Another Place (and another PB!)

Can he see anything out there?

Well here we are - just before Christmas on a cold foggy chilly beach looking out onto the Irish Sea. There are one hundred identical metal statues standing on Crosby beach south of Southport just like this one. These are Anthony Gormley's 'Iron Men' all facing westwards into the sunset, except this is a misty Saturday morning at 10 am and they can't see very far. What brought us up here wasn't just the statues but the fact that it's the venue for the Crosby Parkrun. After our beach run (well some of it was on the beach) we decided to pose for some pics. And a very friendly Parkrun it was too - we repaired to the Crosby Leisure Centre after the event for an inexpensive ham and cheese toastie and were offered cakes galore by the cheerful Parkrun organising team. As we sat drinking our cups of tea the laptop was whirring around on the next table as the results were inputted - TRING!! here's our results on my phone. Wow a PB for Vicky - first Parkrun under 30 mins - her 75th Parkrun and she's come in in 29:39 despite going down a rabbit hole on the grassy run in!

Strong man!

So....back to the statues, Anthony Gormley is a bit more famous for his Angel of the North, familiar to those stuck in motorway traffic near Gateshead in the north east of England.  As I've already mentioned there are 100 'Iron Men' placed out on the beach here at regular intervals - you can see, if you blow up this photo,  the the next Iron Man in the mist just above my right hand. That's the hand that's pushing this man down into the quicksand. Only kidding! I thought that this chappie had been buried by shifting sands but it seems that when the statues were installed they were positioned at different heights. We will have to go back to watch the tide come in - or even watch the tide go out and see the figures emerging from the waves. (I should point out that Crosby Parkrun is rerouted when the tide's in for obvious reasons.) By the way 'Another Place' refers to the name of the exhibit, i.e. the hundred iron men; when Gormley's sculpture was installed at Crosby there were complaints about the offensive nature of the statues (i.e. naked men, gosh!) As we ran past some of them were clothed in hi viz marshal's vests and Santa hats, but these were all removed by the time we returned for our Baywatch style photoshoot! The picture beneath is rather atmospheric don't you think? However I can't take credit for this one - must have been taken by a real photographer.

I can see North Wales I think!

Hyde Park

Easy does it!

A chilly parkrun this weekend - Vicky decided not to risk it and watched from a safe distance. A slow one for me at 23:40 but then I did take it steady. This was a most enjoyable little gallop with around half the course on a trail through a leafy dell - having said that, at this time of year most of the leaves are underfoot. I'm not a fan of multi lap courses (especially like the recent Bangor XC where I set off on a fourth lap to be shouted back) but here I managed to keep count of the three laps - this was Hyde Park, not in London but in Hyde on the eastern side of Manchester. We should have started by the bandstand but it was too icy there. I'll give it another go sometime (in the summer - maybe there'll be a band on the bandstand!)

Saw most of this park!

Here's the Strava plot - good use of the paths in a small park I thought! Just 60 runners on Saturday but their record attendance is over 300 - that would, I imagine, be a little bit congested.

This is a Strava map recorded by a friend of ours in Australia - was she trying to chase a dog? What other possible explanation could there be? Had a kangaroo picked up her watch? Well I had to know so I messaged her and found out that she was picking up sticks before mowing the lawn (big lawn!) Only when that was done did she go on her proper run.

Missed a stick!

Science and shoes for fell runners.

Buck your ideas up!

Hooray - I wasn't sure if a gif file would work on my blog - but here it is - there'll be a lot more of these appearing from now on you bet! This particular gif represents a Geodesic dome which is essence is a very strong design typically used by architects in glass buildings such as large greenhouses. These designs were popularised by R Buckminster Fuller, an American architect and author. One of the few things I recall clearly from when I was a lad at university studying chemistry, was the concept of carbon molecules shaped like geodesic domes - they didn't exist but it was suggested that if they did they would be very strong molecules. They were called 'Buckyballs' in honour of R Buckminster Fuller this spawned plenty of research about other related theoretical molecules which were all called 'Fullerenes', tiny little very strong tubes have now been made which are called 'Nanotubes" and layers of similar but flat networks of carbon are called 'Graphene.'

