Postcard from Timperley

Wishing You a Very Merry Christmas from all at Timperley Towers

2009-12-25T00:51:00.001Z

And have a Brilliant 2010!

Where am I now?

2009-12-22T10:45:00.000Z

Entries from pie men will be disqualified!

Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

Where am I now?

2009-12-22T10:34:00.000Z

Entries from pie men will be disqualified!

Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

Dunham Massey in Winter (1)

2009-12-21T15:16:00.001Z

We woke to bright sunshine yesterday, but by the time we’d parked at Dunham and strolled down to the canal towpath, it was snowing.

We left the towpath to join the path leading to Dunham Massey, via the Swan with Two Nicks.

The house, closed for the winter, stood stark below the heavy sky.

Down one of the ‘rides’ a lonely obelisk stood splattered with fresh snow.

The sky briefly cleared.

Fallow deer tucked into the feed provided by the National Trust.

Returning to the car, a moorhen scooted away.

The ducks, seabirds and swans were all concentrated into a small area where running water had inhibited the pond from freezing over.

Saturday 19 December 2009 – Orienteering – My First Attempt

2009-12-19T15:19:00.001Z

Back in the summer, in the Maritime Alps, we met some orienteers. They enthused about the sport. Today I decided to try it out for myself.

I’d discovered that my local club - Manchester and District Orienteering Club – organise a series of Saturday morning meets, suitable for beginners, so this morning I headed off to nearby Woodbank Park in Stockport.

The registration point was manned by a lady called Sue, and everything was friendly, welcoming and relaxed. I paid my £3 and borrowed a ‘dibber’ – that’s a little electronic gadget that you insert into a device the size of a small GPS unit at each ‘control’ point.

Then I wandered off to the start, where my 45 minutes of searching for ‘controls’ started with my first ‘dib’ of the dibber. I was then handed a 1:7500 scale map showing 21 numbered ‘controls’.

I strolled off, alone, as everyone starts individually – after the person in front has disappeared. Where the **** was I? I was completely disorientated! It took me a good five minutes to get sorted out, my whereabouts being confirmed by the discovery of control number 113. Great. I ran off and soon found control number 104, but looking at the map I realised I’d missed number 126. I’d gone right past it. This was harder than it looked!

So I went back and dibbed that one, then set about taking a bit more care to visit as many of the remaining controls as I could, by way of an anti-clockwise circuit. Most were easy enough to find, but eyes in the back of the head would have helped, and some markers seemed to be placed at the very edge of the 50 metre diameter circles that indicated their presence on the map. The conditions were lovely – cold and firm – and I soon found myself a little warm, having inadvertently dressed for a slow winter hike.

With 15 minutes left, I found myself at the far end of the map, so I jogged back to the start/finish, visiting whatever controls I could find en-route. I even found an extra one not on my map. I’ve now checked the web site and have discovered that there were five such extra controls – indicated on maps at certain control points. This had gone completely over my head. Anyway, I got back in just under 47 minutes, so I received a time penalty, but I had managed to visit 17 of the 21 control points on my map, plus the extra one that would only count if I’d ‘visited its ‘slave’ control first’ (I have no idea).

Back at the registration desk after my 5 km jaunt, the dibber was downloaded and a small print out showing times and numbers of the controls I had visited was handed to me together with a Rose’s chocolate.

Sue told me ‘the results should be on the web site by early next week.’ So then I’ll have a better idea of how many people were taking part and how I did, though really I’m not that bothered – this turned out to be an enjoyable way of getting a bit of exercise on a bright frosty Saturday morning.

There’s another event, even closer, in January. I may well be there.

Postscript:
23 people took part, 12 of whom were in the ‘Score’ competition in which, so it seems, I participated. There were 26 controls. Two people visited them all, but both of them exceeded the 45 minute limit. I found 18 controls (180 points) and incurred 10 time penalties, so scored 170 points, coming 8th out of the 12 participants, and taking comfort from the fact that I was the first ‘over 60’ to finish, and all those above me were members of orienteering clubs. There’s certainly room for improvement though!

Friday 18 December 2009 – Snow in Timperley!

2009-12-18T23:38:00.001Z

This is an unusual sight to wake up to in Timperley.

Nevertheless, intrepid TGO Challenger John J made it round for coffee and cakes, in exchange for vital assistance regarding the broken power supply for my slide scanner. We enjoyed a score draw on the Christmas card front as well. Thanks John.

