Walk on.

Two more walks done, (only short Conrad). With a trip to the consultant in between.
I looked out of the front bedroom window this morning to see a bright day and blue sky. A quick breakfast and i was away. What i really should have done was look out of the back bedroom window because from there the view would have been black clouds and a definite promise of rain.

I was going to leave my waterproof at home but i'm glad i didn't. Within 300yds of leaving it started to rain. Nothing heavy, but enough to bring on a rainbow.

I changed my route to avoid walking in the direction of the grey and wet and hoped it wouldn't follow me. The North was looking very ominous and i was pleased i wasn't heading for Scout Moor.
My route into Tandle Hill Park was one i do regularly but it doesn't matter how many times i do it i never tire of seeing it in differing light and changing seasons.

Its quite unusual for me to actually take a camera with me, being on my doorstep, but today i did and was pleased with the views.
I picked my way carefully through the beautiful copper beech leaf mold, being extra careful not to slip on the covered wet root systems. I didn't want to cause myself any ill effects. I was surprised to still see so many wonderful fungi specimens with it being so late in the season.
The squirrels were busy gathering and hiding and refused to stay still long enough to get a photo. The Jays were trying to stay unseen.

Here are a few of the fungi photo's i took today.

 

 This has to be one of the biggest bracket fungi that i have ever seen.

 Gently meandering through the woodland was indeed a pleasure. The light was tremendous, the leaves crisp and spinning about in the breeze. The sky was bright now with large blue patches.

 I made my way specifically up hill to see if i had any signs of pain but glad to say, nothing much.
Coming out of the woods the views across to the mast at Windy Hill seemed so close.

On the way home and passing through a farm yard i managed to get a photo of this cat. It didn't even bat an eyelid, although i think it had one eye open.

Last evening i went to see the consultant who gave me a clean bill of health and a warning to take it easy. I asked him about this "2 weeks and you will be up and running" episode and what he meant was, 2 weeks and you will be up and about. A big difference when you say it fast.
Anyway he said i could keep walking but no running for about another 3-4 weeks and then only short distances.
When i told him about this weekends 18k walk he had a bit of a sharp intake of breath moment but said if i feel ok then go for it. I am going to ache next Monday, i can feel it coming on.

The First Walk - post op.

Today was my first day out since my recent op. The surgeon lied when he said i would be up and running in 14 days. Cynically, i wondered if this was normal in the private health service. If he had said you will be rough for 4 - 6 weeks would i have had the op? Well maybe not and therefore he might have missed out on a big fee.

Anyway i did 10K today and it was enough. I now ache in places i had forgotten about and my breathing was not great on the few inclines we did. I got back home and collapsed on the sofa for an hour and nodded off.

A soak in the bath and i feel a bit more alive. But the good news is i did it. And now i must get out every day even if its only 5k. Next Sunday is Martin's Christmas walking day which is looking like the best part of 18k and 800metres of up, we want to be there and do the whole round.  Cheers.

Down Gilet

Last year i spent ages looking for a down gilet that wouldn't cost me the earth as the big names do. Eventually i bought one from Uniqlo.
However since then i regretted not buying the one with a hood.
So when i came across a gilet with a hood and at such a low price, i thought snap it up quick.

I must admit its very very good, better than it looks in the photo. And i have no complaints apart from a minor point which i will come to  ↓.

The gilet is called the Noorvik - Puffa. and it cost £19.99!
(Andy Howell may like to add this to his compendium of low cost gear).

The medium size that i have weighs 240 grams. It contains 90% duck down and 10% feather.
Both inside and out the material is polyester. The main zip has a baffle behind it and a chin guard.
The hand warmer pockets are zipped and deep.The zips are unbranded but are sturdy.
Inside it has 2 wide and deep pockets that easily takes an OS map.
All the hems are Lycra bound including the hood.
My only point and its not a complaint, is that i would prefer the hood to be a little tighter around the face. Looking at the hem it may be possible to add an elasticated cord with grip adjusters. But don't let this point put you off.
If you are looking for a low cost, light, warm gilet and your not bothered that it hasn't got a big price name tag, then grab this while stocks are good.
Of course at this price and quality you will have already guessed it was Made in China. But beggars can't be choosers as the saying goes.


They also do a down jacket at £29.99. You may find this of interest too. HERE.

