Snow Scenes

Just a quick Blog today - further updates to follow!

Another great Christmas has been & gone, and even the snow has virtually disappeared overnight, so here are a few local Cheshire snow scenes for posterity!

Goostrey Church

Lyme Park, Disley



Bonis Hall Lane, near Macclesfield



Jodrell Bank Radio Telescope, from Blackden

Being Santa!

As an ex-President of Bramhall Round Table, I still get involved with the annual 'Father Christmas Float', where we visit every houshold in the area over 14 nights, giving children the opportunity to visit Santa on his 'sleigh' and raise funds in support of local charities. Over the years, I have donned the red suit and beard on many occasions, so when the current Tablers offered me the opportunity to 'man the float' outside Sainsbury's on Saturday, in return for £250 - £300 of the proceeds towards my fundraising effort, I jumped at the chance. First job was to find someone willing to be a victim Santa for a couple of hours, and one of my Ops Managers, Ian Lonsdale seemed to fit the bill. Typical of Ian's enthusiasm and 'try anything' attitude, he did a great job. Even his own friends and scout group didn't recognise him!

People were very generous (with the sympathy factor kicking in as we stood there in the wintry conditions), and when it came to my turn to be Santa, it was fantastic to spend a couple of hours talking to the wide-eyed children who still believe in Father Christmas!

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Earlier in the week I was at a senior team meeting, which was held at Lord's cricket ground in the historic Pavilion.

Before the meeting, we were treated to a full tour of the 'home of cricket', culminating in a precious few minutes in the presence of the original 'Ashes'. The 'trophy' lends it's name to the series of test matches which are currently being contested between England and Australia on the other side of the world, although the ashes themselves remain locked away at Lord's. At this stage, the destiny of the Ashes title is very much in the balance, however I now have a much keener interest in the result.

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As this is my last Blog before the festive season, I just want to take the opportunity to wish all my followers a very Merry Christmas!

Probably the Best Bacon Sandwich in the World!

What a mad week!

Monday: Drove over to Sheffield in the snow to take my daughter Christmas shopping (ouch), then went to see her perform on her tenor sax in 'SUBB' - Sheffield University Big Band. Great concert & an excellent solo!

After a meal I set off home in the freezing conditions and pitch black night. Because the Snake Pass was closed with snow, I went through Castleton and up 'Winnat's Pass' (see 19th Nov Blog!). It was minus 14, and a bit scary! Late night.

Tuesday: Amongst other things, went to the doctors to get a recurring ankle injury checked out. Need to get this sorted before the Great Wall!   Went to see Man U play Valencia. Late night.

Wednesday: Early start & a busy day in the office, followed by a scan / x-ray at hospital.

Thursday: Team Meeting, then a big night out with my team and clients at a 'Moulin Rouge' event at Tatton Park. What a brilliant night, although a few of us saw daylight break before getting to bed!

Friday: Understandably, a slightly later start than normal, but a busy day catching up with emails & phone calls.

Saturday: Hectic! Bought the Christmas tree, got all the decorations down ... then remembered that the lounge is now a totally different colour scheme, so had to dash out for new baubles etc! Friends were due round at 5:30, so lots more to do. We all gathered & then off again to Tatton for another party! Made it to bed by 2am this time...

Sunday: Who's idea was it to arrange a training walk today?! Met Andy & Paul in Hayfield at 10:00am (no, I didn't drive!) and we set out on our trek up Kinder Scout. Met this little chap on the way up.

The first two hours was all climbing, but the weather was quite good to start ( better than the fog in my head ).  This is nearing the top of Kinderlow End, where it started to snow.

.....and the view back to Kinder reservoir. Spot the Snowbow

This is the summit of Kinder. It's a good idea to walk on a compass bearing from here .... which we didn't ... and ended up on a bit of a 'detour'. Oops.

So back to the subject of this Blog. As we stopped for lunch next to a very chilly & frozen Kinder Downfall, the guys pulled out a stove, frying pan, bacon, fresh rolls and 'sticky onion chutney'. The smell of the sizzling bacon attracted a few envious comments from other walkers, but the bacon sarny was nothing short of gorgeous!

After this hearty lunch, we carried on our hike, with me feeling a little more human. So much so, in fact, that we couldn't resist a little childish fun 'toboganning'. The Survival Bag I used as a sledge says 'for emergency use'. I can't think of a better emergency than the chance to slide on the snow! It was a bit steep, but thankfully nobody came to any harm!!! (Well I was already in my survival bag anyway!)

We finished the walk at dusk after nearly 6 hours trudging through 11 miles of thick snow, ice and sludge, and having climbed 2,600ft. Hmm - think I'll have an early night.

Let it Snow

On Monday night I attended the annual Awards dinner for Springboard, held at the Lancaster Hotel in London. It was great to see many of my fellow 'trekkers', and I met a couple of interesting people over dinner.

To my right was Cyrus Todiwala OBE and his wife Pervin. Cyrus is Proprietor and Executive Chef of the Café Spice Namasté restaurant http://cafespice.co.uk/ He also consults for the Tesco Finest range, and manages two other restaurants.  He was awarded an OBE in the 2010 Queen's New Year's Honours List for his services to the hospitality industry. Born and brought up in Bombay, he left India for Europe in 1991, where he developed a style of blending traditional Indian culinary techniques and flavours with more unexpected ingredients. Cyrus regularly appears on BBC Food and Drink, BBC UK Today, Saturday Kitchen, Channel 4’s The Big Breakfast, and many other TV and radio programmes.

Sitting to my left was Rob from a coffee company called Krogab. When I asked where his office is located, he replied 'oh, it's in a small village in Cheshire - you won't have heard of it. It's called Goostrey'. Imagine his surprise when I told him that I was born & bred there! It's definitely a very small world.

A most enjoyable evening.

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I was back in the South on Wednesday to attend a training course on 'How to be an Ambassador for Springboard'. It's quite a commitment, as I am now expected to deliver presentations in schools, colleges, universities, careers fairs etc., promoting our industry as a great place to work, and directly influencing young peoples’ career choice.

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So the country ground to a halt again at the first sign of a few flakes of  'the white stuff' last week. I know some areas were badly affected, but why is it always such a big surprise, for which nobody seems to be prepared?! Quite a few years ago, we were skiing in Flaine, high in the French Alps. Having driven to the resort, and after 6 days of steady snow, it was time to set off home. When we eventually found my car among the mounds of snow, it took over an hour to dig out, but once extracted we were able to drive down the mountain with relative ease. Winter tyres are such a good idea!