It was a lovely day, so I took a stroll down the canal to the Swan with Two Nicks, passing this barge near the Bay Malton. Ice was forming on the canal, with thin sheets stretching all the way across it in places.

Returning to Altrincham through the grounds of Dunham Massey, I caught the sunset from outside Dunham Massey house. The trees have now lost nearly all their leaves, and the cloudless sky made for a rather quick sunset process.

Sue reckoned it was better from Timperley Bridge. But she can’t prove it!

Tuesday 15 December 2009 – A Great British Ridge Walk – Number 24 – The Mardale Horseshoe – High Street via Riggindale Ridge descending Harter Fell via Gatescarth Pass

2009-12-16T15:16:00.001Z

Bill Birkett’s book - ‘Great British Ridge Walks’ provided the inspiration for today’s easy walk with Father Christmas and some followers. With reindeer craftily disguised as small dogs, we set off from Mardale Head shortly after 10 am on a wintry day with low cloud, but at least it stopped raining as we set off.

Our route up Riggindale Ridge looked steep and sharp from the banks of Haweswater.

“Who’s the prettiest of them all?” asked Santa, whilst we enjoyed some elevenses.

As we gently rose up the hill, Santa’s magic made the clouds lift ahead of us, with the remainder of the ridge, topped by Racecourse Hill (the summit of High Street), suddenly drifting into view.

Clouds swirled below us as Bruno the Reindeer waited for his charges and I tried in vain to spot the resident eagles.

A pause in the eerily reconvened mist enabled Santa to catch his breath and relate a ghost story about a wake in a bothy. This man’s imagination knows no bounds!

Puddles near the summit had 2 cm of crusty ice that Bruno found very tasty.

Here are some views at the summit of Racecourse Hill.

After the windy ridge, the summit conditions were relatively calm, especially behind this custom built windbreak.

Descending towards Mardale Ill Bell, the low sun reflected brilliantly off Windermere, with Kentmere summits in the foreground.

The sun was shining brightly in Kentmere.

After a brief encounter with some bouncy ladradors, we trundled off to the summit of Harter Fell. It was quite cool – around 1C, plus wind chill. After succumbing to wet feet on some recent trips with Santa, I was glad to be in warm winter boots, with warm, dry tootsies.

There were fine views to the west.

From the north eastern cairn on Harter Fell, Haweswater, far below, looked very pretty.

At various points on this walk, Shirley got out her little digital recorder thingy and asked us various podcast-interest questions, such as “Have you always been unable to finish a sentence?” and “That RABid fleece doesn’t half pong, wot?” I seem to be completely unable to say anything vaguely interesting or sensible when faced with a recording thingy, but maybe Podcast Bob will be able to edit it to form something vaguely interesting to Podcast fans – possibly a Captain Beefheart track or something…… Santa seemed to do better…

Here’s the day’s route – 11 km, 830 metres ascent, taking 5.5 hours.

The Haweswater Hotel, despite drilling noises from builders, provided sustenance for the weary. It had started to rain again.

Another excellent day out. Thanks all for coming along.

The next ‘Great British Ridge Walk’ will be on Tuesday 12 January 2010 – a short jaunt from NY 232 194 in the Newlands Valley, up Hindscarth and across the Littledale Edge to Robinson, starting at 10.00 am. All welcome; come properly equipped!

Santa’s take on today’s walk is here.
Shirley (Peewiglet)’s is here.
Here’s a slideshow.

Sunday 13 December 2009 – A Very Sociable Outing

2009-12-14T16:17:00.001Z

An annual event. A Sunday ramble shortly before Christmas, featuring (unusually, as butties are our normal fare) a long lunch stop in a hostelry with meals and beer.

Today’s route was that walked on 12 November, so there’s no need for me to repeat the details. We were blessed with fine weather and an excellent turnout comprising 24 adults and a Piglet, which is actually a small dog, from near and as far as Bury St Edmunds, Southport and Malvern. They were remarkably punctual, even to the extreme of reverse punctuality exhibited by one couple who managed to arrive an hour early, narrowly beating Andrew, who yet again mis-timed his short journey!

I didn’t take many piccies as the day just seemed to fly past chatting to folk, who included seven outdoor bloggers and a podcaster. Not all will be reporting on the event, you’ll be pleased to hear, and as you can see from this prosaic reporting, Alan and Phil have kindly returned the keys to the Postcard.

