Week 50 24/12/2014 - Christmas Eve In The Park

Photo Blog Week 50 - Wed 24 December 2014

Christmas Eve plus a bright morning brought people flooding into the Park and by 11:00 there was some concern over a filling car park. All the overflow areas were waterlogged so closure may have become an option. However, as the day progressed it became duller and eventually fine cold rain put an end to the ingress of people.
It was nice to see so many families out in the open with Cage Hill being a popular immediate climb from the car park. A group of Red Deer stags on The Knott provided opportunity for many children to be told that they were seeing reindeer. It's funny, we encourage our children to only tell the truth but at Christmas time we tell all sorts of tales and everyone joins in the conspiracy.

Because it was so busy and volunteer availability was very low I stuck to popular routes litter picking and being available, including chats to several people and taking a group photo for a lovely family who's mother is never in their photos.

Toward the end of my day, I noticed the Fallow Deer, which are rather fragile, running in a terrified herd inside their enclosure and as I approached closer I spotted the problem. A loose dog had been allowed to squeeze under a wire fence and was chasing them. I found the unapologetic owner lower down the track, calling out to the uninterested dog but there was nowhere for it to get out even if it had returned. Gary the Duty Ranger responded to my radio call and  appeared with a gate key allowing the owner to retrieve his dog after some difficulty.

route: The House; Main Car Park and Picnic areas; Fours Winds; The Knott

North Face of the house

Stags on The Knott - and a kite flying above

Groups on track near Four Winds enjoying the view over Manchester

Lantern Wood and Park Moor over Drinkwater Meadow and Knightslow Wood

Park Moor above Drinkwater Meadow

route: The Knott; Westparkgate Lodge; u-turn; Pursefield; Paddock ridge and Cottage

 

Buttercup in flower late December

Water courses very full leading to a rare sight of 'White Water'

Sun hitting the trees on Haze Bank

That garden of West Lodge in the process of being recovered after many years of neglect

Poynton Brook descending from Deer Clough

Path meandering through dried bracken below Pursefield

Animal tracks criss-cross the bracken on steep slope far side of the brook at head of Deer Clough

Sun lighting up Manchester city centre

Park Moor looks pale in the cold light and low temperature

Handsome door on Paddock Cottage

route: Paddock Cottage; Cluse Hey top path; Knightslow Wood; Drinkwaterr Meadow; Mill Pond; Crow Wood; Main Car Park & Picnic areas; North Face of House (finish)

The 'Impossible Oak'

Fungi fest'

Fungi fest'

Fungi fest' - cluster of 'Puff Balls' on a stump

  Blue, White and Grey over the House

Today's track and profile

7.3 miles  4 hr 0 min

This Time Last Year

Have a look at This Time Last Year  25 Dec 2013 (Not attended - Christmas Day)

Week 49 18/12/2014 - Low Light but Long Views over Cheshire and Manchester

Photo Blog Week 49 - Thur 18 December 2014

I changed my day this week to attend to something else on Wednesday so this was my Thursday Office. Looks very much the same as Wednesday Office actually but now my week is all mixed up. What day is it?
As well as the wrong day, I walked in the morning with a new volunteer ranger, Delta-Jean, introducing her to some parts of the Park that were new to her. Indeed, we popped out of the Park at one point so she could see the Bow Stones and the view South from the ridge at the end of the public road by Bowstonegate Farm. I usually do a short walk morning and a longer more strenuous walk after lunch but today was the other way around.

A dull washed out light combined with repeated drizzle lead to me not being inclined to take many pictures, however, there was strangely long visibility at ground level under low cloud so a more shots out into the Cheshire Plain and Manchester this week.

If you are thinking of heading for the Park on a weekday and are not an NT member, be aware that the Admissions Hut will be manned again from beginning of January so no more freebies.  Admission for a car and all occupants is £7 which would buy raw material used stone to repair less than 1 foot of the miles of drystone walls in the Park.

route: Drinkwater Meadow; Knightslow Wood; Bowstonegate Farm.

 Looking out through the Beech trees of Knightslow Wood

Track through the Moor looking wet

Winter Hill the far side of Manchester hitting the cloud layer 

Red Deer clustered in the Winter Deer Feed Station off the Bowstones track

 All explained - a load of sweet beet has been delivered by the Rangers

The Deer love this sweet tasty treat which is provides a high energy food supplement over the winter to complement the silage

Looking a little bedraggled in the misty rain

route: Bowstonegate Farm; Park Moor; Lantern Wood; Turfhouse Meadow; The Timberyard (lunch)

At The Cage you seem quite high but this is the view down from the higher part of Park Moor

Fungi fest'

Fungi fest'

The Lantern

route: Timberyard Cafe; Main Car Park; Crow Wood; Cage Hill; Lyme Hall (finish)

Fungi fest'; near Crow Wood

The restored bank worked on by the walling team a couple of weeks back

Path North through Crow Wood by the stream

Banking on the far side still in the work queue

Climbing up to The Cage from the main drive

Imposing gray in the pale light. 

Slight camera shake on this easy pic' is due to trying to stand still in a strong wind

Lantern Wood and Park Moor from Cage Hill

Distant Views

View to horizon very clear in a narrow gap between low thick cloud and the land

Fiddler's Ferry (27 miles), near Widnes with the Wirrel (42 miles) behind. 

Manchester Airport Control Tower (9.5 miles) to right in foreground.

Long lens flattens perspective. The power station is 17 miles behind the airport.

Alderley Edge in foreground with Beeston Castle (55 miles) on horizon

Frodsham (45 miles)

Park Moor to Bowstones

Kinder Plateau too high for the clear visibility disappears into cloud base

Beetham Tower (Hilton) in city centre Manchester 12.5 miles

Manchester Airport backed by Fiddler's Ferry power station on the horizon

Wider shot of Manchester City Centre

Returning to the North Face of the house late afternoon

Lights coming on in the house.

The House is closed for winter but conservation and repair work goes on throughout the closed period. Estate offices are also in this part of the building.

The Stables Building. Darker stone and low light gives it a haunted look.

Today's track and profile

Failure to check batteries resulted in GPS failure halfway through the day so the remainder of route is hand drawn in from memory. The Profile data stops at 3 miles as altitudes not recorded

5.4 miles  4 hr 45 min

This Time Last Year

Have a look at This Time Last Year  18 Dec 2013