Alderley Edge 11 Dec 2011

Thanks to Sue for putting up the words while I was offline (rain got into my phone line...) - and again thank to Nathan for the photos

Well.................I know it's December, but what a cold, wet, miserable day!!

Still, eleven of us turned out and we managed to 'lay' a decent length of hedge and, despite the rain, got a good fire going so we were able to burn most of what we cut off.

Some members of the group did get a bit cold during the day. Afterall there is a fair amount of standing about to be done when hedge-laying!, but the warmth from the fire and the TWO cakes provided by Sue (a chocolate cake and carrot cake, bought at the Church fair the day before) raised spirits sufficiently to keep the motivation going.

Hopefully next time we hedge-lay, it's be warm, dry and sunny!!

Manchester Christmas markets 6 Dec 2011

Seven regular MNTVers plus friends met at The Windmill House - one of the food and drink area's in the European market in Albert Square by Manchester Town Hall. It was cold and dry and not too busy, so we were able to get some food and drinks quite easily without having to wait for ages. We each got our food from different stalls, so were able to compare what we ate - each were tradtional dishes from various European countries like Lanchashire hot pot from the UK, Pan Hagarty from Ireland, Paella from Spain, a chicken and garlic dish from France and, although no-one had any, there were plenty of Bratwurst from Germany. Most of us had a hot Glühwein to drink, which was great:-)

We chatted while we ate and drank and Marita was the first to wander off and buy something - a £10 bag of various salami's and other spicy sausages. They looked and smelt so good that it wasn't long before Andy was persuaded to get some as well. When everyone had finished eating and drinking, we went for a wander around the stalls to see what delights were available. Some of the group bought their Christmas presents before heading off home.

A lovely relaxing start to the Christmas Festivities!

High Wray Weekend social

After work we returned to the base camp, and were welcomed with home made cake and mulled wine, warmed mince pies etc.The food theme continued sometime with a large roast turkey, a vegetarian alternative - lots of trimmings - and even later Christmas pud etc. Many thanks to Charlie and Neil who did the cooking.

In due time secret Santa's sack was found and presents opened, and for some strange reason the evening ended in the early hours of Sunday with a vigorous discussion on the subject of education!


We got up eventually on Sunday to discover another grey day but with white stuff visible on the distant fells.

After breakfast the majority went for a leisurely walk

including the path we had worked on, returning via Wray castle. The rain restarted in earnest as we were heading back - so we cleared up, packed up and came home.

High Wray (Windermere) Weekend 3 Dec 2011

A large group of us celebrated early at High Wray for the weekend. To subsidise the base camp hire most of us worked on for the day, helping the staff "Rangers" as we now must call them to finish some work on a stretch of bridle path alongside the lake.


We started in full waterproofs in the rain at the end of the path near the gate to Wray Castle, and helped load a trailer with fire wood - as this was the fuel that was most likely to disappear. We then walked down to the lake shore inspected the "finished" work, before continuing the work ourselves. The task was simple but did required thought - cut down the "trees" on the sides of the path with pink spots - to open out the views and keep the path clear. The complex bit came next - as you then had to decide what to do with the cut material - cut it to one length for firewood, a different length for a hedging stakes, leave it as long as possible as material for "round wood crafts" (hurdle making etc) - or just burn it on the bonfire!

The sun never got very high of the hill, but the hill was sheltering us from the worst of the weather. We did see quite a lot of rain and some hail. The light was going by the time we finished but I thing the rangers were quite pleased that we had finished the section.