Radcliffe Nature Trail - Tuesday 17th Dec'13.

Here at Radcliffe nature trail, there are a few good sit spots around this area behind Asda in Radcliffe. One of my favourites is a large rock where previously we have sat with the bat detector at dusk.

 

 It overlooks the river Irwell and in the distance you can see Knowle hill and the wind farm up past Norden in Rochdale. 
 

 

The views from here are pretty spectacular in the right light.

At the moment, the trees are sparse, all shed their leaves and there are a lot of rotten branches on the ground. These will collectively create nice little habitats for the mosses, lichens, fungi and bug life in the coming months.

The bird life is quite quiet at the moment however I think I can hear a Jay but cannot see it at the moment. There are  also a few magpies and blackbirds flying about and moorhens chatting on the river. I can also see a lone Swan gliding back and forth along the river. I know that there are at least two Heron's in this system having sighted them in the past but as yet I haven't located a nest. I'm guessing that they would nest and look after their young in a nice secluded area near to the river away from the beaten track but I'm an amateur with no qualifications, just a life's knowledge of searching the outdoors and watching documentaries.

Recently, quite late in the summer, I also spotted a lone Cormorant along the river, being alone, I guessed that it could be a male, however, again, I'm no expert.

The sit spot is pretty quiet so now I am going to take the path that will lead me past a small weir and closer to the river.
 

Here there is a lovely view of the weir and you sit on this raised bank in amongst the trees which provide you with some good shelter as well as keeping you from the view of anything on the river itself.

To my right there is a family of mallards swimming around in an almost conga like fashion and down to the left of me on the river bank is something that makes me really disappointed indeed and ashamed of what we have become;

 an ignorant dredge of polluting imbeciles...
 

There is enough plastic down there to make a cul-de-sac's worth of wheelie bins!!

After looking at the mess I decided to move to another regular viewing spot of mine. It is parallel with the first spot and the view is the reverse of it. It is a nice place to have a sunbathe in the summer with it's nice setting and viewpoint and you are out in the open here so there is not much chance of many animals coming up close unless you are really still and quiet. The only real sightings from here were the family of Mallards in the distance from before and a couple of other birds here and there.

 

 

From there, I decided to carry on walking down river to the Footbridge which crosses the river and leads to a path that takes you to the canal that joins Radcliffe with Bolton and in the other direction, back towards Bury. However the footbridge was found to be closed until further notice by an electricity company until further notice.

 (Human pollution and electric companies don't hinder your adventures in the Lakes Dad!)
 

As I approached the footbridge I noticed some discarded cable next to the footpath in two places, (which I didn't find very amusing) so I promptly chucked it over the caged in area to make sure that the council would remove the scrap and not leave it lying around for a fox or even a child to impale themselves on the stuff. I also made a mental note to go back and check the state of the areas in the future.

 

 

From here I decided to retrace my steps and head back towards the rock to see if anything else was up and about. 

And there it was, a Jay. It was really close to the rock on a tree seemingly looking out for anything encroaching on it's preverbial turf. It was close enough to get a good picture of it with a proper camera, however numpty here only had his phone camera and a set of bins. So I just settled down to watch the Jay through the binoculars without getting a picture :(

The Jay seemed to be concentrating on something from it's perch from the tree and then, all of a sudden I saw a Magpie about 150 metres ahead darting about some higher trees. The Jay, with it's Spitfire like wings darted off and up to screech at the Magpie to tell him to remove his feathery butt away from his territory which in turn developed into a slanging match between the two birds.

This was the best wild sight of the day for me. If you have never seen a Jay, I think you should. They are the most colourful member of the crow family and the size of a small crow but a light brown colour with these colourful feathers..
 

credit

 

From there I walked back towards the start of the trail and onto the canal towards Water Street. Along the canal there are good parts and unfortunately the shopping trolleys within the canal put a downer on the end of the journey which included sighting canada geese, bulrushes, robins and woodpidgeon. 

The only tracks/game trails of the day to speak of were dog and horse andof course human.

Here is a summary and map of distance/trail covered using the Map My Walk app on my phone.

Not too wild then! Not a bad start though.

Winter Walks.

