Tag: pub

Bluelist party on the 23rd of November.

25th October 2009 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

A few of my friends, are organising an early evening party for me, on Monday the 23rd of November to celebrate the completion of my bluelist (completing literally thousands of must do before you die activities, and visiting dozens of countries along the way).

When I set off for a trip, I put on the paracord with a whistle and torch around my neck, adorn myself with my Rohan trousers and floppy hat, pick up my rucksack, and off I go. It sort of gets me in the adventure mood.

When I come back, I have a similar ritual. I have a bath, and then go to a nice pub and put my mind back into domestic thinking and the like.

Ill be doing the 2nd one, on the 23rd and your all invited (apart from the section involving the bath !), from about 4pm.

If your one of my friends, you’ll probably hear from me soon, with an invite, but if you fancy coming anyway, send me an email/call etc, would be great to see a few of you there (its an early evening drink, wont go on all night, but it will be the end of a 6 year project for me, and would be great to polish it off, with a few laughs and drinks).

A venue hasnt been selected yet, but it will be in the center of Chester. Hope to see you there.

John

Goldie Plays at my local

11th October 2009 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

Ive often mentioned to friends, how surreal it is to have famous musicians and DJ’s playing at my local pub (The Frog and Nightingale in Chester).

As Ive often commented, its a bit like Bono, playing at the Lion and Lamb in Widness, or some such !.

In recent times, the Frog has established itself as a significant music venue, and has had several household name acts playing there (well, they are household names if you 19 or under !) so the novelty is starting to wear of, and Im not usualy suprised when a new headliner is announced.

I couldn’t believe it the other week, when the internationally famous Goldie was announced (Ive got to admit, that Im not that into music, I found out about Goldie, after he betrayed his boss In James Bond !).

Well there he was, what an evening.

My mate Dave, being photographed with Goldie

Not just that, but he was a really nice guy as well.

My friend Dave asked to have a photo taken with him, and he was really helpful and polite (n0t at all what you’d expect while reading about him in the media).

Now, if we can just get the Smiths to re-form and play their opening night at the Frog, the future should be pretty fantastic.

Billy

4th October 2009 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

By popular demand (mostly from herself !) we have decided to host a sort of virtual “debutantes ball”, here at johnsunter.com and present our friend Billy.

Billy, is originally from Istanbul in Turkey, and her actual name is Bilge (pronounced Bilgay, not Bilge, like in the pump).

Her excellent husband Phil, is the head Chef at one of Chester’s famous Italian restaurants.

Generous and charming most of the time, she occasionally uses expletives to get her point across (something she does very well, she could arguably teach my stepfather to swear !).

Like many people who learned English outside of this country, she speaks it superbly, and was heard recently to use the frase “out of sorts” (for readers of johsunter.com, not originally from the UK, it should be pointed out, that only people wearing bowler hats, talk in this way).

Update

28th August 2009 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

Just found out, that the next Big Brother will be the last. I don’t know when it ends, but Ill be holding a party.

Okay, first the good news. Its the last Monday bank holiday of the year, and Ive managed to get Friday off.

Unfortunately, I was feeling a bit unwell yesterday. So ill in fact, that I had to miss my friend Sarah’s wedding. I had been looking forward to it for some time, as it was, I spent the evening in bed, and I was too ill, to even watch Special Victims Unit (Ive been going back over them, I only have 6 more episodes to watch, then I will have seen every one).

Well, what else has been happening lately ?.

Well, work continues to be fun, but one thing that occurred to me the other day, is how different it is, not working in the IT department (the IT guys at my company, really are a credit to our profession). The weird thing working in Internal IT, is that having worked there a month, I would normally have personally met and talked to every person in the company, as I was fixing their computer.

It had never occurred to me before, but I have done the same type of work for nearly 20 years, and now I’m doing something different. In the end, its the technology that has always driven me, and the stuff were doing is at the cutting edge of virtualization.

Talking of meeting people, I remember the 4 difficult months being unemployed. Signing on can be difficult, for one thing, they aren’t particularly partial to giving you any money, and the other thing is that you will sit there, listening to people demanding to know when their washing machine is going to arrive.

Let me make this clear from the start. I completely agree with the British system of the welfare state and the NHS. Although it seems unfair at times, I have traveled around the world (with insurance) and seen the alternatives.

