Monsal Trail! Tick!

Well OK, I’ve walked the whole of the Monsal Trail before… But last time, we did it over two days! Walked to around the half way point from Bakewell. Then the following day, we walked from the other end at Blackwell Mill… Of course, had Cooper with us then…

This time, we walked the whole thing in one go… From start to end, then back to the start! Covering a total distance of 18.53 miles!

It was also the longest walk that Bugsy has EVER done in his life! So, very proud of him today!

Walking The Monsal Trail

Walking The Monsal Trail

Walking The Monsal Trail

You can check out the route we took at connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/9637724457 and www.strava.com/activities/7834897778

That was a fantastic trip to Scotland!

That was a fantastic trip to Scotland!! Did so much! Now looking to going back to work, for a rest!!!

Here are some of my favourite photos!

Rest And Be Thankful
Rest And Be Thankful
Puck's Glen
Puck’s Glen
Colintraive to Rhubodach ferry
Colintraive to Rhubodach ferry
Myself at Inveraray Jail
Myself at Inveraray Jail
Walking along the Forth and Clyde Canal
Walking along the Forth and Clyde Canal
Myself on Connel Bridge
Myself on Connel Bridge

Neil and myself at Ganavan Sands

Many more photos can be found at www.gordon-valentine.com/zenphoto/me/2022/

UK TV programmes to watch this week : 17/09/2022

Michael Palin: Into Iraq (Channel 5/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Tuesday 20th September 2022) ** NEW SERIES **

Michael embarks on an epic, revelatory journey through Iraq, one of the most dangerous and complex countries in the world. Following the Tigris river for more than 1,000 miles, from its source in eastern Turkey to the Persian Gulf, Michael wants to discover what life is like for the 40 million people who live in Iraq. It’s one of the very few parts of the world he hasn’t visited, but he’s been fascinated by it since he was a child.

The Repair Shop (BBC 1/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Wednesday 21st September 2022)

The craftspeople hear the stories of more treasured items before bringing them back to life for their owners. Mark Stuckey is intrigued by a leather-bound book containing a secret radio, which the owner’s grandfather used as part of his work for the resistance during the Second World War. Julie and Amanda are entrusted with a 74-year-old teddy bear, given to the owner’s mum when she was 14 months old, and Jonathan Reid makes a pair of old seamstress scissors as sharp and shiny as the day they were bought. Finally, leather expert Suzie Fletcher brings a battered old school satchel back to life.

Grand Designs (Channel 4/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Wednesday 21st September 2022)

Kevin McCloud meets Zimbabwean-born Davi and Matt from Australia, who are determined to create a home to reflect their backgrounds, so set out to build a house in the Chess Valley with a radical multicultural design, which is especially daring for their commuter-belt suburb. Despite their inexperience and the technical difficulty of the steeply sloping site, Davi and Matt manage the venture themselves. But it’s not long before the problems begin.

Saving Lives at Sea (BBC 2/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Thursday 22nd September 2022)

Documentary telling the story of the unpaid volunteers who sacrifice their free time to staff more than two hundred RNLI lifeboat stations across the UK.

All Creatures Great and Small (Channel 5/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Thursday 22nd September 2022) ** PICK OF THE WEEK **

James struggles to get Siegfried to let him take the reins now that he is a junior partner at the practice, and teh pair clash when he learns how much money Skeldale could make from the Ministry of Agriculture’s lucrative bovine TB testing scheme. It takes Helen, Mrs Hall and a case of some mysteriously poisoned calves at Kate Billings’ farm to help James and Siegfried see that they’re better when they work together. Drama, starring Nicholas Ralph and Samuel West.

All TV guide information taken from DigiGuide — www.getdigiguide.tv/?p=1&r=15119.

Amazing mini walk to Redkirk Point

That was an amazing mini walk from Redkirk to Redkirk Point! Which is a pronounced headland on the northern shore of the Solway Firth, with great views over to the Cumbrian Mountains.

Myself at Redkirk Point

Myself at Redkirk Point

Myself at Redkirk Point

You can check out the route at www.strava.com/activities/7817564032

Stopped off for walk + to do some “fun” pics

During the drive up to Scotland or/and on the way back, I always like to stop off and go walk! I did get a good walk in during my drive up…. But it was, way to wet to get any “fun” photos! But the weather on the way back, was much better!

Rangers Champions Home Shirt

Regulation Piped Locking Leather Collar

You can check out the route at www.strava.com/activities/7816970532

Now done 95% of #walk1000miles – 2022

That’s me now done 95% of #walk1000miles. So 957.64 miles down and 42.36 miles remaining!

walk1000miles - 2022

Keep up-to-date with all my cycling and walking adventures over at www.strava.com/athletes/gsvalentine

Mini Connel Bridge walk

Has a kid, I’ve seen Connel Bridge may times over the years! Has an adult driven under it, at least two or three times! But this is the first time, I stopped off at walked onto and over part of Connel Bridge!

