Get Together

Saturday 18 December 2021

A Christmas get together at Il Padrino in Middlewich. 

Lots of food and drink, and our host was very chatty.

Goostrey

Saturday 13 November about 5 miles

Carol, Donna + Hilary

A lovely walk around Goostrey. The weather was warm and calm with sunny intervals. 

It was lovely to see the sunshine on the golden leaves. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tea and cake at Goostrey Home and Leisure.

Lower Withington

Saturday 16 October 6 miles

Donna, Jane and Hilary 

A cool morning left us wondering if we had put on enough clothes. It was a bit cloudy and there was a cool wind.

Donna had chosen a walk that she had done before. It was a walk that Tracey had done previously and Donna had enjoyed it so much that she had asked Tracey if she could have a copy of the walk so Tracey gave her the printed walk.

Parking in a layby at Lower Withington was easy, there was plenty of room. We walked along the road a little, crossed the road and passed by the footpath sign between the bungalows. The path led us behind the houses, then opened out to fields that had been split up into smaller areas which fenced off the horses.

We continued along the lane which became a track going passed a couple of farms. We liked the look of the old farmhouse, and.Donna noticed that the roof of the shed at the back of the feild had fallen in. We found the gap in the hedge and then had to pass through some very tall corn. Fortunately other people had walked the path so we found our way through the field. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The path was not obvious here so we got out the map, once we followed the edge of the trees we saw the stlie and followed the path onto the track, then joined the road and noticed a stile which once we had checked the map we needed to take to go across a field. The walk continued around a wood, across an open area and then we went around another wood. Here we met people with dogs, one dog was running free but returned to her owner when called, the owner kept hold of the the lead of the puppy whilst we passed by, but not tightly enough to keep it under control. 'It's only a puppy' was said!

When we had walked through the woods we came to a place where a notice that said the public footpath was to the left but we decided to go to the right, I think this is where we made a mistake.We actually walked back on ourselves without realising.

Lunch was eaten whilst sitting on a stile, of course a couple with a dog came to go over the stile, they kept hold of the dog until they crossed the stile, stating that we needed to keep our food out of the way. There was a very cool wind so we soon felt cold. Donna and I were sitting on either side of the stile and Hilary sat on the grass. As we walked across the field a wedge of geese flew overhead.

We came to a road and managed to work out where we were, the road signs told us that we were on Whitecroft Heath Road which turned into Catchpenny Lane at a sharp bend. We realised that we had obviously gone the wrong way. Looking at the map we found the right road, so we walked along Whitecroft Heath Road to find the path we should have been on. Near the corner was a gate on which Hilary noticed there was a no parking sign put there by Lymm Angling Club, and as we were nowhere near Lymm she thought that was a bit strange. Ironically, a bit further down the road a young man as us if we knew where Catchpenny Lane was and the angling club - so we were able to tell him to go further down the road. We didn't know where we were going though!

We found the lane we needed to take, but then we needed to take a detour, we went through a small section of woodland and straight across a number of fields back to the old farmhouse. There were plenty of cows in the fields munching on the lush green grass. We returned the way we came along the road, then the track and passed the horses again. Hilary fell for one the horses. Soon we were back to the car.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hilary suggested going to Bidlea Dairy, she thought there might be a cafe.So instead of having tea and cake we had icecream! Blackcurrant and liquorice, rum and raisin and butterscotch were the choices of the wonderful icecream. As we sat on the terrace area the sun slightly struggled out from behind the clouds. We had a lovely view of Jodrell Bank.

Winterley Walk

Saturday 24 September 5.5 miles

Jane, Tracey + Hilary

We woke to wet gardens and damp roads so it was not looking promising. Even on our journey to Winterley it was raining and Hilary hadn't brought a coat as the forecast she lokked at had said it was going to be warm, although the forecast I heard on the radio was for cloudy weather with showers and possible sunny breaks. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We parked at Winterley Pool, it was looking a bit grey. We started out wearing our coats as it was drizzly. (I happened to have a coat in the car that Hilary could wear.) it wasn't long before we took them off as it was quite warm and the rain stopped. and then we headed out into the countryside.

The path at Haslington Hall had been changed to go around the field instead of passed the hall the sign said there were building works going on. Then we headed towards the houses of Haslington and then away again around a field of corn.

We walked through a field of vegetables and got very wet as the rain droplets were still on the plants. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the golf course we walked around the edge of the driving range as suggested rather than through the middle where the right of way is. The walk showed a small extension that we were going to do but the council had put up a notice to say there was a problem with the bridge.

