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MANCHESTER AND Manchester and Salford SALFORD Local Group Newsletter and Walks (M & S Ramblers) No 43 December 2019 CHRISTMAS SOCIAL!!! MONDAY DECEMBER 16TH We are going to meet up at the Gold Royal Mail Post Box on the corner of Albert Square outside the Slug and Lettuce at 6.30. From there we will go across to the Windmill bar in the Christmas market for our first drink. Following that we will walk to the Paramount Wetherspoons, Oxford Road for food, drink and of course a quiz. If you prefer to meet us at the venue that's fine. Hopefully we'll see lots of familiar faces and maybe some new ones too. There is no need to book this event just come along on the night. Chris Quinn Future Socials Nothing booked yet but here are some of our suggested events for next year. Tour of RHS gardens in Worsley Tour of the Refuge Building/Principal Hotel. Ramsbottom and the ELR railway Styal Mill Rochdale heritage walk Pia's geology walk part 3 Theatre trip to Oldham Coliseum Creative Manchester with Emma Fox Summer social A visit to a recycling plant ...and of course our Christmas social 2020 SALFORD TRAIL IMPROVEMENT WORK 1 A long time in the planning, and after various setbacks, one weekend in November saw the improvement of a footpath by the River Irwell near Clifton Junction. A small team of M&S Ramblers and a couple of contractors with super mini diggers managed to resurface over 300m of path. Well done to David Yates, for doggedly getting this project done. Thanks to the rest of the team as well for all their hard work. We think you will guess which photos were before and which after! See the comment below for the impact already. ‘We walked from Walkden to Littleton Road on Wednesday for the sole purpose of walking the regenerated path near to Pilkington tile works. An excellent job well done and the first time in about sixty years that I have been able to traverse it without doing a hop skip & jump, slip and slide. Well done and thank you. Roy Bullock.’ OTHER FOOTPATH WORK. Productive day working on 4 paths around Wythenshawe. Barry, Kate, Margaret. WALK LEADERS COURSES A series of courses for current and potential walk leaders are being run by the Ramblers in different arears around the country. There are two arranged for our Area on January 24th and 25th and more will come on stream later. If you are interested you need to log onto the Ramblers Website as a member and go to https://www.ramblers.org.uk/volunteer-zone/support-and-development/walk-leadership/england-wales CARERS WALKS We have had two more walks both well attended. Thanks to all our volunteers. September at Heaton Park. Despite constant rain both walks were enjoyed by all and a good lunch after in The Woodthorpe. We were joined for the first time by 16 Carers from Bury, all keen to come again. In October we had walks based on Alexandra Park, Whalley Range and no rain! The short walk was led by Liz Jones who did a tour of the park and gave walkers lots of information. The longer walk went down to the Fallowfield Loop, Hough End Fields and Clough, with some lovely trees in the remnants of the ancient field there. Some of the carers knew the area from playing cricket or other sports on the fields, but none of us had been in the clough before. A Hidden Gem which is part of Manchester Green Trail Walk 8. Then back for an excellent lunch at The Park café run by Coffee Cranks. The walks are much appreciated by the Carers, those they support, and our volunteers really enjoy them. A video was made on our Heaton Park Walk for the Stepping Out Website Stepping Out Website and one Carer did a Blog of his experiences At the end of the year the Website will also feature a roundup of the year including an article featuring comments from some of our volunteers. Look out for it. We will be starting again in March 2020. If you want to help contact Margaret Manning. WALKING ELSEWHERE- ITALY In September six of us went on a delightful walking holiday in Italy with InnTravel. We have been with them a few times before and always been impressed with the organisation, although they are probably not the cheapest. This time we were walking round two of the northern lakes in Italy, Lake Orta and Lake Maggiore. Although InnTravel don’t provide a guide they do furnish you with very detailed instructions for the walks each day and arrange both accommodation and luggage transfer. We stayed in three different hotels, each on the lakeside and walked from there each day. Some of the walks were circular ending up back