Pub Quiz at The Plough in Heaton Moor - Mon 6th Feb 2012

We had a good turnout for this social (although not everyone wanted to be on the photo!). The pub was also packed, which helped make a great atmosphere. We formed (after some debate) two teams which we named 'Tigger's Muddy Funsters' and 'MADS' and we looked at the 'Picures' round while we finished our delicious pizza's. The 'Pop Music' round was next - lyrics were read out and question asked, testing our knowledge back to the 70's. The 'Sport' round was followed by 'Last Week' and, despite reminding everyone to check the newspapers for the preceding week, I couldn't remember the name of the Energy secretary's ex-wife, or that it was Mayor Boris Johnson's house that terrorist had threatened to bomb! The 'General Knowledge' round finished the evening and, after our papers were swapped and marked, although neither of our teams had won the £25 vouchers, we had had a great evening - good suggestion Ian!

5 Feb 2012 Styal

Four hardy (fool hardy?) souls braved the weather and turned out to Styal.

The original planned work was hedge laying - but conditions were not ideal - with snow on the ground, and there was higher priority work that would keep us warmer.

So we cleared snow from main paths between the mill, the car park and the apprentice house, spreading salt / grit on any residual ice.

We ducked into the volunteers room at the mill for a coffee break and made a fair sized hole in a packed of biscuits kindly supplied for us. We returned there for lunch.... at which point a number of volunteers were passing the biscuits away from themselves to try to avoid the temptations of "just one more".

As it was quiet after lunch we accepted an invitation to see the work for next time and then visit a less publicly accessible part of the estate. We looked at some barn owl boxes, an orchard and got away from the activity around the mill. Under one owl box there was a fresh pellet lying on top of last nights snow (regurgitated undigested remains from the owls last meals), which confirmed that the box was in use, and that its occupant had eaten recently.

It is hoped that they will breed again this year.

No photos as I forgot my camera.

Sunday 29th January 2012 Alderley Edge - hedge laying

Weather was cold and crisp. We re-sited the fire-pit and continued with the hedge laying. The fire took a while to sort out and delayed us, then, just as it got going, we had a visit by the firemen who were attending a house-fire nearby, to see what we were up to.
We decided at this point, not to load the fire any further so cut and stacked the branches for the next group (................which, according to Tim R, may be us again in March). Before photo at top, after after...

Hayfield

Fifteen volunteers turned out on a windy day.


The work was similar to some we had done previously near Mam Tor last year.

The lower branches were cut off all the standing by the volunteers
Most of the pines were felled by the wardens / rangers some were left standing possibly for next time?
The branches were removed from the felled trees by the volunteers

the trunks of the felled trees will be used in due course on the plateau for gully blocking.


I don't know if Shane (the warden) picked the wood in question to shelter us from the wind or if it was coincidence, but the contrast between where we were working and where we walked to get there was amazing.

Styal - trimming edges

Ten keen volunteers turned out to the first work day of the year.

The original plan was to clear up various paths in the estate near Styal Village however the day dawned very frosty and it was obvious that this task would be more or less impossible until the ground had softened.

Plan B - was to cut back trees and shrubs encroaching on the old Altrincham Road (now private road / public footpath / bridleway) near the "three ponds area" - a patch of woodland that contains old "marl pits" that fill up with water depending on the weather - creating a variable number of ponds.

As we had plenty of hands we completed this job in the morning, so we stopped for lunch in the picnic area near the main carpark.



After lunch we attempted to clear up one section of road (granite setts) and 2 sections of paths (gravel) in the village. In the event only the mud on the road was soft enough to clear.

We then had a brief tour of the upper areas of the garden, before going home comparatively early.

Nawaab restaurant 10th January 2012

A small group of us went to try out the Nawaab Indian restaurant in Levenshulme, which is a 'eat as much as you like' style buffet for a fixed price of £13.95 (drinks were extra).
It firstly has to be said that it is a fabulous building, particularly the stunning entrance hall. In the past the building has been an Art Deco cinema, a bowling alley, a bingo hall and a cash and carry but now it is the flagship restaurant of the Nawaab restaurant group.
The restaurant area is huge, there were seats for at least 200 people, which we expected to remain half-empty but, during the course of the evening, got busier and busier and filled completely.
The food was really lovely. We filled our plates with starters, returned and selected our main courses including some that you would not find on a traditional Indian menu (each dish was labelled) then we went back for the puddings:-)
For those who did not join us for this social, I would recommend that you tried this restaurant some time - it really was a great place to eat and an amazing place to see (and you can park outside on Stockport Road or in the car park behind the restaurant).

New years walk Dunham Massey

A small number of members met up and took a circular walk via the canal at Dunham Massey, returning across the Bollin and into the park near the Mill. This was followed by a short tour of the winter garden where we tried to work out what we could smell on the scented walk. We finished in the "Stables" restaurant with hot drinks and varying quantities of food!