Month: September 2019

Tarporley to Mulsford – 21 miles, 2,375 ft of elevation, 42,613 steps

Today started off glorious. A posh breakfast (of course) and sunshine from the get go put a spring in our step. We had, due to yesterday’s poor planning reduced our mileage today and we felt positive as we set off.

Rolling fields, lush with green grass, even an opportunity to help a couple get their canal boat through the lock (hang on a minute, I thought we had left the canals behind……). Even the mud did not dampen our spirits

And then, low and behold, we spotted a hill. With a castle on top (Beeston castle). The first bit of climbing we have had for days.

We walked across two ridges, both still on the Sandstone trail which was well marked and relatively easy going. Our pace was good and we eventually stopped for a quick lunch as we left the trail and started to make our own diversion towards Mulsford. It then most definitely took a turn for the worse and our afternoon became a catalogue of frustrations, mishaps, and observations that slowed our progress down to almost a crawl resulting in our arrival at our lovely B&B at about 6:15pm this evening.

1. We tried to cut across some farm tracks/paths which were not public and made us feel very uncomfortable as we strolled past farms houses and walked down private drive ways. Catherine thought we might get shot, certainly we were expecting to hear at any minute ‘get orf my land……,

2. When we eventually got to public footpaths no one had been on them for years and we had to fight our way through corn fields and over very overgrown styles.

3. Catherine fell in a ditch when hacking through a hedge and on looking up was greeted by a chorus of calves mooing appreciatively at her misfortune and (I have to say historical) mishap. Soaked to the skin I think is the saying

4. Whilst they do not look after their footpaths here, they do look after their houses and we were both amazed at the condition of these beautiful character houses and the new paint on all the windows. The Farrow and Ball salesman for the area must be congratulated (and have a healthy bonus and nice house himself). Almost every house had one of their funky colours on their new frames.

5. Someone is very pleased with themselves and wants us all to know they have run a marathon. Well done sir, but really? It’s not THAT amazing…..

6. After all that, and the torrential rain. We arrived at the most lovely B&B run by a Kate. We could not have asked for a better end to the day. Warm bath, wood burner, wine, dinner and cheese! Hurrah!

Tomorrow, we walk towards Chirk and ‘our’ start of the Offa’s Dyke trail. Very exciting and feels like we are trucking along and making good progress.

Runcorn to Tarporley. 20.78 miles 1,965 ft of elevation, 43,302 steps

Well that was a little bit longer than planned. First thing this morning I was showing Catherine how short today and how long tomorrow’s walk was going to be. All planned and today was a day to take our time and build strength for tomorrow.

So, relaxed, We set off at 10am having said goodbye to the girls and left Ged watching Wales vs Australia. It seemed strange, very quiet and no canals in sight. After navigating around Frodsham we started a full day on the Sandstone trail. One would imagine with a name like sandstone you could expect a ice dry, rocky path. Easy and smooth underfoot.What it really meant was a very muddy surface – the recent rain sat on the top solid and had not drain into the ground. Add to this, the marathon they organised for today along the trail, with hundreds of runners – the mud was even worse and the going even harder than it otherwise would have been

Still, not to worry as we had a short walk and we were soon (well after about 13 miles), heading in to Kelsall and our pub for the night. First we walked past the Farmers arms and commented that this was a bit posh assuming our spot would be a rough old pub as before. Then we got to the the Kings Arms (a boutique pub/hotel experience), and were told that they did not accept dogs. …. I was sure I had used the dog filter on booking.com. To be honest it was a bit posh and we eventually found a pub in a Tarporley that took dogs “10 minutes down the road” said the receptionist. Not when you are walking…..

6 miles, and two hours later we arrived at the Swan in Tarporley – guaranteed to take dogs. (Was still a bit posh though ) Catherine felt her style was not suite in keeping with the Cheshire set…..

A bit of a wobble when they said they only had one room that took a dog and it was already booked but we are all sorted now and have had a great meal. But….. it is So posh up here!

20 miles, a late arrival, and stray dog that followed us for 3 miles (oh, she likes to wander said the lady we bumped in to, she luckily new the owner). Bit of an understatement if you ask me.

schooner and I are exhausted and are going to bed. Still a big day tomorrow, but maybe not quite so big. Good thing

Warrington to Runcorn. 14.94 miles, 423 ft of elevation, 32,891 steps

Firstly I have been chastised for saying we are in the Midlands. We are of course still firmly ‘Up North’ however for me it feels midway through so poetic licence allows me to call it the Midlands. So apologies to any Northerners I have offended….

We had a great gang today with Ged, Dickie, Catherine, and Kate, Grace and Eve all t-shirted up and on the walk. And not forgetting the dogs of course.