Sticks like glue

Now why I'm telling you all this is that Graphene was actually made for the first time at Manchester University by a couple of Russians who won the Nobel prize for this in 2010. And Graphene is now being used in a shoe by the Inov8 company. As all experienced mountain runners know the key to moving fast is grip. And a shoe that has a really grippy sole is brilliant - imagine galloping over the very slaty hills at Blaenau Ffestiniog on a wet day. Trouble is that grippy soles made from sticky rubber wear down very quickly so a compromise has to be made between grippyness and durability. But no more - Inov8 think they have the answer. Well let's see, I don't think there on sale yet so I haven't tried them - maybe Inov8 would like me to be a guinea pig - well I am one of the heaviest fell runners around and I do take a rather large shoe size.

Here's another of Inov8's latest models - the X-Talon 210. It's a nice bright colour but unfortunately for me it's only available in 'precision fit'. The very popular original X-Talons were standard fit which didn't pinch your toes. I'm still regrowing a big toe nail from wearing a new pair of Inov8 precision fit Mudclaw shoes which I bought in June. And I won't post a picture of that!

Who was Lady Bagot?

I'm not Lady Bagot!

Just a few miles south of Denbigh at the village of Rhewl you can find Lady Bagot's Drive which was a carriage road running beside the Afon Clwedog. We'd been running up there as well some years ago on a summer evening social with Denbigh Harriers and Prestatyn Running Club. Followed by a pint at the Drovers Arms (more about the Drovers another time!) This week we took a very nice but chilly winter walk along the drive - which led me to investigate who Lady Bagot was. Or who was the Lady Bagot of the time when it was built?

Well I think it might be this young 'Dollar Princess" Lilian May. William Bagot, the fourth of his line, was apparently the despair of his parents, he didn't show the least interest in any of the eligible young ladies to whom they introduced him. Finally at the age of 47 he met with a young American lady whilst on holiday on the French Riviera. He brought her back to England and married her in 1903 - a ceremony that was attended by King Edward. The family home was in Staffordshire but it seems that Pool Park Hall at Bontuchel was a holiday home of theirs. Lady Bagot's Drive was built not long after they got married in the style of carriage roads that are to be found in country parks in the US. We saw a network of similar carriage roads at Bar Harbor in Maine, USA, where John D Rockefeller created the beautiful Arcadia National Park in the early part of the 20th century. So it seems that Lord and Lady Bagot would drive their carriage along this beautiful driveway by the side of the fast flowing river. Lady Bagot produced one daughter Barbara, goodness knows what happened to her. And they promptly got divorced. Maybe she didn't like the locals in the Drovers Arms. Lord Bagot died in 1932 but he may have been on a downward spiral as he'd lost Pool Park Hall in a bet at the races! A local timber merchant bought the surrounding land but the house ended up being leased by Sir Henry Tate of the Tate and Lyle sugar dynasty. Ultimately the house became an offshoot of the Denbigh Asylum and, despite being a Grade II listed building, it is now derelict. Bagot's cousin inherited the mansion in Staffordshire but sold it to The South Staffordshire Waterworks Company in 1945 - another member of the family bought it back and restored it and it's now the venue for the annual Abbots Bromley Horn Dance.

Where do you Goat Two my lovely?

This has nothing to do with goats apart from the fact that the Bagot coat of arms features the Bagot Goat, a primitive breed of goat that has been kept by the Bagot family since the 14th century. Their largest current flock of Bagot Goats is at Levens Hall, another of their estates, up in the Lake District.

Me walking up Lady Bagot's Drive.

Denbigh - Rare and Famous!

Good camouflage eh!

Bit cold at the moment so not much going on, but then it is winter - just about to make sure our bird feeder is topped up when I managed a rare sighting of a Red-headed Giant Bluebird having a nibble! Alas most running events are being cancelled due to the icy conditions but our club handicap went ahead yesterday. Yes it was time for the annual Johnson's Monument Handicap race, which consists of a gallop along the banks of the Afon Ystrad, past Dr Johnson's Cottage as far as the Johnson's Monument and then up through the fields by Gwaeynynog Hall.

Johnny's Monny.

