happy to see their Oma.

Sometimes, when you have a baby, you end up ‘feeding’ other members of the family too.

The first major excursion that Liesel and I took was a shopping expedition. We went to John Lewis, Marks & Spencer and Tesco. Hours of fun, but we found everything we needed. We’re only a few short weeks away from Christmas so it was quite exciting to see these creatures in the shopping centre.

Liesel made two kinds of salsa that, next day,we took over to Jenny’s for William’s family birthday celebration. They were the perfect accompaniment to the bean chili that Jenny made for us. For his birthday, William received a few Minecraft themed Lego kits, and boy, is he quick at construction. He asks for help but doesn’t really need any, I think he just likes the company.

Liesel and I joined the other grandparents, Una and Alan along with Aunty Andrea, Uncle Paul and cousins Emily and Annabel. Annabel is a bit older than Martha but to her delight, she’s already taller than Liesel!

And because you haven’t seen him for a few seconds, here another photo of our cute little gransdson Keiran.

Before Liesel arrived, I was able to get a bit ahead with the radio shows, so I won’t have to lock myself away in the studio slash office slash spare room slash so-called third bedroom while she’s here.

Don’t forget you can explore/enjoy over two year’s of Mick’ Music Mix on Mixcloud.

The latest upload was comprised of ‘Songs with Monosyllabic Titles’. Catch it right here on Mixcloud.

Ooh, I haven’t had a moan about technology yet. This week I finally caved in to the nagging and upgraded my phone’s user interface. Always a nightmare because such updates change things and you often don’t find out what until much later. On this occasion, it took away the spelling suggestions/autocorrect facility from the keyboard. But the most obvious change (that I’ve seen, so far) is the bright yellow keyboard that you can see from space.

Grrr.

Exciting times

What an exciting week that was. The gardeners turned up and instead of just blowing the leaves around like they usually do, they actually collected them up and took them away. A lovely pile of compost for someone.

After losing that much weight, I can hear the old oak tree breathing a sigh of relief and stretching its limbs.

What an exciting week that was. I ventured into Manchester one evening to see Margaret Atwood speaking about her latest book, Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts. She told some funny stories and was very engaging. But I found the acoustics at the Opera House a bit disappointing. From where I was sitting near the back of the stalls, the reverberating audience laughter drowned out a lot of the dialogue from the stage.

This was the least worst of the two pictures I took. I was too intimidated by the ushers walking around with their ‘No Photography, No Videography’ signs.

Oh, and the other disappointment is that the books weren’t signed by the author.

Manchester is gearing up for Christmas, and I’m sure I’ll visit the Christmas markets sometime.

Thanks to recent solar activity, the aurora has been visible from Anchorage.

The southern version was visible from Manly, NSW, but Helen didn’t witness the event, having other things on her mind.

Storm Claudia brought strong winds and torrential rain this week. So loud, and of course, no chance of us seeing any aurorae through those clouds.

Under normal circumstance, you would expect tomatoes to be bigger than grapes. This week, I enjoyed these freaks of nature.

What an exciting week it was on TV too. A few weeks ago, Channel 4 put up a few select episodes of Brookside, the only soap that Sarah and I watched regularly. I’ve just found out that STV are showing (possibly) every Brookside episode, uploading five new ones every week.

Good to see these two together again:

It was an exciting week for young Martha too. She swam one mile, non-stop, and is rightly proud of her achievement and the certificate she received.

But of course the big news this week, the most exciting event, is the arrival of Keiran Michael. Helen and Brent have been blessed with this gorgeous little chap.

My heart is overflowing with joy for you all! For a moment, after seeing you on the video call, I thought about hopping on a plane straightaway to come over to see you all those miles away in Australia. Totally impractical of course. So, welcome to Keiran, our third grandchild! We look forward to seeing you in a couple of months time. Lots of love to you all.

I’m sure Keiran is looking forward to hearing his Grandad’s WFM radio show. The latest is on the theme of Water, for Our Earth Week which coincides with COP30. Listen here on Mixcloud.

