Monday 21st February 2022

After yesterday’s heroic walk to Fleetwood, this morning we had only to go to Knott End on Sea to resume our walk. If yesterday had not been wet and windy enough, storm Franklin blew in overnight. I stepped outside the hotel to get our bottle of milk from the car and by the time I got back into the hotel my coat was soaked and I had my usual struggle with the hotel door.

We had a rather slow drive to Knott End and parked on the esplanade (free). We paused in the car for 5-10 minutes to allow another squall of rain to blow over and at about 9.00 we started walking. The wind was extremely strong and it was hard to walk in a straight line. The sea wall was very exposed and so we felt the full force of every gust. The strong winds blew the clouds away and soon and we could see across the Lune estuary to the nuclear power station at Heysham.

After a mile and a half, the sea wall has restricted access. I had hoped to walk most of the sea wall to Cockingham but the whole area is restricted between Boxing Day and Good Friday. I think we could have got along but we may have been observed. We are happy to observe such specific restrictions and so we followed the road into Pilling. Under the original plan that is where we would have been finishing today. After a brief coffee stop in the amenity area, we had just under three miles along the road walking.

We put on hi-vis bib and sash but the road was not too busy and had good visibility and so we did not feel too vulnerable. The road runs roughly parallel with the sea wall I would have liked to walk along. After crossing the bridge over the River Cocker, we left the road and walked down the path which was below the sea wall. The path was thick with grasses washed up by the recent storms and high tides.

It was quite soggy in places but after about a mile we came to a tarmac track which continued below the sea wall but was much quicker to walk along. We passed Patty’s Farm and then came to an old airfield and we were amused to see a sign prohibiting dogs – except guide dogs.

We wondered why any visually handicapped person would want to walk across an airfield with or without their dog. It turned out the airfield is used for parachute jumping and so then I wondered if many visually impaired people like sky diving and just how their dog might guide them safely down to earth

We continued walking along the side of the Cocker Channel. The land then turns northwards and the path was on a low bank.

Out to sea we could see the Plover Scar Lighthouse which warned shipping off Plover Scar. One can walk to it at low tide but today it looked a long way out to sea.

On the landward side of Plover Scar, we passed the remains of Cockersand Abbey which was destroyed by Henry VIII. Most of the abbey has gone but there are a few bits of stonework and the Chapter House remains. Jill went across to see if it was open – it wasn’t – but was delighted to find a snow bunting hopping round on the ground near the entrance. Sadly, by the time she had extracted her camera, the bird had disappeared around the back of the Abbey and couldn’t be spotted again.

Here we were exposed to the full force of the wind. We continued along the the sea bank and we came to Crook Farm where we should have turned east to walk to Glasson Dock. However, the farmer’s son said “Hello” and told us that the path was impassable; flooded to waist height. So we retraced our steps to a path that led from Crook Cottage across some fields and came to Glasson Dock via Kendal Hill. In Glasson Dock we had hoped to find a bench to sit on for our lunch; we found several benches but, more to the the point, the quayside café was open so we stopped there for a proper break and a really good light lunch.

We started walking again at about 2.45 and had just two hours to get to the end of our walk into Lancaster and then find the bus station to get the 16:45 bus back to Knott End. That was a distance of of over six miles and as it turned out by the time we got to Lancaster Bus Station it was 6.7 miles.

The coast path from Glasson Port follows an old railway line which has a gravel surface and so we made rapid progress. There were good views of the birdlife on the marshes. There were a considerable number of birdwatchers but we had no time to pause except for a quick snapshot.

We even over-took a mini digger that was trundling its way from repairing  the path. Eventually the coast path diverges from the old railway and we were walking on the sea wall once more.

It was much more difficult to maintain a speed in excess of 3 mph on that surface. Eventually we came to the banks of the River Lune where the path was right on the river’s edge and very variable and not some thing we could stride out along. The path then came onto the road and we really pushed it hard to get to the bus station – which we did with about three minutes to spare. Having found Stand 2 which was the published departure for Bus 89, we were distraught to then see our bus start to leave from Stand 4. Fortunately I managed to hail the driver and he paused to let us climb aboard and return us to Knott End. It seems that there is an old Lancastrian custom that 16:45 goes from Stand 4 because some other bugger leaves his bus in Stand 2 and goes off for a break. Never mind, we made it back to Knott End, retrieved the car and drove back to Blackpool. We were now a full day ahead of schedule which was remarkable considering the weather we had come through.

Sunday 20th February 2022

We awoke to the third named storm in the past 5 days. Franklin this time. In order to simplify things we decided to get a cab back to the start of today’s walk so we won’t have to retrieve the car later on. Getting the hotel door open was quite a challenge, the automatic door opener had failed in the wind.

The first mile and a half of today’s walk would be on a turf sea wall. Though it was very wet from the overnight deluges, it was not unduly muddy and so we got to Lytham Docks without difficulty. There was man carrying out repairs on a jetty at Lytham Docks whilst the tide was still out; he looked rather precarious clinging to the bottom of a ladder above the muddy channel.