It doesn't collapse quite as small as the Uniqlo vest and on balance i prefer the Uniqlo version. Uniqlo are currently selling the un-hooded version for £29 but considering this one is £10 cheaper its a good deal.

The ADX stove

Being in post operation state and having caught an infection which was far more worrying than the actual operation, has given me lots of time to do nothing.
The Penicillin started to work on the infection in about 36 hours and improvement has been gradually improving. The biggest problem i have had is boredom.

I've read lots of your blogs old and new and come up with a number of ideas to try out in the future.
As readers will have gathered, i am not averse to making my own gear so when i read Gordon Green's post on his favourite Evernew DX stove it raised my spirits to find out more.

I knew i had enough materials in the shed to have a go at making a copy of the stove but i didn't know measurements and it would be made from aluminum and not titanium. Gordon kindly provided me with burn height and from a number of web sources including Evernew's own page i managed to put together a decent copy which i christened the ADX stove.

Having made it, which is pretty easy, i can see exactly why Gordon likes it. It's a neat design, the upper body fits inside the lower body and the stove fits inside too. Then all together it fits inside your pot and there's not much can go wrong with it.

So i came to try it out and was full of hope that it would prove to be better than my 12 - 10 stove with a cone windshield. Its always nice to make something yourself which proves to be at least as good as the shop bought.

Sadly it wasn't to be, i tried it with my trangi burner, my cat can and my 12-10 , all with and without a trivet. I used Evernew 600ml pan. The problem as far as i can tell is the loss of heat through the top slots of the upper windshield.
I found that it took approximately 30% more fuel and about the same 30% more time to boil 400ml of water than my 12-10 and cone windshield.

 My attempt at a DX stove, so much heat loss through the top slots, with or without a trivet.

I tried putting a secondary shield around the pan but it didn't have a positive effect, it just burned less efficient and generated more soot.

I was quite sad really after my effort to make the stove. I was hoping for better things. I suppose that if my backpacking trip was short or fuel readily available then i would use my version of the stove but i wouldn't take it on longer trips where you need to be as frugal as possible with fuel.

In the same vein as Gordon's post got my attention then so did Robin's post about Bio Gel alternative fuel. 

I became aware of Bio Gel fuels a little over a year ago when my local garden centre put on a demonstration of alternative house fires. They used bio gel and the brochure was highlighting things like, less soot, less smell, eco friendly etc.

I thought then about getting some and trying it in the trangia. However at the time i couldn't buy it in small quantities. I think it was something like 12L was the minimum purchase.

I checked the internet and this seemed to confirm the volume was not available in 500ml purchases or pouches as in Robin's post. I didn't pursue it any further but just kept the idea in the back of my mind. Then Robin rekindled that train of thought.

Lo and behold bio ethanol was now available in small quantities and i went for the liquid rather than the gel. I got it from Gardeco via Amazon. Price was reasonable at £2.49 for 500ml.

I have done just a quick test comparison with methylated spirits and the first impressions are good. They both boiled 400ml of tap water in about 5.5 minutes. But this was done in my kitchen and so i need to try it in the field to get more realistic results but for now i would say it has potential.

One thing i did notice though, was it still had a smell when burning and it wasn't too dissimilar to meths. I have a thought that it might require a little more oxygen, so i will make a second cone with more slots in. I don't want to corrupt my current cone as it works well with meths and the 12-10.

All good fun and reduces my boredom at having to stay indoors.

Hi Tec Zuuk footwear.

The Zuuks have won this years TGO Footwear of the year accolade.

Not a surprise to me really because they are very very good for our needs as backpackers. I love them.
 I am so pleased because i reviewed them earlier in the year here.
Another reason i am pleased is the name, Hi Tec. There is so much snobbery when it comes to gear labels, i'm glad that a name that is usually mid table has taken top spot. Well done all those who voted and well done Hi Tec.

Update June 2014.

After taking them on the TGO Challenge i now have changed my opinion on them for trips longer than a weekend or so. After a 2 weeks trip i was very disappointed at how slow the shoe was to dry out. Having used them for river crossings and general evening in camp i did expect them to dry out in a couple of hours but they were still wet after 8 hours.
When you dry your feet after a long day you really don’t want to put your feet back into a shoe thats wet.
So, I am now using Vivi Barefoot shoes without the sock and find them far better.

Walna Scar shepherds meet 2013.

