Roundhay Roundup

 Wednesday 26th March 2025.               Roundhay Roundup 

Today would see a bunch of the Lads heading for Roundhay Park and meet up at the Mansion at about 11:30. Their mission was to join an old work colleague of theirs and enjoy each other’s company whilst reminiscing days of yore! That man would be no other than Tim Kearney, so it was Keith, John, Derek, Dave, Colin, Mark and Russ  that would meet him there.

As you can imagine the conversations were rife with many an interesting story attached to them, names from the past, seldom remembered although their stories are forever etched in the memories from Thackeray’s.

As the lads chatted away consuming their various snacks the time seemed to just fly by and soon 2 and a half hours of thorough delight had passed. It was after 2pm now and time to say farewell to Tim as we escorted him to an awaiting car driven by his wife , Keith and Russ also left us at this point taking their own car journeys home, so it was just five of us that participated in a short walk down through the park which was now bathed in glorious sunshine and so pleasant, eventually we reached the far entrance and crossed over the road in order to take the No 98 bus back into the city centre and then make our respective journeys home.

A great time was had by All

Cheers Everyone 

Walton Wanderers

 Wednesday 19th March 2025.                    Walton Wonderers

As the title suggests, today’s outing for the Lads will take them to the village of Walton, a suburb of Wakefield. The gang will consist of Derek, John, Colin, Brian, Mark, Russ and Dave, all congregating at the railway station of Sandal/Agbrigg at around 10:30.

Once eventually all had gathered it was best foot forward and this particular adventure began, a short distance along the main road first, then off onto the pathway taking them to the old disused Barnsley Canal and follow its towpath for almost a mile leading them to the Walton Colliery Nature Reserve. Once in this location there is a wide variety of different pathways that can be taken, the choice is ours.

It was the medium length of distance we took, on through a wooded area and passing alongside a few lakes and an old railway line before eventually reaching the nearby car park. From here it is just a few hundred yards to our intended lunch time meal venue, a newly opened cafe named Buttons that came highly recommended and it proved to be so. We really did enjoy our choice of meals sat outside in the pleasant sunshine we were blessed with today. We spent almost an hour sat here at Buttons Cafe before it was time to say farewell to Walton at begin our various journeys homeward bound, Russ was first to leave followed by the rest of us, the nearby bus stop coming in very convenient to transport us back to Sandal/ Agbrigg railway station. 

Upon reaching the station it was a disappointment for the Leeds Lads to find out the next two trains from here to Leeds had been cancelled. With about an hour to wait for the next available train the lads made their way back towards the bus stop and take a bus into the city of Wakefield where a couple of options could be taken. Again unfortunately it was only a train that would get them back to Leeds.

Upon reflection today’s adventure was most rewarding at times, great just to be out in the fresh air and enjoying the company and the fine weather accompanied by great food.

Cheers Everyone.

Visit to the 509

 Wednesday 12th March 2025.              Visit to the 509

The 509 is the appropriate name of the cafe situated on a corner of the high street in Outwood, a suburb of Wakefield and Leeds. 

For today’s adventure here at Outwood four of the Lads would meet up at the local railway station and then take a walk around the Lofthouse Colliery Nature Reserve, those four would be John, Colin, Brian and Dave, Derek would join them later once they reached the 509 cafe at about midday.

The weather was kind to the Lads has they embarked on their journey even though the original forecast was for rain from early morning, this didn’t come to fruition, they only suffered some very minor light showers.

Their walk proved to be quite exhilarating at times taking a slightly different route than their previous excursions, sunny intervals were on offer for most of their journey as they ambled along.

After almost an hour and a half of walking the 4 lads found themselves approaching the cafe and now a chance for a cuppa before Derek arrived and then their lunchtime meals could be served.

The lads were able to get seated at an appropriate table just in time as some 10 minutes later the cafe became rather crowded. Good choice of food selection and at very reasonable prices would be the cause of this,no doubt.