That said, there are around 60 million people in the UK. At full employment, there are 20 million working people. That would mean that on average wage, each working person pays for them-self, and at least 2 other people.

I don’t mind any of that, I am happy to put money into the communal bucket. If I didn’t, then I wouldn’t be allowed to be surprised when there are roving gangs of child criminals, who I didn’t pay towards educating, and now don’t know any better.

Still, when times are hard, I would like to be able to put my own hand in that bucket, and this didn’t happen. Galling, was the fact that I had to spend ages answering questions and filling in forms before they told me they wouldn’t give me any money. Ive just been paid, and the state has taken hundreds of pounds of my money, and they didn’t have to call or fill in any of my forms !.

On a positive note, one group of people who did help and show me kindness, were the Citizens Advise Bureao. I had to speak to someone, some of the banks call center staff chased me for late payments (I had lost my job) and talked to me, as though I had broken into their house in the night and kidnapped their children !.

As I was leaving the CAB, the receptionist asked me for the pen they had provided. He commented that a lot of people forget, and they frequently run out of pens. First thing this morning, I went over there and gave them 4 boxes of pens (200) and thanked them for their help.

A new Shere Khan restaurant opened in Chester about 8 months ago. I went over there the other evening to try it out (I had been saving it for a special occasion, and payday, seemed to be that). I was shocked to find, that it changed its name. As a Manc who frequently visited Rusholme, I was a bit shocked, as that brand is known all over the world.

Had a discussion with Darius at work. I mentioned that Id like to get back into learning German (one of my colleagues on the desk can speak it very well, and it got me thinking). I was debating the best way to learn conversational German quickly (if you have any suggestions, give me a shout).

Darius (not his real name, a Wirral republican) suggested that I watch Das Boot. I queried how saying “Dive, Dive” in German would help anyone !.

Ive always worked in technology, but someone asked me the other evening (okay, so we were in the pub) if I didn’t have to work, would I work in adventure travel or bushcraft. Ive often thought about this, and the answer: Well, for a job, I would love to work in a bookshop and give the money to charity. I love books, and being around them for 2 days a week, in between travelling, and having sex with Princess Beatrice, would be my idea of heaven.

About 10 days ago, I was wandering around Chester and ran into Phil and Lorraine. They previously ran the Firkin, in its hay-day (only Dan, Amelia and I remain of the “regular 20” that drank in there then. It was pretty smart, meeting up with them again.

I recently attended the Chester food and drink tour. Loads of cool things on there (ill be writing up the tour this weekend) but a butchers shop we visited was really good (they showed us how to make Sausages). I bought a Steak pie while I was there.

Only a couple of pence more than they cost in Tesco, but much nicer, and contributes towards local business. If you normally shop at Tesco as I do, why not pop into a butchers or grocers shop and see what they’ve got. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Well, between my Unlimited Cinema card, Love film membership and 3G Internet dongle, life gets back to normal (and since the Frog are now doing 2 Steaks for a tenner on Tuesday, I can eat it even more often than before).

If you enjoyed Battlestar Galactica (and I certainly did) you might find these articles interesting (here and here).

Finaly, I know Ive been a bit of a rubbish blogger lately. I promise to update this website at least every week, from now on (and daily tweets from my twitter account, are featured at the top of this page).

Also, with everything thats going on, Ive not been in constant touch with some of you, as I normally am. I commit to getting on the phone/email this weekend and putting that right.

Near and far, have a great weekend.

John

Chester Cathedral

16th July 2009 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

I always say, that I don’t have any regrets.

That’s not strictly true. If I’m honest, there are 2 things which have always hung around in the back of my mind.

One of them, is about joining the Navy. I’ve always wondered how my life might have been different if I had joined the Navy at 17. I would have seen the world, worn my countries uniform and become part of a team.

On a more down to earth note, I wold have known how to Iron a pair of trousers, drive a car, look after myself in a fight, and stuff like that. But I didn’t do any of those things.

The 2nd one, is more interesting. After watching Raiders of the Lost Ark aged 13, I really wanted to be an Archaeologist. I reasoned that I would travel around the world, looking for adventure, going to mysterious places, flirting with danger and seeking out sacred treasures.

I never went to University to study it, but I’ve often wondered what would have happened ?. Well, the other evening, I was speaking to a chap called Tim (a friend of Sean and Mandy’s, who I’ve become friends with).

