This week all us web-geeks finally get to see a ray of hope in the ever frustrating war we have while trying to make our websites work correctly in MS Internet Explorer version 6 as Google announce that they are ceasing support for the aging (2001) web browser. This may not seem like such a big deal to most people out there but it is truly astounding how many people still use, through no fault of their own, a piece of software that is so bug ridden and non-complient that it can easily add weeks onto the development of a website as the developer works around some fairly major flaws.

Hopefully, as reported on the BBC news website today, this will start a trend as major companies move away from Explorer 6, which will enable the web to become all it should be instead of developers having to hold back their creativity while supporting such a flawed piece of software. Already the UK government is looking at updating all it’s browsers, in all departments, to the latest ones.

To find more about how you or your company can help in the campaign to rid the internet of Explorer 6 you can check out the website ie6nomore.com to find out more.

It looks like, at least for web developers like myself, the final nail is being driven in Explorer 6’s coffin – long may it stay buried.

(the top image is from the ie6nomore.com website)

A White Christmas at Holyoke House

After deciding that we were going to do more fishing than a sea fishing addict over the Christmas break the weather turned a little cold and we had snow laying on the ground for days here in lowland Lancashire. The last time I remember this happening I was still at School, and that was some time ago.

As I work in Bolton I ended up doing a lot of my website builds via the internet from home as the roads were just too dangerous. In fact the only bit of driving I did was to pick up my younger brother up from Manchester and give him a lift up to Longridge, where there was a serious amount of snow but with a bit of careful driving it was manageable.

We spend a very relaxing couple of days at my parents where the snow made the house look like a scene straight from a postcard, and appart from that just chilled (pardon the pun) out while hoping for the weather to warm a little.

I know, I know, winter fishing is all about getting cold, but as I get older I like to fish where I can at least feel my fingers. Last weekend BLAS had a match up at Fleetwood and the signs looked good for a quick trip but sod law, I picked up a shirvery cold type bug so I ended up watching TV instead :(

As for the weather? Well, I went to work yesterday and everything was fine then my boss rang me this morning telling me not to go in as Bolton was under 6 inches of snow with lorries and cars abandoned everywhere – it didn’t look that bad here but by lunchtime it was, once again, covered in snow.

And just when we thought the snow had cleared!!!

I just hope it clears soon because although I can work from home I prefer to work from the office where there are less distractions and more resources.

As per usual, this year we plan to go sea fishing more, walking more, birding watching more, you get the idea… just generally being outside – more. I’m also intending in taking a lot more photographs and maybe entering a few competitions but only if I think the photo’s are worthy, and after working in an independent camera shop my standards of ‘what is a good photo’ are probably far to high…

Good Sized Whiting for me from Cleveleys

With the high pressure dominating the weather and the rain finally giving way we manged to get out on Sunday night for a spot of sea fishing with a few of the guys from Blackpool and Leyton Angling Society (BLAS). Along with all sorts of seasonal running about I’d picked up some Black Lug from Wayne’s Tackle in Preston which although a bit lazy saved me having to pump any in the freezing cold at Formby so money well spent.

We arrived with about 3/4 hour to spare until the start of the BLAS match so had a good chance to catch up with friends we hadn’t seen for ages. After surveying the beach from the car park for any likely gulleys before the tide covered them up while wrapping up in almost every layer we had we made our way down to the waters edge.

With the sea almost flat we cast our Black Lug tipped with Mackeral baits into the darkness. It wasn’t long until the Whiting started to show, small at first but getting progressively larger throughout the evening. We swapped baits around a bit to see what else was there, using Squid to tip the worms or just on it’s own and managed to catch a few small codling (all undersized) as well as a just in-size Dab for Wendy.

Small Codling for Wendy

Moving up the beach as the tide continued to flood the fish just kept coming and one one occasion I felt my bait get ‘hit’ twice while winding back in to re-bait only to find a couple of Whiting had jumped on the bottom and top hook of a Pennel bait that was hopefully going to catch me a Cod.

It was one of those nights where no matter what bait you put out you were going to get a Whiting or two, regardless of what end tackle was used, the trick was going to be if you could manage to catch an in-size fish before the small army of little ones found the bait.