Then we walked to the seafront where we were caught by the full force of the storm. We were pretty much walking straight into it and our pace dropped dramatically. There were lots of dog walkers out on the prom and the dogs seemed be enjoying the wind. We found it very tiring walked head on into the wind and soon our leg muscles were aching.

Lytham has a well-preserved windmill on the promenade and very attractive old, life-boat station.

At St Anne’s we were delighted to find that the Pier café was open and we went in for hot drinks and had egg on toast for a late breakfast.

As the coast turns northwards, the wind effectively moved around so it was blowing into our left side. We made better progress as we approached Blackpool. We walked on the beach from Lytham St Anne’s to Blackpool, though the tide was coming in fast. The sandy beach was backed by sand dunes and so there was no risk of us getting caught by the tide. 

Just before leaving the beach we passed a fenced area containing lots of small dead Christmas trees lying in rows on the wet sand. Perhaps they were designed to act as a foundation to help extend and stabilise the dunes.

At Blackpool we turned on to the promenade and thus we walked for the rest of the day.

The waves were crashing into the promenade. There is a double promenade and we stayed on the higher promenade and watched the waves crashing over the lower one.

Near the Northern Pier we noticed runners appearing with bib numbers. It was the Great North West Half Marathon. They had a slightly complicated route up and down the promenade but in the wind and rain it must have been very tough going. We were cheering on the runners as they came past us – the tail-enders were getting the worst of the storm and needed all the encouragement they could get. So preoccupied were we with spotting the runners and, being on the promenade below the main road with no view of our hotel, we ended up walking past it and by the time I realised what we had done, we were a mile and a half further on.

We had intended stopping at the hotel and eating our packed lunch in the warm before deciding whether to press on if the weather improved. Instead we found a promenade shelter and sat on the leeward side to eat our sandwiches out of the wind as much as possible.

Tomorrow’s walk would take us to Fleetwood where we had hoped to take the ferry which runs throughout the year to Knott End on Sea. That is except when it is out of the water for maintenance which, by chance, it was last week and unfortunately they have not got it back in service, no doubt in part because of the terrible weather. Our “Plan B” was to drive the car up to Fleetwood this evening, catching the tram back to the hotel; tomorrow we would walk to Fleetwood, drive the car round to Knott End on Sea by way of a “virtual ferry” and continue the walk returning by bus to the car at the end of the day.

Except that Jill now had a “Plan C”. It was not yet 2pm and, as we had overshot the hotel and would need to walk on another half mile to the next tram stop, it meant there would only be a further 6 miles to reach Fleetwood. If we walked it today, it meant we could simply drive to Knott End on Sea in the morning and start tomorrow’s walk from there. It was declared to be “a no-brainer”. So on we went.

The path climbs near Bispham, though there is a lower promenade which was getting soaked by the waves as they broke over it and totally unsafe. On the upper prom we were well above the sea. Even so the spray was sometimes driven right up the the cliffs. Gradually the wind was moving more into our backs and we were making fast progress. At Cleverleys, the promenade returns to a parallel double prom with one just a little higher but we continued to keep well away from any risk from the sea.

All the flood gates were closed and we stayed on the landward side just in case. Beyond Cleverly there is just a single promenade with the walkway unprotected from the sea with the sea defence on our right. Signs warned not to proceed at high tide when there was a storm but we were two or three hours past high tide and so it was quite safe to continue.

We walked passed Rossall School which looked very foreboding in the stormy weather and I wondered whether I would want to sent a child there for over £36,000 a year in the senior school.

We walked around Rossall Point and past the marine lake into Fleetwood passing the Beach Lighthouse until we came to the ferry terminal.

Rather than walk another half mile to the tram stop, we decided to board the service bus waiting by the ferry terminal which was due to depart in about 20 minutes; the driver was happy to let us wait inside the bus where we finished our snacks in the relative warmth.

Back at Blackpool the wind was still ferocious and it was quite a challenge getting the hotel door open. Tomorrow we will restart from Knott End on Sea.

Saturday 19th February 2022

Though storm Eunice had abated over night, we wanted to make another early start because rain and snow was forecast.

We drove to Preston and left the car at the bus station carpark and got a bus at 8:15 back to the Toll Bar at Bretherton where we had finished walking yesterday. By 08:45 we were setting off.

There was half a mile of road to walk before we turned off to walk along the dyke of the River Douglas, the other side of which we walked up yesterday. It soon started to rain and, though it was not very heavy, the uniform grey cloud offered no comfort. We could see where the path had been almost underwater yesterday but was now several metres clear of the water.

The walk was dull. A lot of the time we could not really see the river; we were walking along dykes through agricultural land and past an old landfill site that had been grassed over but we could see the tell-tale gas sampling pipes peeping through.

As we reached the River Ribble and turned eastward the rain gave way to snow. Initially a few small flakes fell but hen we were treated to the biggest flakes of snow I have ever seen. They were 2-3” in diameter.

