Keep on Walkin'

I thought it was about to time to give an update on my walk round the Cheshire ring. If you've not read earlier posts it's about 100 miles of canal path around Manchester and Cheshire. I'm not doing it all in one go but in little bursts. The first stretch was from Manchester down to Runcorn along the Bridgewater Canal but now I have reached the Trent and Mersey Canal. Today's section was from Barnton Tunnel to Wincham near Northwich. There are 5 tunnels on this canal and this was my third. You can't actually walk through them as they were built for one way traffic and for boats alone. But a tow path over the top provides a pleasant woodland stroll. If you are in a boat you work on a strict timetable so for example between o'clock and 20 past boats go up through the tunnel and between half past and ten to they travel in the pther direction. 

I walked most of today's journey with a heron - well that's not strictly true but every time I got near him he flew on to show me the way. Which was kind but unnecessary as the aren't many junctions on a canal. 

Being January it's somewhat cold and rainy and as such the path is mud central. In one stretch a tree had fallen and covered the path but climbing over this was not my biggest challenge. Can you spot the difference between my feet and work out the problem:

Maybe this picture will help:

Yes, as I was walking I suddenly felt like I was limping and when I looked back I found the lower half of my shoe in the mud about 10 metres back. Fortunately I had some emergency shoes with me as my boots are prone to giving me blisters but this considerably slowed down my progress - trainers just don't cope as well with mud. 

One of the landmarks I passed was the Anderton Boat Lift. In the days when people transported everything via the canal network (1875 to be precise) people searched for a way of connecting the canal with the nearby River Weaver which lies about 50 feet below. A clever engineer (Edwin Clark) came  up with the boat lift which is a nifty idea for transporting boats up or down between the waterways. Essentially there are two containers of water; when a boat enters one of these from the canal it becomes heavier and the container (and boat) moves down to the river level whilst the other container, due to the counter balance system, rises back up to the canal. By emptying water out and refilling you don't even need another boat - just a a clever hydraulic system that does it all for you. Happily the boat lift has been restored in recent years and complete with visitors centre makes an interesting afternoon out. http://canalrivertrust.org.uk/Anderton-boat-lift

In the back of shot you can also see some of the salt works that surround this part of the country. If you've ever been behind the salt spreader and wondered where all the salt comes from well chances are it was from one of these places - there's even a salt museum. It's where every well "seasoned" traveller visits. (Sorry!) 

I still have about 2/3 of the way to go on the walk but I've worked out that if I can do at least 8.5 miles each month I'll get there. So four more miles were done today. Co-walkers are always welcome to join me (especially if you have a car so that we can do the car at both ends of the journey trick and save me having to walk back on myself) - the journey seems much shorter with company.

Now I just need to buy myself some new boots!

The Final Countdown

Grab a party popper, pop a noise blower in your mouth for 2014 is upon us. Yes, I can finally declare that this year I will turn 40. The big 4-0. Two Score years. From September people will start saying horrific things such as "Not long til you're 50 now!". I can barely contain myself.

I'm actually ok about turning 40 though, I think this merry dance of challenges is preparing me well for the event. It's like a 2 year prelude. If you tell yourself enough times that it's on its way then eventually you get used to it I suppose. 

I'm not ready to hear the jokes about being 50 yet though.

And so the final countdown begins. The last 8 and a bit months of my 40b440 journey. Obviously by now I should be 2/3 of the way through the list and yet a simple glance will show a lot more black than red still meaning that I'm a fair way off that target. So it means it's time to up my game and get focused. I need to get dates in the diary and plan some of the biggies still on the list... and do a whole lot of walking of the Cheshire Ring.  

So today I cross off not one but two more from the 40. Firstly a couple of months ago I wrote some content for TV which was broadcast in the Autumn. Here are a couple of screengrab highlights:

I have a fun job!

Secondly I have been giving a lot of thought lately into how I could "Leave my mark". I love the vagueness of this challenge as it provides a lot of scope however the more I thought about it the more I was concerned that I could end up with a night in the cells. I'm fundamentally opposed to graffiti and despite asking a couple of people to tattoo my face on their bodies no one was buying into that option either. I considered seeing whether I might be able to persuade someone to dedicate a book or an album to me but that seemed unlikely and let's face it I don't have the time to write my own tome of wisdom as I'm too busy with my challenges. I've had people suggest that this blog is a way of leaving my mark but I fancy being a bit more literal (and silly). But today I had a mini brainwave about how to leave my mark... in a small way at least.

Throughout the offices that I work in are many funkily decorated walls. Some are donned with giant maps which feature the very road that I live on... so I may just have made an addition to one of these walls:

It's pretty subtle and in theory could be peeled off again but hopefully this will stand the test of time and I will leave my mark on my workplace. Ok, so it's no grand political gesture or great work of literature but face it... if you saw it, when you were in a dull meeting, it would make you smile wouldn't it? And what better way to leave your mark than through laughter?