Over the course of winter, I aim to document my treks in the areas around north west Manchester. These will include hopefully the natural sites around Radcliffe, Bury, Rochdale, Ramsbottom and maybe Whitefield/Prestwich. 

The goal for me is to visit the natural areas near these towns to see how abundant the wildlife is including forest areas, around rivers and lakes and hillsides. 

My Dad once said to me that there was no need to go trekking up mountains in the Lakes or Snowdonia etcetera because we live near so many natural areas and places of interest specific to nature and good habitats for wildlife.

Having done a lot of trekking up mountains in the past, I think now is as good a time as any to write down my experiences in our local areas. I don't need to even get in the car to visit all of the areas I will be visiting this winter. 

Louis and I have already visited a multitude of local places with our bat detector over the last few years and found that there is many different sub-species of bat roosting every year. I am far off being a bat expert but a little bit of searching these places with the help of the bat detector and the internet, we have found at least three different sub-species in Radcliffe alone. This is simple science and knowledge to attain and for me at least, the results are really rewarding.

I am looking forward to getting started so goodbye for now and happy adventuring. ;)

MUFC

Let's not forget Sir Alex' parting words, "stand by our new manager", at the game today the atmosphere was subdued. I for one am clueless at Moyes' team selections. I am clueless as to why he got Fellaini as what seems to me to be a panic buy. There are one or two, maybe three or four players who aren't up to standard, maybe five or six who aren't up to the "man utd" standard as what we are used to as fans. 

There are however a multitude of seasoned professionals still in the team who know more than anyone else in the league how to win games, grind out results and win trophies. The words from Sir Alex were meant as far as i can tell, that teething problems personified will happen and are currently happening. I didn't agree with changing all of the backroom staff along with many others. People are proud of their clubs even when after years and years they haven't won a button, nevermind 20 league titles.

The legacy of  Sir Matt, the Busby Babes, the class of '92 can not and will not be tarnished. To the fans who leave the ground early and boo the team off, that attitude to me is not right. This is Manchester United for Christ's sake!! 

Credit

I have friends who support Bury FC and are proud of their heritage and like the fact that the "shakers" have won the FA cup twice in 1900 and 1903, there is no Bury fan alive who can remember these achievements as it happened so long ago but are proud of them, along with every other football fan in the world. This is FOOTBALL. This is why we love our national game. 

Yes there always will be very high expectations at MUFC and standards and legacies to adhere to but we are halfway into one of the most fragile seasons in the clubs history. 

I for one will not and have not left the game before the final whistle, nor booed the team off after a run of bad results. 

This is football, deal with it and get behind your team!

Weapon of choice. What's yours?

 Here is a picture of my weapon of choice for tonight's dog run..

    No, not the mop bucket!!

 It is now 22:50 pm. I have just taken Betsy for a run. Is it right for a 30 year old to be running at night around a park with a dog and  an illuminous football in tow??

 Keeps me fit I suppose, happy days :)

Go Ape- Grizedale Forest.

My wife and I were invited to go along to Go Ape to do a review about it and to obviously have a fantastic day out. My initial thoughts were 'Aah brilliant!', followed by 'Ooh, scary'. :)

I have always wanted to go along to Go Ape and have missed the opportunity to go along with my friends a couple of years ago. I am also not very good with heights. That wasn't gonna put me off though, no way!

As we arrived at the centre, we were warmly greeted and I felt like we were to be in for some good customer service, ( which is a rarity in most places.) We were then asked to fill out the forms/ disclaimers, and proceeded outside to receive a tutorial from one of the Go Ape staff and he fit our harnesses. *feeling nervous but excited*

There's Karen readying herself for the first zip slide. ;)

I thought that the worst thing was actually the waiting in anticipation because I just wanted to fly through the whole lot as fast as possible so as not to be stuck behind a scared person and wait ages stuck up a tree. 

The obstacles were all different and some harder than others. My favourites were the two large zip slides crossing the valley and the best of them all was the large Tarzan swing after choosing the extreme route over the easy one..

Can't be a wuss!!!