He studied Archaeology at University, and I was asking him about all the things he had done. The things he said didn’t add up to me, so I explained my thoughts on what archaeology was and what life as an archaeologist would entail.

At this, he laughed and said what your describing is treasure hunting. If you’d gone to University to study archaeology, you would have been bitterly disappointed.

So, after 20 years, one of those doubts has been removed. Thanks Tim.

While we were talking though, Tim asked if I had ever seen Chester Cathedral. When I told him I hadnt he suggested I go and see it.

Chester Cathedral dates back nearly a thousand years, but from the 1500’s was the central place of worship around Chester.

I didn’t realise at the time, but if you can prove that you live in Chester, then its free to enter. I paid £5 (I didn’t mind realy). Its a spectacular building, and it costs a million pounds a year to keep it running, with no grants from the Council or the Government.

Not many people know this, but 2000 people are employed by the Cathedral.

The whole place had amazing atmosphere. When I said I hadn’t been here before, that wasn’t strictly true. I came here with school when I was 8.

I was delighted to find that everything was just as I had remembered it. But then it occurred to me. It probably looks the same today as it did 500 years ago !.

The Garden inside the Cathedral was about as authentic as you could get. I sat there for about 10 minutes, and you could imagine Henry the 8th walking up to you.

I dont normaly get excited about stained glass windows, but this was far and away the pretiest one I had ever seen.

Elsewhere, there was an art exhibition, where you could buy paintings. I was a bit confused, as I remember from Sunday School, something about a church being used as a market, and Jesus up-ending all the tables.

Still, what do I know.

I was surprised to see these TVs. At first I thought that they took something away from the majesty of the building, but then I realised. Its so big, that without them, you couldn’t actually see anything.

I decided to sit down, relax and take in the moment (I’m not religious, and I don’t pray, but it seemed like a fitting moment for reflection). Within about 3 minutes, they started to do a sound test on the organ. That was the end of that.

My favourite place in the whole Cathedral. This meeting room, was originally where the Benedictine monks received there lessons.

Its one of the most atmospheric places Ive been on earth. It was cordoned off, so I didn’t get to go inside. I almost wish I had a meeting to organise, so that I could have it there.

Well, 5 quid to see something as old as the Angkor Watt (although that doesn’t really work here in Chester, you can walk along a wall twice as old as the Angkor Watt, for free !).

Is it a bit cheeky to charge people to enter the house of God ?. Possibly, but this trip wasn’t about that, it was about seeing one of the oldest buildings in Britain.

Seeking out adventure

15th July 2009 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

I wake up, the sun is shining, and its time to go out, in search of adventure (oh, and I’ve only got a fiver).

Whats this ?. That Laura Croft of the English upper classes, Amelia Webb, is already up and about, and touring the Grosvenor Park.

We arrange to meet by the River, at the Blue Moon cafe, to plan our adventures.

It should be mentioned at this point, that Amelia is an old friend, who has recently arrived in town. For those of you who are thinking there’s someone new on the scene, its worth mentioning, that we really are JUST friends.

Anyway, back to the adventures. Ive never been in the Blue Moon cafe. Whenever I pass it, I always think of my friend Frank, and my Brother David, who are both keen Manchester City fans.

Inside its 60’s themed and really rather quaint. No need to worry about that, I’m meeting a woman for coffee, which therefore means Ill be forced to sit outside, with none of the ambiance, the smell of diesel, and assorted malcontents walking past.

From this point on, the word adventure, should be substituted with the word misadventure, as we are hit with a number of setbacks.

We decide we will both return home, sort out some chores, do some admin and then meet up at 2pm, to do the Chester Rows tour . We arrive 3 minutes too late, and the tour has gone without us. Bugger !.

No matter, we decide to wander over and see the famous Castle.

Despite living in Chester for 8 years, Chester Castle, is something Ive never gotten around to visiting. Its a lovely day, so we walk over to see it.

But whats this, the Castle is closed due to Elf N Safety regulations. I cant help thinking, that its a good job H&S weren’t around when the Castle was in use. Otherwise, the City would have been plundered !.

With nothing much else to do, we end up visiting the Little Roodee car park cafe. Although the coffee was nice (and cheap) sitting and looking at cars and coaches, isn’t exactly marching across the Great Wall of China, if you know what I mean.

