A Reindeer Story

Once upon a time there was reindeer named Chester . He lived in Antarctica and desperately wanted to work for Santa at the North Pole. His friends, Denby and Jaclyn, became tired of his whining and encouraged him to write Santa a letter. It went like this:

Dear Santa,

My name is Chester and I am a great admirer of yours. I am very good at singing and am willing to work for £5 an hour.

Sincerely yours,
Chester

When Santa received his letter he was quite excited, but he didn't need another reindeer.

Poor Chester was so sad when he received Santa's letter that he decided not to celebrate Christmas.

On Christmas Eve Chester went to bed early. His whole house was in darkness. Santa had trouble finding his house that night.

When Santa entered Chester 's house he didn't see the usual assortment of stars and tinsel decorating the mantle piece. Just then Santa heard Dasher coughing and sneezing. Santa rushed out and asked Dasher if he was all right. "No," he replied.

"Well, what am I going to do now?" thought Santa, "I can't fly with only 7 reindeer!"

Then he remembered he was at Chester 's house. So Santa rushed in the house and woke him up and asked him if he wanted to help fly the sleigh. Boy was Chester happy! He quickly agreed and Santa was able to accomplish all of his deliveries.

Best of all, Chester was hired to work as a toy tester for Santa at the North Pole. It turned out to be Chester 's best Christmas ever.

Arrival Of MK1 Transit (Ticket To Tour)

Well if our European touring plans are going to happen we are going to need some means of transport. So after a long heated debate we decided that a large camper would be prefect to fit in the rabble. aka chester, denby and baby.

Now a new van just wouldn't cut it, we needed something with personality and individuality.

I think that the new addition to our family has individuality by the bucket load. OK she may be in need of a little TLC to restore her to her former glory, but for our effort we will be rewarded with many trouble free miles of touring bliss. (Have Faith)

Anyhow, she is a 1977 mk1 Ford Transit, with a 2.0 pinto engine.
The engine doesn't run and rust is of plenty. So watch out for updates on the transformation of this true classic.
Ah the ford transit... THE BACKBONE OF BRITAIN...

Pack Horse Trail

We set off today with the intentions of a quick walk over pule hill and back, but ended up on a 6 hour expedition. Now this would all be well but at this point Jaclyn is pregnant and it is certainly nippy out.

Our walk began with a climb up Pule hill to find that the wind on the top was absolutely howling and it was a struggle to stand up, we both had images of the dogs disappearing across Sadleworth moor and into the distance if a sudden gust came.
With the wind aside the views where fantastic and we had the hole ridge to ourselves, probably because nobody else was stupid enough to be up there in that wind.

After a quick walk across pule hill ridge we got to the remembrance cross over looking Marsden stopped for a breather and to watch a lone sheep trying to make a run for it before we got any closer.
There is a large brick structure with some form of steam coming from it on the end of pule hill, after a quick inspection and some pondering we couldn't come to a conclusion of its purpose.
Answers on a post card........

Instead of heading back we decided to go and explore tunnels end which is the point at which the canal appears from the hill after a long dark tunnel under Saddleworth moor.

The path was wet and slippy and our unorthodox route down was tiring, and conviently led to the tunnels end pub, where we enjoyed a lush steak sandwich and chips. The staff at the pub where fantastic and friendly and made our brief stay an enjoyable one.

From leaving Tunnels end, we headed up the old pack horse trail, by this time jaclyn was starting to feel the strain of carrying bambino up the fells so we took it slwoly and she showed true grit and we finally made it to the top to join the pennine way for the home stretch.

With the sun going down and our whole party tiring we made the final slog back to the car for a brew.
This little trip took us 5 hours and turned out to be a fantastic day out from which we managed to capture some great photographs.
All our photos from this day and many others can be found at here.

Ogden Reservoir

Today we took a leisurely wander around Ogden reservoir in Milnrow, we started off walking across the top of its 22m dam which provides a great oppurtunity of chase the stick up and down the bank to try and calm down the giddy dogs before we reach the open fields.
After a short climb we pass through some small farm house ruins and notice a well dressed couple in full Sunday lunch clobber. The well dressed lady wore a lovely pair of white trousers and the chap light grey trousers.
As we where commenting on their fine choice of clothes for a country walk, Chester and Denby appeared from a muddy stream in the valley and made a dash to greet the happy walkers, at which point I had no choice but to give chase and perform a fine rugby tackle on Denby to save the well dressed couple from a muddy encounter with swamp thing.

A pass over the access road provides great views of the 221.8 million gallon reservoir before approaching a small woodland along the banks of the second reservoir.

Ogden is used by a local anglers club and often has fly fisherman dotted around, so be aware of hooks whipping through the air, and try and take some time to sit back with a brew and watch them do their thing. Honestly it is quite interesting and relaxing to watch.

It is a nice leisurely walk and can be cut short for a gentle strole after Sunday lunch.

For all the photos taken on this click here.

Jurrasic Bones

180 million years ago dinosaurs ruled the terrestrial world, T-rex the most ferocious of all only had only two predators, mythical beasts that drove fear into the heart of anything that lay in their path.

Legend has it that the beasts where sent by the gods as regulators of our fair planet.
Very few have seen them as any-one who gained a glance from such a beast would be instantly
devoured, not so much as a single sighting could be proven.

That was up until now, in a living room far far away from their natural habitat, the beasts
have been photographed chomping on the remains of T-rex after what could only be described as
a bloody and violent battle occurred over the spot on the rug in front of the fire.

(actual events... We saw these bones on offer at the dog shop. Chester and Denby love them)