Picture Perfect Walk

The Cheshire Ring is 97 miles of canal path around the Cheshire/Manchester area:

My plan is to walk it in stages over the next 2 years. In theory I could walk a mile a week and complete it but as I'm now 7 weeks in to my 40b440 challenge I've clearly got some catching up to do. Last weekend I drove to Cornbrook and parked up by the Metro station to begin the walk. Now I'm horrifically unfit and if you saw the picture of me dancing in Berlin you'll know that I'm not in peak condition so I wasn't sure how far I'd actually manage to complete on my first attempt. I'm pleased to say that I managed 4 miles. Which took me as far as Dane Road near Sale. Ok so it's not exactly a marathon but it's a start.

You probably can't tell from these maps but this section is a teeny tiny portion in the yellowish bit in the top left/middle part of the larger map. 

So I set out along the walk. You might think that a canal walk would be a beautiful and scenic thing to do but Cornbrook is not exactly in the countryside:

This was my starting point - it's next to the tram line and a dual carriageway so whilst it was a convenient place to begin I suspect I'm going to see more points of natural wonder ahead. In fact that happened sooner than I expected as I'd only been walking for about 20 minutes when this fella stopped me in my track:

Soon after I crossed the canal at a rather attractive bridge:

Sadly not all the sights were as beautiful ;-)

Yes, you do walk right besides the Theatre of Dreams:Old Trafford. It was match day and even though the game wasn't due to begin for 3 more hours, fans were already congregating and the smell of burger vans was intoxicating. I walked on eager to not think about the fact it was lunchtime and that I'd not thought to bring food with me...

Frankly sights like this didn't help! The canal passes at this point through a large industrial area full of businesses but I must say I was a little surprised to see this warning sign on one of the fences (baring in mind I'm in Manchester):

Thankfully I have a pretty good sense of direction so knew I hadn't ended up in Dover but if you can offer an explanation of Manchester's link to the Chunnel I'd be interested to know. 

Whilst the day had started out dull and overcast by the time I reached Stretford Marine it had turned into a beautiful clear autumnal day:

I decided to stop for a drink on the first bench I'd seen. I was immediately beseiged by Canadian Geese. I have a theory that they're evil. You might be raising an eyebrow at me at this point. Don't: It's rude! It's true though, I mean how often do you see one on its own? No, usually you see them in pairs, whispering to each other: plotting! I'd almost go as far as to say that I suspect that they're secretly planning the next gunpowder plot. Swimming is just a big recce of the canal/river system for when they decide to overthrow the Government and take over the country. Think I'm being ridiculous? You watch them! Plotting! 

Well ok this one looks innocent enough but just up the canal was this boat...I bet the Canadian Geese did it!

...and so soon after I reached the end of the first stage of my walk. Next chunk will be from Dane Road to Timperley but then it gets more complicated. At the end of this stretch I was able to catch the tram back to my car (sadly it was packed with Man Utd. fans as I had to go back past Old Trafford) but after Timperley I won't have that luxury which means that unless I find another car owner to walk with me I'll only be able to walk half as far as I'll have to double back to my start point each time. If you fancy joining me for a short stretch I'd love your company.

To complete this picture story I thought you'd like an update pic of my plants which have now been moved inside now due to the cold weather (so the liklihood of me killing them from over/under watering is greatly increased). As you can see the nerstirtiams are doing particularly well at the moment.