Well, there’s a nice park nearby, so we decide to head for there and explore. It starts to rain !. Is anything going to go right today ?

Finally we head for the ruin at St John’s church.

If you’ve read this website before, you know I love exploring lost cities and stuff like that. In its own way, this Church, is much the same as the City of Petra, Machu Picchu or the Angkor Watt (although its a lot smaller).

It had some gardens around it, which were fenced off separately from the nearby Park. Because of this, there was no “through” traffic, and the park was very quiet and relaxing. Sun shining, birds singing and exploring an ancient ruin. Bliss.

To summarise, what near-to-home budget adventure travel lessons can we learn.

1. If you really want to do a tour, buy the tickets in advance, and be at the tourist information 15 minutes before the tour begins.

2. Before heading of to see something, ask at or telephone the tourist information and confirm its actually open, times/days its open, and how much if anything it costs.

3. Never forget, the rule of Sunter – always wear old trainers and have waterproof/warm clothing to hand (we could have gone to the park, if we’d had these).

4. Take a flask and save a sodding fortune on coffee !. Take some sweets, for when things get dull.

5. If your taking a companion, take someone like Amelia, who doesn’t blame you and give you loads of sh*t when things don’t go to plan 🙂

Happy adventuring.

Credit Crunch Lunch – updated.

9th June 2009 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

I’ve had quite a bit of free time lately. Loads of places in Chester are offering exceptionally good deals on pub lunches. I’ve tried a few of them, and decided to do a bit of a review. Have a look bellow and tell me what you think.

Since a originally wrote this “article”, a couple of things have changed, so I have revised it.

	The Temple Bar
	About the pub:Temple has really picked up lately, after being a bit of a dive, a few years ago. I go in there regularly, they sell the excellent Amstel lager that I like for £2 a pint. I had: Fish, Chips and Mushy Pea’s It was:Mushy pease, were very runny. Fish was nice, but a bit soggy, I normally prefer it a bit crisper. Plenty of chips. It Cost: £8 (You actually get 2 meals for £8) Conclusion:Food was okay, but not particularly outstanding. Was pretty upset that they didn’t mention I could have an extra meal included in the price. Will probably just stick to the cheap Amstel.
	Food Quality: **	Value for money: *
	The Frog and Nightingale
	About the pub: Okay, so its my local and I’m slightly biased, but that said, it has 2 excellent chefs and all the food is purchased locally and fresh. It now only has 1 chef, as Jo has left. The ace Nathan is standing in though !. I had: 2 course lunch. I had pate to start, and Chile as a main. It was: The pate was excellent, and as good as the stuff I’ve eaten at the Grosvenor hotel. Chile was delicious with nacho’s and rice, although I would have liked a little more.It Cost: £5 Conclusion: This is isn’t so much a pub, as a restaurant that has a bar. What I ate was some of the best food in Chester, for £5.
	Food Quality: *****	Value for money: ***
	The Custom House
	About the pub: One of my favourite drinking haunts, down towards the racecourse. They employ a lot of students, which can sometimes mean waiting a while to get served. In every other way its an amazing pub. I had: Fish, Chips and Mushy peas. It was: The best fish and chips I think I’ve eaten in some years. It Cost: £4.75 Conclusion: Food was fantastic, but its still a single course meal and a pint north of £7.50, and were attempting to find good food for pocket money, which this isn’t.
	Food Quality: ****	Value for money: **
	The Boat House
	About the pub: Lovely pub, down by the river. On a sunny day, it looks like the Mongol hoards have descended on it. They’ve obviously had a re-organisation, as the landlord appears to run a tight ship now. I had: Steak Pie with Gravy and Chips. Comes with an inclusive drink, I chose Fosters. It was: A delicious full sized pie (not like one from the chippy, which I was expecting) plenty of thick gravy and loads of chips. Fosters was sharp crisp and clear. It Cost: £5 Conclusion: I thought for a moment, they would do the old trick, of serving me the drink, then hanging around with the food and only putting it out, when I ordered a 2nd drink. They did nothing of the kind, the food was on the table in 20 minutes and I was asked on 2 occasions if the food was okay etc. It just doesn’t get any better than this !. Since then, the pub has been taken over. You can still get a nice pie and chips (although you now have to suffer a pint of Carlsberg, which I find “Gassy”) the problem is, it costs £10.70 !!!.
	Food Quality: ****	Value for money: **
	The Red Lion
	About the pub: One of the busiest and most popular pubs in Chester. Not one I go in often, but a friendly pub, with a good mix of regulars and not so regulars. They do pints of Fosters for £1.79 a pint and various spectacularly cheap food deals. I had: The Thursday curry and a pint for £5 (they do 5 different sorts of curry. It was: A clear fresh pint, and the curry was tasty, if a little small. It Cost: £5. Conclusion:The Shere Khan, aren’t going to put their restaurant up for sale just yet, but the Red Lion Curry was quite nice.
	Food Quality: ***	Value for money: *****
	Burger King (obviously)
	About the pub: Its not a pub, but it was spotlessly clean and the staff were friendly and helpful. They advertise a £2 deal, and in the advert they say “you’ll feel like you robbed us !”. I had: burger, medium fries and a coke. It was: Very tasty, but not really wholesome, if you know what I mean. It Cost: £2. Conclusion: Okay, not particularly healthy, but as an occasional treat, what can you say, it was 2 quid !.
	Food Quality: ***	Value for money: ****