This years Shepherds Meet event was held on Saturday 2nd November 2013 at Seathwaite in the Duddon Valley, Cumbria.
Its an event we really enjoy and it gives us a chance to have a chat, a laugh and a joke with the local farmers and the numerous friends we have made there over the last 30 yrs.
We had been invited to stay with friends Tina and Alan for the weekend.
Friday night saw us at Nick's Italian in Gosforth, again renewing acquaintances from where Sheila's mam lived before moving down to Manchester. We had an excellent meal, it was a busy night and the staff did well.
Saturday morning Tina and Alan were up early as they are part of the organising team. Licences have to be filled in regarding the moving of livestock and this takes quite so time.
Alan was helping the get the big marquee tent up and sort out the historical picture boards that portray the event from years past.

By 10.00am when we made it into the field most things had been done. Alan was in position on the gate.
The sheep were in the pens and the farmers were having a last brew huddled under the tent whilst the first of many heavy cloud bursts made its presence.
At about 10.20am it was decided to get things underway whilst the rain had eased just a little.

There are basically two breeds of sheep in this region, Herdwick and Swaledales. The farmers show their stock to the judges and they decide who has the best. Judges are usually from neighbouring valleys. There are lots of classes to judge and its all very serious.

Here are a few of the classes that I can remember so that you can appreciate how complicated it can be.

Shearling.
Three aged ewes.
Two gimmer lambs.3 sheep in natural colour.
Tup and gimmer lamb bred by the exhibitor.
Male and female bred by exhibitor.
Female champion.
Best group of sheep.
Overall champion.
And there's more.

Most of the morning the weather was mixed between heavy showers, light rain and gusty wind. We paid quite a bit of time drinking coffee to warm up and dashing out during the calmer moments to take some photo's.

A very rare and unusual double twist horned Herdwick tup

A couple of the young farmers were debating about the coarse for the hound trailing event. The clag  was down quite low and the route which was to go between Caw and White Pike was engulfed in the white stuff and it most most miserable. Anyway the coarse was set. Hardy souls these guys.

Lunch for exhibitors is a set menu so we decided to get ours out of the way before they all came in. The Newfield Inn being host for lunch.

Just after the event resumed we had a tremendous down pour. The most severe so far. Then we had a hail storm. The event just carried on but a lot of the visitors and hound trailers departed to the pub. We stayed out to show the farmers we were supporting them.
The wind picked up, the leaves were being snapped off the trees and it was getting a touch wild. The sheep were shaking themselves to get rid of the excess water and the farmers in their oil skin type suits were looking a bit washed out.

Then an almighty gust of wind lifted the marquee tent clean up in the air about 10ft and deposited it upside down on the other side of a barbed wire fence. Myself and a number of others ran to help but the wind picked it up again and carried it clean over another barbed wire fence.
All the items which had been inside the tent were now being spoiled. The photograph boards, the numerous cakes, tea and coffee etc.
Eventually we caught hold of this 1 ton tent and managed to wrestle it into submission. It was disassembled and folded away in about 2 minutes. Luckily it seemed to be undamaged.

There was some doubt now if the kids pet show would be held but between the showers it was held and somehow every enterent won something. Great.
The hand made crooks were judged and prizes awarded and then the hound trail was underway.

This always causes lots of excitement as the owners wait with binoculars pointed into the high fells to see them first appear.
You can hear the barking long before you see them and as they approach the finish the owners whistles and the shaking of the food tubs seems quite manic.
Then there is always the last one, the one that has gone astray. The owner standing on his own staring into the gloom for any trace of his hound. Minutes pass by and still nothing, then 10 minutes. Eventually someone spots it working its way slowly down the gullies and over the rocky outcrops. The whistling and shaking of the food tub starts again until the hound is back safely.

The surrounding hillsides disappear again and it goes black. Were in for it now a farmer shouts and almost instantly we are in a deluge. The rain was bouncing. The last few prizes were handed out within the cocopheny of the storm. Sheila decided she had had enough and so I told her to go and get inside. Towards Harter Fell the lightening was strieking followed by the almost immediate thunder clap. Again and again the bang was being ricocheted around the hill tops and the rain fell like stair rods.
Fortunately I was wearing my Brenig smock, not the Aran but the one with the aluminium lining. Its performance was nothing short of miraculous. In my blog post about this smock I said that it may not be suited to UK conditions for backpacking but would be suitable for more sedatory tasks such as marshalling, outdoor instructing etc and this event has proved it to me that this is the best waterproof I have ever worn.

