Our Bank Holiday Weekend Meander...

Today's Meander took us 4.89 miles for lunch at Bar Mio and a couple of beers.

You can view the route we took at http://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4392836 

Starting from Freshfield Station car park (yes I drove there) we headed north, parallel to the railway line. 
Chris spotted Harebells next to the path...

The Heather was stunning...

...and the honeysuckle berries...

...very bright.
Crossing the railway line, we headed down Fisherman's Path towards the dunes and Liverpool Bay...

In addition to the plants already spotted we saw Evening Primroses...

Past the Lizard Artwork Bench...

...it was time to go up and over the dunes...

Our walk along the beach, in the sunshine, was as enjoyable as always.
I don't think we have ever seen so many Sea Urchins (sea hedgehogs), on this stretch of beach, before...

...Still complete with their spines.
With the Irish Sea to our left...

...(yes the tide was out) and dunes to the right...

...we headed for Ainsdale.
Two lost children's toys...

...and the usual jellyfish...

...were spotted on the tide line.
At Ainsdale we headed in-land to Bar Mio for Lunch/all-day Breakfast...

...and a couple of beers...

The station is in view...

...so we could plan our return time to the car and home.

We both agree that we are very lucky to live so near to such enjoyable walks!

A slideshow of today's photographs can be seen below...

or at  https://sharalike.com/s/pqMZ

Fisherman's Path

Hardly politically correct and probably a name that wouldn't be allocated to any new paths but, today we walked along this path to the Sefton Coast where we looked over Liverpool Bay and the Irish Sea, with Blackpool on the Northern Horizon.
The slide show, embedded below, is made up of the images that I took with my iPhone.

Our 3.8129 miles (6.1362 km) route has been saved and is available at...

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=6761687

The National Trust Car Park was closed - For Public Safety Reasons - There had been high winds and some trees, observed on our walk, had been up-rooted.
So we went and parked at the railway station.
It was nice to see the Gorse in flower as we made our way to the railway crossing.

 The bright yellow flowers brightening up a fairly overcast day.

 There were some "Fishermen's Jackets" (at term used for small patches of blue sky) as we crossed the Liverpool - Southport Railway line. Next to the path over the Golf Course, we saw lots of fungi...

 ...of different types....

 ...and sizes...

 The bright green of the conifers also brightened the day...

... as most of the deciduous trees have lost their leaves.
The sign post on the other side of the golf course didn't mention the name of the path we were following...

 ...mustn't upset anyone!

 The Sea Buckthorn berries (also referred to as sandthorn, sallowthorn, or seaberry) were observed throughout the walk

 As we neared the dunes, we saw a new bench that had mosaics of sand lizards embedded on three sides... 

 ...a nice addition to the benches and seating within the reserve.

 The Sea Buckthorn's presence increased as we got closer to the dunes.

 When we reached the dunes and the beach, the tide was way out...

 Looking to the north we could see Blackpool Pleasure Beach, on the horizon...

 After a windy walk along the beach, towards Liverpool, we headed back in land via the dunes. then back into the forest...

 I caught some glimpses of Red Squirrels but unable to photograph them...

As we reached almost the end of our walk, just before walking along Victoria Road, we did see four very active Red Squirrels that made our day!

High Winds and abrasive sand

On reflection our blog is turning into a collection of weather reports rather than a blog about our walks. However the forecast wasn't good and equiped with waterproofs we set off to Ainsdale where this weeks walk began.
For once the start wasn't even near a pub! We had decided to walk part of the Sefton Coastal Path going from Ainsdale towards Formby and the 'Fisherman's Path'. I decided, in view of the high winds, to walk back along the beach with the wind behind us. Oh how pleased we both were.
The start of the walk took us alonside the Liverpool-Southport Merseyrail line before cutting through the Merseyside Forest (Red Squirrel country; sadly we didn't see any. In fact we saw very little in the way of wildlife). The woodland protected us from the worst of the wind but the thuds of pine-cones hitting the ground made us think that hard-hats would have been a good idea.
Once on the beach the full force of the wind was felt. As already stated, we were so pleased the wind was at our backs. As can be seen, the moving sand looked almost like smoke hugging the ground.

Thank goodness for long trousers!

Large container vessels struggled out of the Port of Liverpool, through the white horses, into Liverpool Bay and the Irish Sea; and yet on the beach little shells and other objects protected sand from erosion.

We made good time with the wind hastening our progress; both of us surprised that we had walked 7.2856 miles. If you want to walk in our footsteps the map of our route can be found at http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2010693;
PS Check which way the wind is blowing before you decide which way round you complete the walk!

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