Walking boots

Each school holiday the parents of a local primary school, Broad Oak, run a Hearts Trail in Fletcher Moss Park. This lets children explore and get to know the park and is always on a different theme. There was a Halloween theme this time, and Martha and William enjoyed the walk around the park, looking for spooky hearts. Plenty of other families were out for a walk too.

But I think more exciting even than finding hearts was testing the waterproof properties of their Wellington boots.

After the walk, I fancied a coffee (of course) but the queue was longer than we’ve ever seen it.

Autumnal colours shone through, especially given the exotic nature of some of the trees and shrubs in this garden.

One thing I didn’t have on my bingo card for 2025 (don’t you get fed up seeing this formulation on social media? I do and yet here I am, using it myself) was seeing William on the shoulders of a lacrosse player.

This is just one a few decorative park benches in Fletcher Moss Gardens.

Later in the afternoon, the children went roller-skating with their cousins Emily and Annabel. I went home and thought about going out litter-picking but, well, let’s just say, it’s the thought that counts. I did some stuff indoors instead while listening to the radio.

The management company warned us it was coming, but I was surprised when a large vehicle parked up in our communal car park.

I think it’s a cherry picker but really it’s a JLG articulated boom lift, probably a JLG 340AJ model.

It’s a noisy beast and it followed me around the flat as the young painter decorated the exterior of the building. A bit disconcerting when you’re sitting there when the boom appears outside the window and the painter waves. You have to wave back, before ging to hide in a different room. In the end, I think it was only the woodwork that was painted. Plus a few splatters on our window. But I’m sure that’ll soon be sorted out if our window cleaner ever makes another appearance.

On my quick trip to purchase a new charging cable for my phone, I wandered through the book department. I won’t be buying this one:

Everyone knows a dice has the number 6 opposite the number 1. I don’t trust this cover so why should I trust the rest of the book? A lot of people do, though, it seems, following its publication in 1937.

Nothing much has changed in Northendedn and Wythenshawe. More leaves are falling from the trees. Posts are still being driven into. Despite all the rain recently, the river hasn’t risen noticeably. I did have some rotten luck though.

The pen I acquired from Saddlers Creek Wine last year has dried up. It’s a shame because it was one of the smoothest ballpoint pens I’ve ever used. I’ll just have to go back sometime and pick up a new one.

They’ve been going off for a couple of weeks now, but I was pleased to hear the excessive fireworks on November 5th. I can’t believe so many people, strangers, wanted to commemorate what would have been my Dad’s 100th birthday.

And as we remarked the following morning on the walk, in the olden days, the morning after bonfire night would always be foggy and cold, with the smell of gunpowder everywhere and discarded rockets all over the place.

There is nothing worse than making a cup of tea and then the milk comes out of the bottle in lumps. Yes, it was still in date, always kept in the fridge. Nightmare.

Earlier, I suggested nothing’s new in Northenden. Well, Spring must be just around the corner. These beauties have just come into bloom.

Evening? This picture was taken at about noon.

Much of my time at home has been taken up with producing radio shows. I want to get a few spare ones under my belt before Liesel comes home in a couple of weeks. Speaking of whom, a few days ago, Liesel told me that after falling for 17 hours continuously, they now have seven inches of snow in Anchorage. It takes over an hour to put on enough clothes to go outside and walk over the road to the shop. From my point of view, the longer we retain higher than average temperatures in November here in Manchester, the better I like it.

Anyway, I interrupted myself there. Last week’s show had the theme of Chocolate, but in the end, it was mostly a long chat with Tasmin Archer. You can listen here on Mixcloud. It’s an extended version of the radio broadcast, because I didn’t want to waste all the chocolatey tunes I’d found.

Four gigs and a cyclist

I’m sorry Liesel’s missed out, but it’s pure bad luck that some of our favourite singers have chosen to visit Manchester this month, within a few weeks of each other, and while Liesel’s anchored down you know where.

The last time we saw Eddi Reader, she was in a cave with bats flying round. This time, I saw her at the Royal Northern College of Music, RNCM.