The smiling winner of overall champion Anthony Hartley

Despite the weather and eventually being driven indoors we thoroughly enjoyed being here. Its so fulfilling to be a part of the community on this weekend.
In the evening there is much singing and story telling as well as lots of great crack or gossip depending on what part of the country you are from.

Once again our thanks to Tina and Alan for inviting us.

Note!
During the day I managed to speak to Steven Gorse, who farms at Hoses near Broughton Mills. I did a post last year when he had decided to start up a new camping site and i know a few of you stayed there.
He has now decided that this venture is not for him BUT, if any backpackers still want to use his fields for an overnight stop then he is more than happy to allow it. Just call at the farm and make yourself known.  Thanks Steven, that's very much appreciated.

Adlington to Abbey Village

  (Wednesday 30th October) was quite an autumnal morning, a bit nippy when standing around but nice when moving. It was clear and blue skies with the odd cloud. Rain was forecast for later in the afternoon.

Todays walk came about after an email from Martin. I was a bit busy trying to sort out Satmap and also my new printers Continuous Ink supply system which was leaking badly. I decided it might be a benefit to leave it all behind and go for a walk.

So once all 12 of us and 2 dogs had assembled in Adlington off we went at 10.00am. The route of the walk had kindly been put together by Reg from the LDWA plodders.

Leaving a housing estate behind we soon hit tractor territory with this fine condition David Brown.

David Brown 1390 2wd tractor in good condition.

Progress was made along pleasant green lanes and manicured fields where we turned left (N) along Long Lane for a short distance before crossing the M6 motorway. We had good views across to Winter Hill and Rivington pike.

The well known landmarks of Winter Hill and Rivington Pike.

We passed some rather splendid houses which Reg informed us had been built on what used to be Heath Charnock Isolation hospital for patients who had illness's like TB. The air being clean in these parts. Now passed by the M6 and the hospital is no more. Opened in 1901, It closed in 1982.

A little further on we crossed the infant River Yarrow by a splendid footbridge. 

Move along now.

Splendid views were had passing Anglezarke reservoir and across to Anglezark moor and Lead mines clough.

All too soon this pleasant green lane became a minor road leading towards Heapey and the disused railway line. Once again Reg had a story to tell of secret storage depots for retired steam engines. 

It was all quite fascinating and if you have time to watch the video its here.

There was lots of passing old railway lines and sidings and railway buildings, platforms, bridges, memorabilia etc but Brinscall was our next port of call and this was the pinnacle of the day. A fish and chip shop that Reg had previously arranged with the owners to be ready for mass onslaught. Well i think it was eleven of us for lunch anyway, (with two possibly sharing). And very nice it was. Fish and chips £3.80.

However we had some muddy fields to get through first.

We sat in the park and devoured said luncheon. Brinscall is a nice place with its reservoir, bird life and nature walks and this unusual snake gate.

After a good 20 minute stop we had the last leg of our day trip to do which was to Abbey village. Again this was mainly walked on the old railway line which was opened by the Lancashire and Yorkshire railway co. but it was closed down in 1960. There’s not much left to see at Brinscall of the old station except a stone wall but there is more to see at Withnell which we passed through next.

 The railway bridge at Withnell

Old Platform at Abbey Village

Info board at Withnell

This became the last bit of railway before we joined the mud fest. Our route into Abbey village and our bus back into Chorley was a bit of a trying affair. We tried to avoid the mud but it was useless. 

Even the tractor was caked.

Somewhere in the morass we missed the path which led through the farm. We ended up doing almost a full circle of a nearby field before some of us climbed a fence into a back alleyway whilst others walked further to more or less end up where they started. We soon joined forces and made our way along the main road to the bus stop where within 10 minutes we where heading into Chorley.

Still not got Satmap sorted out. I think it was 11 miles. Thanks for the invite.

Op over.

Thanks everyone for your kind comments. I am still here. Op went ok. Just enjoying my tea.

Sent from Samsung Mobile

A cut above the rest

I have 3 posts to do to get up to date but i'm not sure just when i will catch up.

Tomorrow i go into hospital to have a lump removed. I'm told it will be an overnight job and out Tuesday. Recovery time est: 2 weeks.
I promise you there will be no pictures of before and after. I'm not as brave as Mike Knipe.

Anyway i am eagerly waiting a new book that will pass the time until i am walking. I will say no more about that until the official release has been made by the author. But i will say it's by a fellow blogger. Look out for it.

