In an alternative timeline, I’m currently sunbathing on a beach in Australia. In this reality however, I’m back in Cheshire and at my old job. I’ve gone from having 4 months kicking back, first in Asia and then in Winsford, living off my holiday savings, to being back at work with few days off. Living. The. Dream.
On a rare day off, I invited Brendan to cross the Pennines from South Yorkshire to Cheshire, and visit Tatton Park in Knutsford. He wanted to shoot some deer and I wanted to experience a setting that wasn’t my work or my home. We invited Joel along too.
Unfortunately, the British summer had died a death.
It’s mid-June and this is how it’s been pretty much all month. Miserable. The past week we’ve had some absolutely cracking thunderstorms and I was kinda hopeful we’d experience one today. Alas, we were gifted with greyness.
Knutsford is only about 16 miles north of Winsford, but it was noticeably duller here than in my hometown. I should have invited Brendan for a walk around Winsford. I felt a bit bad as he’d driven for two hours to experience this dreary weather, but I’m sure the fact he hadn’t seen me or Joel for nearly 5 months made up for it.
On the plus side though, bad weather means fewer people to negotiate your way around – a serious obstacle in these coronavirus times!
Keep those 2m distances boys!
So here we were in Tatton Park with one objective: find some deer. Brendan wanted to shoot them.
It took us not 10 seconds to find them.
I’d kinda hoped for an actual hunt. I’d even worried we wouldn’t even see them. It had been easy. Job done. Really, I should end the blog now. Goodbye.
Brendan went in for a closer shot, as Joel and I wondered how close was too close. If one of those stags wanted to do him, Brendan would have no hope. Thank god it’s not the rutting season.
Well, we were here now, so we may as well explore the park.
The road from the Knutsford entrance to Tatton Park takes you by a few meres. The first, and largest, is Tatton Mere.
I promise, it looks nicer in the sunshine.
Up in the clouds, we spotted a rare bird.
Very rare, nowadays.
The clouds then started to give us something else.
Rain. Yay. There wasn’t much shelter to be found as we approached Melchette Mere.
Eventually our talking and walking brought us into view of the Hall.
She was built in the 1770s to replace the Old Hall elsewhere in the Park. Usually you can go inside, and it’s free for National Trust members, but unsurprisingly it’s off limits atm.
But we continued on anyhow, cos the shops are now open, with social distancing guidelines in operation.
There were a few fallen trees in the Park. I don’t know if the thunderstorms of late were largely to blame. This one looked like it had been splintered in two by a lightning bolt.
Brendan asked us to get in the middle.
To be brutally honest, I don’t think Tatton Hall is the prettiest of mansions. Especially with those blocked up windows. The weather didn’t help but it looked a bit bleak, with only the rainbow flag providing any colour. Good on them for supporting gay pride. Or the NHS. Or both?
At the little shop you can buy some extortionately priced goods.
You can get identically sized bottles of beer for under a quid at Aldi, yet these bad boys were priced at £3.50 EACH. I’m absolutely all for supporting local breweries but COME ON. I decided to only buy one and chose the 5.3% stout Old Hag. I’m familiar with them.
The weather had indeed scared people away. But the rain had stopped and I could enjoy a pork pie as Joel gave me some bands to listen to.
Joel found his next tour trailer.
We’d seen the red deer, now we searched for the fallow deer.
Again, it didn’t take us long.
These ones are a lot more skittish. This is as close as you can get.
Brendan was determined to get a photo of deer in the woods, so we went off track.
But the deer were having none of it. We tried to encircle them like sheepdogs but we were outwitted. Hunting deer is hard.
We moved onto a herd of red deer but again, were luckless. The best Brendan got was this:
A load of deer running away.
He counted his losses and we walked back to Knutsford, where Joel had to leave us. I took Brendan into the heart of this historic market town.
Fun fact – the pavements in Knutsford’s main street are deliberately narrow. They were designed that way in the 18th Century by Lady Jane Stanley, because she didn’t like to see couples walking hand in hand.
At this point of a TWATS adventure, we would probably be in a pub. But, yaknow, Rona. It’s a shame, cos Knutsford has a great variety of bars and pubs, with low beams, cocktails and real ales. Instead, we went to The Moor park to sit on a bench.
And with time to kill, we headed back into Tatton Park for one last nosey.
This causeway was COVERED in shit. Also can you tell the difference between my photos and Brendan’s photos? Just wondering…
Contemplating post-Covid life…
The weather may have been shite, but it was great to catch up with friends. For just a few hours, life seemed a little more normal again…
On a positive note… Nobody knows when the world will be back to a kind of normality, but everyday we’re one day closer.
#VidOnTour 