We left Alstonefield, well wrapped up, soon after 10 o’clock, and soon hit a very pleasant field path.

But the descent to Milldale is steep – luckily east facing so the early sun had taken the frost away, reducing the entertainment value as well as the risk of injury.

Bob may have a classy shot of Milldale, but I missed the chance as I was trying to provide guidance to opposing factions who appeared to be heading off in several different directions. The way was ‘up’.

A few miles along the Tissington Trail provided plenty of space for people to catch up, catch their breath, or simply chat. In fact, we were going so well that a halt was required to avoid drastically early arrival at the Waterloo Inn. I was also able to lighten my load by sharing a flask of tea with Sue and distributing a large quantity of shortbread and brownies, with enough for everyone and some left over for my next encounter with the ever voracious Pie Man.

The Waterloo Inn fitted us in as best they could. (Unaware of the popularity of this year’s event, I had originally booked for 10-20, for whom there was plenty of room; so we couldn’t really blame the pub for seating Alan and Lord Elphus in a corridor. Could we?)

Two hours in the pub flew by, especially for those in a corridor next to the bar, every pump on which had to be sampled.

With the light already fading, and 7 km to go, all 24, and Piglet, were led away, and coaxed along easy lanes before a sharp descent to Wolfscote Dale. It’s a very pleasant walk down here to Gipsy Bank Bridge, passing the resident heron that didn’t seem to have moved in the past month.

Piglet was given a good wash in the river at this point.

I’m not sure why, as aside from rolling in assorted brands of dung she seemed to me to be very quiet and well behaved.

After crossing the narrow bridge there’s a steep path up Gipsy Bank. I received complaints at this point, though Lord E had fallen too far behind for his pathetic wailing to be heard.

During the ascent, the aftermath of sunset made the sky quite pretty.

So by the time we left Alstonefield after fond farewells and a close inspection of Bob and Rose’s splendidly converted Transit Van, it was Dark.

Thank you, everyone, for coming along and making this little jaunt one of the best attended and most sociable walks of the year. I’ll be happy to add any pictures you may have to this album.

The following links may also be of interest:
The same walk on 12 November 2009, and photos from that walk
Christmas walk 2008
Christmas walk 2007
Alan’s Report (It’s a different version, I promise!)

Hijack!

2009-12-11T08:03:00.001Z

Blog written by guest bloggers Alan (Mines a large one) Sloman and Phil (That’s not what I’ve heard) Lambert who have hacked into this blog to report THE TRUTH.

You can tell its not the usual blogger as the spalling and grammer is a bit iffy, and as for syntax, well, why not….?

Way back in those heady days just before this ultra-modern Mersey Beat nonsense came in, it was always said that you never saw Cliff Richard and Helen Shapiro together in the same room.

And so it is with Mike (The Postcard) Banfield and Martin (The Pie) Knipe. You never see them in the same room. And we’re here to investigate the reasons.

And, what a giveaway – they blog at the same time and about the same walks with the same pictures. The only difference is, of course, that the actual words are sometimes completely different.

If you don’t believe us, check out the other blog here.

We have suspected for some time that these blog posts actually do relate to REAL walks. It’s a very clever double-bluff. There were dark rumours of a secret tryst, involving dirty boots and damp trouser legs and a WALK, beginning at the quiet Yorkshire village of Embsay in Craven, once said to be the centre of a legal rambling ring, but never convincingly proved as a fact.

But this time, we had them Banged to Rights. We sent out Grousey, a radio-controlled clockwork chicken, cunningly disguised as a Red Grouse (that’s a wild bird, not a grumpy socialist) to monitor their every move….

And this is what we saw.

First of all, we have to report, dear readers, that there is NO DOG. Bruno is a figleaf of the imagination. He doesn’t exist. We suspect photoshop, to be honest. Why they should go to this length as to invent a fictitious pet is beyond us. Maybe they just wanted to appear normal or something.

Their was a meeting quite near the once-renowned country inn – The Elm Tree, in Embsay village centre – now cunningly disguised as a coffee shop – but without any coffee….

(You can see just how clever these two are, now, can’t you?)

Under cover of a women’s institute yoga, life drawing and belly dancing seminar, our two suspects sloped discretely off up a quiet lane and disappeared briefly into dense hillfog about 800 feet up the slopes of Crookrise Crag.

