Sprung

Awaking from my winter hibernation I ventured out to find that spring was happening already. As I had not walked for a while I decided to keep to a local River MerseySale Water Park loop; if it proved to be too much I could hop on a tram half way round and return home.

It was not too arduous, being mostly level, and I managed the full nine and a bit miles.

Good to see the graffiti along the Floop is being kept up to date:

A lady interrupted my stride enquiring about a bird perched on the goal post.

“Shag?” I retorted. Which seemed to alarm her for some reason. We decided it was something akin to a cormorant – which it almost certainly was.

The heron, which is usually around the water park, was exploring the other side of the river.

The river banks are littered with the debris from the recent storms and flooding.

With a week of warm and sunny weather forecast. and the aged legs still functioning, I may venture further afield at some point.

Ashton canal walk

The route

The promise of a day without rain was enough to inspire a trip along the Ashton Canal and catching the tram back. Heading out from the Piccadilly end of Manchester it’s just shy of 7 miles to the tram stop at Ashton.

Speed and Elevation charts

Not sure just where I exceeded seven miles an hour on the gentle climb upwards. At the Ashton end the canal joins the Peak Forest canal – a section of which was part of the previous stroll. Perhaps I’ll venture down this section next time.

The Peak Forest canal joins the Ashton canal over the river Tame

An Autumnal Stroll

Not having left home (apart from popping out to Unicorn) for some time (7th October seems to have been the last time) and it being a relatively nice day I ventured out to Marple with my bus pass on the train. From Marple I followed the Peak Forest Canal towpath before dropping down into New Mills and then looping back towards Strines where I caught the train back.

The route

According to the myTracks app it was 7.81 miles and took 2 hours 25 minutes. The elevation map makes for interesting viewing:

Locks take the canal up to the higher level. I take path down into the valley then up the other side.

The canal sits high up on the side of the valley as it heads out towards the Peaks. As the other end is much lower there are 16 locks at Marple to lift the canal over 200 feet.

Some Marple Locks

There is a steep drop down to the floor of the valley to follow the river Goyt into New Mills.

River Goyt

The river is a lot livelier around the old mills in New Mills. Viewed from the Millennium Walkway.

There is a long climb up the other side of the valley and then another drop down to Strines station.

Path down to Strines