And the winner is ?: Nobody is going to go in a pub and order lunch, without having a drink as well. Considering this, it would be the boat house, as its a delicious meal without compromise and a drink included for a fiver.

Well, as we’ve seen above, the Boathouse no longer do the £5 deal. The principle of a not buying a meal, without a drink still stands, and on that basis it would have to be the Red Lion (they do food and a drink all week, for £5, I just wanted to try the Thursday Curry, and it didn’t disappoint).

In other categories, I would say:

The best value lunchtime snack: Burger King

The best quality pub food at a fair price: The Frog and Nightingale

The best “pub” fish and chips in Chester: The Custom House

On the subject of food. If you have a moment, visit hungersite. All you have to do, is visit the site and click on some links, and you will feed someone in the developing world for nothing.

My “Official” birthday in Liverpool.

12th May 2009 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

Most people who live in Chester, have been to Liverpool dozens and dozens of times. I think the reason for this, is that Chester is a relatively small City (in reality, its more of a town, but whats in a name) and when people need to go shopping for elaborate things, they head for the nearest big city.

I grew up in Manchester (I lived 4 miles out of town). There was never any need to visit Liverpool, as everything that we needed was in Manchester city center. To date, I have only made 2 Major trips Liverpool.

1. To get a passport more than 10 years ago (needed it at short notice, had to go down in person).

2. Spent the day exploring, seeing the cavern, traveling in an amphibious vehicle etc (read about Liverpool 1 and Liverpool 2).

In addition to this, I have been on a couple of nights out there, and I spent a Sunday afternoon, having a few drinks with my old friend Mike Delafield, who now lives there.

It was the latter trips that inspired me to celebrate my birthday there.

In times gone by, we used to all go out for drinks around Chester “exploring” different pubs, that I’d never been in. Problem is, Ive lived in Chester for 8 years now, Ive been in every pub, and although a trip to the pub on a Sunny day is always fun, there is no really mystery or adventure to it.

I decided that I would go to Liverpool. I don’t know hardly any of the pubs there, but I had Sean, Mike, Ralph and Aud, to act as guides. I also had some cultural assistance, from my old friend Matt Bridges (a scouser himself) who he advised me on the best way to interact with the indigenous population of Merseyside.

A scouting party of Dan, Sean and I head into Liverpool on the 11:45 train. A mixture of tiredness, recovery from Alcohol and hunger, made for an unlikely group of pub-crawlers.

As we get off the train, Sean shows us this statue of Queen Victoria on the corner of Lord and Castle street. Apparently, its well known by the locals, that when viewed from a certain angle, the sceptre that the queen is holding, appears to give her an appendage, which wouldn’t occur naturally on the female body :).

Luckily, Victoria isn’t around anymore, so nobody got beheaded or anything. As we wandered through the City, a guy was talking on a mobile. Nothing unusual in that, but he was talking so loud, that he could be heard clearly 150 metres away, and one wondered, if he actually needed a phone at all.

Sean promised us an experience of cultural contradiction.

As we arrived at the Adelphi hotel, we walked through the main doors. Rooms in the Hotel, can cost up to £400 a night, and its very elegant inside.

