Canals, from the Bridgewater Canal to the Manchester Ship Canal, created Manchester. They run through the city centre, hidden below street level, unnoticed as you walk around. The Bridgewater Canal was engineered by James Brindley and opened in 1761, starting the canal age in England. The Manchester Ship Canal, connecting Manchester with the River Mersey, was opened in 1894. Manchester became the third-busiest port in the UK, despite being 40 miles from the sea. The hub of the old canal network is at Castlefields, next to the remains of the Roman fort. Castlefields is a three-dimensional maze of canal basins and railway viaducts. I recently walked back from Castlefields to Piccadilly Station along the Rochdale Canal.
The canal is never very far from a busy road, but feels isolated between high walls and the back of buildings. There are stretches that I would not walk along after dark.
Castlefields.Castlefields.Castlefields.Castlefields.Castlefields.Castlefields.Castlefields.Rochdale Canal.Rochdale Canal.Rochdale Canal – the Deansgate Tunnel.Rochdale Canal – the Deansgate Tunnel.Rochdale Canal – the end of the Deansgate Tunnel.Rochdale Canal. The Deansgate-Castlefield metro station is on the viaduct to the left.Rochdale Canal. Albion Street bridge.Rochdale Canal. The Axis Tower.Rochdale Canal – the Bridgewater Basin and Bridgewater Hall are on the left past the locks.Rochdale Canal – the Bridgewater Basin junction and Oxford Street bridge.Rochdale Canal.Rochdale Canal, Manchester.Rochdale Canal – the tunnel beneath Piccadilly.Rochdale Canal – the tunnel beneath Piccadilly. This is very dark – I did not see the man at the end until I almost walked into him. Rochdale Canal – the end of the Piccadilly tunnel.Rochdale Canal. From here, at the end of the Piccadilly tunnel, I walked the short distance through back streets to the Ashton Canal, which joins the Rochdale Canal near the Store Street aqueduct.
We recently spent a couple of nights in Glasgow, and on the first evening had a walk to Glasgow Cathedral and the Necropolis. The Fir Park pleasure grounds, across the Molendinar Burn from the Cathedral, were transformed from 1833 into the place to be buried in Glasgow. It was inspired by Père Lachaise in Paris. The situation, on top of a hill, is very fine with extensive views, and the Greek, Egyptian, Gothic and Romanesque monuments are amazing. We could have spent much longer here, but dinner called, and the threatening sky did more than threaten – we got soaked on the way back to the bus stop.
Glasgow Cathedral from the Necropolis.The Necropolis, Glasgow.Glasgow Cathedral from the Necropolis.Glasgow Cathedral from the Necropolis.The Necropolis, Glasgow.The Necropolis, Glasgow.The Necropolis, Glasgow.The Necropolis, Glasgow.
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Further reading
There are several architectural guides to Glasgow. We used Central Glasgow: An Illustrated Architectural Guide by Charles McKean, David Walker and Frank Walker. ISBN 1 873190 22 0. It is published by the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) – an excellent source of architectural guides and books. It was first published in 1989, so is somewhat out of date, but is full of interesting history and photographs.
Getting to Switzerland is easy – take the RER from the Gare du Nord to the Gare de Lyon and get on the TGV to Genève or Lausanne. Or for a slower start, get off Eurostar at Lille Europe, have moules frites and a good beer for dinner, next day catch the TGV to Lyons and change to the TGV to Genève. Done.
Lac Léman and the Jet d’Eau at Genève.
A paddle steamer on Lac Léman. The young woman left of centre with her leg crossed is sketching the other passengers. First class passengers are on the upper deck.