It was a wet start, with full wet weather gear being displayed. A number of leg options were being shown but good to see we all had a smile…..

The first mile or so was retracing our steps of yesterday to get back over the Manchester canal. This was just as well as Catherine’s irreplaceable hat had gone walkabout and we were hoping it had been dropped during a previous ‘comfort break’. Sadly it was not where we were hoping it might have been dropped – luckily however having most folks walked straight past it, it was spotted by the stragglers looking a bit sorry for itself in the gravel and having been thoroughly trodden in during the past few hours. What a relief……

The walk continued along the side of the shipping canal before shifting to the very picturesque Bridgewater canal.

As can be seen, the weather improved significantly and it was warm in the sunshine. We worried for Dickies skin. Despite him living in Bermuda I don’t think he gets out in the sun much….

A special appearance from Rob Townsend at lunch was a lovely addition to the day and it was great to see him. Whilst most of us enjoyed a couple of bowls of chips between us, Grace felt a side portion of mash was more to her liking…

All in all a lovely day, a good walk – thank you all for coming. Great to have the girls up and Eve did well doing her longest walk ever. Schooner is back and we will finally be moving away from canals tomorrow.

Leigh to Warrington. Circa 20 miles, circa 500 ft of elevation, 42,551 steps

Joining by special envoy for two days only was Ged Brannan flying in from NY hoping for sun and mountains and getting wet, flat Midlands grey.

We had organised a treat of a day walking around the industrial heartland. We crossed the Mersey, the M62 (twice) and the Manchester shipping canal (twice). All accompanied by drizzle, torrential rain and sunshine. We had it all….

It was difficult to get too excited about the walking but the chat was great and after a week of walking on my own along a tow path, I struggled to talk and navigate. Single tasking is challenging enough so add some rain and a few confusing paths and we did make a few wrong turns

About lunchtime and just after we crossed the Manchester shipping canal the heavens opened at the same time as doing a couple of miles on the side of a busy road. We had little sympathy from the drivers and Ged got a full drenching from a large puddle and passing truck driver.

So we sought refuge in a pub and ordered a heavy round of teas and chips. Crazy kids……

The weather improved after our break and we hit the Trans Pennine way – which sounds far more exciting than it actually was. The biggest excitement was this flooded path and we all recited the ‘Bear Hunt’ story as we went ‘through it’. What fun!!!!

The sun was shining so we stopped for a quick coffee and it then immediately chucked it down with rain. Such fond memories of those wet picnics when I was young………. just look at that quiff Ged!

All in all it was not the most exciting walking, the weather was rubbish but the company was great and we did 20 miles (I think, as I forgot for the first time to turn my garmin on) with relative ease. And to end the day after checking in to our Holiday Inn – what a treat. As we walked over the motorway towards our harvester dinner at the Juniper Farm pub we had a romantic sunset.. how lovely.

Tomorrow we have the gang walking as we are joined by Dickie who is spending a day reminding himself why he no longer lives here, and Kate, Evey and Gracey.

Can’t wait…..

Croston to Leigh. 24.51 miles, 553 ft of elevation, 34,222 steps.

Half way? 30 days done, 526.36 miles walked. It certainly feels like half way although judging by my estimated vs real mileage I may still be a little off. Hope not….

In part it feels like I have been walking for ever, at others that I have just started. Irrespective, I am looking forward to the next few weeks and to finally move away from flat, canal work

Today, after my 5 star breakfast (thank you Margaret), I began a day of transitioning from the Douglas river to the Leeds and Liverpool canal. It started with a disappointing but necessary back tracking along the river bank as the path simply disappear and ended with some other additional miles from poor decisions. I did a few miles across flat farm land before meeting Ian the poultry farmer who was having a break in his daily morning bike run and eating a satsuma.

We had a lovely chat (he was camera shy), and he impressed on me the importance of the red tractor sticker on all UK meat products. Jonathan, you would be proud of me, a full 10 minutes on Brexit.

Anyway, I had to push on as I had a lunch time meeting with Catherine (my sister), in Wigan and it was still miles away.

I eventually got to the canal at Parbold and immediately noticed the upgrade in canal. I thought maybe that it was built much later than the Lancaster canal but I was wrong. However, there was definite improvement in general aesthetics…..

clearly, this is probably the best canal in the world………

I put my foot down and got to Wigan only a few minutes late and with 14 miles done. Catherine, who is joining for the next week, came armed with soup, coffee and sandwiches. Marvellous, there will be an improvement in my performance this week.

