The Meadows for our 25th Wednesday Pub Lunch

Our 1.1811 miles (1.9009 km) route to The Meadows (via the playground at Maghull Town Hall), for lunch...

... and then to the Bus Stop, has been saved and is available at... 

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=6673298

We caught the Bus back home.

Again, I don't think I need to provide step by step directions as the path is fairly clear and the map will provide greater detail.

Why so short?

We had our Grandson with us today so the priority was to have some fun time in the park, rather than a long walk he wouldn't enjoy.
At the swing bridge, where we joined the Leeds Liverpool Canal, apart from the ducks and moorhens, Chris and Jack spotted very tiny fluffy moorhen chicks...

 We walked along the tow-path towards Liverpool...

 ...and at the second bridge went up the steps to walk along side the A59.
Down the first set of steps, before the Town Hall, we headed along the clear path beside the tennis courts...

 We emerged on Liverpool Road South and turned left to the entrance to the park.
Jack enjoyed his visit...

• climbing...

• swinging...

...and zip-wiring...

...among other things.
Take a look at some of the things we did/saw at...

https://sharalike.com/s/d9BD 

and/or watch this embedded clip...

For lunch, it was a wander across the road....

To see how we rated our lunch...

...visit...

http://maghullfoodie.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/the-meadows-our-25th-w.html

After lunch we walked to the bus stop and caught the bus back to our starting point.

A very enjoyable walk, play in the park and lunch.

Walk & Wednesday Pub Lunch #20 The Netherton, Netherton

Our Walk, for the 20th Walk & Wednesday Pub Lunch, started in the car park behind Costa in Maghull. Our target today was The Netherton...

...in Netherton.
Our 4.582 miles (7.3741 km) route has been saved and can be seen, in detail at...

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=6631953

It included...

• The Maghull part of Mersey Forest,
• Crossing the new By-pass from Switch Island to Thornton,
• Walking along the Leeds Liverpool Canal twice, towards Liverpool and
• Crossing Bootle Golf Course.

The paths are obvious and, with the map, I don't think my usual step by step is needed.

As you can see... 

...it was a hot sunny day walking along the canal to the A59 bridge...

 ...where we left the canal...

 Here we saw the one down side of the walk...

 ...a squirrel had been hit by traffic and was on the footpath.
Turning past the Town Hall and Meadows Leisure Centre...

 We made our way to the footpath that took us along the edge of Maghull High School...

 ...and across Dover's Brook...

 ...and through the replanted Mersey Forest, with lots of wild flowers...

 Crossing the new by-pass, not completed yet...

 We made our way the the Leeds Liverpool Canal again, for our second wander on the tow-path. 
We saw lots of water fowl including...

• Coots;
• Moorhens and
• Ducks...

 ...all with their young.
Plants included...

• Flag Irises...

 and...

• Dog-roses...

 The Coots were feeding their not so young chicks, on floating waste...

 At the end of this second stretch on the canal...

 ...we made our way to the path across Bootle Golf Course...

The shaded path was a welcome break from the sunshine.

We then made our way to The Netherton for the Pub Lunch.

You can read about this in my Maghull Foodie Blog at...

http://maghullfoodie.blogspot.com/2015/06/the-netherton-our-20th-w.html

We returned home after our enjoyable meal and beers via bus...

...to Aintree Station...

...then Train to Maghull.

Another enjoyable Wednesday, made even better by the nice weather.

Rufford - Mawdesley: revisited

Today we revisited the Rufford - Mawdesley walk covering 6.2857 miles; the route can be seen here http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5995385.

Route

The walk took us through the Douglas Valley and the lanes around the two villages and the Rufford arm of the Leeds-Liverpool Canal.

Bridge Number 5

If you decide to do the walk, note that the car park, at the station, is near to the National Trust's Rufford Hall. That could also be a starting point.
We started the walk just off the A59 at the car park just mentioned. Please be aware that, at the time of writing this, there are no trains on a Sunday.
Some of the paths were a little overgrown, as can be seen here.

Damp legs from the tall grass.

Although a hot sunny day, we got damp legs!
I didn't tell Chris about the bridge...

...over River Douglas

... but she coped very well. From memory, she didn't the first time we did the walk.
We saw a wide range of different wild flowers, 

birds, 

5 cygnets

(including man-made art work)

Jay art-work

butterflys and other wildlife.
The colours and patterns of growing crops also add to the beauty of this walk.

Potato flower

We also saw many domesticated animals, sheep, cows, horses and this star of them all...

All in all an enjoyable sunny walk that included a number of options for refreshments. 
We had an ice cream and a drink in the marina just before we got back to the car. And very good it was as well.

Haskayne, Clieves Hill (Ormskirk) and the Canal

Back to normal! Today we walked 6.2 miles close to home.

Clieves Hill, just outside Ormskirk, is one of a line of low hills that look west across the Lancashire Plain and have much more distant views than you would expect. The Welsh Hills are frequently in sight, as are the Lake District, Trough of Bowland and Winter Hill. The walk was about one-third arable field-paths, one-third quiet lanes and one-third canal towpath. The walk starts near the Ship Inn at Haskayne, which is easily accessible and has a very attractive setting. Chris and I have frequented this establishment on a number of Wednesday nights after shopping. Good food and local beer. Highlights of the walk, those that made me get out the camera, included a 17th Century House, three horses who were expecting mints, apples or carrots (none of which we had) a minature set of standing stones and the first snowdrops!
All of which I've included in the collage below.

Nature seems confused to say the least, rooks are starting to nest and spring flowers out before the end of the year.
Further research tells me that Haskayne (origin, the village where hazel trees grow) has several cruck-framed thatched cottages, a post office-cum-store and a furniture manufacturer, plus its two pubs. Of these, the Ship is reputed to be the oldest on the Leeds-Liverpool Canal, since this section was the first to be constructed in 1770. It is the longest canal in Britain at 127 miles and remains the only navigable canal across the Pennines.

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