The waymarking begins....................

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Our new waymarkers for the Rossendale Way.  All we need now is the company of you good people.  Come and let us know what you think :)

Number 678 Guest House - the blog


Great news for all walkers in, and visiting, Rossendale.  We have now received the new waymarkers for the 46 mile loop Rossendale Way.
On Tuesday 17 February 2015 we will begin the waymarking of the Rossendale Way.  In addition to waymarking we will be rewriting the walking route taking note of all updates, changes and places of interest.


  The Rossendale Way is a 46 mile loop taking ramblers, cyclists and walkers, around the beautiful and picturesque hills of Rossendale.  We'll be starting our task in Bacup and will be setting off around 10am.  Whilst we only expect to complete around six miles of the route on our first day we will be gathering plenty of information along the way to ensure that all future visitors are fully prepared to fully enjoy their walk or cycle. 
Watch this space for further details, and to enjoy all the interesting facts about Bacup and Weir.

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You have no doubt gathered from our various blogs that we both enjoy a bit of walking and cycling.  We tend to venture within an hour's radius of the guest house, and are continually surprised with the wonderful views and tasty ales along the way.  Our local walking has tended to be very much in support of a walk to our local so that we can have that "extra one" :)  Sometimes, on a good day, we'll walk over the top of the hills into Rawtenstall.  Again, a lovely walk with excellent views across the tops for miles. 

However, I have now started running!  We have many guests who get up in the morning and go for a run before breakfast: a tad over-zealous I used to think!  Nevertheless, they all seem to enjoy the local run.  Feeling that my fitness is in need of a prod, a friend suggested I try the NHS podcasts "Couch to 5k in nine weeks"  When I first started I couldn't believe how hard I found it to run for 60 seconds.  But, I persevered and today I just ran my first 20 minute run without a stop!  I am so happy with myself, and I'm feeling so full of energy.  I'm only just at the end of week 5 but already I feel like a different person.

The most important thing is............................ I'm running round our local roads and countryside and again seeing it from a completely different perspective.

So, for those of you that would like to increase your fitness whilst enjoying the scenery I would seriously recommend the NHS podcasts
If any of you decide to download the podcasts and give them a go, or any of you have already started or completed the nine weeks, I'd love to hear how you found it, and how you feel now :)

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The painting continues............. We are now painting the exterior of the guesthouse and are surprised how much brighter it looks.  Never ending.  Once the exterior is finished we will be continuing on with the interior.  Poor Old Tom, no rest for the wicked, lol

Another lovely cycle ride today from Todmorden, along the canal up to Hollingworth Lake.  Actually this ride was with some friends so you can imagine........... we spent more time chatting when we stopped a couple of times than we did cycling!  You have it do, ha.  There was a little cloud initially which made it very comfortable whilst we were riding but we still managed to get back with red sunburned faces.    It really is a lovely lake with plenty of activities both on and off the water.  We had our picnic at the Visitors Centre which offers a good selection of drinks, sandwiches, too nice cakes and ice-cream. An excellent place to visit for a pleasant day out :)

Are you interested in renting an apartment in Rossendale?  If so click here
Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, large open plan kitchen, diner and lounge.  All modern fixtures and fittings, brand new carpets, extremely clean and modern throughout.

Number 678 Guest House - the blog continues

Don't forget the Rural Rossendale Walking Festival for 2013 starts in less than five weeks.  We start 5 October with the Hog Hike
Full details of all the walks can be found at Rural Rossendale website
We look forward to seeing you there!

Number 678 Guest House - the blog continues here in Pennine Rossendale

Many of the visitors to Rawtenstall arrive on the East Lancashire Railway . Run and operated by avid enthusiasts the railway station remains a focal point of our local town.  And now they have an addition.......................  The Rail Ale Trail now has a stop right at the end of the track here in Rawtenstall!  The Rail Ale Trail takes you on a journey to discover some of the Irwell Valley’s most beautiful locations and exceptional pubs, all linked together by the railway. Whether you are an ale lover, cider afficionado or cream soda supporter, you will find something to suit your taste buds at every station along the route.  Our latest watering hole opened just a couple of months ago and is already one of the most popular spots in town.  Unless there is a special train due in, the bar closes at a respectable 8pm but, being open all day, gives you plenty of time to sample their excellent selection of guest ales.  My particular favourite is the strawberry beer: oh so English sitting on the platform watching the steam trains come and go with my ever so English strawberries!  The official grand opening is this coming Saturday, 27 July 2013, with Pete Waterman, a well known steam train enthusiastic himself, as the official opener :)  I'm sure a great time will be had by all.