The day was eventually a long 24 miles and again my feet were in bits from another day in the wet. I hope the boots dry out overnight

Tomorrow we walk to Warrington . Hopefully shorter, drier underfoot and with a special appearance from Ged Brannan all the way from New York!! Looking forward to a good day. Tomorrow evening the family arrive, Dickie joins for a day. Come on, it’s going to be a party…

Preston to Croston. 14.74 miles, 151 ft of elevation, 18,886 steps

A relatively slow and easy day today as I make my way out of Preston and towards Wigan and the industrial midlands.

Leaving Preston, I had to navigate over the Ribble alongside the major artery South out of the city on the A59. The Ribble did not look its finest at this point with some dodgy looking foam floating down river.

However the cars and houses were soon forgotten as I headed out to the Hutton Marshes. I was on my own other than one dog walker who had a beast of a Labrador (the opposite in build to Schooner), and tried to imagine him walking 20 miles a day….

The news on radio 4 and world at one kept me amused for quite a while with reports from parliament and lengthy clips of passionate speeches and blustering retorts. Great stuff.

I had a stand off with a cow on a ridge (the cow won and I moved around him), said hello to a horse and walked past a very muddy marina – I would love to show this to the chaps at Middle Harbour Marina in Sydney..

Despite all these distractions I got to my destination (a bridge on the River Douglas and the A581) too early for my pick up so took the opportunity for a quick afternoon nap

Eventually it was time, and Jim and Margaret came to pick me up. They are he parent of Stephen (my sisters husband) who are very kindly putting me up for the night and then dropping me off back at said bridge.

I told Margaret her B&B performance was worthy of 5 stars but she wont let me rate my stay until I have had her cooked breakfast in the morning!

They have been great, and have now heard the full history of Croston and their families involvement through the ages…..

Garstang to Preston. 21.83 miles, 449 ft of elevation, 39,142 steps

Same old today, except it was wet. Garstang was surprisingly nice. Good pub grub last night and a fabulous old sweet shop spotted this morning. Unfortunately I was too early to buy anything but they had all the old jars of sweets in the shop. A public healthy nightmare….

A detour to Sainsbury’s on the way out of town and the purchase of an upgraded umbrella was I have to say, genius! £8 well spent

No sooner had I returned to the canal than the rain started and basically carried on all day.

So on we plod. Not a single interaction with any individual today other than Mr A&R Rothen Ltd. ‘Comet’ she was not. It was like one of those slow overtakes on the motorway when there is no discernible difference in speed between two lorries. We chatted, then it got a bit awkward as we carried on for ages at the same speed but with his engine he could not hear much. In the end I blinked first and stopped for a drink of water and a photo …… I then just saw his back for the next two hours.

What else on such an exciting day….

I spotted a carton of milky floating in the canal looking ready to explode and full of cheese. I imagined a sell buy date of 2010 and some properly rank contents but on further inspection the sell by date was mid September. So disappointed – I didn’t even bother to open it.

A small aqueduct (single span) but built in the late 1700’s was worthy of an extra look and on taking the few steps down for a photo spotted a photo of a dog … a lovely moment. Good on you Meg, you and all other loving companions sleep well .

Outside of the radio coverage of the Supreme Court adding a further chapter to this interminable issue of ‘he who shan’t be named’ there was little to make the miles tick by.

I am not sure what they are expecting between bridge 25 and 19 but it looks like they could be planning for a mini Armageddon.

Anyway this man has come prepared and built himself the worst looking Nuclear bunker/boat ever… is it a boat, a shed or just a load of crap. I told you, the canals are a hoarders heaven. There is no way that this could possibly be remotely water right. What does he do when the siren sounds…..

It seemed fitting that as I approached Preston it would still be raining. Not proper rain, just that depressing drizzle. The only town that still has a thriving tanning shop tells you a lot.

I began to despair but finally found the Adelphi pub. It will forever be a refuge …..

Carnforth to Garstang. 22.54 miles, 453 ft of elevation, 35,629 steps

A good start to the day with a free breakfast from the Royal Station hotel so that’s another £10 in the kitty for STARS

I rejoined the canal From yesterday at the canal turn pub. Too early for a pint but a lovely start to the day.

The next stop along the way was Lancaster after 7 miles or so and I decided to take a detour for a coffee. I know you shouldn’t judge somewhere after 5 minutes but I did, and did not like it. Everyone smoked. I mean everyone. Wherever I looked people were tabbing away. It did not seem to have any effect on the population however as there was a good share of oldies fagging quite happily despite not having many teeth. I did not stay long having my alfresco coffee and made a hasty retreat back to the safety of the canal.

