MANCHESTER AND Manchester and Salford SALFORD Local Group Newsletter and Walks (M & S Ramblers) No 48 December 2020 Christmas social 2020 Well what a year it’s been!! Plans cancelled, unable to go on holidays, restrictions in what we can do, not seeing loved ones etc etc. Well all that is about to change! Now for some good news .....our M and S Christmas social is still going ahead There will of course be a few changes from our previous celebrations, no market and mulled wine, but we are going to make the most of it. The date and time Monday 21st December 7pm The place we are all coming round to ‘yours’ via Zoom. To register click here You will receive a confirmation email with information about joining the meeting. A ‘suitably seasonal’ quiz will be sent out nearer the time with the answers revealed on the quiz night. On the night expect Christmas music, maybe even a song, definitely some Christmas hats and jumpers on show and hopefully everyone with a glass charged with their favourite festive tipple, and of course a fun Christmas quiz. So hopefully we will see lots of you on the night and we can wish each other a virtual Merry Christmas!!! Some change at the top - AGM report. Our Zoom AGM was somewhat different from the usual sociable event. However the quiz we had before went some way to compensate for not being able to have a walk. Main news is that our wonderful secretary Mags Metcalf decided to stand down after 12 years. Having helped establish the group and been the main driver to our success she will be missed. She is however staying on as Publicity and Blogger. We are also very lucky that Janice Kerrigan has come forward to take over as Secretary. Janice says ‘I’d like to say hello to all members. I’m really looking forward to working with the committee and I’d like to thank Mags especially, for all her help and support during the transition period in difficult circumstances. I’ve certainly got big boots to fill! Here’s hoping that 2021 will be a much better year and we will all enjoy getting out and walking in our groups’ Other officers stay the same. All have worked really hard to keep the group in touch and active one way or another during this strangest, and hardest for many, of years. See committee list at the end. I would like to say THANK YOU so much for the amazing and very generous retirement gifts I received. These included a very large bouquet of flowers and a bottle of Prosecco, 2 pictures – one of the Gas Works in Salford and another painting from a friend who does wonderful landscape paintings. A large card which had inside many lovely messages and an M&S gift voucher. I consider myself to be very fortunate and very much appreciated all the kind words and well wishes. I will keep the gift voucher until the Spring and maybe buy a chair for my patio where I spend lots of time and it will be something to keep and treasure. I have made many friends during the 12 years I have been Secretary of this very successful walking group and have seen it grow and produce 2 hugely successful walking trails, be involved in campaigns and projects, actively involved with major walking partnerships, and so importantly, encouraging people to walk. I am leaving it in the very capable hands of our dedicated Committee and of course I know Janice will successfully carry on keeping you all informed. I will also still be around and enjoy walking with you all in the future! Mags 1 For those who didn’t see this in our Annual report here is our Walk Co-Ordinator’s Report. Written as usual in Maggie’s creative style. To appreciate it properly you need to hear her ‘perform’ it-hopefully a repeat performance at our social Disaster Doggerel by Maggie McGonagall (no relation) What a year, what a year In ev’ry hemisphere, What a year came our way Loads of rain, loads of rain Hoping in vain Floods still disrupted play. Whaley Bridge was never seen. What a wet time in 2019. But we walked Kersal, Quays and Todmorden. Tandle Hill and Rivington. Held Boxing Day at Heaton Park and its Café. 2020, 2020. M and S set walks aplenty (The spread of a virus then unfurled - Exponentially through the world.) MGT walks, Middleton. Hyde and Bramhall, Sale, Chorlton. Walks stopped. No opt. We were given no leeway. Covid came, Covid came. What a terrible shame. Could we quite believe our life? Plague and fear were running rife. April Lockdown was the order of the day. Wear a mask! Don’t wear a mask! Reach for your hip flask. Stay in, stay in! Go out! Can’t win! We’re all in disarray. 