Sunday, July 31, 2016

Mossley Hill, Sefton Park and Toxteth Ridge

Today we completed two of the 7 Liverpool Hills...

  • The Toxteth Ridge (Walk 2) and
  • Mossley Hill and Sefton Park (Walk 3)

In total, our meander was 9.72km / 6.04ml; starting at Aigburth Station...

and ending at Liverpool Central Station.

You can view the interactive version of the route at http://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4371809
Our First Walk was the...
Mossley Hill and Sefton Park (Walk 3)
As you can see from the elevation, below the map above, the first mile of our meander was up Mossley Hill. where the view was very pleasant...

Our walk took us past Sudley House...
Entrance to Sudley House
...which is an art gallery that contains the collection of George Holt in its original setting. 
It includes work by...

  • Thomas Gainsborough, 
  • Joshua Reynolds, 
  • Edwin Landseer, 
  • John Everett Millais and 
  • J. M. W. Turner.

Well worth a visit and you can find out more at http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/sudley/ 
We soon reached the start of the walk and as with the other '7 Liverpool Hills', anyone can download the maps and/or the Points of Interest Guide at http://www.bikeright.co.uk/merseyside/7hills/
The guide provides information about the Parish Church of St Matthew and St James... 


...plus a historic overview of what was once the very popular Liverpool Zoological Garden.
The points of interest about the Zoological Garden are both gruesome and amusing.
From the church, we headed off to Carnatic Road which also has an engaging tale of an incompetent shipbuilder and his equally incompetent, cowardly friend, who became 'Privateers' and, by luck not skills made a fortune. 
Read more in the Points of Interest Guide (link above).
The large houses...

...were impressive but, in many cases, they have many different uses than they did when built...


At the end of Carnatic Road we cut through to Mossley Hill Drive and turned right. 
We stopped on the iron bridge to view what was below on our left...


...and on our right...

Then it was first left to spend some time looking at and going into the Palm House...

The flowers were beautiful, as you can see...




On the way out of the Palm House we visited the Peter Pan Statue...

...then headed down to view The Aviary...


...Eros...

...and the fountain...

...all of which have lots of information within the Points of Interest Guide (link above).
Sefton Park has so much more to offer visitors and is worth a visit on its own.
Leaving Eros we headed for Lark Lane where we had lunch...

...at the Milo Lounge Cafe Bar
"I would particularly recommend a gentle stroll or cycle through Sefton Park early on a summer or autumn evening, followed by a meal or a drink on the Lane. This is when the street really comes to life, and with a particularly ‘bohemian’ flavour, as this is the favourite watering spot for students and the local intelligentsia who live in the surrounding houses."
...before setting off for Walk Number two...
The Toxteth Ridge (Walk 2)
Walking past what was the old Police Station...

...we continued to the end of Lark Lane
Here we turned right onto Aigburth Road, along which we walked to the start of what was to be our second walk.
When we reached the end of the road, we took a left, then first right to view the Ancient Chapel of Toxteth (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxteth_Unitarian_Chapel)...


There's more information within the Points of Interest Guide (link above) Doubling back on ourselves we then turned left into Belvidere Road, which we crossed and entered Princes Park (http://liverpool.gov.uk/leisure-parks-and-events/parks-and-greenspaces/princes-park/)

As you will discover, if you read the Points of Interest Guide
it was the first public park to be opened in Liverpool.
Again, Princes Park is worth a visit as you can see from the Gallery at http://www.friendsofprincesparkl8.org.uk/gallery.html 
I particularly like "the Princes Park Henge" 
Modelled on the famous Stonehenge, the Princes Park Henge has been built from reclaimed wood and tree trunks and on mid-summer morning the sun does rise between the pillars.
Once through the park, we headed along The 'Boulevard'. 
How things change...


  • Victorian and Edwardian mansion houses, now multi-occupancy dwellings and apartments and
  • the central part, once the site of a tramway, now a pleasant shaded walk.

The Points of Interest Guide (link above) provides additional information including...

  • The Japanese Art Gallery
and 

  • the finest collection of Victorian places of worship in Europe...
    • Church of St. Margaret of Antioch...


    • Princes Road Synagogue



    • Greek Orthodox Church of St. Nikolas (1870 only the second Greek Orthodox Church in England)


There is also additional information about the Toxteth Riots (July 1981) and the damage caused at the end of the 'Boulevard'.

