And back home in January!

 

Hold him down otherwise he'll blow away!

There we were at the summit of Tegg's Nose just outside Macclesfield. Cold and windy it was too, somewhat of a contrast to the warmth of down under. But, as we were in the vicinity and it was lunchtime, we called in to the cafe near the top and then took a walk around old haunts. It's an impressive hill, even more impressive if you're running up the big climb in the Tegg's Nose Fell Race which I've managed half a dozen times in the past. It's a real old fashioned event held in conjunction with the Langley Sheepdog Trials and the race was usually started by the local MP Nicholas Winterton (who claimed to have run it himself in younger days.) The views from the peak are   spectacular and, on a clear day, you can see Welsh mountains in the far distance.

We're back running in a somewhat colder climate now and, taking advantage of a trip to the Midlands to say goodbye to Jane (emigrating down under!) we nipped over to Nottingham to do the Wollaton Hall parkrun. Two weeks ago we'd been warned about the possibility of snakes on the course but today the race director drew our attention to the hazards posed by galloping deer! The previous week a large herd of deer had crossed the path of the parkrunners and they just had to wait, you wouldn't want to get in a tangle with a Red Deer stag - they can weigh well over 30 stone! Wollaton Hall is a fairly grand stately home built by a 16th century coal magnate in an imposing position on top of a hill four miles from the 

That's the Joker peeping out from top left.

centre of Nottingham. And the jolly parkrun marshals sent us up that hill to run past the front door of the mansion, down the hill on the other side and back up and down again. All good fun on a Saturday morning. This magnificent Elizabethan building featured in a scene from The Dark Knight Rises, a Batman film from a few years ago. Entitled Wayne Manor this was depicted as the home of Batman complete with butler (Michael Caine of course!) There's a twist to the tale, just a short drive away just beyond the suburbs of Nottingham lies the village of Gotham which lent its name to Gotham City, the fictional home of Batman!