After the disappointment.

 Last night was quite boring, what after the disappointment of not getting up to Cumbria and then suffering about 9 minutes of the England footy before i switched it off.

 This morning we had a covering of snow with quite a strong cold wind. We donned our gear and set off straight from the house. It wasn’t long before we were into spin drift.
 It was a chance to try out a couple of new jackets we had very kindly been sent for review.

 Both jackets were in my size (M), but it was too good an opportunity to leave one at home, so Sheila wore the other, although she is size (S).  Half way through the walk we swopped jackets to see how windproof/breathable we found them and what our first impressions were.
I will do a separate post on the jackets when i get the go ahead from the manufacturer and done quite a bit more serious bad weather walking, but i’m quite excited about them i must say.

  We passed one of our local farms en route and we always check out his barn for newly born calves. Unfortunately today we noticed a dead one with the mother stood over it. The birth sack still attached to the mum. I knew the farmer would have known about but i called in just to make sure. Sure enough, he knew. He checked it at midnight and all was well but at 2.00am the calf was gone.

 The lanes were unfit for vehicles and it was incredible the difference in snow conditions in such a short distance from our doorstep.

  The fierce wind whipped up the snow and drove it at us with such force. Occasionally close to blowing us over and then 5 minutes later, all calm.
 When we entered the park we were the first footprints. It was eerily quiet which surprised us. Usually kids and big kids are out sledging here with the voices carrying loudly on the wind.
 There’s a coffee shop in the park which is about mid way through the walk and it was here where we were going to swop jackets as well as have a cheese and onion toasty and a mug of coffee.

  It was funny watching the birds struggle against the wind. All our feathered friends were at ground level and getting blown over like rag dolls.
 The drifts were getting quite deep although general ground cover was no more than a 30cm. In some places we had to struggle through 1.5m of snow on the trail. Snow shoes would have been very useful.

 As it was we sank down, waist deep and still not finding solid ground. It was easier to roll through it rather than take steps.

 It was all good fun and we did about 8km.  It brought it home to us just how bad the conditions would have been if we had set off to Cumbria yesterday. It was a good decision to stay put.

Just typical

 Would you believe this weather.

Our plan this weekend was to get up to the Duddon Valley in Cumbria, see friends, do some walking, etc etc.
Then we get an email to say Please don’t come up. Phones not working, internet in/out. Roads closed.
Trees down, road signs blown down, lots of crashes on roads that are open, tons of snow.

 So, disappointment or what.
All the gear is in the boot of the car. All fueled up and nowhere to go.
Fortunately i have had a couple of jackets delivered for testing, so getting out locally in our more moderate snow will happen tomorrow and Sunday. (More to come on the jackets subject over the next couple of weeks.)
Ho Hum.

Karrimor lightweight Gilet

 Looking in Sports Direct yesterday i came across this Karrimor Gilet. It was very light, down filled and cheap. £18.

 I had seen it prior to me going into town for a look round. I had actually thought about getting one just to supplement my TNF Zephyrus pully, for when the temp dropped down but not cold enough to use my PHD Minimus. I also didn’t have much of a budget to spend. Getting one, would give me a choice of cross over gear depending on conditions.

 So it was really disappointing to find that the zips are absolute rubbish. I know it’s only £18 but the RRP is £59.99. 

 I was hoping that this came from the Japanese stable of Karrimor, but obviously not. 

Out of 6 gilet’s on the rack none of the zips worked well. Some worked poorly, some of the hand warmer pocket zips didn’t work at all. Shame because the outer material was nicely down proof which was a bit of a surprise.

So not even worth £18 in my book. I will keep looking. 

Dunsop Bridge, a short walk.

 Sheila and I decided that we had just enough time today to do a quick walk around this beautiful part of Lancashire. Dunsop Bridge lies at the southern edge of the Trough of Bowland. Supposedly the centre of Great Britain.

 We were running short on fuel as it took us a bit longer than we expected to arrive in the village. I thought i would have enough fuel but it wasn’t the case. So i paid the most expensive rate for fuel that i have ever paid £1.55 per litre at the station in the village.

 Parking is plentiful, although it's pay and display. Still the rate for parking is very reasonable at £1.80 for 8 hours, or £1.00 for four hours. Toilets are open and clean. There is also some places where “Free” parking can be had.

 There was a bitter wind, cutting right through us. Certainly a day for layering and although i had a Merino base layer on i still felt the chill. The temperature was around zero degrees C but with the wind chill it certainly felt like minus 6.

 Our plan was to follow the Dunsop River and contour Middle fell Knoll (Thanks Conrad) and return by the path on the opposite bank.
 United Utilities are doing plenty of work on the river and even today, a Sunday, they were working in numerous places. The Forestry people have also been busy, with the clearing of the west  side of Beatrix Fell which looked quite untidy. Why do they never clear up after felling?