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Preparations have now been finalised for the Rural Rossendale 2013 Foodie Walking Festival.
Full details can be found here   As one of our many fully trained walk leaders I look forward to seeing past and new walkers in October.  We have walks to suit all abilities with a promise of great countryside, good company, a taste of local food and  culminating in the feel great factor!











The Hog Hike 2012












The Black Pudding Plod 2012


Come along and join in the fun!


ANGEL NUMBER 678

Number 678 vibrations to the energies of the numbers 6, 7 and 8. Number 6 resonates with devotion to home and family, the monetary and financial aspects of life, provision and providing and sacrifice. Number 7 adds its influences of spiritual awakening and enlightenment, inner-wisdom and inner-knowing and persistence of purpose. Number 8 brings its vibrations of manifesting wealth and prosperity, inner-strength, patience, giving and receiving and Karma - the Spiritual Law of Cause and Effect.


Angel Number 678 brings a message from the angels that your devotion to your spiritual practices has ensured that your material wants and needs will always be met, and your endeavours will reap both personal and financial rewards in your life.


The repeating Angel Number 678 is a message from the angels that you have learned how to balance your spiritual life with the monetary and physical world, and this will see an increase to the flow of material abundance in your life, as well as inner-peace and joy. With this increase to your prosperity, be mindful that the more you have, the more you have to share. Use your riches wisely.


The repeating numbers 678 may also be indicating ‘steps’ along your spiritual path.

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Tour de France 2014

Wow..... the Tour de France 2014 is coming to the South Pennines in 2014.  Watch this space as we keep you informed!

How exciting................................ The Grand Depart 2014

They will be cycling through Hebden Bridge which is where we cycle to often on a Sunday!

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Just sitting in the garden today, enjoying the sun, watching and listening to the water gently running past...........................

  Two little wagtails were fluttering and chasing each other in and around the water.  As I was quietly watching the wagtails a kingfisher came sweeping past..... I kind of think this was the male kingfisher with it being on its own, maybe mummy kingfisher is back at the nest tedning her young.  Maybe we'll have some additions to our Kingfishers in a few weeks.

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Well, what a smashing cycle along the Rochdale Canal from Todmorden........  Once again the weather was fantastic with us generating quite a bit of heat!  We have, on many occasions, cycled from Todmorden to Hebden Bridge and without doubt it is a lovely route.  However, cycling in the other direction to Hollingworth Lake is bright, spacious and definitely less crowded.  That is of course if you do not count the Canada geese and ducks!  As is expected at this time of year mummy geese and mummy ducks were parading their babies along the canal bank. 
A great attraction of the Rochdale Canal for the leisure boater lies in the fact that (unlike the Leeds and Liverpool and the Huddersfield Narrow) it climbs high over the Pennine moors rather than tunnelling through them, and the boater is surrounded by scenery which is correspondingly more spectacular (with the "penalty" of having to work more locks!)

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Fortunately, we are set in such a great place for a variety of walks.  This week we went up to Lumbutts just outside of Todmorden.  Despite there being a fair breeze blowing we had a smashing walk up Scar Clough.  Although we were climbing the hill it was not such a difficult walk, not like climbing up to Stoodley Pike Monument just further up the road in Mankinholes!!  Actually, our walk did link up with the Pennine Way so quite easy to walk over to the monument if you wanted to, or even continue on to Halifax.  Not us, though :)  we then walked up and around Gaddings Dam.  Gaddings Dam is quite a pleasant surprise up on the top of the hill.  With its very own beach it is absolutely perfect for swimming and indeed attracts lots of outdoor swimmers both for pleasure and for training events.  Well worth a walk up, and especially lovely when you have a picnic.  If you do not have a picnic then the Shephers Rest Inn is the perfect place to start and finish for the well earned drinks and an excellent menu.

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In and around Rossendale we have beautiful wildlife.  During this past week our guests have been delighted with the pretty kingfishers  that fly up and down our pretty brook.  From the two back rooms, watching from the juliet balconies, they were also tickled to see the mink  swimming and diving catching fish.  With such lovely weather the garden has been the perfect spot to relax, listening to the water and watching the heron come down twice each day.