I have a bone to pick with RNCM. The ticket said the show started at 8.00pm. So the fact that the bus made very slow progress through traffic didn’t really matter, I’d arrive in good time. There were lots of students on the bus and then, later on, we were joined by a horde of half-dressed, half-cut, young ladies on their way to a hen-do.

So I arrived at RNCM at 7.40. But the show had started at 7.30. The ticket, which I’ve now named Boris, lied. I missed ten minutes of the superb support act, one Eilidh Patterson. Her name is pronounced to rhyme with Kylie, rather than the usual Daily. So confusing. But she’s a wonderful singer,

She sold her own merch but I’m trying to download music these days rather than buy more CDs. There are exceptions of course.

Eddi Reader never performs the same set twice, and there’s always one or two songs I’d like to hear that she misses out.

Her band, which includes her husband and Boo Hewerdine, was ace.

Again, it was a nice mixed aged audience.

I should have moved into RNCM, actually, because a few days later, I returned to see O’Hooley and Tidow on their ‘So Long For Now’ tour. Yes, after 15 years of performing together, eight studio albums, four BBC Folk Award nominations, composing Gentleman Jack as the BBC drama theme tune and performing at hundreds of venues and festivals across the UK and Europe, the much-loved Yorkshire folk duo of Belinda O’Hooley & Heidi Tidow have made the momentous decision to say farewell for now in order to explore other adventures that are beckoning them. Heidi’s going back to University.

There was no support act, but in the second half of the show, Belinda and Heidi were joined by a string quartet, students from RNCM, who tonight, for one night only, played as The Polar Bear Quartet.

At the interval, the queue to buy some of their merch was ridiculously long, and I couldn’t even get close enough to see what they had on offer. Probably didn’t need anything anyway.

O’Hooley and Tidow with Polar Bear Quartet

There I was, minding my own business, watching Autumnwatch on TV, when someone rang the doorbell. That never happens. It was our neighbours from downstairs, newly moved in. Kruti and her cute little granddaughter gave me a present for Diwali, which was very kind of them. I felt bad about not reciprocating, of course.

This year, I set myself the goal of reading the Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes. Well, the stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, to be precise. I have succeeded in this endeavour. The 12-year old in me appreciated the use of the phrase ‘He ejaculated’ 26 times during the four novels and several collections of short stories. But there was not one single use of ‘No shit, Sherlock’, which I find baffling. In the early stories there are a few female characters named Mary, including one who became John Watson’s wife. Later on, the Marys seem to fade away. Very enjoyable, but when you read them all like that, one after the other, you realise how formulaic the stories are, and how ridiculous in some cases. For ‘deduction’, read, ‘a series of random thoughts, non sequiturs’.

Since I requested to delete my Microsoft account, I have been bombarded with even more marketing emails than before, and since I can’t unsubscribe without cancelling my request to delete the account, I’ve set up a filter so I never have to see them again.

And I’m sure I’m not the only one playing Whac-a-mole with Microsoft’s efforts to thrust its AI Copilot on me. I don’t want it. It’s even popped up in the noddy utility Notepad. Whinge of the week.

I don’t see the results of a car crash every single time I go for a walk in and around Northenden, but it happens quite a lot. I used to post all the photos to Instagram, but I can’t be bothered to do so every time any more. I think the novelty’s worn off.

More music in Manchester when RNCM took over Band on the Wall for the day. The city was very busy, but at least the rain held off as I walked to the venue. I bumped into Hayley, from Radio Northenden and Wythenshawe Radio. The musicians played alternately on different stages so that was a good way to get some steps in, walking backwards and forwards.

A very good folkie, I thought.

This band were rockin’ the joint.

Theo (if I have his name right) was a bit folky, he sang falsetto.

There were ten acts altogether but for reasons I won’t go into, I had to leave early.

Of course, I needed to complete my hattrick of visits to proper RNCM. So I went to see Julie Fowlis. She was great, but the lyrics were mostly unintelligible. Not because she’s a bad singer, but all of the songs bar one and a half were performed in Gaelic.