Initially they melted as soon as they contacted the ground but before long we had a light covering of snow. This made the path even wetter. Partway along the sea wall there was large flock of sheep. There was no grass left on the embankment and so they congregated where they were being fed each day and that had resulted in several hundred yards of wet mud and sheep poo.

Visibility was quite limited and so I found it a rather boring slog. Jill said that psychologically she found it extremely taxing – it was very difficult to make forward progression on the slippery ground, it was cold, her gloves were sodden and there seemed to be no end in sight; paradoxically the only redemption from the nightmare was to continue with it and hope that, sooner rather than later, it would come to an end.

Eventually we came on to a more delineated path though it was still slow going with brambles and sticks lying across the slippery muddy ground.

As we came to Preston we had to cross the River Ribble. Since we were both cold and wet and feeling the need for a café, I suggested we try the crossing by the first bridge we came to which carries the A59 over the river. Unfortunately there is no proper path up to the bridge but we scrambled up a steep wooded bank and climbed over the crash barrier onto the pavement the other side. A short walk across the bridge and I spotted a slightly better-used path off the bridge down to the road below. That was simple! For the benefit of other walkers, if you carry on along the Ribble Way to the next bridge (oddly also carrying the A59) there is a formal access point and on the north side you can get down onto the river-bank walk on the other side. Having got on to the road we were separated from the river bank walk by the railway line and so we walked through the marina instead. There is an excellent café and chandlery at the marina called the Beach Hut which is odd since it is not a hut and there is no beach, but a café it definitely is. We took a table close to the door and removed our dripping jackets. I wrung out our sopping gloves and we settled in for a rather more prolonged lunch break than usual – but it was well earned we had not stopped all morning. Even though we took our time we had not really dried out by the time we were ready to move on. So it was on with soggy jackets and gloves and braving the elements once more. Fortunately the rain and snow had stopped which lifted our spirits somewhat.

We set off along the north bank of the Ribble but before long there is an industrial area and walkers have to turn inland and follow the A583 and A584 in order to cross the Savick Brook. It was pavement walking the whole way; being a Saturday there was probably less traffic than would have been the case on a weekday. We came to Freckleton by 15.15 which was to have been the end of the day’s walk. However, we had dried out over the last few miles and the sky was brightening up and so we decided to add on an extra four miles which would take us back to the river, along the foreshore and then back to the main road just beyond Warton. The rationale for extending the walk today was that the weather forecast for tomorrow was pretty dire again as Storm Franklin was due to bring high winds and rain and so anything we could knock off tomorrow’s walk would be good to do.

The walk back down to the river was reasonably pleasant, we stopped at a bench and had our coffee that we had not stopped for in the morning and we were treated to blue skies and sunshine.

There were a couple foot bridges whose foundations had slipped leaving them a slightly alarming angle.

There was section of path that was under water so Jill donned her Festival Wellies and through she went. When we reached the banks of the Ribble, our luck ran out.

The path, though an established right of way, is slightly informal and recent high tides and storms ensured that lots of debris had been washed up and the ground was very wet. Over the years people have obviously attempted to make the path more walkable. There were sections where there were various bits of timber strategically placed and lines of old tyres one could use as stepping stones. Fortunately the biggest obstacle had a proper footbridge.

Once over the bridge we were following the perimeter fence of Warton Aerodrome. This is now a BAE Systems development site and so is kept very secure. In places there were pieces of metal rod sticking up masquerading as brambles and Jill tripped three times – once going right over on to the wet muddy ground. The path remained very variable but, as it turned inland, it became a track and then a path along the sea wall which took us back to the A584 just beyond Warton near to the Land Registry office. There was a bus stop just where we joined the road and we did not have long to wait for a bus back to Preston, where we retrieved the car and drove to Blackpool where we are for three nights.

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Friday 18th February 2022

Last night we were pondering what to do today. Having walked through the tail end of storm Dudley we were faced today with storm Eunice which was predicted to be even more severe. Dire weather warnings were in force with advice not to go out or travel. Wales was cancelling all trains and closing schools. The Southwest was to be particularly badly hit with a Red Met Office warning in force. Later a Red warning went out for London and the Southeast. We were receiving messages from concerned relatives and extremely concerned offspring. We promised one and all that we would take care and take no risks. It seemed we might be able to re-jig the walk if we had a day off today but the prospect of a day in a Premier Inn was enough to put Jill into serious action. The worst of the storm was not due to reach Lancashire before late morning. Our planned route was 16.2 miles but we could probably bail out at three or four points if the weather was too bad. My big concern was how we would get back again if public transport was suspended and taxis refused to turn out.

A plan was hatched. We would leave as early as we could and walk fast; any wind was likely to be in our backs for the first ⅔ of the walk, and see how far we could go before the weather deteriorated.