12 weeks, 12 weeks. No climbing peaks. No Manchester Green Trail. The walks are off. We’re in a trough. I’m going to decay. Sunshine, sunshine Was our lifeline. Locked in – 1 walk a day. Here was the pandemic. No longer academic. It wasn’t like a holiday. July, July. We qualify To walk without delay. Just a mo! Just a mo! Only 5 can go! Members will feel dismay. So we’ll socially distance, without resistance To lose our feet of clay Extra walks, extra walks! We’ll pop some corks. ‘Cause we want to get away. 2 Mondays more, near my front door. Oh, hooray, hooray. What’s this, what’s this? Such utter bliss! We’re considered a sport! Wahey! More folk, more folk. A masterstroke. Over 10 on the pathway! Here we come Daisy Nook, Crumpsall and Cheadle Hulme. Stalybridge and Sale. Manchester, Roe Green. Bury, Altrincham. Didsbury and Debdale. Catastrophe to cabaret? Who’s to say? WHO’S TO SAY? Thank you, thank you, Walk Leaders. Once again you have freed us! By taking on more, Filling forms in galore. Nothing can outweigh. Behaviour so stoic, Is nothing short of heroic. You deserve a huge bouquet. Area AGM Another well attended Zoom event. Main officers stayed the same. Good to hear Barbara Keeley MP, our president, speak about lobbying she is doing on our behalf in Parliament. Malcolm McDonnell, Ramblers Board of Trustees, gave a summary of our many achievements over the year, despite restrictions. A major area of concern is the criminalisation of trespass. The Ramblers have written to the Home Secretary and a pressure group launched a campaign to oppose criminalisation and extending right to roam. They are also working on access to the countryside post Brexit and the Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMS) Campaigns and Consultations Manchester to Chorlton Walking and Cycleway The latest plans for the Walking and Cycleway through Chorlton are now out for consultation More information via this link. In a nutshell this is what would the benefits for walkers would be: • 3 major junctions made easier to negotiate on foot and with better crossing times • 20 side road crossings made better for walkers • Wild flower beds planted • Less speeding traffic What’s not to like! Please take part in the on-line consultation - this link takes you to the survey pages. Closing date is the 14 January 2021. Mayfield Park: This will be the first park to be built in Manchester for 100 years and will follow the River Medlock as part of a wider regeneration project based on the former Mayfield Station site and land between Fairfield Street and the Mancunian Way. We recently met members of the design team to talk about the plans and the possibility in the future of redirecting the Manchester Green Trail. Salford Trail Update: Members recently had a walking meeting with Cllr Derek Antrobus, Salford City Councils lead member for Planning and Sustainable Development to review the impact on the Salford Trail of all the redevelopment work alongside the River Irwell and the Ordsall Chord between Trinity Way and The Lowry Hotel. Following the meeting the Salford Council provided us with a map showing the planned completion date for the various sections, and the details are on our web site. Our Rivers, Our City: Manchester City Council has launched a project to develop a long-term vision and set of actions to re-energise the City’s main river valleys– the Irk, the Medlock and the Mersey. We have made a submission to the initial survey, stressing our interest in greater public access to the river banks and a number of members have participated in a number of on-line workshops looking at each river individually. It is expected that draft plans will be available for further consultation in the spring of next year. For more details, please follow this link. Walking not so far away. Winter Hill – in the snow We had parked by Wilderswood and walked up by the Two Lads cairn heading for the top of Winter Hill. Dark cloud had cleared above us as we arrived and we walked in bright sunshine whilst much of Greater Manchester was still grey under cloud cover. The concrete sloping block of the Chill Factor near the Trafford Centre, loomed eerily out of the gloom. We followed a snow-covered path across the open moor side to the little ‘forest’ of masts that have grown up on the summit of the hill. The main mast is just over 1,000ft tall and is one of the tallest structures in the UK. It provides TV and radio coverage for BBC, Channel 4 and ITV.