I wondered which one of my organs I would need to sell, in order to buy a round of drinks there. I needn’t have worried, as we turned to the left and walked down some stairs, we found ourselves in a bar called Fridays. It has the feel of the working men’s club in Get Carter and pints of lager are only £1.50.

It looked a bit rough, but bellow the surface, people were just relaxing, and considering where I grew up, I always have time for that sort of earthiness. The toilet (the first of 2 interesting one’s that day) was like something you’d expect to find in a prison.

After leaving here, Sean, full of apologies (completely un-needed) wishes to redeem himself by taking us somewhere up market. We head up the hill, towards a pub called the Philharmonic, which had been recommended by several people. It used to be a Gentleman’s club and is a grade 1 listed building. The Gents toilets are also listed, said to be the only graded listed toilets in the country, due to their grandiose styling.

We sat towards the back of the building, in one of the themed music rooms. Mike appeared a few minutes later, followed by Bret (who to his credit, had worked the previous night, and still made it out) then Ralph and Aud.

One annoying thing, ill remember for next time, is to check all relevant mobile numbers are up to date. Jon (who I first met on a survival course. desert survival 1 , desert survival 2) had travelled all the way from London by motorbike, he had my old number, I had his, and he had turned up at the original pub, after we had left. Luckily, an email from his Blackberry to my IPhone and we were back in action.

Couple of hours catching up, the time flew by. We had arranged to leave at 5pm, but were having such a good time, decided to stay (Dan and Sean had to leave, as they had prior engagements).

I hadnt eaten all day. We headed around the corner and found a cafe serving folded Pizza’s for £3 (you just dont get value like that in Chester).

Down the hill back towards town, we pop into a pub called (puzzlingly !) the fly in the loaf.

Everyone is pretty drunk now, and the evening descends into mayhem. I demonstrate how my Rohan jacket can pack down small into a pillow and various silliness.

There were too many funny and interesting things to go into here, but suffice to say, old days at Corning, fellow travellers on our trip to Jordan and conversations about the desert survival course in 2005 were mentioned.

One person that seemed to really enjoy it was Brett. I always feel lucky and proud, when my friends meet each other. Its great to see a room full of really kind, interesting and fun people, all hitting it off.

My lasting memory of the “do” will be Ralph, who donned my coat and phone, and did a non flattering impersonation of me.

Id like to thank everyone that came, it was a fantastic day. Like I’ve said before, when times get hard, you realise that its the simple things in life that bring you pleasure. In this case, the company of some amazing people who I’m proud to call my friends.

My “Personal” Birthday

8th May 2009 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

Well, its that time of year, and its my birthday once again. I normally spend my actual birthday (the 7th) on my own reflecting and planning for the future and have my birthday celebration (this year the 9th in Liverpool) a few days later.

An old friend Andy Gepp (who at the time I called a Buffoon ) once told me that he always took a day of on his birthday. He reasoned that otherwise, it just becomes like any other day.

Ive always felt the same way, although taking a day off at the moment is a bit redundant (pardon the pun). Still, a candles as bright as you see it, and a day is as special as you make it.

No gym, and a 9am lie in as a treat. Nothing to do, as I have already cleaned my room, prepared my clothes and everything, so nothing routine needs doing today (apart from reviewing available jobs).

Read texts and emails wishing me happy birthday (a nice virtual card from Frank and Na) and then go downstairs and start opening my cards.

Bath and get ready ( Ill be doing some walking later, so I try for the “stylish rugged look” that I can sometimes pull off).

When people think of luxury’s, they probably think of yachts and Ferrari’s. One pure luxury for me, that I absolutely love, is having a sit down full English breakfast. I head for British home stores, and order the whole 10 items breakfast.

Plenty of fuel, I head towards the Grosvenor Park. Its a beautiful day and the sun is shining. After spending another 40 minutes, just wandering around and sitting in the sun, I head for the waterfront, across the handbridge and up towards the Westminster park.

I wander deep into the forest and then leave the path. Exploring in forests is one of life’s pleasures for me. On a tracking course some years ago I was taught to do a sit spot. It involved sitting very still. It was designed as a stalking technique, but over the years Ive learned to develop it to help me relax.

I can do it now for up to 3 hours, but on this occasion, being all alone in the forest, an hour is enough. Wander through Handbridge, notice ANOTHER new pub there. Decide to organise a pub crawl up there at some point in the near future.