We set off at 07:30 as the sun was rising. There was an uneasy stillness over the seafront. The tide was well out and there was hardly a breeze. It seemed I had been a little over-anxious, but the weatherman had said the public should not be fooled by the absence of wind in the hours before Storm Eunice arrived.

We walked along the promenade and looked over the vast expanse  of  sand and mud and it was difficult to think that in three or  four hours time the sea would be up to the sea wall and breaking over it. At the end of the promenade, a cycle path continues along the edge of the road and we followed this to Crossens Marsh.

Here the traffic was being diverted up Marshside road and signs indicated that Marine Drive, which is a causeway between the sea and marshes on one side and more marshes on the other, was closed. I wondered if the the road was closed because of the impending storm on a spring tide. However a walker coming the other way confirmed it was quite walkable and only closed to traffic for road repairs.

We followed Marine Drive happy to be clear of traffic noise. Looking behind us an ominous grey cloud was approaching. Soon we were getting soaked. It was just a brief rain storm.

We were coming into Crossens which was our first possible escape route because it was within walking distance back to Southport. The wind had still not arrived and so we turned onto the sea wall to take us along Banks Marsh. On the map it looked straightforward though there was one section where the right of way ended end turned inland before returning to the sea wall ¼ mile further on. Fortunately, there was no barrier to us walking through other than three unlocked gates. The sea wall was pretty squelchy following all the rain. As we walked we saw a couple of barn owls quartering the fields despite the intermittent rain. We hoped that they found some food because once the storm arrived they would not be hunting.

Further on we saw some goosanders. There were lots of other birds seemingly oblivious to the approaching storm. There were geese aplenty, oystercatchers, and various other flocks too distant to identify.

We were fairly storming along the sea wall at almost 3.5mph since leaving Southport and had not paused except for a couple of photographs. Jill was ready for a drink and flapjack. To our delight as we got to the the Hesketh Marsh RSPB bird reserve there was table and three benches so we paused for a quick coffee and sustenance.

We had about two miles to go before we turned up the River Douglas and changed direction to almost due south and might find ourselves walking into the storm. Turning the corner, the path got much muddier but the wind was still notably absent and so we marched on.

At Hesketh Bank the path goes through a boatyard and at the far end takes a dive down to the riverside. The tide was now well in and was lapping over the path which itself was saturated with rain. A couple of hundred yards along I could see the path climbed way from the river onto a track. So we decided to walk it as quickly as possible. We made it safely with just water lapping our boots and we were soon on safe ground.

There is a memorial trail along the river which is compressed gravel and made the next half mile to Tarleton quite easy. For the benefit of other walkers; there is a nice-looking café in the centre of the village, we would have stopped had we not been trying to outrun the storm. From Tarleton we had a simple road walk of 1½ miles to the Toll Bar at Bretherton where we planned to get a bus. Quite remarkably there was hardly any movement in the trees along the way. I was pleased to see a bus go past us in the opposite direction so it seemed the buses were still running. bustimes.org showed there was a bus at 12:29. We made it comfortably to the stop by 12:20 and so we did not have long to wait.

Once on the bus we warmed up a little. As the bus wound round the coast road we could now see that the storm had just arrived. The trees that we had noted were hardly moving when we walked past them were now bending in the wind and pub signs swinging wildly. At Southport we got off the bus at about 13.10 and started to make our way to the Premier Inn. The wind was very strong indeed and as we approached the Promenade (the name of a road which I assume was the promenade before the marine lake was formed and a new promenade built nearer the sea) a super-strong gust blew Jill right off her feet and almost into the road. Fortunately a couple of nice young men and me (neither nice nor young) came to her rescue and got her on her feet once more. I kept a firm hold on Jill’s arm and we Jay-walked our way back to the Premier Inn over the suspension bridge over the Marine Lake. The Marine Drive had been closed because the sea was breaking over the sea wall along the front.

Tomorrow should be less windy but probably wetter but on Sunday strong winds and rain return. Joy!

Thursday 17th February 2022

We left home at 07:00, drove to Crosby in two and a half hours and started walking at 9:45. Yesterday storm Dudley blew through, causing train cancellations in Scotland and some power failure in northern England but we escaped unscathed. However, storm Eunice was already in the forecast and threatening to be much more severe. As we drove, we had a call from our son to say that the roofer replacing the roof on his house in London had gone off due to a family bereavement and would not be able to complete the re-roofing either before the storm nor before our son was due to go on holiday. As we had not yet booked up our last three nights’ accommodation, it was an easy decision to offer to shorten our trip and go to London to house-sit.

We parked the car in Adelaide Road by the marine lake. The tail of the storm was still buffeting Merseyside. As we walked along the cyclepath/promenade the blown sand blasted our faces and got into our eyes and mouth. The tide was well in and so there was little exposed dry sand but the old sand previously blown on to the promenade was readily whipped up. When the cycle path ended and we were on grass the situation was much improved. The Gormley statues look somehow forsaken as they stood facing the relentless waves breaking over them.