Trekmates Mountain XT Ultralight Gore-Tex gaiters

A while ago i was looking for a pair of lightweight gaiters. Well i eventually found a pair.
I got them from Dash4It, the map people.
They are Trekmates and are made from GoreTex, there is no specification i can find about which type of GoreTex it actually is but i will go as far as saying it's just like Paclite.

What i like about these is the breathability, the weight and the simplicity of design. I have no complaints at all. They do the job well.

To keep the weight down the underfoot retention is std bungee cord. The good thing is that it has a lifetime guarantee as do the gaiters. If the cord breaks you just email sales@trekmates.co.uk for a replacement.

The weight specified is 105 grams per pair which is remarkable for a full length gaiter. However they must have done some tweaking because mine weight just 86 grams the pair.

They are all one size but are available in Male and Female versions.
If you are looking for a new pair then be quick, you can pick a pair up from Dash4it for £33.75 with Free postage instead of normal £45. Here.

Disclaimer. I bought these gaiters with my own money and have no affiliation with Dash4it in any way.

Satmap Active 10 and OSX Mountain Lion

I bought my Satmap GPS a few years ago and i have eventually sussed out most things. I have never found it “Easy” as numerous YouTube review vids suggest.
To me it uses “Negative Logic”.
That’s my terminology btw for something that works the opposite way round to the way i think. For example if you want a route to “start" you press “stop”. etc etc.

Now like i say, i have got used to it except that if i don’t use it often enough i forget steps. Probably a sign of old age creeping on. The other thing is, i use it on an Apple Mac so i have an extra step to do to be able to get my .map and .gpx files into a folder on my computer that Windows users don’t. Again this is more a nuisance than a problem.

I waited for quite sometime before i downloaded the latest version of Apple Mountain Lion software, thinking that the longer i leave it the more glitches will be sorted.

Wrong!

The first usb connected devices i used worked ok. Apple mp3 player and Sony camera.
Then i plugged in the satmap active 10. It didn’t work.
I checked the Satmap website to see if it was compatable and low and behold a complete new set of software to download was there.

I ditched all my 32 bit versions except Silverlight and downloaded all the new 64 bit versions.  (Silverlight wasn’t included in the must download).

I tried the Active 10 now thinking all was fine. Wrong! It still didn’t work.
I emailed the good people at Satmap and waited.

In the meantime and purely by chance i was looking through System Preferences, Security tag, and noticed that Mountain Lion had changed my default settings so that instead of me being able to download Apps from “anywhere" i could only download them from the App store. Naughty Apple and very selfish. (Satmap, please add this issue to your download page)

I changed the setting back to Anywhere. I can make my own decisions "thank you Apple software designers!”
So after about an hour i retried the Active 10. The Satsync and File converter worked and i was able to put my .map files into file converter and the converted .gpx file into my finder folder. Great. Yipee.

Wrong!

I went to the Satmap website and opened Xplorer, My Xplorer and clicked Upload files.
I got the “Browse” box and clicked it. I searched my folder and i clicked the file i wanted to upload.
I got a Yellow warning triangle with an exclamation mark inside. I clicked on the exclamation mark and get a message saying “There is no path.” Wonderful.

I contacted Satmap again and told them all the above.

They came back quickly and told me to try and drag and drop the .gpx file into planner. It didn’t work.
They told me to go to planner and use the Upload arrow in the “Tools” on the LH side. I did, and it didn’t work.
They told me to email them the .map and .gpx files which i did and they said there is no problem with the files.
They told me to ditch silverlight and download the latest version. I did and it still didn’t work.
They told me to "set up a new account" and start again. I did and yes you guessed. It didn’t work.

So i tried it on a windows set up and everything worked fine. So i now know the problem has nothing to do with anything on the Active 10 device itself and its all related to Mountain Lion and Satmaps interface. It must be because it worked perfect on OSX Snow Leopard.

There’s nothing i can do at all. I am now in Satmaps hands. I do hope they resolve it quickly.

Technology is supposed to make our lives easier and less stressful. Ha! If only it was funny. My recent encounters with this device, On Line banking, my printer, my cookers programmer, my Macs video card, my Nexus 7’s 2 x failures, Vodafone PAYG, my broadband speed with SKY, leads me to believe otherwise.
I think the customer is being used as a guinea pig to resolve problems so that companies can release devices faster than their competition.