On the Tarzan swing, you only free fall for about a second before the rope kicks in but the adrenaline boost rises to a crazy level and resulted in me shouting obscenities at the top of my voice, now I know why Tarzan does that scream thing!! What an amazing idea. I would recommend Go Ape to anybody, fat, thin, young and old. You feel completely safe as long as you are always strapped on to the obstacle and the tree by taking the safety clips one at a time and placing them onto the next bit. I cannot wait until the next time I visit one of the other sites and have already spoken to friends and family to bear Go Ape in mind when it comes to stag do's, hen parties, birthdays etc. 

Brilliant customer service + brilliant adventure = happy customer! Thanks :)

This year, in a Nutshell. (A very large one)

 What a year..

Turned 30, kids are amazing, had some great times as a family, learned loads of new bushcraft and nature skills, Man Utd 20 times champions, 13 premier leagues of which I've seen, new car..

What A Year...

Lost Gramps, Lost Col, Karen's lost Wray, her Gran isn't well and the car has been smashed into by an idiot who is denying fault when it's clear that he is in the wrong, very wrong....

Still, I continue to be positive. Why?,

I have an ok job that pay's well but doesn't pay sick pay and I'm so glad that Christmas is nearly upon us to get some rest. I know that might sound selfish, I am very glad to have a job in our current climate and god knows have we and millions of other Families have suffered. But still, I am a very lucky man indeed, my family drives me on, I have never had a day off sick in the seven years of being at my current job. Even now while staying at some digs writing about how things are, I am positive and I know my purpose in life. We have got a multitude of positivity to have pride in our country and what it stands for, the tories could be a lot better than they are in supporting the working class , I know that but the real Britain/England stands for racial equality, pride in it's heritage, fish, chips, mushy peas, Sir Robert Peel, the industrial revolution, inventors of our beloved game ,( c'mon England), Armistice day, D-day, spitfires, steam engines, Fred Dibnah, war heroes, coastlines....

I could go on forever..

Eccles cakes, pride in each other, The Royal Family..

What I mean is I think, is that I see all of the troubles around the globe, terrorists, orphans, typhoon's, nuclear power, Tyrant's, world politics etc..

England could be a very lot worse. It's very sad to see some of the news coming in from other countries, badger's being culled and Elephant's being poached. There is all of this information to take in, discard what you're not into and relish in all that you want to know. My Grandad had an amazing capacity to keep up with the times, he lived until he was 91, contempt with his life's experiences, dignity intact, off to see his Wife in heaven. 

For my positivity, I am thanking you Gramps. I learned a lot from you and so am dedicating my rant to you. :)

I am positive and will stay this way, 'chin up' as they say.....

 

Mora Compumpkinion.

The Mora companion is as versatile as the proverbial  Swiss army knife. Not only can it carve nice spoons and help to prepare food. It is very well equipped to join in the Halloween festivities.

As you can see, there is a pumpkin in my lounge and as a tribute to our favourite mammal, there is also a Bat :)

 So again, I will thank the guys from woodland ways for introducing me to this great knife :)

L + R, take note..

This is going to be very brief, 

I am now sat writing this in a loading bay in Greater London. I am here as my job needs me to be here but it is the last place I want to be right now. It is half term and right now I wish I could be at home having an adventure with you both looking for natures autumn gifts in the woods. 

However, I haven't yet followed my dreams and so have a bum job and am stuck in a rut. The only saving grace is the two of you and mummy. You are what keeps me going. 

Follow your dreams kids and never give up. The last thing that I want for you is to be feeling how I am in twenty years time.

Yours, Daddy x

National Family Arts Exhibition.

I took Rowan to the Arts Exhibition at the Lowry Theatre in Salford last Friday. The exhibit also had newly commissioned football artwork along with some great memorabilia courtesy of the greatest football team in the world, Manchester United. As one could imagine, it was right up my street. Although we missed Fred The Red, the Premier League trophy was there on display with the right coloured tassel's attached, Red, Black and White. We had our picture taken with it.

Rowan and I were invited to draw pictures and or write down our thoughts/memories of being a football fan. As Rowan is only three he had a good scribble. I however managed to draw a picture of something resembling Edwin Van Der Sar's top half with a caption underneath..

.. :) not a very good artist.