Our meals consumed and future plans discussed it was time to say farewell to the 509 and take our respective journeys homeward bound.

Upon reflection today’s adventure turned out pretty well. considering what could have happened.

The best laid plans of mice and men ! so to speak.

Cheers Everyone Anyway 

Mark’s Birthday Bash

 Wednesday 5th March 2025.           Mark’s  Birthday  Bash

Today’s Birthday Celebration will take place at a venue in the heart of Leeds, the venue in question is that of the Whitelocks Ale House, a three hundred year old establishment with a rather quaint atmosphere so to speak. It was 9 of the Lads that participated, those being, Keith, John, Derek, Dave, Brian, Colin, Glenn, Russ and obviously birthday boy himself Mark.

A table had been booked well in  advance as it can get very busy, this turned out to be so. 1:00 pm was our scheduled time to take our seats along with the many other customers. 

Various methods of transport had been used to get the lads to this venue on time which included walking, bus rides and train journeys, all proving worthwhile. Our meals here at the Whitelocks Inn were enjoyed with great pleasure and so was the company that was sat around our table. Plenty of laughs and joking taking place as you can imagine over the almost 2 hours we spent here. The customary birthday song was sang to Mark , much to his delight, with a few other customers joining in our rendition, Great Stuff.

A memorable time was had by All

Cheers Everyone 

Museum of Science and Industry

 Wednesday 26th February.                     Museum of Science and Industry 

For their last outing in February, seven of the Lads have chosen to pay a visit to the city of Manchester and explore what this museum has to offer them. So it will be Brian, John, Colin and Mark catching the 10:40 train at Leeds whilst Derek, Dave and Glenn would be getting on board at Dewsbury. It proved to be a rather crowded train with seating coming at a premium so to speak. So we traveled to Manchester residing in different carriages communicating by mobile phones. The train eventually reaching Manchester Piccadilly about 10 minutes before midday, it was now a short walk along the platform and through the main concourse of the station heading for the route 1 city free bus that would take us virtually to the main entrance of the museum, a journey of about 15 minutes or so.

Once off the bus we immediately went to the cafeteria area and purchased a lunchtime snack, this was consumed while we sat deep in various conversations about upcoming events etc. About 40 minutes was spent mulling things over before we eventually entered the main building and began to explore the various artefacts that were on display, relics of the industrial past were laid out before us giving us the opportunity to absorb much information about a bygone era. 

A pity the Cotton Weaving Machinery display was unable to have been put through its paces on this occasion, we had been looking forward to this event. However a museum’s member of staff was quite pleased to engage with us about several topics relating to the Cotton Trade industry here in Lancashire.

We now moved on to the floor above and discovered what could be described as a fun zone etc, this gave us a chance to test our various skills and memory in completing said tasks, a steady hand and a good eye required for these exercises was the order of the day.

We had spent just over two hours exploring the museum before the decision to leave was considered, so after a brief visit to the gift shop and a photo opportunity, we found ourselves at the nearby bus stop and waiting to take a ride back in the direction of Piccadilly Railway Station. The bus ride this time taking a different and lengthy route through the streets of Manchester, due to this we were unable to catch the 14:58 train back in the direction of Leeds etc.

A few moments of confusion now ensued, which alternative train do we catch, whilst trying to purchase a cup of coffee! Looking up at the large information board it’s display gave us a couple of choices, the 15:30 going only as far as Huddersfield and then a change for Leeds, or wait for the 15:58 direct to Leeds calling at Dewsbury. We opted for the Huddersfield one, only to find out that the platform information display showing it was running 20 minutes late. What do we do! we left platform 1 and gathered at the main display board only to find that the 15:58 train had been switched to leaving from a different station due to a points failure , oh oh Colin was on his way to platform 14, Derek had gone for a coffee! John contacted Colin to inform him of the change and several calls were made to Derek to hurry him up as the Huddersfield train had arrived ahead of schedule and was about to leave, he just made it back in time as the train doors were about to close for the last time.