At Hightown the path turns up the side of the River Alt which was impossible to ford at high tide. (I am not sure it can be forded at low tide). More importantly, there is no access on the other side because of the Altcar army base and so we had to walk around the perimeter fence of the base and ranges before getting back to the coast just before Formby.

The tide had recently turned and there was a  margin of damp sand that we could walk along safely. Initially there were a number of dog walkers but gradually they disappeared and we were alone on the beach with just a couple of lines of foot prints showing that others had gone before us. The sand was firm and there were no obstacles and so we were making good time.

I had always imagined that off-shore wind farms had to be avoided by shipping and so I was interested to see the Stena ferry sailing in between the wind turbines

At Ainsdale the Sefton Coast Path turns inland along a track and then a road. We could either follow the road to Southport or continue along Ainsdale Sands on the assumption it would be walkable to Southport. We chose to walk along the beach. Despite the wet and windy day there were usually odd things of interest or long views to keep us mentally occupied.

The character of the foreshore changed after Ainsdale Beach. There was now a wide expanse of sand revealed by the receding tide and then a smaller margin of tussocky grass with little channels of water around them. Higher up the beach was a border of marshy ground.

Generally speaking we could make our way along the sand or grass without getting unduly wet. There were a couple of channels of water which couldn’t be jumped across. Jill always walks in shoes and when it comes to waterlogged ground, is at greater risk of water getting over the top of her shoes. On previous river crossings she has worn rubber soled lycra shoes but this means stopping to change out of her walking shoes and socks and that doesn’t really work on marshy ground. After much searching online she found some Feetz Festival Wellingtons. These are folded plastic over-wellies with a grippy sole which come up to the knee. Jill could put them on and take them off in a few seconds and keep her shoes dry; I just splashed through in my walking boots.

It would probably have been easier if it was not so soon after high tide and a particularly high tide at that. Eventually we found a path of sorts through the marsh to higher dryer ground beyond, though we had to negotiate an area where they had brought in diggers to clear some of the channels. Fortunately there was a simple plank bridge over the most significant channel.

We followed the promenade into Southport and into the railway station. We bought tickets and were informed that the next train left in 4 minutes. Half an hour later we were back at Crosby collecting the car to drive back to the Premier Inn at Southport.

Saturday 29th January 2022

This was the final day of this walking session. Extending our walk on Tuesday to include Great Orme’s Head had paid dividends as today’s originally planned 17.6 miles to Crosby was now only 7.5 miles meaning we would be home sometime this afternoon. More to the point, if we had been starting the walk on the south of the Mersey, we would have been completely stuck arriving at Woodside to find there were no ferries running. Getting to Crosby will mean that when we start out next session we won’t have to wrestle with Liverpool.

This morning, to avoid parking and traffic problems, we drove to Crosby, parked the car near the seafront and got the train from Waterloo to Moorfields, both Liverpool versions of London places. Even at 09.30 Liverpool was very quiet and the waterfront area was pretty much deserted. It was a very grey day with a fierce wind that nearly took us off our feet near the Liver building. We took a few photos of the famous buildings near the Mersey Ferry Terminal.

Jill usually uses her walking poles to aid propulsion regardless of the terrain but having collapsed them in her rucksack for the train ride, decided to leave them there as the wind would have blown them sideways at risk of tripping her up. We passed the Cruise Ship and Dublin Ferry terminals and then all of a sudden we were in an area of post industrial desolation. Regent Road runs along the back of the derelict docks parallel with the A565. The high walls of the dock yards are well preserved but the warehouses along the way are mainly falling into a sad state of neglect. One or two of the old brick warehouses are being restored and converted into flats or business accommodation.

I remember it well from cycling along this route when I cycled from Land’s End to John o’ Groats. The lift bridge providing access to Stanley dock still looks impressive and ripe for some preservation work. I imagine it is a listed building.

Fortunately there was not much traffic being a Saturday morning. There is activity behind the dockyard walls, various enterprises are making use of the old docks. There was a big area taken up with metal recycling, presumably being exported for processing; Veoilia have a processing plant here as well. Just past Effingham Street, Regent Road becomes a Liverpool Port restricted zone and so we walked up to the A565 and walked along the pavement with the noise of passing traffic drowning out conversation and even thinking.

Along this main artery there were more small industrial units and run-down shops but we had no luck with finding a café.