We were also invited to look and have a feel of some studded boots from the past  and even Shinji Kagawa's specially made size 7 3/4 featherweight titanium moulds. There were various shirts including arguably the greatest ever goalkeeper that ever graced football, Peter Schmeichel's XXXL shirt. There were some signed pictures from past legends and old match programmes including a blank team list on the middle spread immediately after the Munich air disaster..

..as you can see, the Busby Babes' names are missing :(

Rowan and I had a thoroughly great time and had a further look at some of the artwork on display in the Theatre. The people were fantastic and very helpful. Apparently our drawings will be put on display in the gallery for all visitors to see. I am looking forward to going back to have a look at what other people have drawn about their own memories, from half time bovril to hot vimto, and from deep heat to leg sting from hailstone. 

Great experience :)

Silent Sunday: 06.10.13

Silent Sunday 15.09.13

Surviving Society???

I am, at the moment walking a back route between Bury and Radcliffe.(Greater Manchester, England),(for my foreign friends.)

This is along a canal route, full of plants, trees and wildlife alike an it's just after midday. A smashing route!
 

However, a gentleman in his fifty's has just saw me approach and deliberately stepped over to the other side of the path, that was when we were around 30 paces away. As we got closer, I tried to make eye contact in acknowledgement and maybe say hello,(as anyone would). This man was cowering when we walked past each other. I have my work uniform on with a baseball cap as a part of it.
 

Now, my walk has been slightly spoilt by this, as I am now writing instead of taking in nature to it's fullest.
 

I am deeply sorry about this man's behaviour and/or past.
 

If you cannot have a leisurely walk along a nice stretch of local countryside without fearing for your life, what else can there possibly be?
 

This country, like many others is still in the Dark Ages, it's about time these money/time wasting council bosses and politicians actually pulled their fingers out of their arses and actually..

MADE A DIFFERENCE!!!

13' Lucky for some?

This post might actually be about survival!

This week it is the 13th September 2013 on Friday. 

Things keep appearing to relate to '13', for instance:

• I watched a documentary about kids filmed just before they turned 13.

• I looked at the clock yesterday and it read 13:31, the same backwards in a palindrome kind of fashion. 

• My hotel room number this week is 13.

I'm not that superstitious but this has got me a bit scared, should I do the Lottery?, dig an air raid shelter?, drive the family up into the mountains?, or even just simply stay in bed all day on Friday the 13th?!

The one and only saving grace is that my Wife's lucky number is 13, the day in which she entered this lovely planet of ours :), oh, just to add, my favourite metal band's 13th album is called THIRTEEN...

A Young Lemmy?

Check out this three year old!..

Yes, it's Rowan at the park. This is Rowan who head bangs to Ozzy in the car among lots of other rock bands. I can't help but think that my missus may have had little fun with Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead. In 15 years time if he isn't riding a huge trike and in a rock band himself, then he might not be Lemmy's after all. :)

God I love this kid x

Burrs country park

I took the kids and the dog to Burrs country park for a little adventure. As a young lad, I used to knock about there quite a lot with my mates, swimming in the river and what not. It is also a great place, full of Wildlife day and night. 

Here they are playing on the river bank..
 

Great scenery if I may say so. 

There are plenty of things to do here such as a park for the kids, activities include canoeing, abseiling, orienteering and the place has the East Lancs Railway running through it. You can fish in the River Irwell or there is a lodge for coarse fishing. 

Louis has an affection for Bats and this is one of the best local places near Radcliffe where we live as Burrs is situated just outside of Bury. We have a bat detector and as amateur bat hunters, we can definitely identify at least three Bat species.

On our little adventure yesterday Rowan ran through a small nettle bush so he was upset as you can imagine. So I then thought a little bit of education wouldn't go a miss,(even if he is only three) :).

He helped me look for a doc leaf and I Showed the kids what one looked like, the best place to find one and how to use it to take away the sting from the nettles. To which they were both surprised at how quick Rowan's stings vanished and stopped itching his legs. 'Result!'.

I noticed a kingfisher was opposite us on the riverbank and saw that it was darting into a hole back and forth, back and forth. We then investigated and found a nice little but long hole dug into the raised part of the riverbank. As I neared the nest, the parent was looking toward us from high up in a tree on the opposite side of the river. There was an obvious alarm sounding call from the chick(s) coming from inside the nest. 
 

