The writing is on the wall.

Probably like most readers of the blog i wish the clock could be turned back. Back to my twenties when the body worked well and nothing was any trouble. Stupidly heavy packs, no mileage too much. Playing football, squash and climbing without a thought.
I eventually stopped playing football and started more serious climbing. It was a big mistake, at the time i didn’t realise how fit football matches and training was keeping me but once you lose that ‘Yard” you never get it back. I loved climbing though and used to climb all weekend without pain or a twinge and the harder the climb the more i loved it.
Eventually Sheila started climbing and she was very very good. Better than i was in fact. Ralph our friend and lead climber was twenty years older than me but as fit as a butchers dog, has many firsts accredited to him and could run up the routes we struggled with. He is sadly no longer with us but he would have been proud of us yesterday.

We started climbing again.

It has been a good 15 years since i last touched a rope and i was a bit apprehensive to say the least. Climbing was about the ratio between power and weight, like a good sports car. I used to weigh 66 kilos when i was in my twenties and now i weigh 76 kilos. The power wasn’t a problem in my twenties but now in my sixties it sure is. So lifting 76 kilos with no strength was going to be challenging.

We had booked a beginners course at Manchester Climbing Centre and we also had my daughter Lisa and son in law Andy with us.

I thought a climbing wall would be much easier than being on actual rock but it isn’t, i can assure you of that. We got kitted up and i found out that bowlines are no longer used to tie on. I had to be instructed on using a double figure 8 knot and was told bowlines were old school. Oh well. All things change.

We set off on a horizontal warm up wall before progressing to belaying each other and getting used to the gear and the different grades of wall attachments. All good fun except that i was immediately noticing  the lack of upper body strength. My legs were ok but my fingers and shoulders were already complaining.
I managed to get to the top of the first wall which i guess was around 30ft or so, the rest of the team did as well and Andy and Sheila were loving it. Lisa struggled a little but considering she has Fibromyalgia  i was impressed with her.

Then we moved up to single climbing on a wall about 50ft high and i didn’t make the top. I just didn’t have the energy to get there and fell off safely. Andy fell off as well and almost took me out on the way down. We were all struggling but laughing about it too. We eventually realised that it was going to take more than one session to get some upper body strength back.

Looking around i was the oldest person in the centre by a country mile. It was good to see so many youngsters and female youngster to boot doing so well. There were some good climbers in there.

Before our session ended Josh our instructor took us into the bouldering room. We found it quite difficult. Maybe because we were all knackered.
We were so knackered that when we had to sign the papers to say we had done a training session non of us could write, we were shaking so much and our fingers wouldn’t work.

But what a good time we had and a beer went down a treat. Oh and the lobster curry.
Here are a few images of the afternoon and thanks everyone.
Boy do I ache today.(Sunday)

The start, Josh on the left.

 Sheila on her way up.

 Sheila reaches the top. Well done.

 Lisa and Me giving the big wall a go.

 Sheila abseiling.

 Self climb and belay wall.

 The main hall.

 I think is was looking for the exit door.

 Andy bouldering.

 Lisa showing good style bouldering.

L-R. Me, Andy, Lisa and Sheila.

Lobster curry at the Spice Lounge, Manchester.

Brooks Cascadia 10. - for info only.

Just thought i would pass on this info as i know numerous readers do like Brooks Cascadia’s 10 trail shoes.

As i walked through TKMax in Manchester something grabbed me by the collar and turned me round to face a whole shelf full of these selling at £29.99. Lots of sizes but only in blue or red. Stores in other places may have more colour options and i guess TKMAX have them because Cascadia 11 is now out. (Obviously the 11’s came out after M and G did a review here.)

So i now own a pair of the C10’s.  I did need them and couldn’t pass up a bargain. Hopefully they last longer than Micks.
Don’t linger, they won’t be there long at this price.

Along the straight and narrow.

Thankfully after being unwell for a few weeks and lacking pretty much all motivation and energy needed to get outdoors i am slowly getting back to normal. Whatever my normal is, may be decided over the next few weeks with some tests that the doc has put me in for.

Anyway Martin B sent us an invite to join him and Sue on a slow 18km walk around Macclesfield. Please put your hand up if you have ever been on a slow walk with M. No takers then i presume.
Rumour has it that even when he is asleep the legs keep going and Sue has them attached to a turbine which powers the fridge freezer and the front door bell. Just thought i would mention it.