Knowlsey Road is a right turn off the A565 controlled by traffic lights and as we got there the lights turned to red. We saw a car stop for the lights but a Deliveroo motorcyclist either didn’t notice the lights change or was going too fast because we watched in alarm as the motorcycle went straight into the back of the car and we heard the explosion as his helmet went through the rear window and glass flew everywhere. Once safe to approach it was apparent that the motorcyclist was conscious and not in a life-threatening situation. He had a bleeding cut on his face and possibly a fractured tibia where the bike had fallen over on to it. I rang for an ambulance and the police (the third 999 call we have made this year on our walking trips) and then started trying to get the traffic moving safely past us. I asked the woman who had pulled up at an angle immediately behind the crash to stay in place with her flashers on since that was protecting the crash site; it was good of her because she had a young child in the back seat. The driver of the car involved in the crash had helped lift the motorbike off the rider who seemed more anxious as to where his mobile phone had gone than his injuries. We were in the middle of three lanes, the offside lane being for turning right. Fortunately there was room for traffic to move down the nearside lane so long as it was slow. Jill stood by the motorcyclist to shield him as much as possible; he was busy on his retrieved phone probably informing Deliveroo that he wasn’t going to be delivering anything. I suddenly remembered I had a high-vis bib I carry in case of night-walking on roads and put that on so I could stand slowing the traffic down to let it squeeze through until the ambulance and police arrived. After a short report to the police we got on our way again. And no, we didn’t check on the Deliveroo meal, but any eggs would have been well scrambled.

We had to negotiate the big junction with the A5036 which leads to the M6 but once we were beyond that the traffic was much reduced and we were entering the more affluent and genteel environs of Crosby.

We took the first turn down to the seafront and walked along the promenade between the sea and the marine lake. The wind was still extremely strong and lifting the sand and in no time I even had sand in my mouth. We could see many of the Antony Gormley sculptures way into the distance; there are over 100 of them. After all the depressing dockland areas this really does feel like “Another Place”. We recalled how one of the statues has walked or swum all the way to Margate as there is a solitary Gormley statue there.

Having circumnavigated the marine lake, we came to where we had parked the car. We sat on a bench and had our coffee before getting into the car for the drive home.

Friday 28th January 2022

Today we were walking from the hotel and so we had about a half mile walk to get back to where we finished last night. I had looked at the foreshore last night and it did not look very promising and there is no path shown on OS maps. So we used the Wirral Way for a short distance before getting down to the coast just a little further on. Here the beach was very busy mainly with dog walkers. I asked one elderly couple if the beach route was walkable and I was reassured when were told we would be able to walk all the way to West Kirby along the beach. That was a huge relief because the alternative would have been the Wirral Way which is a route a long a former railway on hard surface with few views and as the gentleman had said , “You wouldn’t want to do that.”

Our walk was occasionally a bit soft underfoot but it was well worth that for the benefit of seeing the vast sand flats and the birds there. We managed to stay on the beach to the far side of West Kirby.

We came up to the promenade by means of the slipway by the boat club. Then we walked around the very large, marine sailing lake. That is an odd sensation because the tarmac walkway is quite long. On the land side is the lake and on the seaward side was miles of sand all the way out to Hilbre Island which can be walked to across the sand at low tide. If the tide had been in, the walk along the embankment with water on both sides might have felt very different and possibly a bit disconcerting. At the end of the marine lake is quite a new café. We stopped there and had coffee and cheese on toast.

Then we returned to the foreshore and walked around Hilbre Point and on to Hoylake. From Hoylake there is a a long, concrete sea wall.

We could have tried walking along the sand but in places it was very wet and we probably had a slightly better view from the promenade even if walking miles along the concrete was hard on our joints.

There was not much of interest until we approached New Brighton. There we walked past the Fort Perch Rock, a rather attractive, red sandstone building. This marked the turning point and then we were walking up the Mersey.

We stopped for a bit of lunch overlooking the Mersey. Soon we could see the Liverpool waterfront in the distance. It was rather a grey day now and so Liverpool did not show up very well at first.

As we got closer to Liverpool, the sun emerged from the cloud and brightened up the buildings.

We took very many photos because it just looked so spectacular with the evening light on the waterfront.

We could not get a ferry from the Spaceport because the terminal here is being extensively rebuilt. We only discovered this yesterday and so we had an extra 1.5 miles to go to the Woodside Terminal where we intended ending today’s walk and resuming with the ferry crossing tomorrow morning. We were both a bit concerned that we had only seen the Mersey Ferry boat once all the time we had been walking and tomorrow would be a Saturday ferry service.

Our path to the Woodside Ferry Terminal was a little longer than expected because there is an excellent path that winds around the docks and this route is not shown on the OS maps.

Our plan to get a train back to the hotel then get the Saturday morning ferry across the Mersey was not going to work; when we arrived at the ferry terminal we discovered that ferries don’t run on Saturdays. They just have river cruises which do eventually cross but they don’t start until 11.00. Even on weekdays there are just a few crossings for commuters each morning and late afternoon and none during the middle of the day which was why we had not seen any crossings.

To miss the Mersey ferry crossing would have been a huge disappointment so, at Jill’s suggestion, we decided to do the much the same as we had at Gravesend to cross the Thames and at Noss Mayo to cross the Yealm – we would abandon getting the train back to Heswall and get the first evening commuter ferry at 17:10 to cross the Mersey. We would stay on board and come straight back again and then get a taxi back to the hotel. So we booked the taxi to meet the return ferry and even had time for a cup of tea at the ferry terminal.