Our roving correspondent kept track of them in the improving conditions.

Later.they were seen laughing and joking and drinking “something” out of flasks by the trig point on the top.

The mist slowly cleared to reveal that both were wearing gaiters of the type commonly sported by the mountaineering classes. Already they had expounded more calories than the average Outdoor Blogger in a week of keyboarding.

But let us continue. We must warn you that there are parts of the story coming up which decent home-loving OBs will find quite distasteful. You may wish to alter the contrast on your screens.

They was tracked in their halting progress over deep heather and across a small stream at the head of a waterfall.

One of them was heard to say “Fatdog – that’s a real dog y’know” and they both laughed. Here, they managed to avoid our monitor for a while, but we picked them up again disporting themselves by a large stone Cross teetering on the edge of a beetling crag or cliff. They actually seemed to be enjoying themselves. Outrageous.

And then, a bit later, they were spotted enjoying luncheon beside an obelisk or stone pepperpot, having scared off a couple of innocent day walkers, one of who was heard to say “Quick, put your clothes on, Brenda, there’s somebody coming.”

At this point, we, whilst skillfully monitoring their progress,

were beginning to wonder just exactly what it was that these two get out of this outdoor malarkey, for, given that any sensible OB would of taken the opportunity at this point to descend to the pub at Cracoe, get absolutely blotto on strong spirits and then get a taxi back to Embsay, these two, unbelievably, continued, bashing their way through deep bog and heather to visit yet another trig point.

And, did they then, at this point head for home? Not on your outdoor blogging nelly, they didn’t – they went North to some squalid huts,

one of which they entered, obviously casing the joint for a possible overnight bivi (I told you this would get unpleasant, didn’t I?) and only then – only then did they find a track which led them back towards Embsay.

Behind them, the rejected bothy stood stark on the horizon in the late sun.

And, the final proof, that these two really are involved in Outdoor Activities (we know..it sticks in the craw….) they didn’t descend directly back to Embsay as they could of done. No – they used the last vestiges of daylight to visit Embsay Crag, where they brazenly took photographs and were heard laughing and joking, and waving to dog walkers and sailors below.

We ask you – is this the kind of behaviour we expect from Outdoor Bloggers. We mean, they’re supposed to be blogging, not traipsing about in the countryside.

We save the most damning piece of evidence till the last. They obviously did not have a stove. There was very little evidence of gear testing going on, in fact all of their stuff looked old and used. Martin Knipe looked specially old and used, in fact.

We expect you’ve had to sit down and let the shrapnel of that final devastating bombshell finish rattling around your sensibilities.

They must be Brought to Book (the capitals are important here). This is just blatant.

Comments, please…..we can’t be putting up with this.

Please send your objections and a cheque or postal order for £5 to Alan Lambert, League Against Cruel Rambles, Postcard Pie Cottage, The Flat Mile, Fenland, UK.

Finally, our SPOT activated Grousey reported the following co-ordinates for this most unusual and unexpected OB activity.

Sunday 6 December 2009 – Around Hatton

2009-12-10T11:39:00.001Z

This was supposed to be the day that Alistair and I headed up to Cross Fell, the highest point in England that Al has not yet visited.

He still hasn’t been there.

Events conspired to foil our plan – not least the fact that after a week ‘on the road’ and with a 5.30 am Monday morning train to catch, it was better that Al spend some time at home.

However, we did manage a brief saunter in North Cheshire, with the bonus of Sue feeling well enough to join us for the six mile outing.

It’s less than 30 minutes from home to junction 10 of the M56 and some minor roads to Hatton, where there’s a large car park opposite the local pub at SJ 599 824.

The pub was shut, but just along the road a garden sported a fine selection of ‘Christmas Toys’ whirring away and actually gyrating to the carols that were softly emanating from the various models. Very nice to see, in what is virtually a suburb of Liverpool that is therefore susceptible to the fly-tipping monsters from that city.

We waited in vain for glasses of mulled wine to appear on a conveyor belt.

It was cool, but thankfully ‘mainly dry’, and we soon found ourselves wandering through the bamboo forest otherwise known as Row’s Wood, where we encountered the Timberland Trail, previously seen on a wander around Lymm – must do it one day!

