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Last Friday night was another unseasonably heavy snowfall across the country, and on Saturday morning like everyone else I woke up to a bright white landscape. I know this isn't good news for everyone, but I still find a covering of snow to be a little bit magical. I suppose it takes me back to my childhood and memories of school being closed, the normal rules of life are suspended.
Buoyed by this feeling I decided on a whim I'd take my camera and go for a walk up to the park and round the river. These are places that I've been running through the past year, watching with interest how they've changed with the seasons, but heavy snow is something else again in the way it transforms our everyday surroundings. The familiar is rendered strangely unrecognisable: we can become disoriented as regular landmarks are hidden, while at the same time things that usually go unnoticed are suddenly revealed - or some cases not only revealed but transmogrified.
For example, just what is this?
It's a great opportunity to see the world anew, or at least just a little askew - even the familar Warrington landmarks can look refreshed with a silvery dusting:
As with all magic, the snow also has its dangers: travel can become hazardous and the everyday business of life can be disrupted. It's a reminder of how fragile the structures and routines of our lives really are, and of how little control we really have over them (and I'd rather be reminded of that by something gentle and relatively benign, like snow, rather than say by an earthquake). I think it's telling when people try (quite literally) to plough on when the sensible thing to do is just stop for a while. But if you are able to take time out then the world can suddenly seem like a friendlier and more relaxed place.
So even though I don't know if the snow will cause problems travelling back tomorrow to spend Christmas with my family, I'm feeling quite relaxed - I hardly dare say chilled in fact - about it. And even if all other modes of transport are disrupted, I know now that I might still have options...
Merry Christmas!
Most of the week had been hot and humid, but on the day the weather was wet (and somehow strangely still a little sticky too) so the people assembled on the lawn had to march out through Warrington's Golden Gates in the rain. I imagine that the crowd was smaller than in years with better weather but the turnout was still good - a small forest of umbrellas - and the walkers themselves put on a brave face as they passed the mayoral party, waving back from their little shelter.
I wasn't sure ahead of time what the Walking Day procession would actually consist of, but essentially it's a parade made up of the local churches and community groups. Most of them carry banners or flags (often quite colourful) and there were also a few marching bands, including pipe and drum, bagpipes, and full brass. I'm sure that on a sunny day the whole thing has quite a bit of a carnival atmosphere.
It took around 30 minutes for all the walkers to clear the gates and set off on their route around the town centre. For a while the rain eased but then came back with a vengence, so after watching the parade for a bit longer in Bridge Street I decided that the best thing to do would be to head home for some tea and dryness. I hope that the people marching didn't suffer too much in the downpour - I was certainly glad to have finally seen something of this grand Warrington tradition.
My fairly ordinary pictures from the event are now on Flickr if you're interested in seeing what it looked like (I've realised how difficult it can be to get interesting photos from a distance with my rather basic camera, although I think I managed a few good ones). There is also information about Walking Day on the Warrington local government website.
The first part of the process is always to get the bike into the yard, clean it up (fortunately I'd actually cleaned it properly at the end of last year), pump up the tyres, check the gears and brakes, and lubricate the moving parts. Being a strictly part-time cyclist, I'm ashamed to say that I always look to do the bare minimum - this time the gears seemed okay but the brakes were a feeling bit (ahem) "soft", so I adjusted the brake blocks to add some more "immediacy" to the braking.
My bike is getting pretty old now, so there are always a few minor niggles, and things that squeak gently as I pedal along (still a few more adjustments needed). I suppose bikes age a bit like people do. When I took it to get serviced about a year ago, the guy in the shop told me it should be "condemned", but it can't have been that bad - after all, it got me the 90+ miles from Warrington to Chesterfield one weekend a few months later.
Anyway, it was a great evening for cycling - sunny, with a slight breeze and a hint of coolness (a little reminder that winter hasn't gone completely yet). I picked probably the worst time of day to cycle through Warrington, but once I got onto the back roads it was much quieter. I love the sense of freedom that I get from cycling, and how aware I am of my surroundings. On a sunny spring evening is there any better feeling? (Well, probably - but it's still pretty damn good.)
I like to cycle with an end in mind, so I decided I'd go out to Moore Nature Reserve. Moore is a village just outside Warrington, and I'd cycled through it for several summers going to and from work but had never been to the nature reserve. Somewhat ironically the road leading to the reserve is also used quite heavily as an access road for a haulage depot, but it's actually very nice once you get into the woods, with several ponds and various paths through the trees. Unfortunately it turned out not to be particularly well-suited for cyclists, since most of the paths are for walkers only. I still got some nice photos (my favourites are probably the sun over the lake and an interesting "frog crossing" sign) but I think I need to come back another time with my walking boots. (In the meantime you can see the pictures in my "Around Warrington 2008-9" Flickr set.)
After that I meandered back to Warrington with a few detours on the way - firstly to see Appleton reservoir (which looks like a great place to swim, even though it's not allowed), and then along part of the Mersey to try and get a look at the Warrington Transporter Bridge. The bridge is another relic from the town's industrial past (read about it on Wikipedia), but I wasn't really able to get very close to it this evening.
Finally, after all that it was time to head home for dinner. I'm not sure how my legs will feel tomorrow morning - but now that my bike is back on the road, I'm looking forward to more cycling in the days to come.