 We passed plenty of people out today, all well wrapped up. It is obviously a path well used by locals for exercising the dogs. As we got further up the valley the numbers diminished. Obviously the cold was putting them off, and understandable.

 The fell tops were clear and inviting. But not for us today. Plenty of snow had fallen on the fells overnight and it looked great against a blue sky. We found a track into open country that isn't marked on the OS 1:25,000 map, so that was mentally noted for the future. For anyone who might be interested, the access point is just north of the wall enclosing Calder Moor Forestry and rises to the ridge of Whin fell.

 So, here are some photo's of the area. We will be back for further walking here and maybe a backpack too, soon.

Culcheth Plodders walk

 This walk is Martins last of the 4 un reconnoitred walks that he kindly put together for the Plodders section of the East Lancs long distance walking club.

 The walk started and finished in Culcheth near Warrington from the car park of the Culcheth Linear Park.
The trail was once a branch of the railway line, pre Beeching, which connected Glazebrook with Wigan via Lowton. The park was formed in 1974 after the line was closed in 1964. It was originally opened in 1878 to carry freight.
Now it’s used for recreation and the bird life along the route is plentiful.

Not that this owl moved much.

 There were 8 of us today and also 2 dogs. The weather forecast was for showers. We had been quite lucky with Martins walks and i only remember donning waterproofs on one short section of the Dolphinholme walk we did a few weeks ago. 

 It was spitting whilst we chatted, waiting for the off at 10.30 but it abated thankfully.

 Heading off north along the old trackbed, the bird song was a delight. Then i spotted a Jay and what i thought was a Nuthatch, but i could have been mistaken. It might have been a Tree Creeper. (Please don’t ask how i could mistake the two).

Leaving the flat train line at a sign for Kenyon Lane, we crossed a heavily ploughed field. The soil here was just as hard as concrete and must have taken plenty of horse power to till it.

 Crossing more fields and hedgerows and the main railway line from Manchester to Liverpool we came to the obstacle of the East Lancs Road. Basically, for those not aware of this road, it is in fact just an A road but vehicles are many and speeds equal those of motorway proportions. Crossing these 2 lanes on foot is taking your life in your hands. We found the adjacent footpath, waited and then en masse dashed across. I didn’t get a photograph!

 A short walk through the outskirts of a Lowton housing estate and across some football fields brought us back onto the disused railway line and to a short tea break where Martin had route options to discuss. We had to decide which way we wanted to walk around Pennington Flash, a haven for water fowl. It was decided that the anti-clockwise direction would bring us better views and so that was that.

 A few views of The Flash

M and F Tufted Ducks.

 The path is well used around The Flash and soon we were at the car park with its visitor centre and ablutions. From here we quickly joined the Leeds to Liverpool canal and continued along it for some time. Lunch was taken mid way, adjacent to King St bridge where we met a chap on a bike with a ladder in his rucksack. This caused a bit of excitement as we guessed what he was doing. Mobile window cleaner?  No, it turned out he was repairing the signage on the cycle way that can be seen in the photo below.

Lunch stop imminent

 A short distance from here the Leeds Liverpool canal changes to the Bridgewater canal which we followed as far as Marsland Green. Numerous old mills were passed and photographed depicting this areas heritage with the cotton spinning industry.

  At Great Fold Bridge we turned South heading once more to cross the East Lancs road. 

Men were hard at work in the fields, tilling and mowing. It was good to see an MF135 going strong. Equipped with a folding 2 post rops and mower.

MF135. Perkins 3 cyl. 2.5L diesel with Flat Top Fenders.

John Deere 2140. 82hp 4 cyl turbo diesel. With reversible rotating plough.

 Passing through a farm at Crompton House we encountered 3 dogs of the big, scary,  noisy variety. Thankfully they were tethered to truck wheels and so we had plenty of room to pass. The commotion brought out the owner who tried to pacify them but without much success. 

 The east Lancs was even busier than earlier as we dashed for life across it. 

 Our path led us to Netherbarrow Farm and Windy Bank Farm before crossing again the railway. 

We passed a pub called the Chat Moss. 

Famous over the years for the thousands of hikers,plodders who have stopped in the field adjacent for a “Chat” hence the name. It’s been known for chatters to spend that long in one spot that “Moss” has started to form.

 The true reason for the pubs name will be apparent upon reading Martins blog post on this walk. Where, so i am assured there is quite a bit of history going back to the formation of the first commercial railway line. Over to you Martin.

Allmost back to our start/end point we crossed a field with strange vegetables. We guessed overgrown cabbages but we could be wrong.

 Back at the car park and still no rain. We had been very lucky. There was quite a chill in the air and it was with very cold hands that i tried to undo my shoe laces to change into driving shoes.

 A most pleasant day in good company.

Distance walked 21.1km with a massive 61m of ascent. Almost noise bleed territory.

Thanks Martin for the route and the Plodders for a pleasant day out.

Click here for the link to the photo slideshow.