So anyone out there who has Mountain Lion and Satmap active 10 and has had problems please feel free to get it off your chest. If you have a resolution please feel empowered to spill the beans. PLEASE.

Update:
Since this post i have now completely started again. Deleted everything and re-installed everything. I have upgraded Maverick and thought all would be well

Wrong. It still doesn’t work

I have been back in touch with Satmap Uk who replied saying they are at a loss as to why its not working and it will have to be passed over to the software developers and it may take months to resolve.
How do we get into this situation. This problem has cost me hours and hours. In fact no, days and days.
I don’t believe i can be the only one with this issue. I have very little 3rd party software and am just a home user with no networking etc etc. In other words i am the “Easiest” of users.

An Irk-some curry trail

This walk took place on Thursday 24th October 2013.

Readers will have noticed over the last couple of years that i became a member of the Timperley Curry walks that always terminate at This N That eatery in Manchester.
It's open to anyone really who wants to walk and chat to JJ, Martin, Rick as well as others who come along as commitments allow. And of course you need to enjoy a curry and a beer after.

What is surprising, no, amazing in fact, is just how much greenery can be found within the spokes we have walked from outlying areas into the centre of Manchester. For someone born and bred in Manchester i have had my eyes opened to the natural beauty and also the industrial and social archeology that prevails.

Today's walk was to follow the River Irk as much as possible and started from Heaton Park Metrolink station. The Irk starts it's life in Royton, Just north of Oldham and meanders it's way through to Victoria in the centre of Manchester where it joins the River Irwell.
For me our start point meant 2 busses had to be caught and then a walk from the south side of the park to the north side to meet up with the crew from Timperley who would be alighting the tram at 10.15am.

Heaton Park.
It was quite a nice morning, a little chilly but calm and with good prospects for improvement. I could just make out the mist rising from the overflow lake or the boating lake as it's better known.There were a few runners and dog walkers about as i made my way into the park via the Middleton Rd entrance, down the tree lined drive and past the old tram stop. Once at the boating lake it was good to see that the cafe was still open and with quite a few customers considering it was relatively early. (9.30am). The smell of breakfast cooking was a temptation but i resisted, took a couple of photographs and moved on. I still had a 15 minute walk to the tram station to do.

Heaton Park is quite well known for it's pop concerts and running races, it's charity events and it's a pleasure to walk round, it's also one of the largest municipal parks in Europe at around 640 acres. There is lots to see and do here and it's run by Manchester City Council. The website is here.

The park also contains the colonnade from the old Manchester Town Hall but we didn't pass where it has been re- located on this walk.

 (The drive)

(The boating lake)

Once at the Metrolink tram stop i had a 15 minute wait. I thought there would be a sandwich shop nearby and i was correct. One bacon muffin was had whilst passing the time until the others arrived.

It was good to see JJ, Rick and Martin. Martin was still suffering which a muscle problem which i must say looked quite painful at times. 

We set off back through the park with Rick in charge of proceedings. The sun was now up, strong and bright and the sky as blue as it could be and considering we are in rainy city, we had no heavy clouds.

(Heaton Hall)

The walk back through the park was enjoyable with JJ and Martin taking numerous photo's which i am sure will be available to view on their own posts of this walk.

(Martin stayed still just long enough for me to get a photo.)

Just prior to exiting the park via the Smithy Lodge, by chance the golfers cafe was open and so we had to indulge in a swift coffee. The bar was open and JJ spotted a ghastly ale pump. Joseph Holts "Smoothflow" bitter. Those words, "Joseph Holts and Smoothflow should never be said or seen within the same sentence. 

Anyway, we managed to get going properly and crossed the very busy Manchester to Middleton main road where after a bit of searching we found the path along the North bank of the River Irk. It was flowing quite strong and a walk through the deciduous forestry a pleasure. This area is known as Blackley Forest Nature Reserve. Until today i had never heard of it and just how nice it was came as a bit of a shock.

 (2 images above. Following the River Irk through Blackley Forest Nature Reserve.)

We came through the forest at Blackley road which we followed for a few hundred yards to pick up a footpath through Blackley Vale. The path led to a bridge over the Irk which would have taken us into Crumpsall but we were trying to follow the river as near as possible. The route led us back up to Blackley Rd and Delauneys Rd from where we could get back to the river side.

(JJ showing that his running days are not over or are they?.)