The songs, being Scottish, were of course gorgeous. We should get some more of her music in our collection, not just the soundtrack from the film Brave!

What I didn’t expect, when Julie walked off stage halfway through one of the final songs, was to see her come back playing the bagpipes.

After the show, again, the queue to have a chat with her was very long, so I made my way home.

This week saw the final Wednesday Walk led by Chantel for Thrive Manchester. It was very well attended, despite the dodgy looking weather. In future, we’ll risk getting lost in the woods on a Wednesday as we wander round without a leader.

Oh, by the way, I have been reading books other than Sherlock Holmes stories this year. I’ve just finished Peaches For Monsieur le Curé by Joanne Harris, a second sequel to her best-seller Chocolat. And, between you and me, I think it’s better than Chocolat.

Google Maps can be a bit annoying sometimes but I’m glad it took me to Bramhall a strange way this week, given the roadworks currently taking place in Gatley. The venue for this very popular event was moved from Simply Books to St Michael and All Angels parish church. When I arrived, people were queueing outside, and we made slow progress. And then, on crossing the threshold, we realised the queue then wound its way all round the church hall.

We were here to meet Sir Mark Cavendish, possibly our favourite cyclist of all time. He’s written a book called Believe, which I’m looking forward to reading. And there is already a short waiting list, someone’s waiting to borrow it.

I’ve been preparing a couple of radio shows this week, so I’ve probably not been out as much as I would like. The most exciting moment for me was speaking to Tasmin Archer, fulfilling a 32-year ambition! She was great and I hope the end result informs, educates and entertains on Wythenshawe Radio.

Last week’s show featured Unusual and Unexpected Duets. Listen here on Mixcloud. and feel free to sing along.

Saints and Singers

The leaf blowers are out in force, doing their worst, making a lot of noise and achieving nothing other than blowing leaves and fungal spores and all sorts of detritus into the air. This is the downside of Autumn. And then of course, the next gust of wind blows all the leaves back where they came from.

After a stroll around the streets of Northenden, I stopped for a quick coffee at Boxx2Boxx. The owner, Jill, was in today, meeting and greeting many young fans.

Chester draws me in like a magnet. It’s a straightforward enough drive to Chester, but I managed to go wrong when I tried, and failed, to follow directions to a service station on the way. Oh well.

I parked up and walked to my accommodation, my Aurbnb. After checking in, I went for a walk around the city centre. I don’t often go lurking around old, deconsecrated churches, but since this was the venue for the evening’s entertainment, I was glad to check it out. Time for a sit down…

Not the most comfortable bench, I must say.

I know Chester is an old place, but it still surprises me to see just how old some of the buildings are. Since 1622 there has been an inn on the current site of the Golden Eagle. As such it is steeped in the history of the city and community. Adjacent to the Chester Castle and Crown Court, the pub served as a hostelry to the Cheshire Regiments Garrison and the barristers and judges of the Court. This tradition has been upheld, and veterans of the regiment still frequent the pub to catch up with old comrades. I didn’t frequent this establishment today.

It was a very pleasant afternoon, so my plans to visit museums and galleries were postponed, it was forecast to rain the next day. Instead, I enjoyed the cathedral bells for a while, but not so much the busker murdering Fleetwood Mac’s Albatross and other classics.

Three Old Arches form the façade of a row building dating from about 1200, believed to be the earliest surviving shop frontage in England.

For a brief moment, I was transported back to New Mexico.

Laughing at the plastic cactus outside this Mexican establishment might have upset the locals, so I restrained myself. Instead, I had a lovely meal at Thai Baan.

Back to St Mary’s for the gig. Frankie Archer again. I know, I know. When I first booked tickets to see her, I think my mouse must have twitched or something. Instead of Manchester, I clicked on Chester. After berating myself, I decided to spend a couple of days in Chester anyway.

In support this evening was Clara Day, who I’ve heard on the radio a couple of times. I would have been singing along if I’d known the songs.

And of course, Frankie’s set was the same as two nights earlier, her skill on the violin and on all her tech totally captivating the audience.