As it happened Sheila had a bit of a mishap at Metafit class and pulled a muscle in her side which kiboshed any idea of even a slow walk at the weekend. Why do we put ourselves through hell to keep fit.

So i broached the subject with M of maybe a curry walk before they fly out to Canada on Friday for more jollies. All spur of the moment stuff but it happened today (Tuesday) and JJ came along too, which was good.
It was decided to walk into Manchester from Timperley which is around 15km and on the straight and narrow Bridgewater canal.

After 2 hours of public transport travel i eventually reached Timperley. The distance from my house to Martins house it is approximately 14 miles. That’s how bad travelling in Manchester has become at rush hour. 7 miles per hour.

A reviving cup of coffee to fend off suicidal tendencies was had and then off we went. I had packed full wet gear as per last nights BBC forecast which was wrong, it was a jolly nice morning, clear bright and sunny but with grey clouds in the distance and in the direction of our walk.

I didn’t take many photographs as this route has featured on numerous occasions on the blog. However we had a bit of a meander towards the end and the photographs below are from that meander.

These curry walks are always good for banter and catching up on numerous topics from Investments right across the spectrum to backache and back again. And much about gear and the TGO Challenge of course.

Where the Bridgewater canal lock joins the Manchester Ship Canal (Lock 3) we dropped down to walk along what was the bustling Pomona Docklands area. On the North side of the water much redevelopment has taken place but on the south side only dereliction remains. A footpath of sorts was constructed a while ago with decent stone and fencing but has lapsed into decay. The path terminates at dock 3 where a bit of a muddy scramble up an embankment brought us back to what used to be a dockland service road. The skies were looking ominous and i though we would get a down pour but it held off.

Much work has been done around this Pomona area to fence people out but not enough to actual stop them properly and so the old service roads are still used by walkers, joggers and dog walkers. Some actual ground works seem to have started at the Manchester end. The land is owned by Peel Holdings, Network Rail and GMPT. The area is a real mess with much fly tipping and the like so it will be interesting to see over the next few months whether they make it a park land for the people or will it be more financial. Knowing Peel Holdings background i doubt it will be park.

Coincidentally i read that in 2011 the Greater Manchester Ecological Unit did a survey of the Pomona area. They suggested that the site should be considered as a site of Biological Importance. For nature conservation. However, in January of 2011 90% of the trees and vegetation on the site was removed by the owners and so rendered the survey moot. Nuff said. (Info from here.)

It has been many years since i had walked along this short section of canal and it was good to see that the old Woden Street footbridge (built in 1873) is still standing. This is more widely known as Mark Addy bridge and the original rather than the new one which passes above the Mark Addy pub in the city centre. This is the point where the River Irwell and the Ship canal combine and where you can see the River Medlock join.

This area was also the site of where The Ordsall Beach was going to be. A tongue in cheek story of giving the land back to the people of Salford. They called the bridge Ha’penny bridge. Was it once a toll bridge i wonder?

Leaving the canal beyond the viaducts of Rochdale Canal Lock 1, we walked through Manchester’s Roman History in Castlefield, another area where intentions we well meant but have not really taken off. The area is well supplied with food and drink but still shows industrial tiredness. The building work of the massive viaducts and the cast iron bridges are magnificent and need to kept in good order. Lots of people were taking photographs rather than just passing snaps like us.

Across Manchester we made it to This and That curry house where Sheila joined us and we had a very nice mixed curry.

 New builds on the North Shore. Manchester Ship Canal Exchange Quay.

 View down towards Pomona Docks. Manchester Ship Canal.

 Ominous skies at Pomona No. 3 dock.

 The graffiti along this wall covers the names and plaques of all the mill which used to be here.

 Approaching Woden street Bridge, 

 Walking into Castlefield, Manchester

Birds Merchant Bridge with the old Whitby Bridge behind and the ugly Beetham Tower hotel.

Martin B’s blog post is here with more images.

Twinned with Ecco Biom Terrains

A little while after the 2014 TGO Challenge. (seems ages ago now) I swapped my Merrell Chameleon 5 boots for a pair of Ecco La Paz boots. This was my first pair of Ecco footware.