Here it is..
 

The keen eye will make it out but see how camouflaged the chick actually is.

The kids loved hearing the baby(s) in the nest. 

I would recommend Burrs country park to anybody, there is a great pub and a caravan site that overlooks the Steam Railway. Young and old can get real fulfilment from this local haven for fun and above all for me, the abundant thriving wildlife.

Lollibop

Here's me, with one of my Idols..

Yes, Shaun the Sheep.

We arrived at Lollibop 2013 and I don't know who was most excited, Karen (aka grumpyishmum), Louis (aka footymad5yearold), Rowan (aka asbo), or me, Ted (aka survivaldaddy). 

As we came through the gate, opposite was a stall where your children, yes children had the opportunity to make a wind mill. And neither Louis or Rowan seemed bothered at all about the prospect, however, (grumpyishmum), who I will now call (childlikeishmum) was very excited indeed and proceeded to make one and got right into it.

As we moved on, we learned from the schedule that Rastamouse and the Eazy Crew were due to perform so off to the main stage we went. Brilliant, we love Rastamouse and what a performance it was. Watching Rastamouse gave me a craving for carribean food, (yes I am odd), so off I went in search to the food stall area and found a Jamaican food stall and had mutton curry, rice an peas followed by a can of ginger beer. In a word, Awesome :)

As the day went on, we looked around all of the stalls an attractions which looked very good and interactive for kids and adults alike but and it's a very big BUT, the queues were horrendous for just about everything. Take the National Geo tent. They were educating us about exotic animals and letting kids have hold of Tarantulas which was all brilliant but unless you were 7 feet tall, there was no chance of seeing anything if you weren't near the front. The presenter wasn't on a raised stage and the tent was very small indeed. I don't mean to pick on Nat Geo as such but that was as good an example as any. 

Moving on, Louis wanted his face painted so I took him to queue up for one while Childlikeishmum took Asbo to the Little Tykes playground and a look round some of the other stalls.

 After an hour of queueing, Louis got his face painted..
 

He was very pleased in the end.
 

Rowan looked a little apprehensive about who Shaun's friends were..

..but decided that he'd stand next to one and look at Shaun from a distance. :)

After Louis had his face painted like Spiderman, we then found Asbo and Mummy only to find that Asbo wanted his face doing also but we had to deny him because there was no way we were queueing up again.

Sorry Rowan, we promised to get it done tomorrow, as you do.

Overall, I think that Lollibop was very good indeed and well organised but I definitely wouldn't have liked to have visited on the Saturday as it would have been a lot busier and the queues even more horrendous than the Friday.

I also made these.

While we're on the subject of things we made, here are my best creations:

Using one of these...
 

Which in turn created not one of these...

But another one...

My life would be..

Without these...

    My life however is as beautiful as one of these...

Or this..

 

(If that's the way you roll) :)

Thankyou from the bottom of my heart and all the way to Mars xxoooxx

I Made This

This weeks 'The Gallery' theme is: I made this.
 

This is the third item I carved since starting my newest hobby which is woodcraft. The first was a walking stick for fathers day, followed by a nice little spoon (that the dog has now eaten).

I acquired a nice branch of Hazel which had a nice kink in it where I imagined the scoop to be. 

Here's how it looked.

The process is very enjoyable and can take you however long you want it to as long as you don't rush (and damn near slice off a digit), however, it took me around three hours to amble along and get it perfected :).

    

I am really looking forward to see what other people have made and read what they blog about on the 'I made this' theme..

Ok now, bye bye then..

Compact survival kit.

When looking for kit to take with you for a trek or a weekend in the woods, I think the main things to consider are the size, weight and efficiency of the kit you are using. I have been looking around for a small survival kit for some time and have purchased one which was very cost effective, lightweight, doesn't take up much room at all and has a good deal of items contained including;

 

1. Adhesive bandages
 

2. Button compass
 

3. Candle
 

4. Cotton wool
 

5. Dressing
 

6. Salt Sachet
 

7. Snare wire
 

8. Vinyl tape
 

9. Sewing kit
 

10. Zip lock water bag carrier
 

11. Fishing hook
 

12. Flint and steel fire lighter
 

13. Whistle ( containing emergency details)
 

14. Mirror
 

15. Small multi tool
 

16. Pencil
 

17. Razor blade
 

18. Safety pins
 

19. Wire saw
 

All contained in a vacuum sealed aluminium tin.

