Bricks and Chester

Now how are we going to mow the lawn?

Cycling along the back roads south of Chester on a Sunday morning - these are quiet roads at this time of the week all I seem to see are other bike riders scooting between the delightful villages. Many of these villages  are within the Duke of Westminster's Eaton Hall estate and are full of listed buildings - this row of cottages is at Aldford and I was rather taken with the audience of gnomes, small animals, etc., who populate the garden of the cottage in the middle. These buildings are better known for the decorative pargetting or plasterwork on the front of the upper storeys. Many of the cottages and churches in these villages were designed by John Douglas, a noted local architect, who was also responsible for many of the brick buildings in Chester plus many of the half timbered buildings which most people think are medieval but, in fact, some of them actually date from the mid 19th century.

Is it easier having teeth out in a nice building?

This is 6-11 Grosvenor Street, also built by Douglas, and the end building with the turret houses our dentist's surgery! Nicklaus Pevsner described this as "a brilliant group of brick houses." I'd started to write this post before the recent death of the Duke of Westminster, who was held in high regard by folk in these parts, and many of the works of John Douglas in Chester and the surrounding area were commissioned by the previous Dukes of Westminster.

Still on the subject of landed gentry, this is Abbeystead House, near Lancaster, which was owned by the Earl of Sefton and built by - guess who? John Douglas or more correctly the Chester firm of Douglas and Fordham! On the death of the 7th Earl of Sefton in 1972 and in the absence of any heirs the House was sold and in 1980 it was acquired by the then Duke of Westminster. And sadly this is where the 6th Duke died last week.

As a bit of a postscript the main residence of the Earls of Sefton was Croxteth Hall, which is in Liverpool and is also the venue for a Parkrun - so we'd better go and give it a go!

Run from the Light.

This is Leasowe Lighthouse, constructed from 660,000 bricks in 1763. Situated at the north end of the Wirral, it was flashing its lights until 1908 at which time it's operator was Mrs Annie Williams, the only female lighthouse keeper in the country. It survives as a mini museum thanks to the Friends of Lease Lighthouse and it's also the base for the Wirral Coastal Park ranger service. Lease has an interesting claim to fame in that here started the world's first commercial hovercraft service carrying holidaymakers to Rhyl. It was not a profitable business and it was soon discontinued.(maybe the weather had something to do with this, the 1960's saw the coolest summers of the 20th Century.) Angela Eagle, who has been in the news lately, is the local MP - perhaps she's been to the top watching her constituency with her eagle eye!

Got my number!

Leasowe Lighthouse is also the registration point for the Wirral Seaside run which is a point to point race along the seafront, which here is known as Mockbeggar Wharf. (In April we also ran past a lighthouse at Point Cartwright, a big concrete tower built in 1978 in Australia.) Here's a picture of Vicky emerging from the building proudly displaying her race number. One advantage of a point to point race is that if you have a tail wind all the way you can get a good time - and our times were indeed good! However the only race we can compare it with is the next Wirral Seaside run as the distance is a fairly idiosyncratic 4.92K. The clear disadvantage of a point to point race is that at the finish we were 4.92K away from the car but at least it wasn't raining. Having run along the Mockbeggar Wharf it was entirely appropriate that we were able to repair to the Mockbeggar Hall for some nice pints of.

Mirror, mirror on the wall......

Still using Woolworths' trusty products? I rustled through my various toolboxes looking for some picture hooks and came across this unopened packet - is it worth anything? I doubt it and you can most likely get stuff like this at car boot sales - it's actually less than eight years since the last Woolworths store closed in the UK. The original parent company founded by Frank Winfield Woolworth in the US is still going strong and Woolworths in Australia is one of the two big supermarket chains over there. Aussie Woolies is not related at all to FW Woolworth -apparently the owners of a local store in Sydney discovered that Woolworths had failed to register their trade name down under!

A Mini Tourist Guide to Cagliari

A sunny day in Cagliari

I never managed to write much about my 5 months in Sardinia, mainly as I was far too busy to find time to idly blog. So this is a bit belated but might be useful if you're planning a trip in the near future! Cagliari is the capital of Sardinia - it's not too big and easy to walk around. However most of the tourists don’t seem to think so as they throng around the Marina area and don’t get up to the Castello which is the oldest part of town. (Make sure you go up the Torre dell’elefante which is top left of this picture.) I lived in Castello for nearly 5 months and loved it. 

The Marina area pictured in the foreground has lots of touristy restaurants, most have some Sardinian specialities - we were advised to go to Dal Corsaro on Via Sardegno but never actually ate there! Pricier, but usually busy, are the restaurants on the battlements of Castello, Libarium is the popular one but the locals seem to go to others  either side of Libarium. Most restaurants don’t open until 7.30 - 8 ish but they close earlier than you might expect - it’s not like Spain!

All good stuff you see!

There’s plenty of Italian and Sardinian microbrewery beer around - you might find some in the restaurants, but the best bar with a range of straight and bottled brews is Il Merlo Parlante, Via Portascalas. If you walk past in the daytime you wouldn’t know there was anything there but between 7.30 and 8 a wooden door opens up and the long bar inside fills up pretty quickly. We went there regularly. If you want a beer earlier on you have the touristy bars at Piazza Jenne which we didn’t go in - the waiters outside will pester you trying entice you in with special deals. Round the corner is a big Irish (but not really Irish) pub, The Old Square on Vittoriio Emanuele II, just about the only place open when the rugby world cup afternoon matches were on - if you go there ask for the Italian bottled beer list - some good stuff there. And last but not least, Carlo and Sasha’s tiny pub Lima Lima is close to the shopping street near Bastion St Remy - it’s on Via Iglesias and usually opens at 6.30 pm (so we got to know Carlo and Sasha pretty well - give them our regards if you see them!) he usually has at least one local draught beer and he owns an eclectic beer shop over the road. He has occasional music nights but you’d need to reserve a table if you want to sit.

Italian word for flamingos is 'Fennicotteri!

You could spend all your time in the middle of Cagliari  - lots of churches, cathedrals, etc., but if you get a chance go down to see the flamingoes at Stagno Molentargius. Or even take a bus to Poetto Beach (can be absolutely packed but you’ll see the Italians at play!) In the mornings there is often a pink sheen on the water in the distance - just down from Torre San Pancrazio - as you come down through the North Eastern gate from Castello you’ll see them in the distance - this was the way I walked to work every morning!

http://www.microbirrifici.org/Sardegna_birrifici_regione.aspx is a beer website for Italy that was full of fascinating information and I found it very useful - they’ve revamped the website for some reason and now it’s not nearly as informative. 

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.