Clarke Chronicler's Resurrection

 As   the  weather  was  pretty poor, I  decided on  a dual filming  trip. We  would  go into Manchester  and  have  lunch at  Parmogeddon, New Century Food Court then  go on to the  Dragon Miniature  Railway at  Marple. As  we  arrived in Manchester too early for  lunch, we did  some  shopping  at Primark and  Fopp before going on to Parmogeddon. The  video  we  filmed  there will appear here in due  course. We then caught a  tram to Piccadilly. The  next  train to Rose Hill was  cancelled  but  they  allowed us on  a  train  to Marple  instead  and  we took the bus from there  to  Dooley  Lane. We  walked  the  rest  of  the  way  to  the  railway. The  video  we  filmed  can  be ...

 This  was  Simon's  choice  of  trip, a  visit  to the Lancashire Mining Museum near Astley Green. I  was  hoping  the  miniature  railway  there  would  be  running but  it 's  only  the  last  Sunday  of  the  month that  it  runs. Nevertheless the rest of the museum was  open to look around. We  started out  watching  a  film  in  the  visitor  centre. The centrepiece of the  museum is  the  preserved  head  gear. One  of  the  attendants  told  me  it  was  a  listed  structure  and  not  even  they  were  allowed  to  climb  it. We  moved  into  the  Engine House. Simon opted for  the  Tunnel Experience. He  emerged  unscathed. We  liked...

 As  the  forecast  was  decent, I  chose a continuation of  our  stations  walk. We  drove  to  Healey  Corner where  we  had  a  brief  refreshment  break at a sandwich shop  before  setting  off. We  headed  up  Ending  Rake  with  its  unusual  archway. We  soon got our  first view  of  distant  Littleborough. We  walked along the embankment of the  disused Brown House  Wham Reservoir. We  walked through the  fields  and  past  one  or  two  farms into  Wardle village. The  rest  of  the  walk was  very  familiar  territory  for  me. We  walked along  Pedlar  Brow Lane  towards  Littleborough. We  then  ascended the  Hundred  Steps to  the  top  of...

 This  wasn't  the  greatest trip of  the  year. Simon  chose to finish  off  filming the river Medlock so  we  went  for  the  train to Manchester. It  was  delayed by  three quarters  of  an hour  so  we  drove  to  Radcliffe instead and  caught  the  Metrolink into Manchester. We  had  already  decided  to  start  filming  a  new video  series on  eating  in  Manchester so  we  went  to  The  Beer House  at  Victoria  Station. A  cop  policing  the  Arena  warned  us  about  filming  on  the  concourse  but  nobody  bothered us  inside  the  pub. The  video we filmed can be seen here. After  we'd  finished  we  caught  the  tram  ...

 As  the  weather forecast was good, I  decided we  would continue  our  walk  between the stations. As  Simon  had  a  concert that  evening,  I  wasn't going  to  push him  too  hard  and  finish when he'd had enough. We  drove to Norden  and  parked  up  there. We  took a  lane  and  then  path up to Greenbooth Reservoir. Simon  loved  the  view over to Manchester from the dam. The  scenery  just got better as we walked above the reservoir. We  walked  across the moor to Lane Head and got a good view of Rochdale below. We  passed a welcoming sign. We  dropped down Rooley Moor Road  to  Lane  Head. We moved through Broadley Fold and  had  a  rest  stop  by  this  fishing lake. Nearby  was  this  ancient  cherry  tr...

 There wasn't much doubt Simon would choose this option when I put it on the "menu" . We caught the train  to  Stockport , making the last  leg of the  journey on a Pendolino train. We  had  lunch at a Wetherspoon's before making our way  to the  record  fair  in  the  Guildhall. It  looked like a  failed mission but Simon found  something at the last minute. We  called in at  the  War  Memorial Art Gallery  which  was  on  the  way  back to  the  station. The  exhibit was  a  sries  of  townscapes  such  as  this  one  of  the  viaduct. The  war  memorial itself  takes  centre  stage  in  the  building. Simon liked this  one. Pity she  was a Stockport fan. This  was  the  view  to  the  town hall from the steps...

 This  was  my  choice , to  visit  the  most  accessible  castle still  to  feature  on  our  playlist. We  caught  the  train  to  Burneside  via Blackburn and Preston. From  the  station, we  walked to Burneside  Hall. The  video we filmed can be seen  here  ( Branthwaite  Hall  was  from  another occasion).  After we'd finished  filming, we  went  for  some lunch. We  noted a  community food  bank near the bus stop with a less  than inspiring  range  of  items. We  then walked up  the  main street  to  a  chip  shop. We  had an excellent  lunch  there. It  was  just  about  warm  enough to eat  outside. From  Burneside we  walked to  Kendal  alongside  the  river...