For once I was the lucky one and managed to come second in the match, admittedly out of only eight people but still, after not being out for a while it was good to catch anything and getting a few ‘points’ was a bit of an added bonus. Wendy, although catching the same number of fish as me, only managed one in size, the Dab, but still, 9 fish each more than made up for our freezing extremities.

The major revelation of the evening wasn’t anything to do with sea fishing though, as we’d be fishing from 6pm till 10pm we’d bought some food flasks and loaded them up with soup. Why we hadn’t done this before is a mystery as we usually take sandwiches but with it being a little chilly we thought something warm would be better. It was probably the best idea of the weekend.

Hot soup, a roll to dunk in it and a few fish being caught – who cares what the weather’s like…

Autumns Final Fling at Queens Park, Bolton

Just a quick post to say I’m still here but with the weather being so terrible during the weekends we’ve not had chance to go fishing or had the inclination to go walking.

I managed to get out at lunchtime for a quick walk through Queens Park, in Bolton, only to find that most of the footpaths near the River Croal are closed as they’re repairing the bridge, and they will be till at least April… oh well, at least they’re only closed while the weather is rubbish and the bridge has been closed for years now so obviosuly needed seeing too.

The leaves had almost gone but I just managed to sneak a photograph of the last of them hanging on over the pond before this weekends winds turn up, I expect the trees will be naked next week.

So no fishing this weekend and unless the weather stops being so damn wet it’s looking like our Autumn / Winter fishing is on hold for a while.

Hugging the Apple Tree

Not been a whole lot going on sea fishing or walking wise up here in Lancashire for the past few weeks as work has been a bit hectic for both of us and we seem to have spent weekends just lazing about and resting.

We have added a couple of new trees to the garden though, 2 small apple trees; Cox and Katy which are able to pollinate each other so hopefully we’ll get some apples next year.

A few of our friends went and had a try for some early Cod up at Blackpool last weekend but all that came out were small Whiting and the odd Dogfish so it looks like even tough the weather feels very Autumnal it’s not quiet cold enough for the winter species to turn up yet.

The other major development, from our point of view anyway, is that the RSPB have opened up Hesketh Marsh for visitors, I was hoping to go this weekend but the weather was truly horrid when I got up this morning so that’ll have to wait for another day.

Plas Cymryan - Is this the most perfect place to live?

We spend the last weekend of September on Anglesey searching for Small Eyed Rays and any other denizens of the deep we could find.

Unfortunately no one told the fish that our reason for being on the island was to catch a few of them and the two times we ventured out we didn’t even have a bite – let alone manage to land anything of substance. As it was we weren’t that bothered, we just needed a little break before the mayhem that is the run up to Christmas and if you can’t relax on Anglesey there is something wrong with you.

Perfect bait placement - now where are the fish?

As well as trying at Cymryan we had a go for Bass in the inland sea, which is the large body of water separating Holy Island from Anglesey proper but the only fish we saw were a few small Bass or Mullet jumping wherever our baits weren’t.

So that’s it for Anglesey this year – we’ll be back chasing Bass in the spring but until then it’s eyes to the weather as we hope for a few winter storms to bring in the Cod up here in Lancashire.

Sea Fishing – rocks, estuaries, beaches, everywhere…

Fishing on the banks of the River Douglas

It had to be the first thing I mentioned.

England, in fact the entire UK and Ireland coast has some of the best sea angling in Europe, if not the world, and we’re lucky enough to live very near the coast so we try to get out and wet a line as often as possible.

We’re not always hugely successful in our quests but the scenery and wildlife more than make up for any short comings in our angling ability.

Our most notable catches have been from Anglesey, but the fishing up here in Lancashire and its neighbour Merseyside, on the right day, can be truly stupendous where anything from Bass to Thornback Rays or Cod to Smoothhounds can show up to the skillful or lucky angler.

As we’re approaching winter all angling eyes will be firmly fixed on the weather reports hoping for some good westerlies to churn the sea bed up and a good drop in temperate. This should bring in the larger Whiting and following close on their fishy heals will hopefully be some large Cod. I’ve yet to catch one of the monster Cod that we know are caught around the Fleetwood and Liverpool area, 2.5 lbs is my biggest, but I’m an angler, and as long as there’s a line in  the water, there’s always a chance.