Number 678 Guest House - the blog continues
What a lovely bank holiday weekend here at Number 678, a busy weekend with lovely guests.  Our lovely son, Thomas, was over on Saturday with his delightful wife, Gillian.  A weekend stopping over always involves good food and a gargle (or two) :-)  and this weekend was no exception!  Anar Kali at the Farmers Glory in Haslingden is one of the best Indian restaurants around...The food, wine, service, atmosphere and of course the company was excellent, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and would recommend to all our guests.  But,,,,, there's no such thing as free food so on Sunday Thomas' engineering skills were fully utilised, and we now have, once again, fully functioning security lights on the front of Number 678 :-)

Number 678 Guest House Rossendale - the blog continues here in East Lancashire

Now it is really time to get things moving in the garden.  The milder weather is here and with everything grows!!!  When we see the daffodils and tulips we know "the only way is up!"

Why, oh why, when I'm terrified of heights did I agree to go climbing at Go Ape?  http://goape.co.uk/days-out/rivington  The practise run was a doddle, my feet were but 6" off the ground, easy peasy.  However, I climbed up the first "real" tree and froze!!  OMG, how on earth was I meant to get down?  Encouraged by my grandson who thought it quite funny that grandma was tree hugging I put my life in the fate of the gods and went for it................ lol, I'm still here to tell the tale.  It took us over three hours to get round the course and there were one or two occasions that I thought myself quite mad.  But there were more occasions when we laughed so much we nearly rolled over. We climbed, swung, crawled, pulled and ziplined ourselves round and I hadn't felt so good in ages!  Go Ape Rivington is just 40 minutes away and so well worth the trip.

So invigorated was I that the following day I conquered my fear of fairground rides and spent the whole day at Pleasureland Blackpool.  The mad mouse was truly mad, how did we not get thrown off at every corner??  I have always hated fairground rides, I'm really not an adrenalin junkie but there comes a time when grandma just has to succumb to grandson's pressure.  Fortunately, The Big One wasn't running so I was saved the embarrassment of that one!  Apart from having my head buried into the back of Cameron all the way round The Avalanche I did extremely well and my pride was kept intact.  Blackpool Pleasureland is just less than hour away and the peace and tranquility of Number 678 is the perfect place to wind down from a busy, hectic and adrenalin filled day.  Look forward to seeing you soon!

Easter fun

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How beautiful life has been here in Rossendale this past few weeks.  Yes, we've had our share of the snow but only enough to make Rossendale even more beautiful! 

Our promise to serve only fresh, local produce when possible went to new extremes with our breakfast visitors this morning.............................

They stayed a couple of hours enjoying their fresh breakfast!

 

Easter was eventful in Rossendale.... over the Easter weekend we had the Rossendale Artisan market on our newly created town square.  The market attracted a few thousand visitors into town of which two of them were us :)   We took advantage of the sunny crisp weather and walked over the back hill and down into town.  It was a lovely walk which took us approx 30 minutes.  The welcoming food tent had a varied selection of foody delights from Italy, Greece, China and of course Rossendale.  Local producers had their wares on sale: clothes, soap, wooden toys/ornaments, jewellry, cakes, bread, kitchen wares etc. etc. such an array.  Our walk back via Newchurch was broken by a well earned rest (!) and a little gargle.

 

Our world famous coconutters once again led the Easter Saturday parade attracting visitors both nationally and worldwide.

 

Easter Monday saw the annual clog cobbin competition held at The Roebuck, Burnley Road East Scoutbottom.  Contestants chuck their "clog" over their head backwards with the furthest chuck winning the title.  Traditionally borne from the local shoe industry fun and frivolity continues all day around this fun loving event.

 

Who needs Easter bunnies with the colourful characters of Rossendale!!

You gotta luv it!

 

 

 

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More snow again yesterday and although it came down very heavy in a short space of time it melted just as quickly!  Love it!