This emerged at Outer Wood, which we walked beside at the grand height of 60 metres, sufficient in these Flat Lands to afford fine views to the north, across Greater Manchester to the tall mast on Winter Hill that has recently been practicing a juggling act with our TV signals.

We didn’t venture into Outer Wood. We weren’t welcome there.

It looked as if we weren’t welcome here, either. Al and Sue tramped on whilst I observed the small print on the sign:

‘Score so far: Bull 2 – Ramblers 0’

Hello Big Boy!

After a bit of petting, the big soft lump calmed down.

Then she ‘enjoyed’ a tea break. “I’ve brought a flask, so you will drink the tea”, I insisted. “Wrap up warmer next time!”

We continued down the edge of another field, something of a feature of this route.

By and by we came to a plaque.

A photo of The Parsonage adorned an information board with a Japanese translation – we quickly looked around, but thankfully there was no tourist bus here today, just a swooping buzzard.

The site was caringly marked out, with brickwork showing the footprint of the old building, enabling one to stroll through the rooms and admire the well.

An island farm ‘mid seas of corn,
Swayed by the wandering breath of morn,
The happy spot where I was born.

Lewis Carroll was born at the above spot on 27 January 1832. He spent the first eleven years of his life here before going to Rugby school, then studying mathematics at Christ Church, Oxford, where he remained, teaching maths and experimenting with photography, for the rest of his life. There he met Alice, the Dean’s daughter, and the book ‘Alice in Wonderland’ evolved from a story told to Alice on a picnic in 1862.

Anyway, we retraced some steps and found some sunshine as we approached Queastybirch Hall Farm.

‘Queastybirch’ – I wonder how that name came about?

Here’s the route – 11 km with 100 metres ascent. It took us 2½ hours of gentle strolling. For anyone intent on following in our footsteps, I’ve set out some route directions below this image, which together with OS Explorer map number 275 should enable anyone to follow in our footsteps.

Start from the Hatton Arms, SJ 599 824.

Turn left out of the car park and walk along Warrington Road to the second footpath on the left (there’s just a short section without a pavement).

The path is to the right after crossing a ditch, and this leads to and through Row’s Wood (actually mainly following the left hand boundary of Row’s Wood), up to a signpost at the corner of Outer Wood. Turn left along the edge of this wood. On reaching the end of the short wood follow the fence left for 20 metres or so, then turn right to hug the field edge before coming upon the track that becomes Hall Lane.

Turn right down Daresbury Lane, towards Daresbury, leaving the road in favour of a footpath to the left, shortly before the church.

Head along this path for over 300 metres before taking a path to the right, back towards the road, before which you turn left again, along a thin path through a field. Head about 50 metres to the left of an oak tree, past which you aim for a stile in the field’s boundary.

Follow stiles and waymarks to Newton Lane, which you cross to take the track opposite, leading to Newton Bank Farm. Before that farm take a right turn along a footpath under the motorway and on up to Little Manor Farm.

Go straight on through the farm to reach Summer Lane. Turn left here and follow the road for about 500 metres until turning right just after passing a building on the left. Go down the lane leading to a fairly new barn conversion project, but where the lane turns right you continue straight on beside fields to reach more tarmac at Morphany Lane.

Turn right to visit Lewis Carroll’s birthplace, an open area with benches and plaques, about 500 metres down the lane.

Return to where you joined the lane, and continue along it to reach the junction with Newton Lane. Turn right, then left at Penkridge Lake Farm. Turn left by the farmhouse, going between cow byres, then turn right beside more cows and a hay store.

Negotiate mud and slurry (keep to the left) to climb a gate/stile to continue along the path, which runs to the left of a barbed wire fence to the next stile, then straight ahead across the middle of the next field to two stiles separated by a bridge in the facing hedge.

Go ahead again across the next field, turning right on reaching the hedge. Then turn left at the first opportunity and follow the field boundary to Queastybirch Hall Farm. Keep straight on through the farmyard and more stiles through what appears to be a front garden, to reach a cobbled track.

Turn left down the cobbled track, leaving it to continue straight on where the track bends left. Increasing traffic noise indicates a potentially formidable barrier, but after a flight of steps the route across the M56 reveals itself as being feasible without the need to dodge the motorway traffic.

Continue along Pillmoss Lane, past Queastybirch Lane, to turn left at the end of the lane and return to Hatton.

Acknowledgement: Based on a route described in Jen Darling’s book ‘Walks in North Cheshire’ – Alfresco Books, 1994.

