Monday 4th September 2000
( weather: fine & warm)
Today's short walk: Cringle Moor
( 2½ miles )
I'd like to
dedicate today's page to my great soccer pal, Willie Maddren
(above),
who sadly died last Tuesday, after a brave 5 year battle against
Motor Neurone Disease, at the early age of 49.
30 years ago we both played together for Middlesbrough FC and, of course, fitness training was part of our everyday life
Most Monday
mornings the whole squad would be taken by bus to Carlton Bank
from where we'd run up and down
the Cleveland Hills (above) - I often ran alongside Willie and
enjoyed his company and words of encouragement
From left to right: Hasty Bank, Cold Moor, Cringle Moor, Carlton Bank
Nowadays, walking
these beautiful hills with my wife, Jean, is as strenuous as it
gets, but it only seems like yesterday
that we used to don our tracksuits and gallop along the 'tops'
which in those days we had almost to ourselves
We would frequently set off running from near this point close to what is now Lord Stone's Cafe ( Grid Ref: 523 030 )
Little seems to have changed here - the grassy track leading up to Cringle Moor still looks inviting
However, the path
follows the popular Cleveland Way trail and many parts have been
'paved' with
natural stone to prevent further erosion
As the purple heather blooms in the foreground, we look back towards our starting point and beyond, Carlton Bank
Today we brought some flowers in Boro's red and white colours to lay as a mark of respect for Willie
We chose to place them in a position with lovely views of Cold Moor ahead . . .
. . . and across the Cleveland Plain towards Roseberry Topping
A little further along, the rocky outcrops above Kirby Bank - our return path can be seen far down to the left
The steep descent
down the eastern flank of Cringle Moor would always cause Willie
problems -
he suffered from a knee injury very early in his career and this
was not the best terrain to put it to the test
Perhaps the view eased the pain a little for him - I never heard him complain - that wasn't his style
At the bottom of the hill we would sometimes carry on along the path ahead and over the top of Cold Moor . . .
. . . or other
times, as we chose today, we'd turn and follow the old miners'
track
along the bracken covered northern slopes of Kirby Bank
This particular path could get quite boggy in parts and I well remember leaping across them at speed
There are still obvious signs of the bygone days of jet, alum and sandstone workings
Near the end of the
walk - looking west from the miners' track towards the Pennines
- not visible today due to the haze . . .
. . . and from the same spot a final look back across the Cleveland Plain towards Roseberry Topping
On the way home I
couldn't resist stopping and taking this photograph of Roseberry
Topping -
another hill Willie and I would often have to run up
Willie Maddren running on the moors - c. 1970
When Willie was
diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease in 1995 he immediately
decided to fight it
and set up the Willie Maddren MND Fund which to date has raised
over £200,000 for research into this terrible illness
He also wrote his
autobiography, 'Extra Time', which in many people's opinions
is one of the finest football books ever written - the book costs
£9.99
I thoroughly recommend it - all profits go to Motor Neurone Disease research
Willie was one of
the nicest lads you could ever wish to meet and I can't speak
highly enough of him -
all I can say is "Thank you, Willie, for being a
friend".
........
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