at the hotel and others were linear and involved transport back by either bus or boat. Lake Orta is the most westerly of the pre-Alpine lakes and the two sides of the lake are very different. The western shores are wild and rugged with the second highest mountain in Europe, Monta Rosa not far away. The eastern shores and foothills are gentler, backed by Monte Mottarone which divides Lake Orta from its larger neighbour Lake Maggiore. Lake Maggiore is Italy’s second largest lake and is distinctly Mediterranean with luxuriant gardens, elegant resorts and brightly painted villas. The lake’s northerly section expands into Switzerland and offers striking mountain scenery. The Italian part of the lake provides the boundary between the two regions of Italy, Piedmont and Lombardy. The lake also contains 11 islands, the most famous being the Borromean islands in the gulf between Stresa and Verbania. The walking was very pleasant and not too strenuous although most days involved an ascent from the lakeside to mountain villages overlooking the lakes. One of the walks took us over the border into Italy and involved a lengthy boat trip back to the hotel we were staying in. The walking was largely through wooded areas providing some welcome shade, and provided lots of potential stops in small mountain villages for refreshments. The food and wine was excellent influenced by both mountain and lake flavours and fresh water fish was widely available. Regional dishes included stewed meats, torta di pane (bread cake) and cheeses from the alpine pastures of Mottarone. Piedmont is home to some of the best vineyards in Italy and provided the full bodies reds of Barolo, Dolcetto d’Alba and Barbera d’Alba. All in all a very enjoyable holiday and I would recommend both lakes but particularly Maggiore as a base from which to do some walking. Barry Windle RECENT WALKS & SOCIALS Castleton to Edale and Art trail. Long walk along the Great Ridge then down from Hollins Cross to do the Art Trail from Edale. Good walk Salle and the sun shone all day. Good to have several MWW members with us. Short walk along the Kinder Art Trail and then back by the Pennine Way. The weather was very good and we enjoyed each of the art installations. The protest song Juke Box was a favourite for some. A Monday short walk led by Peter around former industrial lands in the Lower Irwell valley in Salford. Organ museum social. M&S Ramblers' socials take us to many interesting places, but you'd never expect to find this. In a pleasant, unassuming residential street in Eccles, just off the A57, the Lancastrian Theatre Organ Trust occupies a 1907 building next to the Methodist church. The museum has a vast collection of organ pipes, stops and other paraphernalia, while the hall itself houses two magnificent theatre organs - a Wurlitzer and a Compton. The performance was from none other than Nigel Ogden, long time presenter of the Radio 2 programme "The Organist Entertains" which was broadcast for 49 years until being withdrawn in May last year . Worsley to Astley Green mining museum. Amazing sunny day for our walk along the Bridgewater canal, from Worsley to Astley Green Mining Museum, and back again. Thanks Geoff for leading. Special thanks to the volunteers at Astley Green Mining Museum for showing us round, brewing up for us and making us very welcome. Pay it a visit if you haven't already been. https://www.facebook.com/TheRedRoseSteamSocietyLtd1/ Special post just for photos for Billy, the goat who has adopted Astley Green mining museum, mainly as a good source of food. He came from a local farm and didn't want to go back. Though having been made welcome by the volunteers at the museum he is going to an animal rescue centre at Wigan. Probably better for his waistline! Shropshire weekend. M&S Ramblers escaped the worst of the weekend weather in Shropshire, with walks up Adstone Hill, the Stiperstones and the Long Mynd. Accommodation at the YHA and The Bridges pub, which served Three Tuns beer from Bishop's Castle and was fab in every way. Two good walks each day with help from David and Veronica who have a house nearby, and gave us tea and cakes after Saturday’s walks. Friday’s longer walk on Adstone Hill. Others will also have some. The sun came out soon after we started. Short walk on Saturday. A steep climb up Corndon Hill followed by a pint in the local pub. Good day. Saturday's long walk along the Stiperstones ridge, spot the climbers, good route and leading Kate Wilson. Then onto Veronica and David's cottage next to Mitchell Fold Stone Circle.