Sunshine has been in very short supply of late and it seems a while back in November when the sun came out to any meaningful degree.
A frosty day back in early November and me and TBF were out and about to make the most of a glorious morning.
A circuit of the Grwyne Fawr valley in the Black Mountains. The autumn colours on the trees as we set off was magnificent.
I think this is the first time I’ve walked this route at this time of year so it was a delight to see it in full technicolor glory.
My O/S mapping wasn’t working properly so I crossed the river a bridge too soon and the boggy walk through the forest was not ideal. With views like this it didn’t matter too much.
Onwards and out onto the open fell and the only real ascent of the day onto Pen y Gadair Fawr.
Fabulous, crystal clear views all around.
TBF joins me on the summit.
A view south over towards the Sugar Loaf, Bristol Channel glinting in the distance
Summit panorama looking westwards towards the Brecon Beacons.
Waun Fach, the highest if not the most impressive of the Black Mountains summits. Pen y Gadair Fawr is by far the more impressive peak and looks higher from everywhere else than Waun Fach itself.
Zoom shot over to the Brecon Beacons.
And another panorama, this time looking east.
They’ve done some superb work up here on the summit plateau. What was once peat hags, black soil and soggy bog is now wavy grass with an excellent path. Easy going over what was once a really wet and tiresome stretch. Always good to seen the ponies as well.
Looking back to Pen y Gadair Fawr and its more distinctive summit.
We didn’t linger on Waun Fach and instead pressed on looking for a decent lunch stop.
I think you can agree this one was a bit of a cracker.
The clarity of the air was amazing and we could see for miles. The clouds hanging over the mountains making fro some dramatic effects.
Always pleases me to take a stop in this area with a view to my very first mountain, Mynydd Troed.
Suitably refreshed and relaxed we moved on. Fine views along the Dragons Back ridge of Y Grib, a route I’ve not done for quite a while.
The clouds that had created such fine views earlier raced across and obscured the blue skies from earlier, heralding the next spell of wet weather that arrived the following day.
It stayed dry for us though. We took in a stop just by the reservoir dam for second lunch. A great little spot overlooking the Grwyne Fawr valley.
A fine stroll along the easy path above the valley and back to the car to finish the day.
Our regular weekend away in Manchester to take in a football game, a few beers and a curry. Despite the dreary wet weather, the beers were excellent, the football result delivered a 6-1 win and the curry was as always superb.
The Sunday was looking good for a walk especially with a fine blue sky view over the city-scape of Manchester from outside UF’s house.
UF had a plan (a very good plan as it turned out) for a Peak District walk from Pym Chair. Sadly when we arrived it was cold, windy and the blue skies had been replaced with dense cloud. We headed down Foxlow ridge towards the Goyt Valley completely enveloped fog. UF had said this was a fine ridge so it was a little disappointing.
As we dropped down towards the lake we started to emerge from the cloud and were treated to a little blue sky and sunshine. Things were on the up again.
We walked initially along the banks of the Errwood Reservoir.
And then into the narrow valley of the Goyt River. I’ve not walked in the Goyt Valley since my university days and never along this stretch. I have to say it was an excellent route.
Just before we emerged onto the open moor we found a nice sheltered spot for first lunch.
When we did emerge onto said open moor we were treated to spell of cold rain, not what the Doctor any any other medical professional ordered.
At least the cloud base was lifting so we still had some views, albeit damp ones.
As we approached our goal for the day we weren’t hopeful for a view from the top.
However was we climbed the cloud lifted and the rain stopped.
And as we arrived on the summit we had some pretty decent all round views. Decent for what has been a pretty dreary autumn and early winter at least.
Shining Tor is one of the highest points of the Peak District. Last time I was up here was, as I say, in university days. Me and EWO cycled from home into Manchester, caught a train to Macclesfield, walked over the moors, including Shining Tor, to Buxton, caught another train back to Manchester and cycled home. One of my favourite walks from those happier, simpler times.
Views towards Macclesfield Forest and Shutlingsloe – the White Peak Matterhorn.
It wasn’t a day to be lingering so we pushed on back towards the car. Its a fine ridge over Cats Tor on an excellent slabbed path.
The walk was greatly enhanced by a very friendly Springer Spaniel who seemed to adopt me as I passed by, following me down the path and bouncing around trying to get me to play and throw things for him. He steadfastly refused to return to his owner, despite her efforts. She kept apologising to me but it was wonderful to have a dog for company on walk again even for a very short time. We managed to catch him eventually and put him back on his lead.
We had some excellent views over the Greater Manchester conurbation as we finished our walk.
We had second lunch and a cuppa back at the car after which we waved goodbye to UF, returned The Prof back to Crewe for his train home to Liverpool and me to head back to the family. Top weekend.
Now that the Prof has a nice and spacious apartment in Liverpool we had weekends planned up there to see him and more exploration of Liverpool.
Kicking things off with a Friday meal when we arrived in an excellent and friendly little Chicken Restaurant round the corner.
On our first day we were joined by UF for a tour of the sights. Starting off with the amazing Central Library. Its a wonderful place to spend an hour perusing the books and the magnificent setting.
Onwards to the Anglican Cathedral.
From the outside on a cloudy day its quite an austere and imposing building. Inside its just magnificent.
I was surprised to learn that its actually not very old. It was only finished in 1978 and is the fifth largest cathedral in the world. The much more modern looking catholic cathedral is actually older!