Mum calls, and we chat for about half an hour. I miss being in Manchester, but Ive been back and I know that Chester’s my home. Say goodbye to mum, and then head for the meadows (pictured above).

Loads of open ground to walk along, then I make for the banks of the river Dee, and wander back towards Chester town center.

Its nearly lunchtime, so I head back to my local, the Frog and Nightingale. All the staff are there, as its Race day (I hate the Chester Races as town gets really busy, but its no problem, as I have other plans for the afternoon). I get various congratulations (and free “birthday” pints).

Its lunchtime but I’m not hungry after such an enormous breakfast. I know from experience, it takes 28 minutes to walk from the Frog to the Cinema, and the first showing of the new Star Trek film will be at 12:50 so I set of (I have given myself an emergency 2 minutes to spare).

Arrive at the Cinema, the film starts almost straight away, which is excellent. Wont talk too much about the film, as its mentioned in this weeks media review. Suffice to say, it was completely on the wavelength of my birthday mood.

Nip back to see my friends Sean and Mandy. They don’t own half the things I own, haven’t been to a 10th of the places ives seen nor done a 100th of the things Ive done, but they are quite the happiest couple I know, its a pleasure to spend time with them and always gives me a sense of perspective about whats really important.

While there, a mate texts me, and asks how to get into a certain pub (a lot of nice local pubs, get swamped by racegoers, and they have invented some quite ingenious techniques for ensuring only locals and regular get in. Its for this reason, I wont mention the name of the pub nor the routine, in this case).

I explain the procedure and I get a text a few minutes later, he and his friends have got into the pub.

A text from Dan, inviting me out for the evening. The Oaklands, a pub I have never taken too. Still a few friends are out, who I havent seen for a while, so I head over. Evening turns out pretty cool after all (they must have sacked all the staff and re-hired).

On the way home, I pop into the Sea Breeze chippy in Hoole. Pie and Chips, home, one episode of Special Victims Unit and then bed. Another birthday over.

Afternoon in Delamere Forest

21st April 2009 admin Uncategorised Leave a comment

With all my daily chores complete, I decide to visit Delamere Forest. Its only about 12 miles from Chester, and about a fiver return on the train.

One area of days out, where money disappears really quickly, is eating out. Its nice if you can afford it, but I always take a packed lunch, some crisps and a chocolate bar. Then I take either a bottle of water or a flask with some coffee in it.

I don’t carry any formal walking stuff, but I wear a T shirt, a jumper and a waterproof jacket, between these 3, they can match just about any UK Summer weather. Bit of money, mobile phone, Swiss Army Knife and an orange bivy bag (not really used for emergency’s, more often used to sit on, and eat my sandwiches. One final thing, is footwear. If your not walking hills, or anything serious, you may find it more comfortable, to wear an old pair of trainers.

I have a map of the area (and I’ve attended NNAS Bronze and NNAS Silver courses). On this occasion, I decide to just wing it, walk in a particular direction, and see where it takes me. I find this superb lake, and nearby a pub and a quite elaborate camp site. I make mental notes, as all these things will make for a pretty good weekend away at some point in the future.

Delamere forrest is scattered with trails. Sections of the Sandstone trail and the Delamere way to name just a few. Most of the trails around there, can be navigated by mountain bike (I even see a van from Fairbridge there, they are spending the day mountain biking). Someone has even constructed a sort of stunt area for mountain bikes. Its empty, so I stop there and eat my sandwiches.

I continue walking along, occasionally leaving the path, to explore the denser forests. After 4 hours of walking around in the sunshine, I decide to head back to the station. I realise, that I don’t actually know where I am, and since I haven’t been monitoring my progress on the map, could be in a bit of difficulty as there’s no one around.

I remember my Iphone, find a road, and use Google. Maps to find the Railway station. Another success for the Iphone.

On the way, I visit this Go-Ape high rope course. I am tempted to give it a try, and pop in to their office to get some details. Its £25, you are given a quick demo, and then you go around on your own. Seems quite expensive to me, and anyway, it’s outside my budget.

The train isn’t due for 30 minutes. I’m still well within my budget, so I treat myself to a cup of tea, in the nice cafe at the railway station.

Get back home, then have a bath and cook dinner. Another interesting afternoon, for £6.50.