A few observations on my long flat walk:

1. There were some lovely bridges and also a very nice aqueduct going over the Lune valley at Lancaster. If you look closely there is even a man smoking mid way across this fine piece of architecture. It was however a big fat joint so I will forgive him

2. I thought Swans were under threat however they have clearly all taken refuge on the Lancaster canal as there are hundreds, almost all have some healthy looking signets with them, so also happily reproducing

3. Lamas make a noise like a squeaky toy when doing their thing. I have no photographic evidence as they were too far away but this was the consensus between me and a dog walker

4. However romantic canal boats are supposed to be, most of them just look a bit crap. Old, damp, mouldy and like they belong to a hoarder. Riviera this is not ….

5. You get some big fat worms by the side of a canal

6. My blue tooth headphones only have about a 5 hour battery life. This is not enough for a day like today. I did discover the show ‘would I lie to you’ on radio 4 which I hated (this is a pun….).

7. And finally, walking 22 miles along the side of a canal is not the best thing for your feet. They are OK, just a bit soft and spongy…..Nice

Kendall to Carnforth. 19.73 miles, 784 ft of elevation, 33,380 steps.

A very business like day today as I started three days walking along the Lancaster canal down towards Preston.

Having talked with Kate last night about the weather we both felt that after the glorious few days in the Lakes, I could not complain about a spot of rain. However I woke up to a downpour and no washing. The hostel machine had broken down but our man took it all home and presented me with a warm bag of freshly washed kit (softener and everything mate…..).

Whilst waiting I was able to grab a breakfast fit for kings. Two sausage and egg muffins, a Costa coffee and a very fragile umbrella from Tesco express … GOLD.

Before we start, can I thank Dave and Julie from Liverpool whom I met yesterday. A lovely couple who generously donated to the charity and also sat and listened to me after all my £1.99 pints. To Raymond also, who I met this morning walking his dog, (well actually sheltering from the rain). It has been incredibly rewarding meeting so many genuine and generous people.

So, the weather was rubbish as I headed out of Cumbria and in to Lancashire. Probably apt as my memories of the three years I spent in Lancashire are mostly wet.

The canal started as a flat section on the map having dried up many years before. There were odd bridges in fields and sometimes the path disappeared – the worst being a corn field with no discernible path and plenty of stinging nettles to itch my legs.

Eventually I reached the start of the canal at Stainton but it was with a cough and a splutter really as it it was cut off and dissected numerous times by the M6. Luckily I had my headphones on and the rugby to listen to to drown out the road.

It wasn’t until I got to Tewitfield that the canal started properly. I couldn’t help thinking as the cars and lorries hurtled by that the pace and silence of the canal as once was has gone forever. Sad that the locks are now long forgotten and overgrown – I’m sure life was very hard and tough and its easy for me to say as I settle down to my evening roast Pork but it’s gone forever (and there’s nothing wrong with a bit of romantic rambling).

Not much more to say about the rest of the day. It went on a bit, but I have another two days of it so there likely be more canal photos and I can’t afford to be bored yet..

Tonight, a surprisingly nice pub room, roast pork for dinner and a wingback chair to end the evening. Cigars anyone?

Windermere to Kendall. 13.14 miles, 1,079 ft of elevation, 23,097 steps

Slow day today, from start to finish. Breakfast at the B&B was not until 8:30 so didn’t really know what to do with myself for the first couple of hours of the day. However it did help as I needed to hang around for the post office to send back my key from the New Dungeon Ghyll hotel. I was going to ‘lose’ it but they rang Marko so guessed they were keen for its return .

To be fair, it didn’t wake long once we left B&B central to get back out in to the fells. This time walking along the ‘Dales Way’.

I struggled to get going, and stopped for a long call with my sister (sorting out logistics for when she arrives), I went the wrong way from just not concentrating and generally just took it easy. The weather yet again was perfect.

It wasn’t too long before I got to Staveley and decided at 12:15 that it was time for a lunch stop (having left Windermere at 9:30 it had been a tough morning).

It was meant to be a quick stop but being a gentleman I shared my sunny table with a lovely local couple and ended up staying for over an hour.

Time was ticking on so I rejoined the ’Dales way’ and made my way to Burneside and it’s huge paper mill. ‘Redefining paper since 1845’ (although it’s been the same stuff for me since 1971!).

It wasn’t long before I hit the suburbs of Kendal. Back to pebble dash. I couldn’t get a photo so you will have to picture this. Walking along a very proud, very clean housing estate I saw an out of place rough old trailer. Past another few cars and another rusty trailer with the skeleton of a car stuffed full of parts, foam, and general scrap. I hear the noise of hammering and disc cutters. There they were on their drive way with two bangers. The ‘Kendal Banger Boys’. Dad with his builders bum and two teenage sons hammering away at what once was a car. A lovely family sport but I can only guess what the neighbours think…..

So I have checked in to Kendal backpackers. A load of washing being done and have now headed out for a one man pub crawl.

First stop is the White Hart, beer of the week is £1.99. I have £20 on me. I might just stay and relive the old days……