The main stained glass window was mighty impressive. We spent a very happy hour wandering its cavernous interior. Its very much worth a visit.
Thirsty work so we retired to one of Liverpool’s most famous pubs, The Philharmonic where we were lucky to bag a table. The Gents toilets are something to behold, amazingly elaborate tiled walls and urinals! I decided it wasn’t appropriate to be taking photos in there.
A walk across town through a heavy shower to the Royal Albert Dock.
A great example of what a few spare quid can do for a run down area of docks and warehouses.
A glimpse of the Royal Liver and Port of Liverpool Buildings.
It looks stunning when the sun comes out.
Or with a rainbow to set the scene.
Across the Mersey to Birkenhead.
We finished our day’s wandering with a look at the Royal Liver Building (I’ve since been told by the Prof’s better half that you can do tours of the building that includes a visit to the roof and tower, so that’s on the list for next time)
And the Port of Liverpool Building.
Next day, after a very hearty breakfast (Black Pudding and Corn Fritter Stack with Cheese and Chorizo if you’re interested), we took a walk around Sefton Park, including a visit to the rather wonderful Palm House.
A nice warm space to look at tropical flowers and all free!
These flowers looked nice but don’t ask me what they are.
The photos don’t really do justice to it.
Well worth seeking out.
The rest of Sefton Park is equally fine on a sunny morning. We took a long walk around the boating lake/duck pond.
I’m a huge fan of urban parks when they are this well done and laid out.
After we returned home for a bit of a chill out, we managed another walk down to Crosby beach.
The weather was on the turn and the blue skies were replaced with threatening rain clouds.
The clocks had gone back the night before so the sun was setting, reminding us it was time to head back before that depressing early finish to the day.
As it was half term and TJF had a day off we stayed an extra day on the Monday. The Funsters went shopping while I worked from the Prof’s flat. I took advantage of his new found and fine location to take my hours daily exercise with a walk on the beach and around the Marine Lake.
I’m immensely jealous of the Prof having this on his doorstep for a beach stroll whenever he wants. A fine weekend and the first of many more we hope.
Mid-October now means a regular visit to the Lancaster Music Festival. A cracking event with a really diverse range of music and all of it free!
Over the past few years we’ve been fine tuning the approach and this year we made the best effort yet to see as much music as we could. We saw everything from Ska/Mod bands, a wonderful jazz piano/singer through to a classical pianist.
Highlight – for me anyway – is the Uptown Monotones. An Austrian band whose music is hard to categorise. This time the highlight was enhanced by them playing in Lancaster Priory. The acoustics were amazing. To start with I think there was a reticence to dance, with it being a church and all but after a couple of songs pretty much everyone was dancing in aisles and pews.
We’d travelled in by train and the return journey somewhat enlivened by our friends from Northern Rail. We’d checked times and noted the last train of the evening had been cancelled so we caught an earlier one (after a pint in the excellent Tite and Locke pub on one of the platforms). The train eventually arrived about 20 minutes late (after some worrying messages that it might not turn up at all) and was just a two carriage affair that was already packed. Apparently its a regular thing for the folks of Barrow to head to Lancaster and Preston for a night out (if you’ve ever been to Barrow you’d understand why) and we were in the mad and happy party vibe of returning (and drunk) revellers. All very good natured. No idea what happened to the poor souls who would have turned up for the last train to find it cancelled. British Public Transport is a sorry affair and Northern Rail are one of the worst of a bad lot.
Anyway, the day after was an absolute corker. Cloudless blue skies and warm-ish sunshine. Obviously time for the classic coastal walk from Silverdale to Arnside and back over Arnside Knott.
TBH enjoying the sunshine.
This is probably my most walked route outside of home area and its just wonderful pretty much every step.
Happy Hikers.
It was a breezy day. The warm sunshine of the previous weekend at Llyn Brianne and its wild swimming, a distant memory.
The boats on the Kent making a fitting foreground.
Arnside is a very handily placed at the halfway point and we were lucky enough to score up a table at the excellent Sandpiper Cafe (at least I think that’s what its called, I’m sure Mark will correct me if not!). Soup and warm cheese scone – lush!
Needing to shed the scone carbs it was time for the 500 foot climb to the top of the Knott. Panorama over the Kent Estuary towards the eastern Lakes.
Zoom shot of the Coniston Fells.
As I always recount when I write about this walk, it has stupendous views and is one of my favourite small hills.
Around to the other side to another favourite spot overlooking Silverdale and Morecambe Bay.
Time for a cuppa.
Its not a long walk but when you nattering to good friends (and eating in cafes) the time pushes on and the sun was setting.
Back to Silverdale via Arnside Tower.
Another grand weekend of Music and Sunshine. Big thanks as always to the Silverdale Massive for hosting us and letting us use their facilities and eat all their food.
I spend alot of my time surfing the web looking for ideas on places to go, walking routes, travel ideas and tips to plan the perfect holiday or day out. (I'm a project manager I like to plan). I thought it was time to share my own experiences and contribute to the vast amounts in information that's already out there.
I'll also add in some gear and tech reviews and when something irks me I may even use this forum to have a rant - I do that pretty well I'm told.There are a few pages at the top that give a bit of background to what I like to get up to and what you can expect to see in my posts. I'm not exactly a creative writer but I hope some people will find my stuff useful or inpsiring or at least enjoy some of my photos.
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