Once again we have been on our adventures taking in some local walks.  On Sunday we decided to take the Bronte circular walk around Trawden.  http://www.visitlancashire.com/dbimgs/Brontes_in_Pendle[1].pdf
Follow this link if you fancy having a go.  We particularly like this walk as it takes you through proper farmland, off the roads and well trodden trails.  Alright, in parts it was a little damp :)  and yes, you shared your walk with the sheep but if, like me, Wuthering Heights, was just one of the most memorable books ever, then the walk is a must.  Walking the walk in January one has to expect the wind, sometimes extremely brisk, but Heathcliffe with his passionate temper stalking the hills as the mist comes down following on your heels is just so worth it.  Then, hang on, oh yes, it is Tom following closely on my heels.  Not quite THE Heathcliffe but hey ho, this is reality!

I'm afraid next Sunday is back down to reality.  A weekend with our grandson with next Sunday spent with our daughter in law and sister walking Blackpool prom!

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"Snow is falling, all around......."

First job of the day................. clear all the snow from the drive!
It's a winter wonderland here at Number 678.  Local schools are closed but we are open.  Rossendale is a beautiful place whatever the time of year but when covered in snow it really is something else.  Unlike surburbia our snow stays brilliant white until it is melted.

Number 678 Guest House wishes all our guests both past and present a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2013!


As we move into a new year we look back at 2012 and remember that, without our wonderful guests; those that we see on a regular basis and those that pass through on their various journeys, we would not be here without you.  So from both of us we offer a very big thank you and look forward to seeing you all again in 2013.  Of course, we look forward to meeting new guests too.  Always a warm welcome here at Number 678.


Thanks to wonderful Jaqs who once again took the reins at Number 678, we decided to take off over Christmas and flew off to La Palma. 
Leaving Number 678 in Jaqs' hands meant that many visitors to the valley were able to spend the Christmas with their families.  Starting their days with a fresh, hearty, locally sourced breakfast I'm sure set them off well.
The New Year celebrations were equally enjoyable.  We had a group of lovely guests who decided to congregate together with their children for their own personal get together to say au revoir to 2012 and welcome 2013 with plenty of bonhomie.  A good time was had by all.

So now we settle down to the new year, attempt the detox, but gave up on new year resolutions too many years ago after too many failed attempts!

Once again, we thank you for making 2012 such an enjoyable year for us.  We look forward to being of service in 2013.

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Rawtenstall Artisan Christmas market was a brilliant event.  Our local artisans usually have stalls in Manchester, and so popular are they, that they had a three day event here in Rawtenstall.  Locals and visitors alike enjoyed the festive atmosphere of with a collection of Fine Food, Craft and Vintage stalls.  The market lit up our newly laid town square at one end with the fun fair lighting up the opposite end of Bank Street.  Three days of fun and frivolity and, although the artisan market has now come to end, this does not see the end of festive happenings throughout the valley throughout December.  Alder Grange Community and Technology School will be hosting a craft stall at Rawtenstall's traditional market this coming weekend.  The children from Alder Grange craft club will be selling their Christmas arts in aid of local charities.  Hand made wreaths and Christmas decorations of all shapes, sizes and prices will be offer for that unique addition to your Christmas celebrations.
Our guests are enjoying bright, clear, crisp weather here in Rossendale.  We still have a duck with a poorly leg which hops in each morning for its breakfast.  Poor thing, he does enjoy a bit of black pudding though!
We are so fortunate with the variety of wildlife that enjoy coming into the garden for their morning titbits.    The vivid colours of the bluetits never cease to amaze me.

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Well, although we drove out of Rossendale today, we did stay in Lancashire.  We drove just 40 miles up to Lancaster, parked the car and walked by the River Lune and then up and over the viaduct to walk along the towpath to Hesk Bank.  Oh, it was lovely, such a beautiful walk; about 4.5-5 miles each way.  Apart from the scenery the vast array of birds were a pleasure. Two beautiful herons stood statuesque by the water as we wwalked past and then on the way back it was hilarious watching an elderly couple trying to get some pics.  Every time they got close enough the heron would take off and move further up the canal, heaven knows how long they were following it!  The highlight for me were the kingfishers.  I have only ever seen the kingfisher at the back of Number 678 on a couple of occasions so it was lovely to see four of them flying up and down the canal, and not just once!  The flew up and down as we walked both ways: beautiful.  Some strange looking swans too; some pure white with wonderfully shaped wings when folded, and others in shades of brown and white.

  Hest Bank was a lovely place to stop for an hour.  From the towpath, it is just 200 yards to the sea front, plenty of services, pretty and gentle.  So, Number 678 can really be your gateway to lovely Lancashire.