 I may not need to use all the items, i.e the sewing kit, but you never know. There are some very useful items contained within, some of which I will demonstrate the use of.

 

This kit obviously doesn't contain everything you will need, i.e hand sanitizer, bug spray, sun cream etc. It will however go a long way in helping you to have all of the right kit which will fit into the side pocket of your bag.

Basic Shelter.

When finding a nice spot to take/ make a shelter you have to take into consideration a number of thought processes. At it's most basic, you can erect a tarpaulin (if you have one) between two trees and sleep/rest underneath to keep dry and warm enough perhaps only in the space of April to September in this country. 

The first thing to consider when choosing two trees to tie the tarp to is to look up, to make sure no branches can fall and impale you while you're sleeping. Then you look at the ground to see if it's flat and there are no game trails or ants nests where your head is going to be :). In our country, our weather systems and wind come from a south westerly direction. So your tarp wants to be at least within a 45 degree angle with the back facing toward the wind. Erect the tarp at a nice angle and the wind should flow right over it and the rain slide down it. 
 

I think that if you have a tarp then it can be used as a quick fix resting spot in the right conditions. I will be using, investigating and making alternative types of shelter and writing on blog about the processes used for each one.
 

     Here's one I made earlier.. :)
 

 

Flat ground and good canopy above made this possible.
 

 

I utilised this axe bench as a bit of protection which also doubled up as a hanger :)

Back to Basics

Now, I have been going off on a tangent writing about spoons and sticks so we are going to go back to basics.

In principal, survival will consist of finding or making shelter, making fire, finding and purifying water and getting food. Clothing, tools, any equipment and any sort of training will help you in most situations. Obviously the location, weather conditions and state of health will all come into play in varied situations, i.e, if you find yourself in a desert, finding water will not help if you have no shelter to retain bodily fluids.
 

I was told to remember 'The Rule Of Threes'.
 

• In the first three hours, you need shelter.
• In the first three days, you need water.
• In the first three weeks, you need food.

Fire will come to play in and around these  principles. Fire keeps you warm, keeps insects at bay, heats your water and cooks your food. Not to mention, be a signal from the smoke it creates if you find yourself to be stranded on a desert island ( laughs uncontrollably ).

At it's most basic, Survival means;
 

To satisfy the human body's requirements for life.

If you are in a survival predicament, conserving your energy is most important. There is no point in taking on a strenuous task of building a shelter when there is a nice warm cave nearby.( providing there are no bears around). :)
 

In the coming weeks, I will be taking time to take on some of these tasks, implementing my existing knowledge and learning new tricks along the way :).
 

Enjoy, I know I will ..

Hazel Ladle.

Here is a ladle I have managed to make with my Mora Companion.

I really enjoyed making it and found the bowl easier to whittle/ carve out as it is rather large and almost canoe shaped. It is a very good size for use in deep pans while making stews/ broths for example.

My son Louis helped me to sand down and watched the process throughout. 

I can see this becoming a little habit/ addiction now. Better than recreational drugs though eh?? :)
 

 

 Branch ready to split.

 

 



Handle carved out.

 

 

Rear view of 'canoe' shape.

 

 

Pre sanded version.

 

 

  The one in the middle, nicely sanded and drying out. :)

My first spoon.

     Here is my first ever spoon carved from a section of a Sycamore branch. I wanted to take on a couple of spoon types by using only my trusty Mora. I will purchase a crook knife eventually but with a bit of informal advice I received from Jay at Woodland Ways regarding carving techniques, I have decided to give it a try. I am in fact very proud of the result. 

     The spoon can only be used for stirring as the bowl doesn't go that deep at all. With it being quite a small spoon with a shallow bowl shape I slightly struggled to make it perfect as it does have some minor dints in the middle where the front of the Mora has dug in. 
 

     However, overall i will be looking forward to using the spoon when it has dried out and had a soak in olive oil. By the way, it's great if you happen to be left-handed.
 

     So here it is :)