Styal and Quarry Bank

As is now my norm, I spent Christmas up with my friends in Cheshire. The difference this year is they also had another family of mutual friends staying, so we were 9 rather than 5. For my hosts this really meant an almost continuous catering operation, especially as the party included offspring in their late teens. They tended to go for different hours, so breakfast could last all morning with additional bits of feeding needed  as people descended, with tea top ups along the way for the earlier risers. What I am trying to say is that they worked wonders to keep us all happy. Not just a matter of putting on the traditional big spread on Xmas day.

The extra visitors meant I was exiled from the guest bedroom upstairs to a temporary bed in the downstairs "office". Which was no hardship at all. Only catch is that this is adjacent to the open plan living/dining room, which meant there was no point me turning in until the last person headed to bed (which is fine as I am more of a night owl) but also meant I would get woken by the first person down for breakfast. Last to bed (and rise) would typically be the teenage boys, Kit and Peter. Staying up late talking to them was certainly no hardship for me (although they might not have the same viewpoint!) It also interested me how I have a rather different take on them, given I see them only very occasionally (Peter usually just once a year) rather than living with them all the time (well not really all the time as they are both at university). And also I am not a scientist.

So the parental view of Peter  reflects him being useless at chores and so immature. Whereas I hear someone with technological mastery infinitely beyond my capability and a knowledge of politics and world affairs well beyond his years. So to me he is a really impressive, mature young man. But then I am not trying to get him packing his stuff, just trying to learn something interesting about the modern world! As I say, different perspective.

Anyway, getting us all out and doing something beyond a very local walk was a  logistical challenge. But we did manage one good afternoon trip out to the National Trust properties at Styal and Quarry Bank for a walk. This was a very agreeable outing, which apart from anything else allowed us to mill amongst each other for little bits of conversation in a different grouping than when all together in the house.

Anyway, this was a perfect spot for a winter walk (although unfortunately hundreds and hundreds of other people had the same idea!). The old mill buildings settle very nicely into the landscape, and the woods allow one to get a little way out of the crowds.

Additionally there is the attraction of the deer park.

I was particularly chuffed to see a Nuthatch, followed by a Treecreeper. Not as easy as a deer to photograph, even with a zoom lens.

 Being Boxing Day, there is a matter of some traditions to be maintained. Morris dancing. Sorry, this is pretty much why Baird had to invent the television - to save us from the idea that people dressed up in bright colours with bells dancing around is entertainment.

Some of our merry band

The end of my stay was marked by a trip down the pub just opposite Hartford Station. I managed to pack in a meeting with my old friend and former colleague Alan. An achievement given he is now a Canadian qualified lawyer living and working in Vancouver. But he was showing his new girlfriend to his folks who also live in the area, so we managed to find an hour before my train home to have a get together. I have to say he looked phenomenally well for a chap approaching 40. Amazing what exercise and healthy living, with good genes, can do for a fellow! Honestly, he is way out of my league as a friend; everyone loves Alan. But I seem to hang on in there. And only a brief whinge about Brexit...