We walked by a lovely lake

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were getting to the end of the walk so we thought we had better have our lunch, so we sat under a tree. We could see the beehives along the edge of the field.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We stopped in Sandbach for tea and cake at Jenny's Cafe  and we had very large pieces of cake!

Beeston Castle Walk

Saturday 22 August 6 miles

Hilary, Donna, Tracey + Jane

The  weather was not promising first thing as it was drizzling. It was cloudy and a bit breezy at the beginning of the walk.

We parked on the side of the road near The Shady Oak pub. 

We did some walking on the road to start with away from the pub then joined the Sandstone Trail with lovely views of Beeston Castle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We crossed the Shropshire Union Canal canal and walked across the fields to the road and passed the entrance to Beeston Castle. We continued on the Sandstone Trail through the woods, then walked along the road around the base of the castle until we got to the sign for the Shady Oak and followed that road to the canal.

The sun had come out and we had our lunch sitting on a bench by the canal opposite the Shady Oak.

A lump of grass came floating under the bridge, some boats pushed through the grass sending it back towards the bridge, then another boat came under the bridge sending the grass the other way and passed us. Hilary wondered if it would hold a person, I suggested that she should try it, but she didn't - I wonder why not!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To make the walk a bit longer we walked down the canal to the A49 by Chas Hardern Boats, then we walked back. We could see the place where the canal had been repaired after a major breach of Shropshire Union Canal at Beeston was caused by heavy rains and floods from Storm Christoph. We noticed the River Gowy at this point and the railway line, a few trains passed.

When we got back towards the Shady Oak a leisure boat was manoeuvring the piece grass and pushing it into the bank where the canal was a bit wider.

We went to find The Drays Coffee Shop in Eaton, we did eventually find it but it is closed on a Sunday plus it closes at 3pm so we wouldn't have got there in time anyway. So we went to Tarporley Garden Centre for tea and cake. They have made the cafe bigger, but had the aircon on so it was a bit cold. We had a look around the garden centre

 

 

Sandiway to Acton Bridge

Saturday 26 June 2021 6 miles

Jane, Tracey, Donna, Hilary + Carol

A lovely varied walk through the Cheshire countryside. Sunshine was forecast, there was some cloud and at times the wind was cool.

We met at Cuddington and Sandiway Village Hall, the car park was nearly full. There were plenty of activities going on, fitness, football, tennis and the playground was busy.

We set off down Norley Road admiring the houses we passed. It was quiet walking down Smithy Lane, with occassional views over the countryside. We thought it would be hard to cross the A49 but the traffic happened to clear as we got there so we crossed easily.

New gates and new fences and a hole in the hedge for us to go through. There were horses in the fields, as well as someone riding a horse in the exercise area.

The first part of the walk was easy to follow as we could see the stiles across the fields which were small. Then the grass and weeds especially nettles were very high, taller than me, so it was harder to see very far ahead.

As we passed through the countryside, crossing the stiles there were sheep in some of the fields.

Finding a way to access the path to cross the railway line was difficult. We worked it out in the end and had to fight our way through the growth.

We walked passed the station at Acton Bridge and continued on the road. Then walked down Stanfield Lane rather than go through the field where there was a bull, although he was more interested in the cows and not anywhere near us.

Lunch sitting in a field. The cloud came over as we sat there

Checked we were going the right way as we had just followed the paths across the fields.

There were lovely views as we skirted Delamere park

Blakemere for tea and scones.

Year Fifteen Summary

Walk 1: March 2020 Cheshire Life Walk 5 miles Donna, Tracey and Hilary

Walk 2: April 2020 x

Walk 3: May 2020 x

Walk 4: June 2020 x

Walk 5: July 11 2020 3 miles Carol’s House Carol, Hilary, Jane, Tracey and Donna

Walk 6: Aug 8 2020 Willington Jane, Hilary and Carol

Walk 7: Sept 12 2020 Hockenhull Platts Jane, Tracey, Donna and Hilary

Walk 8: Oct 5 2020 Barthomley 5 miles Donna, Tracey, Jane, Hilary and Carol

Walk 9: Nov 2020 x

Walk 10: Jan 2021 x

Walk 11: Feb 2021 x

 

Chinese New Year Zoom Get Together

Zoom Get Together 

February 20 2021

Chinese Food - we each made our own meals to eat together!!

Two truths and a lie, Bingo and Scribble Pictionary 

Burns Night Zoom Get Together

Burns Night Zoom Get Together 

January 23 2021

We had Haggis with neeps and tatties + a pudding

We each did a Scottish quizz