As we all managed to get seated next to one another, you can only imagine what conversation now took place as the train travelled on to Huddersfield. Once this destination had been reached it was time to checkout our various onward connections etc. Everyone eventually taking the right option.

Upon reflection today’s adventure was a little bit fraught at times, but this all added to the experience of being out with the Lads .

Cheers Everyone for Participating and having Fun.

Canal side Walk

 Wednesday 19th February 2024.         Canal side Walk in Leeds

On a rather cold morning it would be just 4 of the Lads that embarked on this journey alongside the Leeds to Liverpool Canal. After meeting up at the railway station here in Leeds at around 10:30, it was Colin , Brian, Mark and Dave that braved the elements and put their best foot forward along the towpath heading in the direction of Cardigan Fields, a shopping outlet close to Kirkstall, a distance of about 3 miles or so. 

 

A few other brave soles were out and about as we journeyed along the odd jogger and bike rider, not too many dog walkers though maybe they knew the rain was coming and so it did about just over halfway to our intended destination, as you can well imagine it became rather unpleasant for a short while. We eventually reached the commercial outlet at Cardigan Fields only to find it rather busy, lots of half term visitors taking advantage of what this location as to offer. Our intention was to have a lunchtime meal at Pizza Express, that proved to be a bad choice, it was rammed and a 50 minute wait time , so it was over the road to a quiet looking establishment named Bridgewater Arms. No too many people in here , so we found a table and ordered our meals, time to take off our wet coats and relax. Our conversation now was what are we planning for next week, the idea of a visit to Ribblehead was put forward, weather permitting and of course is it everyone’s choice etc.

With our relatively mediocre meals consumed it was off to a nearby bus stop and take our respective journey homewards bound, Mark headed one way the rest of us the other.

Upon reflection today’s outing was a cold and wet experience, nevertheless it was good to be out with the Lads enjoying our time together as we always do.

Cheers Everyone .

York Railway Museum

 Wednesday 12th February 2025.           York Railway Museum 

A slight change of plan today, even without the guidance of our leader! He’s away sunning himself. So it was down to Colin, Derek, Brian, Dave and Glenn to guide themselves to York instead of walking around Newmiller Dam, cold and inclement weather the main reason for this change. So with all mentioned they climbed aboard the 10:30 train leaving Leeds and heading for the city of York. 

Some 40 minutes later and they were off the train and on their way to the museum just a few hundred yards from the station here in York, with a outside temperature of about 4 degrees it was a relief to get inside the building and explore the grand array of Railway Engines and the many thousands of exhibits on display. The Lads were greatly impressed with the sheer size of some of the Engines , the Evening Star one of the last to be built stood there in all her glory looking spectacular in her Green livery and gleaming copper pipe work, a little hot for Colin and Derek to touch, ouch!

The lads continued their inspections with a climb aboard the Bullet Train and rest awhile whilst watching a video about it’s inception out in Japan, Colin had been fortunately lucky enough to have experience a ride on one of these impressive trains whilst on one of his overseas trips, lucky fellow!

Moving on now and time for a spot of lunch which was taken here in the food hall alongside a few other visitors to the museum, spiced tomato soup and a sandwich was the order of the day for the Lads.

Chance now to discuss future adventures and outings, a visit to Scarborough maybe on the horizon, but second thoughts were given to this. Tim’s visit having to be put on hold for a few weeks, a decision to take a canal side walk in Leeds next week was agreed upon, weather permitting.

With lunch over it was time to discover more of what the museum had to offer and what a lot there was to see. Interesting signalling video and displays about the significance of this rather intricate mechanism and how it as progressed over the years, from waving flags to the modern day fibre optic cables that stretched the length and breadth of the country, impressive to say the least.

Time now for a cuppa before we said farewell to the museum and headed back towards the railway station, our train returning us to Leeds is due to depart at 15:08 platform 11.

Upon reflection today’s outcome was rather interesting and informative a great experience had by all involved.

Cheers Everyone.