So here's a bit of local history for you - Dr Samuel Johnson was a famous character who lived in the 18th century. Lots of people nowadays have heard of him but very few people knew what he was famous for - and this the problem! According to that font of all knowledge, Wikipedia, he made lasting contributions to English Literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. That last wonderful word means that he wrote a dictionary which was the forerunner of the Oxford English Dictionary. And it came to pass that he came to Wales. This monument was erected in 1775 and is so out of the way that a) it's survived and b) the Denbigh Harriers annual Johnson's Monument race doesn't quite go past it. What's even more out of the way is Johnson's Cottage where he lived for a while composing his famous poems or dictionaries or whatever. The cottage is a ruin and is almost completely obscured by undergrowth. If this was the USA there'd be coach loads of tourists coming to see it - what a missed opportunity for Denbigh! 

Then.............

On the other side of Denbigh is Bodfari, home of the Dinorbin Arms. Samuel Johnson probably stayed here as well (or at least dined here.) A fine old pub that was reputed to be haunted by several ghosts (and falling down more recently). It's now been renovated and, although more of a dining venue, it still retains a pubbish feel.

.....and now!

Thus after a chilly evening run in the snow we repaired to the Dinorbin for a fine pint. The snug was warmed by a roaring fire and was cosy - probably very similar to how it was in Sam Johnson's day. The tobacco advert on the snug wall was a bit more recent though - this is my photo of this old 'Welsh favourite' - but surely they're not allowed to advertise tobacco in pubs nowadays?

We did ask at the bar!

Anyone here seen Derry?

Now it's time to make my move!

Oh no not another running photo I hear you say! Ah but this one was special - me running for Wales. In an International Race! Selected for Wales see, in the over 65 team (you can see that from my number - first two letters represent a runner's age) we travelled over to Derry in Northern Ireland. Felt a bit weary as we'd only flown back from Tenerife the day before. And there was me running with the grown ups (i.e. runners which included ex-Olympians.) It was a fairly muddy course on the outskirts of Derry and I could have done with shoes with a bit more grip - however Jet2.com only allow small bags on board so I only brought one pair of shoes. Started out fairly steady and worked my way through the field to find I was finishing in a good position - first Welsh counter in my age group - I quite like this lark, the event's being held in Swansea next year so I must keep up the fitness.

Not 'Double Diamond'!

Derry is quite an attractive place and is the only city in Ireland that has managed to retain its walls intact. There's also a lovely riverside walk enhanced by The Peace Bridge which is a pedestrian crossing of the wide River Foyle -  Vicky crossed it twice during her Parkrun on the morning of the cross country (well she had to get her miles in didn't she! I'm afraid what would have been super photos all turned out to be blurry.) The night we were there we walked up to the top of town to a square called The Diamond - makes sense doesn't it? Last time we were here it all felt a bit dodgy - e.g. plenty of graffiti, much of it political. But things are looking up and we felt quite safe this time around.  We were looking for the Diamond pub, one of two Wetherspoons pubs in Derry that we'd encountered on our last visit. Nowhere else sells real ale on this side of Northern Ireland but Wetherspoons is usually a safe bet! But horror of horrors - it was closed and boarded up! We walked down to the other one, the Ice Wharf - oh good it's still open - but no hand pumps, no decent beer - it too had been jettisoned by Wetherspoons. We discovered that both pubs have been sold to Granny Annies, a chain of theme pubs presumably catering for the under 30's with money to burn. Shame!

I couldn't resist it - here's part of the Granny Annie menu - is this their Chinese selection? And 'complimentary' - does this mean they are with the compliments of the house or are they accompanying or complementing the dishes in question - maybe it's a subtle double meaning that will be lost on most of the customers?

Escape to Tenerife

I'm not going up that!

So, we're already higher than Snowdon and this mountain looks a lot higher. We were in Tenerife, a few hundred miles off the coast of Africa, we'd left the winter chill of Wales behind us for a few days. At over 12,000 feet Teide counts as the highest mountain in Spain. It's also one of 16 active volcanoes worldwide which are being closely monitored by a UN scientific committee because of their potential for huge destructive eruptions and because lots of people live close by. So we did go further up, what was there to stop us?

They filmed Star Wars up here - no sign of any Jedi this time!

