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.

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