Myself on Connel Bridge

Myself on Connel Bridge

You can check out the route at www.strava.com/activities/7812137455

Middle of September 2022 most popular photos

Below are the top five most looked at photos on this website so far during September 2022.

Number 1 (53 views) : Synergy Red Cycling Skinsuit
Synergy Red Cycling Skinsuit

Number 2 (52 views) : Out a nice walk
Out a nice walk

Number 3 (47 views) : Fixing a flat tyre
Fixing a flat tyre

Number 4 (32 views) : Synergy Red Cycling Skinsuit
Synergy Red Cycling Skinsuit

Number 5 (30 views) : adidas Team GB 2016 Cycling Jersey
adidas Team GB 2016 Cycling Jersey

Love these photos? Many more at www.gordon-valentine.com/zenphoto/me/2022/

Inveraray Jail! Tick!

Had to much fun looking around Inveraray Jail! Maybe one fun, than I should have! LOL! Was sort of hoping, someone would lock me in one of prison cells for a number of hours! 😈

Myself at Inveraray Jail

Myself at Inveraray Jail

Myself at Inveraray Jail

If ever up, in Inveraray area, I would check it out! More information at www.inverarayjail.co.uk

UK TV programmes to watch this week : 10/09/2022

Inside Central Station (BBC Scotland 1/HD & BBC iPlayer only | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Monday 12th September 2022)

It’s Easter Weekend and an influx of rival football fans at Glasgow Central puts extra pressure on the staff and transport police, as they segregate the fans heading to Hampden. There is a new team member on the concourse as police dog recruit, Marvin, is put through his paces during training. Outside Central, the Network Rail ecologists work to help a peregrine falcon nesting on one of their bridges. And the engineering team get to work on the Argyll line track repairs.

Changing Rooms (Channel 4/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Wednesday 14th September 2022)

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen and design duo Jordan Cluroe and Russell Whitehead are in the Berkshire town of Wokingham to help two sets of neighbours make over a room in each other’s homes. Lucy and Andy and Mark and Jackie update a small boxy bedroom and a large beige sitting room in their 1960s homes. But has Laurence gone a step too far with his surrealist-inspired boudoir, and will Russell and Jordan be able to create a cinema and an office space in only 48 hours?

Shetland (BBC 1/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Wednesday 14th September 2022)

Douglas Henshall stars in the conclusion of the crime drama, based on the novels of Ann Cleeves. The team races to identify the killer and prevent disaster striking the town. As the investigation draws to a close, Perez faces a life-changing decision. Co-starring Alison O’Donnell, Steven Robertson and Julie Graham.

Days that Shook the BBC with David Dimbleby (BBC 2/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Wednesday 14th September 2022)

David explores the BBC’s relationship with the British people, asking how the BBC can seek to serve its entire audience, amid challenges to its impartiality. He considers Radio 2’s Sachsgate affair, which resulted in thousands of complaints after Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross left actor Andrew Sachs obscene voicemail messages, as well as the rise of Rupert Murdoch, who asserted that the BBC was not serving its audience.

Grand Designs (Channel 4/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Wednesday 14th September 2022)

Kevin McCloud meets Dorran, who has taken on the ambitious task of building a super-modern underground home on a hill outside Canterbury. He entrusts the work to a team of contractors, but when delays and rising costs force him to take charge of the build himself, Dorran faces the biggest challenge of his life, juggling his time between the site and his work as a ship’s master out on the North Sea. However, having promised the house to his wife and children, he knows that failure is not an option.

Saving Lives at Sea (BBC 2/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Thursday 15th September 2022)

On Ireland’s north-west coast, the RNLI crew at Bundoran races to the rescue of a teenage girl who has been swept out to sea by a rip-current. In Portishead, north Somerset, a man suffers serious chest injuries after falling 30ft from a cliff, and needs to be rushed to hospital. Across the Bristol Channel, in Porthcawl, a missing dog sends the crew on a wild goose chase.

All Creatures Great and Small (Channel 5/HD | Thursday 15th September 2022 | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Thursday 15th September 2022) ** NEW SERIES * PICK OF THE WEEK **

Return of the drama, starring Nicholas Ralph and Samuel West. Three months have passed and it is now spring 1939, with big changes happening at Skeldale and everyone having to learn how to adjust. Tristan is now a qualified vet, while James enters a new stage of his life with Helen and at the practice. After being made joint business partner by Siegfried, James pushes to take on more responsibility via the Ministry of Agriculture’s new bovine TB testing scheme, but its unexpected challenges risk pushing him to breaking point. And as a potential world war looms, all the Skeldale family have to consider their purpose in Darrowby and beyond.

Martin Compston’s Scottish Fling (BBC 2/HD | 9:30pm to 10:00pm | Friday 16th September 2022)

The actor is given a taste of island life when his friend Phil MacHugh takes him on a journey back to his family’s homeland of the Western Isles. Iin Stornoway, they have an appointment at the barbers to meet Syrian refugee Ousama and his eldest son Abdullah to see how their family have been settling into Western Isle life.

All TV guide information taken from DigiGuide — www.getdigiguide.tv/?p=1&r=15119.