The ride across the Mersey in the early evening was well worth it. The sun was setting behind us and the Liverpool waterfront was twinkling with all the lights – magical. The taxi was waiting for us when we disembarked at Woodside and dropped us at the hotel minutes later; for £15 it was little more than the train fares would have been and it took us door to door.

Tomorrow is the final day of this session and so we will drive to Crosby and leave the car there and get a train back to the ferry terminal and then walk to Crosby and drive home.

Thursday 27th January 2022

We packed up and left Rhyll behind with no regrets. Arriving at Bagillt we parked at the village carpark and then crossed the road and railway line to get back to the coast.

The path was quite easy through a recently “refurbished” nature reserve which brought us to Flint. The castle looked good in the morning sunshine.

The path continued a little further along the banks of the river Dee before it turned up to the road which we followed almost all the way to Shotton. It was a pretty tedious walk. We had hoped to stop for coffee in a café but the few on offer in Connah’s Quay and Shotton were either closed due to the effect of Covid restrictions or sufficiently “greasy spoon” that we just walked on by. We just plodded on.

At Shotton, the Wales Coast Path continues on to Chester so we parted company with the distinctive way-markers we had been following since Chepstow and joined the cycle path goes alongside the Hawarden Bridge that carries the railway over the R. Dee. The bridge was opened in 1889 and the central span could be rotated to allow the passage of tall ships. It was the longest swing section of any bridge in the UK at that time.

Once over the river there is an amazing network of tarmac cycle routes connecting the Wirral to Chester with various side branches. We marched on along the cycleways, frequently having to get get out of the way of cyclists. Oddly there were no benches and so we settled on a relatively comfortable rock to have our late coffee and some of our lunch.

There were a number of casual walkers as well. From some distance we could see across to an industrial park with a whole line of marquee/shelters and hundreds of traffic cones marking out lanes for traffic control. As we watched, we eventually saw a man in a Hi-Viz jacket wander across but there were no vehicles coming and going. We rounded a corner and came up to the entrance to the unit and it was, as we suspected, just a huge Covid-testing centre which was almost totally unused. This is all part of the Deeside Industrial Estate.

At this time we were still in Wales. Though the Welsh border runs down the Dee Estuary, opposite Flint it turns onto the Wirral to wind around the Deeside Industrial Estate. It then heads into Chester, curving round the west side of the city and eventually returns to the River Dee.

We continued on our way and passed under the A548 dual carriageway past some army firing ranges.

Then we saw it; a sign welcoming us back to England.

Shortly afterwards we came to the entrance to the RSPB Burton Marsh bird reserve. There were large numbers of birdwatchers and dog walkers. To our delight there was nice little café nearby where we had bowls of soup and toasties. After our lunch we only had about three miles to go to Neston.

As we come to Neston it was 3pm, the train had gone 15 minutes before and the next one was not for nearly 2 hours and so we decided to walk on to Heswall and then get a taxi back to collect the car.

There is a dramatic transition from Wales to England. North Wales from Rhyl around to Connah’s Quay and Shotton is very run down. On the Wirral, affluence is everywhere in the houses, the cars and even the positive nature of the residents.

Between the road through Neston and Gayton Sands is a vast area of marshland and reed beds. There were lots of geese flying over and plenty of other birds to see. Lots of people were out enjoying the afternoon sunshine. Oddly, for such a well-used path, one particular section had some very wet and muddy areas that were not at all easy to cross.

We walked as far as the Heswall Golf Club and Jill sat on a low wall while we waited for a taxi. In the thirty minutes we were waiting, at least three different people asked if we were alright or needed any help. Welcome to England!

Thursday 26th January 2022

We packed up at the Travelodge in Llandudno and drove to Rhyl and parked in the Premier Inn car park.  We then set off along the promenade as the sun was rising. The end of the promenade was closed for work on the sea defences but the detour was quite short and we were soon back on the concrete sea wall. We had considered walking on the beach but there are a number of breakwaters made of piled up boulders which would impede our progress.

I hoped we might find a cafe in Prestatyn but there was a restaurant which did not open until 10.00 and only did take-aways on Wednesday. We used the loos and moved on. Prestatyn also is the start or finish of the Offa’s Dyke path which Jill and I walked about fifteen years ago. So we can say we have walked all the way around Wales.

We pressed on and walked along the edge of Prestatyn Golf course and then into the Gronant Nature Reserve which is essentially an area of sand dunes and marsh.

Once through the reserve, the path turned to the beach and we walked all the way to Point of Ayr at the tip of the Dee estuary. The sand was a bit soft for efficient walking and after a couple of miles we were quite happy to get back onto a firmer surface. The Point of Ayr lighthouse was built in 1766 and is the oldest lighthouse in Wales. It was replaced by a new lighthouse in 1844 but that has disappeared. The original lighthouse remains and has a slight lean which has been present for a very long time and has not prevented the lighthouse withstanding numerous gales.

