Outdoor Discoveries

Finding dry weather over the weekend

In marked contrast to July, I seem to have got in a proper hill walking outing right on the first day of August. It was a case of first deciding that I was going somewhere and then finding a dry spot on the weather map. That took me on a train journey to Machynlleth in Wales by way of a wet Wolverhampton. More specifically, I ended up walking what might be termed a Cwm Cau horseshoe and that took me over Cadair Idris. Starting and finishing at the Minfford Hotel meant that I ended up avoiding Dolgellau, a perhaps more usual starting point but with a longer walk in to the hills, too. When I finally begin to get the lead out with my trip reports, I'll tell you more about the escapade but a good day was had with a cap of cloud keeping both sunburn and heatstroke at bay. That might have limited the photographic output but there was still plenty of that too with the sun coming through at times.

Yesterday saw me pulling out the bike for an afternoon run around Macclesfield. Given that I was (and am) still feeling the effects of Saturday's exertions in my legs, steeper inclines were avoided on a spin that took in places such a Siddington, Marton, North Rode, Oakgrove and Sutton. The weather was reminiscent of what I enjoyed in Wales the day before so it wasn't unsuited to a spot of activity. Some roads like the A537, A34, A54 and A523 had their fair share of traffic but Cheshire has its allotment of quiet country lanes too. They can be both narrow and twisty so keeping so being alert in readiness for the occasional car is always clearly in order. Even so, sufficient opportunity for relaxing progress was on offer and the surroundings were resplendent to boot.

All in all, the weekend made an excellent start to August (and autumn? Well, some are wondering…) so long as you picked the right spot. It has been a bank holiday one in Éire and Scotland so I hope that they were able to make something of it. July hasn't been so kind to us so the only hope is that the predicted mixture of rain and sunshine allows some drier interludes for enjoying the countryside at this point in the year and there's a bank holiday weekend for England and Wales at the end of the month.