Year of Faith 2004
Across the road is a reminder of the purpose-built nursing training school (http://www.qni.org.uk/about_qni/our_history and/or http://liverpoolwalks.co.uk/002/nursingv.htm

...and a large monumental plaque specifically dedicated to Florence Nightingale.

Time to make our way home via Central Station, passing the Anglican Cathedral Church of Christ (http://www.liverpoolcathedral.org.uk/), 

...built on St James's Mount, where we stopped briefly for an icecream.
Out of all the hills we've visited to date, we thought these two were probably the most enjoyable.
Take a look at today's slideshow...

or view at https://sharalike.com/s/n977
We've only one left to walk.

Friday, July 22, 2016

Liverpool's "Walled Settlement"

Today's Meander was Walk 7 of the 7 Liverpool Hills; it was a very short walk, 2.56 miles / 4.12 Km, and can be viewed at http://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4365352.html
The name Walton comes from the Saxon words 'weald' and 'tun', meaning, as the heading of this post states, 'Walled Settlement'.
As with the other '7 Liverpool Hills', (this is number 7) anyone can download the maps and/or the Points of Interest Guide at http://www.bikeright.co.uk/merseyside/7hills/
I have to be honest, this is the least inspiring of the 4 Hills we've visited so far.
Don't get me wrong, the 'Points of Interest' provided lots of very interesting information which you can read at the 'check-points on the map.
I digress.
As you can see from the map (link provided above)...

...we started our Meander from Kirkdale Merseyrail Station...

...and headed off to the start of the walk at the top of Spellow Lane in front of the gates of...
'The Peoples Club'
Liverpool's first, official Football Club...


Everton FC also known by the nickname ‘The Toffees’, because of Molly Bushell’s famous Everton toffee (See Walk #1 posted on 7th July 2016)

...complete with the statue of William Ralph "Dixie" Dean (22 January 1907 – 1 March 1980) (Find out more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixie_Dean)
Across the road, along with the an entrance to Stanley Park and the Everton FC Shop, is Salop Chapel...

...a Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster. (Find out more at http://www.freepresbyterian.org/church/liverpool/)
As we walked along County Road, you couldn't fail to miss this mural...

...of a woman with multicoloured hair on what was an Ethel Austin building. It was created by street artist Whoam Irony (see more of her work at http://whoamirony.tumblr.com/) and commissioned by the Liverpool Street Artist Festival as part of a project to rejuvenate the area.
Looking down the streets to our right we could see Goodison Park...

...and, when we read 'Point of interest #3', it provided an explanation of the street names, as we walked along County Road.
The next impressive building was Arnot St Mary CofE Primary School...

A friend of ours worked here during the 1980s...

On the opposite side of the road is 'The Glebe Hotel'...

...built in 1882 and a Grade II listed building; renamed Bernie May’s Bar and Bistro.
It was named The Glebe Hotel because it was built on land belonging to the church - known as glebe.
There's also a local legend that a tunnel runs from the The Glebe Hotel to St Mary’s Church.
We continued along County Road to view The Tudor School House (1515)...


...now a day nursery, creche facility, and meeting hall...

It's one of only two surviving original Tudor schoolhouses in Liverpool.
We've already seen the other one on our Woolton Ridge and Camp Hill Meander.
Next, another dissapointment! 
We were unable to enter the grounds of St Mary’s Church!



However the points of interest provided an engaging overview of its history.
Inside St Mary’s Church is an ancient Saxon Cross and this is the replica we could see from the path...

Heading back along the path, we circumnavigated St Mary’s Church as we read about...

  • a Pagan Stone Circle,
  • Domesday Book reference,
  • Ancient Monks,
  • the Burial Ground and
  • the Plague Pit.


Still no access.
We also noticed, over the road the...
WALTON-ON-THE-HILL
TOWN HALL A.D. 1893
...plague and Coat of Arms...

We could have caught the 310 bus home from here but chose to meander back via Walton Village, Heathcote Road, Church Road West and City Road.
Some lovely buildings and interesting history of the area. 
You can view the slideshow, of today's photographs, below...

or go to https://sharalike.com/s/n56Y


Looking forward to the next 3 Hills!