[I wonder whether anyone will ever find this description and follow it, or am I doing such things purely ‘for the record’ to satisfy my sense of ‘compleation’ of projects so small as 11 km strolls?]

Scotland to Australia – by Bicycle!

2009-12-05T13:06:00.001Z

At the instigation of a good friend, I’ve been looking at a web site that is effectively the blog of Val Hadden and Merv Savage as they cycle from Scotland, to visit Merv’s son in Australia.

They should by now have reached India, though their journal currently ends in Dubai.

My correspondent observes: “Makes my walks seem like Sunday strolls in the park.” Mine likewise!

I’ve dipped into the entries and like Val’s style, so I look forward to making time to enjoy a good long read to catch up with these two adventurers and then follow them all the way to Australia.

Their introductory page is here (also on my ‘Some Outdoors Bloggers’ links list); I commend you to take a look.

Here they are on the Neufenen Pass in Switzerland.

A Timperley Mystery

2009-12-04T13:27:00.000Z

Here's our neighbour, Barney, admiring what appear to be the bits the thieves left behind.

What has happened to the rest of his vintage BMW?

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4 May 2003 – Canadian Canoe on the River Derwent near Hollows Farm

2009-12-03T14:35:00.001Z

It’s raining in Timperley today, and there’s little prospect of gaining an interesting image on tonight’s walk up Shutlingsloe with Andrew (and anyone else who may be interested – 7.30 from Trentabank Car Park), so I’ve delved randomly into the archives for this snap of a couple of folk heading towards Derwent Water in the rain.

Hollows Farm always brings back happy memories of my first camping trip to the Lakes, with Geoff and Mike, and with ICI fertiliser bags as waterproofs. (Long before the days of Gore-tex.)

Similarly, I hope Mick relished the reminiscences of his and Gayle’s more recent LEJOG walk, which he so capably presented to about 25 folk from Stockport Walking Group last night. Thanks, Mick, we very much enjoyed it.

Does Your Memory Serve You Well?

2009-12-01T21:31:00.001Z

Thanks go to The Solitary Walker for another reminder of some Happy Teenage Days!

[I have a well trained memory!]

Night Tennis in Rain on a Flooded Court with Lighting provided by a Fireworks Display

2009-11-29T21:22:00.000Z

Yes, it has to be our annual visit to Center Parcs.

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Snow in the Peak District

2009-11-29T15:53:00.000Z

A strip of broken white slashes of snow lurked under the mist that embraced Kinder Scout as I passed by Hayfield this morning.

So I continued on towards Buxton. Then the Peak Forest turn beckoned, and, being averse to fog, I stormed ahead until I spotted the crooked spire at Chesterfield.

A few miles further on I received a text message:

"Facilities available, two miles ahead, in exchange for puddings and a slide show."

Luckily, I had some puddings and a laptop on board, so was suitably qualified to join eight sporty types for a few games of pool (with a happy backdrop of English cricketers handing out a thrashing to some Africans) before enjoying a bit of warm water relaxation (see picture).

This afternoon is rather more energetic and not at all good for the health of my poorly shoulder. Not quite so poorly as to be completely whitewashed at squash though .... thanks Stuart!

Ha ha, the puddings beckon....

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Last of The Summer Wine go Levada Walking

2009-11-27T18:34:00.000Z

Here we are, on our last day in Madeira, having another stroll in the warm sunshine along the 'Town Levada' before catching the bus home.

So it's goodbye from Dave, Barry and Sue, as well as from me; the next transmission will be from good ole virus infected blighty....

Bye bye.

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Madeiran Flora and Fauna

2009-11-27T17:49:00.000Z

It's always good to see firecrests in the woods, and mewing buzzards above them.

Other bird life is relatively sparse compared with that in the UK, but there are various birds out there to be spotted by the more observant. Whilst we don't fit that category, we have seen grey wagtails and warblers and several species commonly encountered at home.

Lizards up to about 8" long are to be seen everywhere over here, popping out of their crevices to bask whenever the sun shines. We've seen no snakes though.

Spring is possibly the best time for flowers, though even now in autumn there is lots of colour, with many plants still in flower. Some of these will be included in a slide show later, so for the time being I'll leave you with this taster (see picture).