They were very comfortable, light weight and waterproof. So much so that i more or less wore them daily and not just for hiking in. I was asked about them on numerous occasions and had drafted together a blog post about their attributes. Unfortunately as i was about to make the post public Ecco discontinued them and so my blog post was made redundant.

They are still in very good condition today and i am pleased to say that they are still waterproof and pong only very slightly, so whatever anti bacterial compound they used has worked well. I have enjoyed wearing them very much and would have bought another pair.
What i find annoying is that companies have to tinker with products that are first class.

The nearest boot in the Ecco range today are the Ulterra.

I wasn’t in need of changing my boots at this present time but Sheila was as her new Merrells were leaking like sieves within only a few weeks. Very disappointed and that saw off the Merrell challenge.

So i was pleased to see that Rohan had now started selling Ecco boots although not the whole range. It is also ironic that just as they started selling them, Ecco opened its first store in Manchester only a few hundred metres away. I checked out the store and everything was full RRP, the Biom Terrains being £170. Not for me i thought.

A couple of weeks later and we now both have a pair of them, bought from Rohan at the sale price of £114.50.

His and Hers Ecco Biom Terrain. From Rohan.

Now i just have to get over this bought of man flu to give them a try. I had a flu jab in October which i must say has worked well for me over the last few years. This time i have all the symptoms of flu without it fully knocking me for six. I feel lousy and weak but not debilitated.

I will do my review of them before they get discontinued.

Another local walk. 12km

Well it snowed here on Saturday night which is a first for us this winter. It wasn’t much, maybe 2-3 inches. It looked wonderful and gave us the impetus to get up and get out before the melt happened.
The land is so warm we knew it wouldn’t be around for long.

It was quite slippery under the snow as the evening before saw temperatures fall to -3C so treading carefully was necessary.

A group of runners passed us as we made our way up to the watershed, moving quite gingerly. I think i would have worn spikes.

We had layered up expecting it to be a touch chilly but it was warm and windless. Around 0C. Once at the top of our local hill which is a massive 222 metres high the views were good. Walking through the woods is always a pleasure with the sunlight filtering through the trees and plenty of children made use of the slopes for sledging.

So here are a few photo’s of our walk.

A short bimble-locally.

 Sheila sporting the jacket she got off ebay for £0.01p. Honestly.

 Rochdale canal lock 58.

 Unusual fungi - Tandle Hill Park.

The path is here somewhere.

Tent Pegs for Scotland and other soggy places.

As anyone who is used to backpacking in Scotland knows, the weather can be pretty dreadful. The wind and rain can be fierce and snow is not unusual. I am thinking of May and June let alone December, January and February.
Pitching a tent on soggy ground, tussocks, peat and heather to name but some of the culprits is challenging to say the least.
My upcoming trip to backpack Scotland in May had me thinking about “the what if’s”. Be prepared i thought and i have been thinking of some fancy alternative methods of  keeping the tent grounded.

Numerous sketches have been drawn and discarded of all sorts of fancy regalia. My mind was wandering to methods so ridiculous that i daren't even list them here.

As it was just a simple tent peg is was trying to change that would cope with soft, boggy ground, i decided upon a cheap and cheerful upgrade that wouldn’t weigh to much, fit in my pack and would be cheap and pretty easy to make.

So here is my peg which should give me a decent nights sleep in the wilds.

The bottom peg is a standard “Y” aluminium extrusion that is provided with lots of backpacking tents and very good they are too.
The top peg is my “T” section Big Daddy peg.
I thought a “T” section would give the peg more resistance to being pulled inboard than the “Y” section. The extra length hopefully would be able to reach some firmer ground. The additional pull chord is necessary to remove the peg.

I am taking two of these pegs with me as i think two will /should provide the extra support i may need.
My peg weighs 36 grams. Not too bad. The alternative material titanium is too difficult to work with in my shed. I just don’t have the toolage to work with titanium so ally it has to be. The cross section is 15mm x 15mm and 1.5mm wall thickness.

So i got to thinking that some readers may fancy this peg, but don’t have the facility or time to make them for themselves. As far as i can tell, these pegs are not available off the shelf.
If anyone wants a couple then i can make some for £3.50 each. Plus Postage and packing.
Or you can make them yourselves.