At Point of Ayr (nothing to do with Ayr in Scotland, though the word “Ayr” apparently means a strong river) we started to walk up the Dee estuary (nothing to do with its Scottish namesake either.) For the most part the path is quite good and moderately interesting as far as Ffynnongroyw which was a former mining area (one of very few in north Wales). This is also the location of the Irish Sea Gas Terminal.

Here we had to follow the road to Mostyn which was altogether not a very pleasant walk. 

At Mostyn the path returns to the water’s edge and we had good views across the Dee to the Wirral. 

At Llanerch y Mor the path turns inland to the road to cross a watercourse where the Duke of Lancaster ship is permanently moored. More importantly, by the road there is a craft village with a good café where we had a late lunch at about 13:30.  After lunch we had a little under five miles to go to our finish at Bagillt. The sun was still bright and the afternoon reasonably warm for January. We arrived just before 16:00 and planned to get a bus at 16:19. Unfortunately Google maps let me down with its incorrect location of the bus stop and, though I hailed the bus, he drove straight past so, as there were no subsequent buses we could use, we called a taxi to get back to Rhyl. That was much quicker and not hugely more expensive because we would have had to get a bus further on to Flint and then get the train back to Rhyl.

Rhyl was a very rundown town. We now avoid the Premier Inn chain restaurants such as Brewer’s Fayre, Table Table and Thyme but remembered having a reasonable meal in Bridlington at the Cookhouse and Pub and so, in the absence of finding anything else worth trying apart from fish and chips, we had settled on the convenience of eating at the Cookhouse next door to the Premier Inn in Rhyl. We should have had fish and chips. We escaped as quickly as possible and walked across town (Jill said she would not have felt very safe doing this alone) to Morrisons to find something to finish our supper and took it back to our room to eat while we watched the final of Only Connect on the iPad.

Tuesday 25th January 2022

We were walking from the hotel today and so we had a lie-in until 06:30. We had our breakfast and were ready to start walking 08:30. We called into the Sainsbury Local for the paper and some sandwiches for lunch. It was another day of high cloud and temperatures of about 4-5 degrees. We set off along the promenade; it wasn’t worth walking on the beach.

Soon the promenade came to an end and we were on the pavement alongside the main road. The highlight of the walk today was the walk over Little Ormes Head. It was nothing really but it was the only part of today’s walk that was not on concrete or tarmac. It was only for about 3/4 of a mile. I note that on the 1:50,000 map the OS prints Great Orme’s Head with a possessive apostrophe whilst Little Ormes Head has to do without. (Errors on OS maps are few and far between.)

The short walk over Little Orme brought us to the beach at Penrhyn. It is not a very exciting beach and we walked above it along the promenade. It looks pretty dire. The  promenade is along a concrete sea defence wall and the houses are tucked down behind. Heaven knows why anyone would choose to live in a seaside house with its view straight on to a concrete sea wall but unable to see the sea.

At Rhos Point there is a a tiny Chapel of St Trillo right on the promenade

We came round to Colwyn Bay which looked slightly more attractive. We were fortunate to find the Coast Café open and so we went in for an early coffee and cake. It was a well timed stop. We then managed a shortish beach walk. Between Colwyn Bay and Llandulas the promenade was closed except for a pedestrian path. There was serious work going on placing huge  blocks of stone on the beach to prevent the promenade being washed away. We watched for some time as a big digger tried to lift a huge rock off the back of a lorry. The rock was a bit too rounded for digger grab to get a safe hold on the rock. Eventually he lifted it and manage to drop it on the ground  to re-orientate it so it could get a proper lift and drop it into a dumper truck to take it along the beach.

At that speed of work it seemed it would take for ever to get the job done. But it provided us with some much-needed entertainment on what was a very tedious day’s walk.

From there on we were on a tarmac cycle path. Cycle paths make for very boring walking and in this case the sea margin was hidden by the rock sea defences. After a while the rock sea defences gave way to concrete “anchors”. These were large, concrete castings rather like anchors with a central stem and a cross piece on each end at right angles to each other. These were stacked randomly along the shoreline with their legs/arms  interlocking. What was most surprising was that all the concrete anchors were numbered  and the number appeared to have been scratched into the concrete by hand just before it went hard. We saw numbers a high as 24,000 so there were a lot of anchors. We laughed at seeing one where the number was painted on instead – someone got his pay docked for forgetting to number it before it had set.

We came to Abergele and there was an inexpensive beach café and so we went in for a lunch in the warm, sitting in relative comfort.

After lunch we moved on with only about 4 miles to go. On the landward side were a series of caravan parks whilst on the seaward sign there was either  a concrete sea wall or a low gravel bank that obscured any view of the sea.

As we came into Rhyl we discovered that the path goes over a very modern pedestrian bridge to the promenade road (new since my map was printed). We walked about half a mile to where we will be staying tomorrow night. We then went to the bus station and had only a few minutes to wait for the bus to Llandudno. We had a very good meal at Johnny Dough’s at Llandudno and we can thoroughly recommend it.