We had to leave the delights of the woods due to a new housing estate near to Blackley Village. The massive building Hexagon Tower dominates the skyline. The home of Scientific Innovation.

(Considering how long this building has been here it is in very good condition. It was formerly owned by the giant ICI corp.)

As we came out through the estate, which was actually quite nice and quiet the path was a little difficult to pick up. Martin and JJ found one route while Rick and Myself found the "Gates" as was on the route map. It led through a number of ponds at Harpurhey which were all quite "filthy" with dumped waste materials. A shame really as this could be made to be a very nice nature reserve.

We passed the Smedley Hotel which was looking quite smart before entering Hendham Vale and Queens park.

(Smedley Hotel)

Queens Park was one of the first Municipal Parks created in 1846 designed and laid out by Joshua Major. There used to be an old hall here but it has now been demolished. Someone decided it was a good spot to have a brew. Martin handed out the chocolate brownies and I had 4 pieces of Sheila's fruit cake. A lucky guess at the numbers.

(The railway arches over the Irk at Queens Park)

At this point we thought our route into Manchester had been thwarted. The path had a "Footpath Closed" sign but no explanation or detour. So i stood ceremonially and declared the footpath open. We had no problems getting onward.

We were closing in on our destination. Rick had a couple of points of interest he wanted to see which were Sandhills and Angel Meadows. I admit i had never heard of them.

Heading along Danzig St. we came across the unusual sight of 1/2 a submarine on end. It is described as an absurd piece of Jules Verne style imagery symbolising "emergence". It has nothing to do with war and it's named "Dreadnowt".  It's painted by HMG paints and is used to commemorate events like the Olympics, England etc etc.

(The "Dreadnowt")

We now made our way upwards along sandhills. Rick explaining that this area was where the stone was quarried for Manchester's St Ann's church and also the Roman Fort at Castlefields. All very interesting.

We emerged at Irk Street with its fine arched brick railway viaduct.

 (Sandhills and Danzig St with Manchester CIS buildings close.)

(The arch at Irk St.)

Under the viaduct we turned right past a number of car repair garages, down some very old stone steps, across a corbled yard and up more old stone steps to reveal what is now a small public park known as Angel Meadow and St Michaels Flags. Again i did not know this park was here. And so close to the city centre. The area itself in years gone by was a very affluent area. That was until the Industrial revolution which then introduced poverty and squalor. 

(One of the entrance ways into Angel Meadows and St Michaels flags)

The church of St Michaels and All Angel's was built in 1790 and was said to be one of the most ugliest churches built in Manchester, in a notorious and overcrowded part of the city.

The land adjacent to the church was to become the largest cemetery in Manchester. Used to bury those with no family place or the poorest of the poor.

There were also institutes for abandoned, neglected and destitute children and one of them still flurishes as a teaching facility today. The Ragged School for working girls.

 (Charter St Ragged School)

 (Zoom shot of the wall plaque)

 (The rejuvenation information board)

 (Nice to see the old factory has been modernised and is now apartments).

This is a very interesting area of old Manchester but sadly we had to move on. Our route now took us past the fantastic new CIS building. Only recently finished and looking in my opinion one of the finest modern buildings in Manchester. How CIS managed to acquire the funding when they were 700 million in the red is a bit of a mystery. I'm sure you and me wouldn't get funding if we had no money.

(The magnificent new CIS building)

I should have taken a shot more from an angle as this photo doesn't show that the upper terracing and smoke stacks very well. From some viewpoints it takes on the look of a large liner.

When i look at the ugliness of Beetham Tower and No.1 Piccadilly, this building is so architecturally pleasing. 

Upon arrival at This N That i thought we might not get a seat. It was as usual, very busy. But the good thing about the place is that it's mainly full of office staff that have to get back to work. By the time we were served we had a table.

I had 3 curry's, chicken, lamb and spinach and a mixture of boiled and pilau rice. Cost £5. 

Once again we all slipped up and forgot to get a photo. Next time we will.

Our onward and last port of call was my favourite pub in Manchester. The Ape and Apple. (But keep that a secret). We didn't make an afternoon of it, just a taster before we went in our separate ways.

A most enjoyable route on a lovely day in great company. Thanks Rick for putting the route together.

Note.
I will put a map here.  I am currently having problems with Satmap and Apple's OSX Mountain Lion software. Hopefully it will be resolved asap.