Merry Christmas Everybody.

Thanks very much to all readers of the blog during 2015. Especially those who have commented and made it a better place. I hope it has provided useful information about outdoor product especially from small UK companies as well as a few places of interest to enjoy a walk.
For us it’s been a quiet year in comparison to other years but hopefully 2016 will be a good one.
Many thanks to Graham Brookes for the tractor Christmas card.

Sunrise to Sunset

The A515 between Buxton and Ashbourne is a great road to witness a sunrise. Its blinding.
We were here nice and early for our Christmas walk and lunch with Martin and Sue and too many others to mention in this sentence.
It was decided that we would have breakfast in the cafe in Hartington and upon arrival at 8.50am found that it was closed. The sign on the door pointed out that it was not open until Monday. Strange that a cafe doesn’t open on the day that i would guess is the busiest. Oh well, their loss, and ours.

Apart from a bit of a chilly breeze the day was quite balmy with huge clear blue skies. On other occasions we have been here at this time of year deep in snow with impassable roads. So please India, Russia and China keep belching out the CO2’s. It’s heart warming.

At assembly in the lay bye i think we counted 28 souls and 1 dog. Motorists passing would be forgiven for thinking there was a Marks and Spencers on the other side of the hedge. And then we were off, the huge gradient onto the Tissington Way easy conquered. The first of many “meanders" quickly overcome as we made our slippery way off the old railway line and down to the River Dove just shy of Milldale. A few bottoms got muddy on the descent. No group photo?

Once down by the river the breeze disappeared, the sun was shinning and the layers were removed. What a glorious day.
As with all group walks chatting is the main event. Good to catch up with Mick and Gayle as always and we hope you enjoy whatever Spain offers you. Have a great trip and don’t forget the sun cream for Colin.

We met Heather for the first time, TGO Challenger and all round good egg. Along with Rowan or Rohan, the dog. What a lovely companion.

The scenery along the Dove is wonderful although it was obvious that the wind had been fierce here during the past few weeks. Numerous trees were down and lots of logs had been cut and piled for removal.

Just before Biggin Dale we stopped for a compulsory coffee and brownie distribution. This has to be undertaken to ensure that the Mountain Rescue are not required. It was quite a leisurely brew stop and one could tell that it had been much rehearsed in the past.
Sadly, we had to resume leg bashing but unfortunately Gayle had forgotten how they were supposed to work and decided it was far better to test the cushioning on the bottom of her new trousers. Mick dashed to help, not.

Just a little disappointed that we had not been in snow and sleet and torrential rain we made it to the sanctuary of Hartington. There were no complaints, no one got lost, no lost equipment and funnily folk were still laughing. Some Christmas do this i thought, Bah Humbug.

The Lunch was booked and food pre-ordered at the Charles Cotton Hotel and that’s enough said about that. No point in telling you how good it was, because, well it wasn’t.
Martin’s quiz was as good as ever considering that they only got back from Patagonia a couple of days ago. And as it happens, the Bah Humbug team won the prize with 24 1/2 points from a possible 30.
Considering that Sheila and I usually avoid quiz’s like the plague, it was good fun. Well done the A team. The choccy’s kept us going on the return leg.

Martin was left to pay the bill and the rest did a runner just in case they remembered that we had had no boiled potatoes and that the food had not been heated, that we did have an appetite, that vegetarians don’t like ham and that fish doesn’t take as long to cook as turkey, that sprouts don’t get mashed with bacon because again it doesn’t go down well with veggies and seasoning is required, that mince pies need cream and well i could go on……..

It started to rain, just a little and not for very long. The hills behind us disappeared and the sky in front was looking ominous. A couple more meanders took place and Martin caught up. There was no swearing, there was no mention of food, for the whole of the return trip. I assumed why not.

We saw a tractor, a nice new MF, well it would be rude not to wouldn’t it.

As evening closed in the sky partially cleared to allow the sun to set spectacularly. Fortunately with such a clear sky we didn’t need head torches to find our way back along the Tissington Trail. Timing was perfect and farewell’s made, the darkness closed in and we were away.

Once again we had a wonderful time and met new people. Thanks Martin and Sue and everyone else.

 Sunrise

Note. No filters or editing software used on the sunsets. Thats how it was. Honest.