Clarke Chronicler's Resurrection

 This  was  Simon's  choice, ostensibly to see  an  exhibition  called Origin at Dunham Massey  which we'd skirted on the last Bridgewater Canal Walk. Because  the  bus  service from Altrincham was two-hourly it  required some  careful planning but  firstly  our  train into Manchester was  delayed  then there was a delay on the Metrolink so we needed  a  real  sprint to catch the bus in Altrincham. Fortunately we made it. We  made  our  way down a drive from the bus  stop and  headed for the ticket office. We saw our first pair of deer  near the lawn outside it. We  then walked by the lake to the house. We  noted this  500  year old oak tree. Simon snapped something nearly  as fossilised. We passed this  lovely  willow sculpture on the way. Inside  the  house it  was  interesying  but  very...

 We  returned to Didsbury for another filming trip to the river Mersey there. We drove to Radcliffe  where we found there were no trams so had to wait for a replacement bus to Crumpsall which set us back a bit. By the time we got to East Didsbury it was starting to rain so we had a light lunch at KFC  first. We had some showers  but were able to film. The footage we shot will appear here in due course.  We came off the river at West Didssbury and walked  to the tram stop. We  then went to Hard Rock Cafe for a meal. The  footage we shot there will apear here in due  course. We  then caught the tram/bus back to Radcliffe.

 Simon chose to continue our walk along  the  towpath of The Bridgewater Canal. We drove  to Radcliffe for the tram to Timperley. When we got there, Simon wanted to stop at the cafe attached to the tram stop for something  to  eat.  I just had some toast  but Simon had a big helping of salt and pepper fries  which he couldn't finish so we took some home in a doggy box. We  rejoined  the  towath in pretty  urban  surroundings. We  were  both struck by  these  apartment  buildings  shaped like  ships. The  more  conventional architecture of the old linotype works was also striking. We  saw some rowers at the edge of Altrincham. The canal took a turn to the right and  instantly became more rural It  wasn't long before we started to see evidence of the  breach of New Year's Day. At  Dunham we came to the point where the  towpath has been closed for...

 This  was  a  trip  to start  the  river  Mersey and  then get a meal at Wagamama, filming both for our YouTube channel. We caught  the  train to Stockport  and  walked down to the start of the river Mersey. Simon was pleased someone complimented him on his cowboy hat. The  footage we shot of  the  Mersey will appear here in due course. We fnished at East Didsbury and walked to the station. We had a wait for the train so went to Costa in the nearby Tesco's  for a drink. Once back in Manchester we went for tea at Wagamama's. The footage we shot can be seen here. We then went home.

 Simon chose to visit  some more trig points for our video  series.  We  started  in  Bury  at  the  one  near  Hercules  Farm but  had  to  film  from the roadside  as  it  sits on private land. We  then  drove  to Cheesden Brook on the A680 between Edenfield and Rochdale. That's when I realised  my boots were not in the  car  so  had  to  do  the  walk to Harden Moor's  trig point  in trainers. We  had  lunch at the Corner Shop in Stubbins then drove to Clough Head Visitor Centre. We parked there and walked  across to the trig point on Rushy Hill. We  called at  Holden's in Edgworth for some ice cream on the way back.. The  videos we filmed are here .

 This  was  my  choice, a  continuation  of our  walk between the Greater Manchester stations. Ostensibly we  were  walking to Greenfield although we were always  likely to finish in Denshaw. We  caught  the train to Littleborough where I saw  my old friend Dave Grayson  outside  the  local history centre and  we  had  a  quick chat. We  then went  to  the  Co-Op for  some  provisions. We went  up  the  Ealees Valley and on towards Whittaker  where  I  pointed out the view towards Hollingworth Lake.  We  went  past  the  now derelict and  crumbling St Hilda's Chapel and looked back to the lake and Knowl Hill We  dropped down to the road at Rakewood  and  proceeded up  the  Longden End valley under  the  M62 viaduct. We  made  the  rough  passage...

 We were pretty constrained by football and other commitments for  this  day so decided to do  a country park video at  Hollingworth Lake, have  another boat ride on  the  lake then  go to Rochdale's  last  home  game  of  the EFL season against Hartlepool. We had an enjoyable meal at the Visitor Centre. The  video we  filmed will  appear here in due course. Rochdale won 5-1  and  guaranteed our place in the play-offs.