Get Together

Saturday 12 February 

Valentine's Quiz Evening

A get together with a chance to dress up! A contribution supper with more than enough food, heart shaped starters, heart shaped candle for the table, lots of meat and fabulous pork crackling, black forest trifle (umm, umm, umm), lovely fruit to finish and heart shaped chocolates on a heart shaped dish. 

Excellent food. 

Quiz, lots of questions, pictures and music - Tracey won!

Knutsford

Saturday 22 January 6 miles
Hilary, Donna, Tracey

Cake and tea at Jane's.

Murder Mystery Christmas Meal

Saturday 18 December

We wanted to do something near home so we could walk to and from the venue.

We decided to try The Sandhurst Hotel, and as they were offering a Murder Mystery Evening we decided to give it a go!

It was a really cold evening, the weather had been cold and snowy so it was just as well we chose somewhere close to home. We all wore our outdoor shoes or wellies, so we wouldn't be slipping and sliding . We went to Donna and Martin's first and started the drinking.

I wasn't sure what to expect but I enjoyed the meal. Rowena only seemed to have one gravy boat! She pour out the gravy and rush back to the kitchen for more gravy.

A memorable occasion

There was plenty of talk and acting, lots of questions to ask of the actors. We didn't score brilliantly in the first two rounds, but we scored nothing in the last round when there were hundreds of points to be gained, in fact managed to get the worst marks!!! John's answer, 'He was bludgeoned to death by the guitar because of his poor fingering techniques' was so totally wrong that it gave every one a laugh.

No coffee! Surely there should be coffee to end the meal. In fact Rowena 'Doesn't do coffee' - so we went to Hilary's and Ian's.

Brereton Green and Brereton Heath

Saturday 4 December 5 miles
Hilary, Tracey and Jane

The weather had been pretty bad so we weren't sure if we would manage a walk. We parked by the Bear's Head in Brereton.

Some snow on the ground, there was a little girl on a sledge being pulled along by her parents.

We looked around the outside of the church, St. Oswald's, it wasn't open. There were some big trees in the grounds. At the churchyard gate is an 18th century mounting block.

There were not many places to to sit and have lunch. We found a dip in the landscape with a little shelter from the breeze. We could feel the rain a little in the air.

Went to Tracey's for tea and cake.

Ambleside

Saturday 2 
Donna, Tracey, Hilary and Jane

We got up early and travelled up to the Lake District.  We found the hostel and managed to park the car around the corner. 

We put on our boots and started the walk.

We walked to the top of Wansfell Pike (486.1 m 1595 ft), there were fantastic views but was a bit windy

We had lunch sitting in the lee of a wall on our way down.

Continued all the way down the hill, started walking along the road, and then I decided to take a picture of the pretty countryside but then realised that I had left the phone back near the top of the hill. So we started to walk back up the hill. We all walked part way up the hill and sat at a corner in the path on some grass. Hilary started to run up the hill, I followed. fortunately the phone was still there just where I left it!

We managed to book a table at a local restaurant on our way home to the hostel. We went and got changed and we all had the special - lamb
Hilary couldn't bear to see any meat left so ate any meat off everyone's lamb bones.

Back at the hostel looked at the games - Connect 4 was what we chose - had fun.

Sunday 3
It was raining on Sunday, so had a wander around Ambleside looking in the shops, we all bought a pair of waterproof gloves.

Bollington to Adlington

Saturday 28 August 7miles
Jane, Hilary, Tracey

We woke to sunshine, so I hoped that we would have a clear day, it didn't last. As soon as we got in the car the cloud covered the sky and as we travelled towards Macclesfield it was obvious that we were going towards the cloud and rain. I also managed to forget the map!!! We got to Holmes Chapel when I remembered. So we had to turn around. Not an auspicious start.

The instructions for this walk were from the internet and I would definitely say that they were not very good.

We lost our way a number of times the worst section was on the moor - we went too far!!
It then rained really hard - of course we were not wearing our waterproofs. Tracey noticed some shrubs so we sheltered a little.

Walking along the canal at the end we lost confidence as we were going into what looked like countryside. We turned around and came down some very steep steps to the main road. We walked along the road until we found the Middlewood Way, then we walked along it back to the car - we realised that the walk on the canal ran alongside the Middlewood Way and there are a lot of trees.

It took us all day to do this walk.

Tea and cake at Donna's house - lovely

Withnell Fold, nr Chorley, Lancs

Saturday 24 July 7.25 miles
Tracey, Hilary, Jane

The weather hadn't been up to much during the week so we weren't sure what would greet us. But we were ok - it was quite bright in the morning.

Cobbles, countryside and canal, motorway, railway and river.

An excellent and varied walk!

Withnell - cobbles
Views over the countryside, plus through a wood and over a brook.
M65 - bridge over, canal under
River Darwen - ducks ducks and more ducks!
Railway line - viaduct with huge piers.
Leeds and Liverpool Canal - lots of bicycles.

We went wrong a few times - the directions were not brilliantly clear, so we must have done bit more than the 7.25 miles of the walk.

The cloud came in as we got back to the car - in fact the drizzle started. As we drove away there was no view over the fields.

Went to the Pub, The Boat Yard, which we had passed on the walk and had a drink and cake/tart

A walk from Acton Bridge

Saturday June 26

Donna, Hilary, Jane, Tracey

We parked the car at the Maypole in Acton Bridge, then walked to the the swing bridge and joined the river, there were people rowing on the river (possibly from the Grange).

River Weaver - There were quite a few boats on the river.
The river was covered in algae especially near the locks.

The Dutton locks are huge - there was a boat coming through, the lock keeper waited for us to cross over before opening the gates.

The Dutton viaduct over the Weaver is a long row of arches.

Sat on the verge under some trees for lunch - it was quite a warm day.

Tracey bitten by flies, not good as she had put repellent on!

We were ready for a drink when we got back to the pub. We had a drink, tart and icecream.

Get Together

Saturday 12 June 

BBQ at Donna and Martin's House We managed to sit outside all evening! It was a bit chilly, but Donna and Martin kept feeding the chimenea to add some warmth, we also had blankets. The television was on in the conservatory so that we could keep up with the England v. USA match.

Hilary's Walk

Saturday 22 May
Hilary, Donna and Tracey

A very HOT day!! Needed sunblock today.

Met at Carol's for a cup of tea. Hilary managed to embarrass Tracey by saying she was snoring in the car! Jane joined them as well.

Ridgegate to Croker Hill

Saturday April 17
7 miles (11 km) OS Explorer Map 268
Ridgegate to Croker Hill, near Shutlingsloe. 7 miles

There a bit of a cold wind across the ridge but managed to find a sheltered place behind a wall near the transmission tower to have our lunch. We got a bit too comfortable as the sun was very pleasant. The view over the hills of the Peak District were good. There were lambs in the fields, we even saw black lambs, some of them were very small.

We saw a foal with its mother.

Stopped again, we lay in a field and soaked up the rays. It turned out that we caught too much sun, the first really sunny day and we weren't properly prepared!

We had a drink at the Leather’s Smithy pub. We scraped lichen off the table!

Called in at Carol's and sat outside and had a chat.

Wybunbury

Saturday 20 March 7.5 miles (12km)
Explorer 257 Crewe and Nantwich
Carol, Tracey, Hilary

The day didn't start well - very grey and rainy!

Dagfields Craft Centre for a drink.