Framed pastoral view from the Golden Pass Panoramic train between Montreux and Zweisimmen, on the way to Interlaken and the Berner Oberland. Mother and daughter are bored by the view.The Schynige Platte Railway, climbing from Wilderswil south of Interlaken to the hotel and Alpine Garden at Schynige Platte.Schynige Platte station and the entrance to the excellent Alpine Garden.The view north-east from Schynigge Platte. Looking south from the Schynige Platte Panoramaweg towards the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau. The Panoramaweg runs from Schynige Platte to the Berghotel Faulhorn. The dark mass in the middle distance is the Männlichen, reached by cable car from Wengen, with an excellent walk to Kleine Scheidegg.Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau from the Panoramaweg.The Faulhorn (2680m) and Simelihorn (2751m). The Berghotel Faulhorn is just visible on the summit of the Faulhorn.Early morning at the Berghotel Faulhorn. View north over the Simelihorn to the Schreckhorn (4078 m) and Finsteraarhorn (4274 m).The Berghotel Faulhorn – the oldest Alpine hotel (1830).The railcar from Grütschalp to Mürren – maximum speed 30 km/h. Grütschalp is reached by cable car from Lauterbrunnen. Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau from the high level path between Grütschalp and Mürren. The best views are when walking towards Mürren – use the railcar for the return journey.Eigerglescher Station on the Jungfraubahn, with the Eiger and Eigerglescher behind.The Mont Blanc Express to the Chamonix valley at Martigny.The Glacier du Trient from the path between Trient and the Fenêtre d’Arpette on the Walkers’ High Level Route from Chamonix to Zermatt.The Fenêtre d’Arpette – you will not be lonely on the Walkers’ High Level Route.The Matterhorn (4478m) and the Gornergrat Bahn.Anna views the Gornergrat panorama – Monte Rosa, Liskamm, Castor, Pollox, Briethorn, Klein Matterhorn and Matterhorn. This is a 180° panorama – hence the curved glacier.The Matterhorn from the Schwartzsee, with the chapel by the waterside.The chapel at Schwartzsee.The Matterhorn and Dente Blanche (4357 m).View north from Schwartzsee towards the Mischabel (4545m).
Travel details
Genève and Lausanne can be reached on the same day from London. The TGVs from the Gare de Lyon travel south very quickly before slowing down through the Jura – book an upper deck seat and enjoy the scenery. For the Berner Oberland you need to get to Interlaken from Montreux, which is further east along Lac Léman (Lake Geneva). Continuing on from Montreux, the Rhône Valley heads roughly south until Martigny, where it turns through a right-angle and heads north-east. The Mont Blanc Express is a marvellous slow journey into the Chamonix valley. Further east, the Postbus from Sion will take you to Arolla, and at Visp you change to the train for car-less Zermatt.
Dawdling is recommended – a stop in Paris is difficult to resist. The alternative route to Genève is via Lille or Lyon, both of which are worth a stop – for me, Lille is moules frites and beer, Lyons is Haute Cuisine. Genève has situation, paddle-steamers on Lac Léman, and snow-covered mountains on the horizon – and good food. Lausanne rises steeply from the lake, and the whole of the north side of the lake is vineyards.
Interlaken, as the name suggests, is on the flat ground between two lakes. To the south are the great north walls of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau, with wonderful and accessible walking. From Interlaken, the Berner Oberland Bahn heads south, dividing at Zweilütschinen, one half of the train going to Grindelwald and the other half to Lauterbrunnen. From Grindelwald, a train goes up to Kleine Scheidegg, which is also reached by a train which climbs from Lauterbrunnen through car-less Wengen. From Kleine Scheidegg the train tunnels through the Eiger to the highest station in Europe, on the Jungfraujoch. Across the road from the station in Lauterbrunnen, a double-deck cable-car, with a freight truck on the lower deck, ascends to Grütschalp. From there, a railcar, towing the freight truck, trundles along a shelf high above the valley to Mürren, another car-less resort. If you get off the Lauterbrunnen train at Wilderswil, you can take the historic Schynige Platte Bahn up to the hotel at the beginning of the Panoramaweg.
At Zermatt, the Gornergratbahn goes up to the hotel on the Gornergrat, and wandering back down to one of the lower stations gives wonderful views from Monte Rosa round past the Matterhorn to the Mischabell. Cable cars acess high-level walking to the south, closer to the Matterhorn.
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I love wandering around cities – being a flâneur. I suppose, strictly (linguistically?) speaking, you have to be in France to be a flâneur, and where better to be a flâneur than in Paris. Anna and I tend to avoid the tourist attractions, the honey-pots, except early in the morning, and wander around the back streets or along the Canal Saint Martin. The area around Sacré-Cœur is thronged with tourists on a Sunday morning, but not far away there is open-air jazz in a peaceful square, and quiet cafés with not a tourist in sight. Not all the great buildings are thronged – it is usually quiet around Jules Hardouin-Mansart’s stupendous Dôme des Invalides. Whole areas are little known – Ménilmontant has quirky back streets and the Critérium Sauvage des Cascades, and in Belleville there is a wonderful quotation from Averroès (1126-1198) – ‘Ignorance leads to fear, fear to hate, hate to violence. There is the equation’. Surprisingly, even the Palais-Royal is quiet, and if your feet start to hurt, then retire to Shakespeare and Co for a book and coffee.