As we approached the tops the lush green forests of Canadian Pine and Australian Eucalyptus ( a weed of a tree here) gave way to a desert landscape. Very little rain falls at this height and very little grows. The various shades of brown consist mostly of volcanic debris - the rusty red brown smudge across the middle of the photo is a lava field. There is a cable car to the crater but we settled for the bumpy road to the foot of the cable car.

Got any nuts?

As I said very little grows here and not much lives here either - then eagle-eyes Vicky spotted movement out of the corner of her eye and camera-ready me got a shot of this furtive little brown thing. Looked just like the meadow pipits that we see fluttering over the Denbigh moors and, after a bit of research, found out that this is a cousin - Bertholet's Pipit, (it has a bigger head than the Meadow Pipit!) Sabin Bertholet was a local naturalist who spotted one of these in the eighteenth century. Most folk who travel to Tenerife go to the sunny south where there are dozens of big beach side hotels and night clubs - not our scene I'm afraid and we stayed in the delightful capital Santa Cruz in the greener north of the island.

Worked hard for that lot.

And of course no trip is complete without a little run. I did the Tenerife half marathon in fairly warm conditions coming 2nd V65 in 1:36:41. Vicky, three hours later with an 11:30 start was really running in the heat and finished the 8K race in a superb 49:05. We didn't win the sunglasses in the picture - they're just there to add to the flavour. The only downside to Tenerife is the lack of decent beer in the very pleasant bars downtown - we tried the Alhambra, Estrella Galicia (according to the European beer guide website: "one for the sink."), the Mahou, the Cruzcampo - all tasted the same - sticky lagers the lot of them. Locally brewed Dorada was the most refreshing - I suspect that was because it's fresh and unpasteurised. Which worked well after 22K!

Sunglasses are just for effect.

A cold day in Abergele

Let me get my hands on it!

Well we're right in the thick of the racing season with plenty of cross countrys and road races of various forms taking place in the region. Here's a photo of a delighted Vicky taking the North Wales 5 mile championship gold award in her age group on a chilly and blustery Abergele seafront. A great turnout from Denbigh Harriers with plenty of prize winners - don't quite know how Sali (in the green t-shirt) didn't freeze to death.
I thought I'd blown it until the last few hundred yards - I'd got off to a good start but then faltered between three and four miles. But then I spotted my arch rival starting to flag ahead of me. This sequence of photos shows what happened when Dally (in the thick black coat) gave me a few words of encouragement.

'There he is - by gum he's slowing down!''

'Or am I speeding up?'

'Gotcha!'

Relay running

Looking good so far!

The FRA Relays - this is the annual coming together of fell runners where nearly 200 teams of six runners from Wales, England and Scotland (and occasionally Ireland) compete with the best. This year Denbigh Harriers put together a mixed team and a men's team and this is me on the first leg starting off for the mixed team up the road towards the Welsh mountain Moel Eilio (nearly 2200 feet of climbing!) On my left in the blue is sister Mary - whereas I've been coming to the relays since 2000, and just missed two events, this was Mary's first running for Glossopdale Dahlings. My preferred option is to get the first leg over and done with and then I can relax and watch the rest of day's events unfold secure in the knowledge that I've got things of to a brilliant start! And after my modest placing after the first leg our team spotted round and went home - very surprised to find out later on that we'd finished in 3rd place in the mixed category!

Here's the map of the course - Moel Eilio is actually only around 1600 feet high but the extra climbing comes from a nasty sting in the tail which took many competitors unawares. You'll spot this from the profile of the route in the box at the bottom. So those runners who had nothing left in the tank were in trouble!

You can't get beer from a stone - or can you?

Well here's a bit of a beer story. Stone's was a very traditional Sheffield based brewery which made a lovely bitter. This was very popular with the steel workers - it sold in buckets! I can remember the taste to this day - it was hoppy but sweet with a definite hint of tangerine citrus and at less than 4% it was very quaffable. And what happened - Bass Charrington bought the brewery, closed it down and started manufacturing an inferior version elsewhere. It's gone - the Stones beer of the 1970's is no more.

