Look at all those birdies

I'll doff my cap sir!

Lots of interesting birdlife at Oxford Island on the shore of Lough Neagh, Northern Ireland including Blackcaps, Great Crested Grebes and Pochards. Although they look like tits Blackcaps are warblers and they come in a selection of markings - this isn't my picture and the fellow that we saw had a distinctive white band - more like a scarf - around its neck. A big bunch of grebes were sheltering from a strong wind by some reed banks which we were able to see from a deserted hide at the edge of the lake. And then there was a miniature flotilla of Pochards which are quite handsome little ducks.

Apart from my beak and my head I'm really just like any other duck!

I'll have a large Clotworthy please!

Spot the lobster.

We missed the ferry this week - however we were able to spend a few hours in Dublin and we spotted a freshly carved wood sculpture in St Anne's Park, Raheny (see the sawdust on the ground.) Just take a closer look at the photo and note the amazing detail. We eventually arrived home 10 hours late courtesy of the big late night ferry which was full of smiling Africans and Eastern Europeans - and guess what? Holyhead passport control had all gone home to bed! Whilst in Northern Ireland (where I watched Northern Ireland beat Ukraine in the footy on TV!) I ran in the Lisburn Half Marathon with our George tootling round in a little over 2 hours. Lovely course out into the countryside and we finished just after 9 pm feeling very thirsty.

Ireland, North and South, is synonymous with Guinness and there is not much else. However in the last few years a number of enterprising microbrewers have set up business. They are almost entirely absent from bars and pubs however as Guinness have some sort of monopoly, but there are plenty of bottles in the shops as you can see from this fine selection:

Not Guiness but something else!

See the beer on the exteme right - Clotworthy is an Irish surname and Mr Clotworthy was an accomplished brewer in the early 19th century in Belfast. Much later Brendan Dobbin was another pioneering Irish Brewer whose wonderful beer was sampled by us on his premises nearly 30 years ago in a dodgy housing estate brewpub in Chorlton on Medlock, Manchester. This was where we came across his piece de resistance, Yakima Grande Pale Ale - Yakima Grande Pale ale was a supremely hoppy pale ale first brewed in the early 90s at the now defunct Kings Arms pub in Chorlton on Medlock by Brendan Dobbin of West Coast brewing, formerly designer of the Firkin brewpubs. The beer was way ahead of its time with very high hopping levels being heavily influenced by the North American microbrewery scene.   

And according to Wikipedia: Most Clotworthys have emigrated to other countries round the world, many to America. There are very few left in Ireland.

I wonder why?

Poor wee doggie!!

Any chance of a small bowl of mild ale?

Poor wee doggie, left out of the pub! This is the back entrance to the Gold Cape, a very nice Wetherspoons place in Mold, North East Wales. We've been here many times before and the beer is consistently spot on, we've had good grub here and have recommended it to many folk as an excellent example of the Wetherspoons' philosophy, i.e. great ale presented in comfortable surroundings. OK some town centre Wetherspoons can be a bit busy later on a weekend evening and others look as if they're catering for elderly lost souls who want to have an early beer and a chat with their mates - but what's wrong with that? What's wrong with this is that it's the area where smokers come out to have a bit of fresh air and previously we've had no problem taking our dogs to sit out there while we enjoy the fine ale. On this occasion we were confounded, as was Skip! The little notice on the left of the gate says 'No Dogs' and, as we arrived, within seconds a manager came out and insisted poor Skip had to stay outside on the road. Shame! We have been living in Chester for a while and the pubs compete to provide the best service for customer's dogs - bowls of water, biscuits and cuddles are no problem whatsoever and the enlightened landlords and landladies obviously compete vigorously for this important sector of their business. C'mon Tim Martin - give us a break!

Need a St Bernard really!

The following night we sneaked into the Cellar Bar in Chester (with Skip of course!) to find an eminently suitable beer on the bar - this was a tasty dark ale from Snowdonia. Very appropriate as the following day I was marshalling at the top of Craig Cwm Sillyn in the Cwm Pennant Fell Race, a British Championship mountain race near Porthmadog. I'd asked the race organiser if he need ed any help and he'd only posted me at the top of the second highest peak at over 700 metres. I went up the week before on a gorgeous day and could see the whole 17 mile race route mapped out before me. Well on the day it was a complete waste of time taking my binoculars as, for the whole 3 hours I was up there I could see about 20 metres. Still it was good to see the runners - I blew my whistle every 30 seconds and my ACME Thunderer reliably kept them apprised of my whereabouts. Nearly 300 of them struggled over the top towards me - this pic is of the organiser himself - I had 3 layers on at the time and was decidedly chilled.

Are there you are Martin - good to see you!

And just a final photo from slightly further back shows how tough the terrain was - this is Victoria W from Denbigh Harriers looking quite cheerful considering. And as a postscript.......the mountain rescue team were not needed after all.

Is this the new running track?

And meanwhile back in the UK

So here we are at the fastest 5K in the North West! The Christleton 5K in a sleepy village just outside Chester has been famous as a 'fast course' - loads of runners have claimed their personal best times on this fast two lap course round the lanes and through the village. And each year the race is over subscribed weeks in advance with top athletes coming from all over the country to pit themselves on this wonderful course. Until about a month ago when it was found that instead of being 5K the course was remeasured and found to be just over 4.8K! Whoops! And so the waiting list of folk who thought they might get a last minute place (and that included me!) suddenly disappeared and I found myself with a magic number. Having achieved my fastest ever time a number of years ago I now had to be content with the modest time of 20.27. There we are then!

Isn't this far enough?

And what a lovely Parkrun to follow up with the next morning - Erddig Hall is on the outskirts of Wrexham, not too far away, and a Parkrun has just been instituted there - Skip and I can highly recommend it. My first run with a Caicross harness so I'm not too unhappy with a 24 minute run.

This is a bit upmarket for Alf Tupper.