The threatened rain never arrived, so I spent a day walking around Chester’s old Roman Wall, and making odd diversions whenever I saw something interesting. I never knew until today, for instance, that the racecourse here is also known as The Roodee. Which explains why the car was parked in the Old Roodee car park.

A Celebration of Chester, by Stephen Broadbent

This sculpture was unveiled in 1992 to mark the 900th anniversary of Chester Cathedral.

If it was surprising to see cactus here, even moreso to see a baby elephant. Not a real one, obviously, a bronze sculpture gifted to the city of Chester by Chester Zoo.

Chester Castle was never successfully overrun.

This sign on the back gate would undoubtedly deter any potential invading force.

But, just in case, a party of school children were being trained in the use of swords and shields.

I missed seeing a steam train by a couple of minutes. I heard the chuff-chuff sound, and I saw clouds of smoke behind the trees, but I missed the steam engine itself.

Outside the Cathedral, the Royal Photographic Society was displaying many prize-winning photographs.

On another occasion, I might ascend the 216 steps up the tower, climbing up through 900 years of history, as the sign says. You have to book tickets, so please remind me the next time we visit Chester.

What would you do with 275,000 Lego bricks? Build a model of Chester Cathedral, of course. This was a labour of love. The project started in April 2015.

A team of enthusiastic volunteers worked on one module at a time, on a separate table by the main model. They showed the public where to put the next brick. Once a module was completed it was fitted onto the main model.

The build took eight years and eight days and was completed in April 2023, after progress was slowed due to Covid and the lockdowns.

The good news is, after checking out, I didn’t make any mistakes on the drive home.

After an invasive procedure under sedation, Jenny collected me from the hospital and looked after me for 24 hours, thank you very much. I’m hoping that was the last one for at least a year. Best of all today, though, was spending time with the grandchildren.

After walking to school with them the next morning, Jenny took me home and I was in time to join the Thrive Walk in Wythenshawe. We commented on there seeming to be fewer geese in the park. Maybe they’ve started heading south for the Winter.

If you need some background sounds while you go about your business, don’t forget you can always listen to Mick’s Music Mix on Wythenshawe Radio. My regular time is now Sunday afternoon, 4pm. Or, catch up on Mixcloud. (Psst, no adverts on my shows.)

After the Wednesday walk this week, we walkers were still welcome to have coffee at Boxx2Boxx despite the fact that they were secretly filming inside. The cake was delicious. We sat outside in the ‘marquee’. Thick black drapes across the windows meant that we couldn’t see what was going on inside. Two bouncers outside seemed a bit over the top, though.

This week’s walk in Wythenshawe was attended by 7 people, and we all made good progress. I know I shouldn’t, but I did laugh to myself when one person slowed down whenever they were chatting. As if they can’t walk and talk at the same time. Planning and plotting an overtaking manoeuvre can be difficult when you’re on a narrow path in the woods.

In the evening, I ventured into Manchester for another gig.The bus ride and the walk to the venue were faster than anticipated, so I had time for a quick walk around the back streets.

The show was at Hallé St Michael’s and I was here to see my second favourite Martha, Martha Tilston. As Liesel said, she always puts on a good show. In support was Alwyn Jones.

Again, he sang his own songs, and I was unable to sing along. But, neither could anybody else. The audience was a nice mix of old farts like me and young people.

Martha, of course, didn’t disappoint. She manages to hold the audience in the palm of her hand, inviting us to accompany her without actually saying so. Again, her final song was taught her by her late step-mother, Maggie Boyle.. She stood right next to me, in the middle of the audience, so I’m sure my boat race has ruined some of the videos taken by some audience members!

She was accompanied by Matt Kelly, who’s been at her side for as long as I can remember, right from the early days, gulp, well over twenty years ago, in the Grey Horse, Kingston upon Thames.

Don’t forget, Mick’s Music Mix on Mixcloud. Here is the latest show, the theme is ‘Goin’ Home’. Plus, as a bonus, at the end of this show, you can find out how I was appointed Governor of the state of Alaska.