Escondido to Berlin

Stone Brewery on the other hand, is a wonderful Californian based microbrewery that's no longer micro sized. It's been voted the 'All-time Top Brewery on Planet Earth' and we came across some rather hoppy strong IPA's on our travels in the US - very tasty! So where did we get these little tinnies from ? Why Asda of course, Stone has opened a brewery in Germany and ships it's beer around Europe - aren't we lucky?

Es ist ein gas!

Here's a photo of the Stone Brewery in a converted gas works in Berlin - quite a building eh? Not sure if they've got round to brewing some of the more esoteric beers that emerge from the Escondido brewery such as Arrogant Bastard and Punk in Drubblic, but they do brew their famous 7.7 percent Ruination - not sure if Asda will get round to stocking this one yet!

Ruined again!

Parkrun Cafes

Before the run - would look a bit different after!

Here's a right pair of parkrunners. This was taken just before Wepre Parkrun near Connah's Quay which is one of the hilliest Parkruns in the UK (457th out of 458) it's off road as well so it just about qualifies as a fell race. And Vicky got a PB thanks to Skip the valiant running dog. Vicky has her red 50 Parkrun t-shirt on and she's well on her way to getting her black 100 Parkrun t-shirt (ooh look who's got one of those?) Our other closest Parkrun is at Conwy but we tend to avoid that in the winter because a) it's by the sea and is usually windy and b) it's on tarmac all the way (and flat) but they do have a nice RSPB cafe. Talking of post Parkrun cafes the best has to be at Dolgellau.

Welsh Cakes anyone?

TH Roberts is in the middle of town opposite the Royal Ship Hotel and has the best cakes going. We had mixed fruit slices to go with our tea/coffee and sat with other park runners waiting for our results to appear on our mobiles. In fact the very friendly organisers were in the far corner using their laptops to compile results! We've only been down there for this Parkrun once cos it's quite an early start but I'm sure we'll go again. In fact all the Welsh Parkruns we've been to are associated with nice post run cafes, another one to recommend is the cafe that's actually right by the start in the castle at Penrhyn!

A bit more running!

A church, a cathedral? No it's the crem!

We drove past Manchester's Southern Cemetary on Sunday. The schoolboy joke that I remember was that this is the dead centre of Manchester! The Crematorium was looking particularly impressive - this is a springtime photo which is the best time to look at it. This was the second crematorium in the country and was designed by Edward Salmons and A Steinthal (the first was built in Woking in 1885 where the first successful cremation was carried out on the body of a horse).

So, to the running,  we were on our way to and from the Stretford Parkrun. Pouring with rain it was! But it's a nice flat course and Vicky got her Parkrun all time PB of 31.26 - maybe Skip was anxious to get back out of the rain, but he pulled her through. I equalled this year's best of 19.51 so we were all happy. And a bottle of wine was thrust into my hand at the Cyrn Y Brain fell race the following day at the Horseshoe Pass. Harriers were there in force (well three of us were) and a certain symmetry applied as Vic and Emma won the over 55 prizes and I won the over 65 prize; the link was that in each case we beat the over 50's and over 60's! And here's technology for you - a Strava map of my progress round the park - the red line represents two circuits starting with the green circle, round the oval running track on the bottom right and two plus round the park finishing at the chequered flag (circle!)

The green shoes go quite nicely don't they.

And here's me in a red vest - I bet that's got you fooled! It was the first fixture of the Borders League series and, seeing as Denbigh do not participate in this seven race winter series, I run for Prestatyn. I haven't done any Borders League races for about 5 years but it was good to be back - apart from the fact that I just couldn't quite catch George (also of Prestatyn) who managed to win the V65 age group. I was gaining on him all the time but was a measly 5 seconds short at the end - another 100 metres and I'd have got him (I think!) You can see Autumn is drawing in as the leaves come tumbling down - a bit slippy in places.

100 up!

Not Phoenix Park in Dublin, a bit less glamorous but a nice little hilly park nonetheless. This one is in Runcorn in an area of land where nature has taken over from the post industrial mess. The Parkrun goes twice round the park and along the towpath of the Bridgwater Canal and as you can see this was my 100th so I should be getting a t-shirt at some point. Quite pleased with 4th place in 21.29.

Nice party venue!

