Dunham Massey workday on 26 January 2014 - cancelled

Today's rhodybash at Dunham was cancelled yesterday because of forecast strong winds.

Pub quiz at the Hesketh Tavern on 20 January 2014

We had our January social last night and five of us (Sue, Andy, Tim O, Philippa and Daniel) went to the Hesketh Tavern in Cheadle Hulme for their Monday night pub quiz.  It's always very popular and last night was no exception with 31 teams (a record number) taking part which made for a good atmosphere.  We had been told to get there early (by 8pm) to bag a table and were glad we did.

The quiz had several rounds (Pictures, Puzzles, General Knowledge, Music, Wipeout) and within Puzzles there were several categories: Chart toppers, Catchphrase, Mystery year and Spellbound.
Midway through they served a "£1 supper" of chicken, ham & leek risotto - very good and an absolute bargain for the price.

We scored 70 points which was good enough for 11th place but a long way behind the winning 91 points.  All teams' scores were read out, in no particular order, and several team names made us smile, my favourite being "So many questions, so few answers."

Victoria Baths Sun 19th Jan 2014

Four of us went to Victoria Baths to continue helping with the improvements at the Baths.


 

This time we were stripping paint from under the balconies in the Second Class Males pool area.

As you can see we wore protective gear - safety glasses, dust masks and white paper
suits! - very fetching!!

We first tried removing the paint using long wooden broom handles with scrapers attached but this didn't really work so we stood on platforms so we could reach.

We were really lucky as Neil, one of the volunteers at Victoria Baths, gave us a tour of the building and explained all the improvements that had taken place since they won the BBC Restoration program 11 years ago.

12 Jan Alderly Edge Hedge laying

Thanks to Sarah for leading on the day and for providing the words in italics a little further down....

The pictures are mine and to cover the main stages of laying the hedge more than the volunteers!

“Another great turn out today at Alderley Edge. Thirteen volunteers braved the cold to continue the hedge laying that the group started at the end of November. We had a mix of hedge laying talent amongst us - from complete novices to experienced old hands. Tim O’D took the novices for a introductory class, working to complete the section that the group had started last year; whilst a more experience group continued laying the section that the Congleton volunteers had previously worked on.

A pile of hedge cuttings soon amassed, much to the dismay of the third group who were trying to light a fire in the strong wind. It took over an hour, a lot of perseverance and some clever tactics (building a cardboard wind break around the base of the fire) before we could get the flames to catch properly. By coffee time (with special Waitrose cakes this week), the hedge layers were making good progress but we were starting to doubt that we would be able to burn even half of the brash that they were generating.

After the break, we turned all spare pairs of loppers to the task of cutting the brash up into really small pieces and loading the fire twig by twig. Eventually this paid off and by the end of the day we had not only completed one hedge row and laid over ten meters of another, but we had successful dragged, chopped and burned all the cuttings leaving the site neat and tidy for the next set of volunteers!"

5 Jan 2014 New year walk

As usual, we started the year not with a workday, but with a gentle stroll at a local NT property. Four of us (Tim O’D, Tim L, Phillipa & I) congregated at Styal for an occasionally muddy amble through the Southern Woods. There was plenty of water pouring over the weir upstream of the mill, testament to the recent heavy rain.

We passed the stretch of river where we did some spiling in the summer, where a few dogs (one appropriately named Flo) were swimming around, and coming perilously close to undoing our good work while scrambling in and out of the water.

At the back of Jim Evison playing fields, we searched in vain for the chestnut trees planted by Phil’s Mum a couple of decades ago, before making a short detour to meet the lady herself! Mrs Greaves was not expecting her daughter to be accompanied by three men, and appeared at the doorway in her dressing gown, proving that Phil doesn’t have a monopoly on the minor social scandal in her family.

We arrived back at the mill after just over an hour and a half, but not a moment too soon, as the forecast rain arrived bang on time. We had a brief chat to Simon in the yard, then headed indoors to enjoy a bite and a warming drink in the cafe, just in the nick of time to beat the lunchtime rush.