Hiking, Fel Walking, Rambling – whatever you want to call it.

Looking out to the Three Peaks

With the Lake District and the Three Peaks only an hour away, The Lancashire Fels even closer and North Wales only about 2.5 hours away it seems almost inevitable that loving the outdoors, we’d make the most of the hills and mountains surrounding us.

We’ve ambled for miles and miles around the surrounding countryside, in all weathers and at all times of the year but by far the best and most satisfying was when we went up Fairsnape in the middle of winter. As we climbed higher  we ended up walking through pristine snow covered hillsides until we reached the top to find a landscape that was so perfect it could have been a painting.

Bird Watching – another excuse to be outside.

Avocet in profile

England is truly blessed by the bird gods as all twitchers (as more dedicated than I am birdwatchers are called) will tell you.

Due to our sometimes less than predictable weather some very rare birds can be found almost anywhere in the UK.

Up here in Lancashire we have some of the best wetlands and salt marches anywhere in the world for migrant species such as Pink Footed Geese and when winter falls, the Ribble estuary is home to literally thousands of these birds as they escape the cold of more northern countries.

The RSPB have a couple of very notable reserves in the area. Leighton Moss at the top end of Morecambe Bay has a very respectable breeding population of Bitterns as well as a number of Marsh Harriers. Marshside near Southport, Merseyside is a terrific area to watch the huge flocks of geese during the winter as they move inland onto the salt marshes to escape the incoming tide.

As well as these two fantastic reserves we have WWT Martin Mere almost on our doorstep which has been host to BBC Autumn Watch in previous years.

So with so many brilliant opportunities is it any wonder we go bird watching. It’s another good excuse to get outside and most of the time we can combine it with sea fishing, walking (some of our fishing is a long way from the car) or both.

So… what are your three favourite things to do in England?

Are you like us and anything outside is good or do you enjoy going to see live bands, see new cities or go out to the pub. Whatever it is I’m sure you’ll agree, England, the rest of the UK and Ireland has it all.

As per usual there hasn’t been any specific reason for this except for the normal reasons most home owners have such as those last minute fixes that you’ve put off but desperately need doing before winter sets in and it’s too late.

Well, we’ve done all we can, or at least all we want too, so hopefully we’ll be able to use the weekends for more constructive (yeah right) things such as wondering around the Lake District or catching Cod.

I’ve noticed a distinct chill in the air this past week and going by the colour of the trees I’d say Autumn has arrived here in Lancashire which was also evident as I walked round Mere Sands wood this afternoon where a wide variety of fungi have suddenly appeared.

We’ll be visiting Anglesey again soon so I hope the weather stay good and we can repeat our previous years September successes but if not who cares? Anglesey is a great place and just to get away is all we really need.

On the fishing front there have been some very large Thornback Rays coming out of the River Mersey recently although not to me. You can see a few reports on their capture by visiting the Wirral Sea Fishing website.

The weather has put a dampener (excuse the pun) on fell walking, or any other type of walking for that matter, as well as the fishing and looks set to stay the same for the coming week – I don’t remember there ever being so much rain at this time of year before. Hope it stops towards the end of the month when we will be visiting Anglesey for a few days for the last time this year.

Most of the migrants such as Swallows are starting to head south but still the insect life continues to flourish. One such lunchtime visit to Queens Park in Bolton resulted in some fine views of some Brown Hawker (Aeshna grandis) dragonflies hunting down butterflies over the pond, hell to take photos of in flight but a bit simpler once they settle to lay eggs.

Hiding along the pathway through the wood that grows alongside the River Croal in the park were a few Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria) butterflies trying to avoid being eaten by the speedy Hawkers. I’ve never spent the time to look at these properly before, just seeing them for small brown butterflies, they’re a lovely looking insect with great markings and clearly defined spots. I tried to get a photo of the Small White’s to compare the Green Veined ones we saw on Anglesey but they wouldn’t stay still.

We’ve canceled our sea fishing trip for Sunday as the weather is going to be grim so we’re going to Southport Flower Show on Saturday instead to get some ideas for the back garden. The plan is get there early to avoid the crowds but no doubt we’ll stay far to long and get caught in the traffic on the way home, I’m looking forward to it though, I haven’t been to the flower show since I was a lad with my parents.