Trips & Adventures – 26 April 2018

We caught the Cityzap Bus from Chorlton Street Bus Station at 10.05am. The new Cityzap route between Manchester and Leeds has top spec buses fitted with zap-nav so the driver can pick the quickest route and dodge any congestion. There is wi-fi provided and leather seats – each seat has a USB point so phones can be charged up en route.

After a quick peek at the outdoor market we made our way to Leeds Minster, or the Minster and Parish Church of Saint Peter-at-Leeds, a large Church of England foundation of major architectural and liturgical significance.

The next visit was the pub next door – the Lamb & Flag – highly recommended before we walked to the Corn Exchange and then the Henry Moore Institute and the Art Gallery.

Stuart and Tony had a sit down with a hot drink and a slice of millionaire shortbread (because we’re worth it) while the others looked round the art gallery, before joining us.

     

It was another great day out – we finally got back to Manchester about 6.00pm.

Trips & Adventures – 19 April 2018

We caught the train at Victoria to Smithy Bridge and walked to Hollingworth Lake where our first stop (as usual) was the cafe. Most of us opted for the Senior Citizen’s Special – fish, chips, bread and butter with a drink and followed by ice cream.

Hollingworth Lake is a 130-acre reservoir at Smithy Bridge, in Littleborough — part of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, and we decided to walk off our lunch by walking round the lake, a distance of 4kms (or 2.5 miles in old money). Half way round we found the Pavilion, and as it was such a hot day we couldn’t resist having another ice cream!

The lake was originally built as the main water source for the Rochdale Canal, but developed as a tourist resort from the 1860s, and became known as the Weighver’s Seaport. Hotels were built around it, at least two had outdoor dancing stages with gas lighting. Tourism was helped by the arrival of the railway in 1839, which brought day-trippers and weekend visitors from Manchester, Bradford & Leeds.

The lake was used for training by Captain Matthew Webb, before he became the first man to swim the English Channel in 1875, and was used for the “World Professional Mile Championship”, a long-distance swimming event, in the 1880s. It is home to the Hollingworth Lake Rowing Club, which has been in continuous existence since 1872.

Trips & Adventures – 12 April 2018

Hello Tony,

I hope you enjoyed your little trip.  I hope you bought a kilt and that we can expect to see you in it at the group next week.  A nice pink sporran always looks gay.

Now then this is for you to put on the blog which you know I am unable to do because of issues with my password.

Yesterday (April 12th) I and one other person. (Klavierboy) went to Shibden Hall which is about two or three miles from the centre of Halifax.  The one in west Yorkshire not the one in Nova Scotia.  That would be silly.  The train was full of noisy, smelly, ill mannered kids.  They were off school and so were going to Eureka which is an indoor attraction in the centre of the Halifax I told you and where we were going.

Klavier and I (Walter von Stalzing) arrived in Halifax at about 11.20 which we decided was too early for lunch so after a couple of enquiries we found the bus station and made our way to Shibden.  You have no idea how exciting it was and what you missed.

(to be continued)

Walter von Stalzing alias Stuart.

Trips & Adventures – 5 April 2018

As it was a bright sunny day we walked from the train station at Chester to the “Old Queen’s Head” in the city centre, where we had our meal – and very nice it was too – fish and chips or chicken, ham and leek pie.

There were a few famous people in Chester and on the city walls above the clock we spotted Spock from Star Trek as well as Chewbacca from Star Wars.

We followed the city walls down to the river and then visited the original cathedral where we had coffee. St John the Baptist’s Church was a cathedral during the Middle Ages. It lies outside the city walls on a cliff above the north bank of the River Dee. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building and is considered to be the best example of 11th–12th century church architecture in Cheshire. I took a “selfie”:

Trips and Adventures – 29 March 2018

We caught the bus from Piccadilly to meet our tour guide (Bruce) outside The Bridgewater pub in Worsley village. We decided to pop in and we dined on rump steaks with chips, peas, onion rings and onion gravy.

Later we walked along the canal towpath (minding the slutch) but it was very quiet as nobody was cruising that day. Bruce gave us a full and detailed tour of Worsley woods. He seemed to know an awful lot about the place! But all I can say is “What happens in Worsley woods stays in Worsley woods”.

There are lots of pretty cottages in Worsley village including the police station, which has been converted into a private cottage (“The Old Nick”).

After the walk we went for a sit-down at the Secret Garden for coffee and cake, before making our way back to Manchester.

Tony met up with Sandra and Jim for a “Pop Up Poetry” event run by the Age Friendly Collective at Manchester Art Gallery. Five or six people read poems (including Jim and Tony) in front of artworks in three galleries.

We enjoyed it so much I’m sure that we will be going to the next event – the Summer Gallery takeover – on Thursday 5 July 2018 from 5.30pm to 8.00pm.