Metro entrance and a snappy dresser.Cafe and Perrier advert. You mean to say that you don’t sit around like this with your Perrier water? Quelle dommage!Canal Saint Martin.Sunday morning jazz in Place des Abbesses in Montmartre.Montmartre bar on a Sunday morning.The Dôme des Invalides at the Hôtel des Invalides, Paris.Ménilmontant. Notice for the 14th Critérium Sauvage des Cascades. The non-official rules say that the velocipede must have at least one wheel, and be driven by mechanical, intellectual or pataphysical force.Belleville. ‘Ignorance leads to fear, fear to hate, hate to violence. There is the equation’. Averroès (1126-1198). Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.The grand courtyard in the interior of the Palais Royal. The man (and the running boy) are about to go into the arcade which shelters the shops.Shakespeare and Co.Avignon TGV. The photographs displayed along the concourse are from Les Rencontres de la Photographie at Arles.
And so to Avignon – direct from St Pancras International to the great Rhone wines. Châteauneuf-du-Pape is a short bus ride away up the hill on the other side of the river. Gigondas and Vacqueyras are close by. And the food is not bad either. Avignon itself is very compact, the main street running from the station (Avignon station, not Avignon-TGV which is a short train ride from the town) to the Palais des Papes above a big square with gardens to one side.
Avignon, the Palais des Papes.Avignon. Pont Saint Bénézet – the original of ‘sur le pont d’Avignon’ – only three arches, which does not get you very far across the river.Avignon, Hotel Cloitre St Louis.
And then the Alps, which stretch in a great arc from the Mediterranean to the Swiss border at the head of the Chamonix valley, which is ‘mythique et authentique’ according to the official web site. Access by train is easy – unless SNCF is on strike, which has caught me out. The TGV to St Gervais leads into the Chamonix valley from the west – a wonderful line from Martigny gives access from the east – with Bourg-St Maurice further south, and the line to Turin gives access to the Vanoise at Modane.
The TGV to Turin at Modane station.
I started the Tour des Glaciers de la Vanoise – a superb walking tour – by taking a taxi from Modane to Plan d’Amont (€40 for ~45 minute drive). Then gentle walking to Refuge du Plan-Sec at 2350m. I did this in September – after the holiday season, so the refuges are only a third full, and the weather can be very fine, cold at night, but very good temperatures for walking. I was rather worried towards the end of the tour because snow was forecast, and I had to cross a col at nearly 3000m, and did not have crampons or ice axe, but there was not enough snow to be difficult.
Tour des Glaciers de la Vanoise: morning cloud at the Refuge de l’Arpont.Tour des Glaciers de la Vanoise: Mont Pelve.Tour des Glaciers de la Vanoise: Mont Pelve.Tour des Glaciers de la Vanoise. The new la Valette hut is in the centre of the image, the remains of the older hut on the higher shelf.Tour des Glaciers de la Vanoise: Ruisseau de RosoireTour des Glaciers de la Vanoise: view from the Pointe de l’Observatoire.
If you are not intending to climb Mont Blanc, there are five ways to get above the Chamonix valley – take the train towards Argentière and walk from there; take the lift to the Brévent, with magnificent views across the valley to Mont Blanc; take the train to the Mer de Glace, now much diminished; take the cable car to the Aiguille de Midi (and across to Courmayeur in Italy); or take the TMB (Tramway de Mont Blanc) towards the Aiguille de Bionassay. We have done all of these. Our last trip was on the TMB, which seems a bit like an unfinished project – at the end, the train pops out of a tunnel and stops, as if the line was never completed. Some of the earlier plans included a several hundred meter lift to the Dôme du Goûter. The walking options are limited at this height (2350m) – access to the Glacier du Bionassay, and for those attempting an ascent of Mont Blanc, the futuristic refuge on the Dôme de Goûter.
Aiguille du Bionassay from the top station of the TMB.
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