Yesterday Blob Thing began a challenge to finish writing about all the adventures he had in May. He had plans to write about a different adventure today but they needed to be temporarily changed. He will tell you about that tomorrow and is looking forward to it immensely. Instead, he has decided today to tell you a little more about the adventure he began to tell you about yesterday, his epic hike round three reservoirs. At least, it felt epic to Blob then. A couple of days ago he completed an even longer hike.
When we left Blob yesterday he had left Entwistle station and had walked the length of Wayoh Reservoir. He was having a very good time. Everything was so beautiful. How could a place contain so much countryside? Then the countryside vanished. Blob and his person followed the path until it reached a road. They were in a little place called Edgworth. Blob's person was wondering whether they would be able to walk all the way they had planned. Her knee was hurting. It often hurts.
And then the intrepid travellers saw an amazing sight: A bus stop. And the bus was due any minute. They could stop walking there and then. They could rest. It was a lucky thing too because if they had missed the bus at that bus stop they would have had to wait another four hours for the next one. But the bus went to Darwen and neither Blob nor his person knew where Darwen was and they didn't know how they would ever get back to Salford were they to catch the bus. So, in equal measures joy and despair, they decided they would have to walk for many more miles. Looking back, they are both very glad not to have caught the bus because the day walking turned out to be great and Blob's person's knee felt a lot better.
If they had looked at the bus stop on the other side of the road they would have found out that the bus route went to Bolton. That would have been good. Except that they would have had to wait for another three hours and twenty minutes to catch it. Blob is very glad not to live in Edgworth. The houses are quite attractive and it's near reservoirs. That would be good. But there is very little to do there and adventures would be much harder with so few buses. Blob is very glad that he lives in a big place. Sometimes it's too noisy. Sometimes it's very overwhelming. But it's much better for him and for his person too. They have many bus routes to choose from and just a few minutes from their house is the Tyne and Wear Metro. Plus there are so many different things to do and see nearby. Blob doesn't want to live in a tiny village with such limited travel options.
They followed the road down a hill and entered another place. It was called Turton Bottoms. You'll have to forgive Blob Thing. He's a very young blob. That probably explains why he found the name so funny. Turton Bottoms. Blob laughed about it a lot when he saw the sign. He was still laughing when he crossed the little river at the bottom of the hill and left the road and the traffic to join a quiet footpath.
Blob was very relieved. Relieved to be away from the road again. And relieved because a sign at the start of the path said it had just reopened after being closed for ages due to a bridge collapsing. He guesses that this is the bridge in question. In Blob's opinion it still looks to be quite collapsed. It would have been hard to cross. Fortunately there was a metal pipe across the stream and Blob was able to cross that carefully.
Gosh, it was pretty. It was so pretty in places. Blob marvelled at this path along the river. He felt it was so magical. He could almost taste the magic in the air in a way that is most uncommon on a city street. Walking along this path brought Blob such joy and such inner peace.
Blob's person enjoyed it too. She finds a lot of strength and peace and joy in walking in quiet places. She has learned that being outside is good for her, being among the trees and the fields or watching the sea. For most of her adult life she hasn't taken herself out to many places. Now she has learned that being out is life giving for her. It is part of her freedom. Part of who she is. Part of the literal and metaphorical air that she needs to breathe. Blob Thing is glad of that because it means he gets to accompany her and see the exciting places too.
It wasn't long before Blob reached the second reservoir of the day. This was Jumbles Reservoir. Blob started laughing again at another funny name. He later learned that the name comes from the word "dumbles" which is a local word for a steep valley with trees on the sides and a fast river at the bottom. Jumbles Reservoir was almost as pretty as Wayoh Reservoir. The banks and the surrounding countryside were much less wild but they were still pretty. Blob sat and rested on a tree. He was glad to be here rather than in the unknown Darwen. He didn't even know whether there would be charity shops in Darwen.
At the far end of the reservoir there was a little visitor centre and a cafe. Jumbles Reservoir is in the Jumbles Country Park and there is a car park so it gets a lot more people than Wayoh. It was still quiet though, with only about a dozen cars there. Blob's person treated herself to an ice cream. It wasn't the most special ice cream, nothing like the liquorice filled ice cream she would share that weekend with Blob's creator. But it was ice cream and Blob's person is a big fan of ice cream.
Blob walked on and on and on. He left Jumbles Reservoir far behind and the path crossed under the railway and then rose very steeply through a wood. Blob's person is supremely unfit and she got very out of breath and her heart was racing. Blob felt sorry for her. He was fine. His heart kept on beating at the same rate it always does and he didn't get out of breath at all. In part that may be due to the peculiarities of his physiology. In part it's probably also due to the fact that he was carried all the way up the hill by his person. Lucky, lucky Blob. [Yes, that's his person saying that.]
Together they came out of the woods and were amazed. They were high up and the views were stunning. Blob leaped with excitement. He had never seen anything like this before.
It would be a long walk to the third reservoir, across a moor. Blob will tell you about that on another day.
[1190 words]
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