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Pico Ruivo - 1862 metres

2009-11-26T22:34:00.000Z

Pico Ruivo is the highest point in Madeira. At this time of year it spends most of its time in cloud. So, and some readers will be pleased to hear this, we didn't go up it today. But we did view it shortly before its immersion in cloud, from this spot on the ER-202 road (see picture).

That was after we had discovered our planned Levada Furado route to be under repair and well and truly blocked off. So we enjoyed a stroll along the Levada da Serra instead. Despite being fairly simple technically, this route did contrive to trick our 77 year old joker, Barry, into falling in again. Perhaps he was distracted by the 6irecrests. Sue missed the fun of course, but did enjoy a short coastal 'promenade', before we all reconvened at the Savoy Gardens Hotel for an excellent 'Gala Dinner'.

A quick check on the emails reveals that we have the pleasure of Lord Elphus and LEJOG Alan's company on our Xmas walk - 13 December, with the possible bonus of Miss Whiplash's presence. This takes us into double figures. Others are most welcome to join us on this shortish walk with a long lunch break in the Peak District - details are at www.topwalks.com (Day Walks).

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Lunch in Spennymoor (aka 'What a Load of G....k)

2009-11-25T22:28:00.000Z

Here's Sue, enjoying a glass of wine (actually, for the observant - ie Alan - awaiting a refill) on Alan and Christine's balcony in Spennymoor-on-Sea.

God created this Sunny Haven earlier today from his nearby shed. We are so grateful for this wonderful gesture on His part, especially His willingness to project Spennymoor's Sunshine across to the Other World of Canico in Madeira, where Sue had been languishing in the mist, wondering where her next masgae was coming from....

Hic!

Note for tomorrow: warn residents of Spennymoor-on-Sea to carry extra Sun Tan Cream due to God's unfortunate bout of hyperactivity in their locality.

PS Thanks, A+C, for an excellent lunch on your fine balcony....(deletes more gobbledygook). Enjoy the rest of your trip.

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Madeiran Churches

2009-11-25T10:56:00.000Z

Madeiran churches are mostly striking buildings. The history lesson may follow; but for the time being here's the church in the centre of Canico - it's a cloudless summery 27C day today. Lovely.

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Levada Walking in Madeira (1)

2009-11-24T22:05:00.000Z

November can be wet, windy and cool in the UK.

So it's an ideal time of year to pop over to Madeira for a spot of levada walking.

Levadas are the irrigation channels constructed shortly after the island was first inhabited in C15 to make use of the rich water resources in the interior for the cultivation of sugar cane and wine. These 'levadas' now total some 1400km in length. Their maintenance paths can provide ideal hiking paths, such as that pictured - today's route beside the Levada do Norte. This path is vertiginous, so we turned back before Espigao, but it is currently being upgraded at a cost to the EEC of some €1.5 million! That won't change the label 'Exposed levada walk for tightrope walkers', which rules me out, but not Sue - who has a much better head for heights and will hopefully have recovered sufficiently to give this one a go by the time we next visit Madeira.

In the meantime, such walks are not feasible for Sue, who languished in the Savoy Gardens' massage room whilst Barry, Dave and I enjoyed a 7 hour jaunt (only 25 metres ascent, mind you) finishing in an opportunistic taxi together with the driver's wife and mother-in-law.

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Beer o' Clock

2009-11-24T12:41:00.000Z

Dave and Barry enjoy some light refreshment at the O Pinheiro bar in Boa Morte, in preparation for tackling a vertiginous section of the Levada do Norte.

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Eucalyptus Trees

2009-11-23T22:35:00.000Z

Today's walk, along the Levada da Serra do Faial, involved a 500 metre ascent from the botanical garden, then a stroll alongside an ancient, but now mainly dry, levada.

"I could get a nasty scratch in there!" quipped Barry.

The route passed through sun dappled mixed woodland, including pine trees and these tall eucalyptus trees, which shed slivers of bark in the light breeze as we passed.

All our thoughts today frequently drifted to the images of the English Lake District brought to our hotel rooms by way of rather flaky Sky News transmissions.

They bring back memories of the devastation of Borrowdale by flood water some years ago.

Our thoughts are with the residents affected, and our friends in Kendal, and we do hope the local authorities and insurance companies will deal with issues and claims in a timely and effective manner.

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Jardim Botanico

2009-11-23T11:47:00.000Z

Where better to spend a sunny Monday morning in Funchal?

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