The parkrun website instructed me to park in the grounds of Norton Priory Museum which I did being a good citizen. It was a wet morning and I parked up and jogged down to the start. On the way back the rain was pelting down so I jumped in the car and was off, barely taking a glance at the entrance to the museum. But return we must as this is home to what are described as the most extensive monastic remains in Northern Britain, not to mention the extensive 18th century walled garden. All of this history on Merseyside - who'd have thought it? This picture is of the Norman undercroft of the medieval abbey. It seems that this site was chosen as it was at the location where people regularly crossed the River Mersey (before the Runcorn bridge was built of course.) And I bet they charged a toll!!

Ellesmere or Ellesmere Port?

Smiling but it's only 800 metres into the race!

Here's a cheerful photo from Sunday's Ellesmere 10K. We did this race 16 years ago (on a slightly tougher course!) I still have my result from all those years ago - I was 91st out of 243 in 42.18, this year I was 56th out of 711 in a time of 42.19! So having all this data to hand I decided (as is my wont)) to have a closer look at the statistics - this year 5% of the field finished the race in less than 40 minutes whereas in 2001 20% of runners were under 40 minutes. What does this all mean? Yes I was 1 second slower so I'm reasonably happy with my run but does the sub 40 data show that standards are declining? Or is it just that there are more runners and races nowadays? I looked some time ago at results for a long standing 10K at Rochdale - in 1990 over half the field finished in under 40 minutes (110 from 183 finishers) - in contrast this year on the same course, only 34 of 280 finishers were below 40 minutes. Well you'll just have to draw your own conclusions!

Thomas Telford lived in Ellesmere for a while. He was responsible for building the Ellesmere canal which was intended to link Ellesmere with the Rivers Severn and Mersey. At the Mersey junction there was a town that went by the name of Netherpool which was going to be the port that was planned to handle the increased traffic coming up the canal. So, in the spirit of things the town was renamed Ellesmere Port! Unfortunately the canal was never fully completed. Not one of Telford's greater achievements!

Try a Tri - why not?

Blink and I'll be gone!

Here's the triathlon girl! Vicky has been up for one for a while now and the Llanwrst Sprint Tri fitted the bill nicely. A quick 20 lengths of the pool followed by a 25K bike ride round the Conwy Valley plus a final 5K up into the Gwydir forest and back down to town.

How did this happen?

Llanwrst is a small town of 3000 inhabitants although in it's glory days it was bigger than Cardiff and was famous for it's wool and its harps. The hump backed bridge over the river shows off the beautiful Conwy valley setting. And a fine day it was too. Vicky won the V60 ladies and we thoroughly enjoyed our day out. A late breakfast at La Barrica was followed by an entertaining Triathlon prize presentation where Vicky won a big goody bag of prizes for her achievement. The Gogs are the North Wales triathlon club based in Llandudno and they were very welcoming and Vicky will be doing more of these multi disciplinary thingies. However I shall steer well clear of the water as I normally do.

On the final run in - still smiling!

Off to the Show!

Just look at me!

Here he is - a champion sheepdog! It's actually a rosette for second place in class at the Appleby Show in Cumbria, however he was up against the best border collies, etc., that the Lake District could muster so what an achievement. What makes it even more exciting is that this wasn't even what we went for. I'd spotted an interesting fell race up Murton Pike of a Thursday lunchtime and thought - "Hey we can be there and back in a day!" So to while away the time during my 7 mile gallop up a hill Vicky entered Skip in the dog show - and this is the result!

Phew!

Had a good run to win some dosh for first V60. Murton Pike is the pointy hill just behind my head and the race was essentially a three part gallop, the first section being a cross country over the fields to the foot of the hill, the next part involved a steep climb and thrilling descent up and down the slope facing the back of me and the final slog was back over the fields to the showground. And what a show it was with all kinds of rare breed sheep, terrier racing and Cumberland Wrestling. Added to that were some excellent provisions on offer - we had Moroccan Mutton Sausage Sandwiches for lunch and took home pork pies with apple, pork pies with haggis and pork pies with black pudding. By waiting till towards the end of the show we found we had a bargain with the pies as they vendors dropped the prices to sell them off. This friendly show would make an excellent day out for our running club members next year! We'll certainly go again!

Here's the haul from the show!