The Cricketers Ormskirk - our 41st walk for a Wednesday Pub Lunch

It was nice to get out and about today for our 41st Walk and Wednesday Pub Lunch.
The 3.6706 miles (5.9072 km) route has been saved and can be seen at...

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=6766081

Today we...

• caught the bus to Maghull Railway Station, 
• caught the train to Aughton Park then we 
• completed the walk for our pub lunch...

To return home we caught a bus back to Maghull.
There were quite a lot heading into Liverpool...

 ... but very few going to Ormskirk...

 From Aughton Park Station we turned right and headed along Long Lane, crossing the A59 at the end and then across the field towards the reservoir...

 There were patches of blue sky...

 ...albeit small (Fisherman's Jackets).
Gorse was in flower and looking back at the bright yellow flowers, we could see Christ Church, Aughton, that we had passed earlier...

 Looking back in the direction we were heading, we could see more flowers and, in the distance Ormskirk Parish Church...

 As we would expect at this time of year, here in the North West of England, a smallish flock of geese flew over...

 The only other plants of interest were teasels...

 ...and, after we had passed under the railway line...

 ...past the trees, whose trunks were covered in moss...

 ...we saw 'catkins'...

 ...for the second time this week.
We made our way through the Bus Station, to check times for our bus home, and, as always, took a look at the Wall painting at the end of a row of terrace houses facing Moor Street in Ormskirk....

 ...not one of Banksy's although probably inspired by him!
Time for lunch! Find out more about our experience at...
http://maghullfoodie.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/the-cricketers-ormskirk-our-41st-wandwpl.html

After our lunch, we headed a short distance down the road to catch our bus.

Another enjoyable walk in West Lancashire.

Looking for Deer at Dunham Massey

Today's 3.8733 miles (6.2335 km) route, at Dunham Massey, 

has been saved and is available at... 

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=6741574

We chose Dunham Massey as we expected the "Rutting Season" to have started; to be fair, it had but very much in its early stages. 
I'm sure that many of the other visitors were visiting this Georgian house, set in its magnificent deer-park, to visit the re-created Stamford Hospital.

During WW1 Dunham Massey offered sanctuary from the trenches for 282 wounded soldiers. To mark the centenary of WW1, Dunham Massey has been transformed into the hospital once again, telling the story of the...

• soldiers,

• nurses and

• family 

...who lived there.
If you get the chance, it's well worth a visit.

Today however we were visiting for a walk and to spot rutting deer.
We headed off towards the Deer-Park, past the lake that feeds the millrace...

 ...at the back of the house.
We saw the usual geese...

 ...and moor-hens, coots, ducks etc.
After yesterday's unpleasant rain, we enjoyed a sunny, albeit cold, walk. Through the autumnal colours of trees and bracken, we initially headed toward one of the monuments at the end of a glade...

 We then skirted the Deer Sanctuary...

 ...where after scanning the views on all sides...

 ...we spotted our first deer...

 Once we had spotted one, others were seen resting...

 ..."grunting"...

 ...and providing brief glimpses. Many of the branches of fallen trees, pretended to be antlers...

 ...confusing us. At times we saw dominant males rounding up females and challenging others...

 Some areas are fences off and squirrels were enjoying the vast numbers of acorns available for them.

 In amongst the trees and bracken...

 ...we saw fungi...

 ...yet another sign of Autumn...

 Some of the stags lay in the open...

 ...enjoying the sunshine...

 ...and, as yet, not interested in the rutting that was starting around them.
Near one of a number of lakes...

 ...we left the deer-park, over some fancy steps...

 ..and headed back to wards the entrance to the estate. The plan was to walk along part of the Bridgewater Canal.
The wall had many flowers...

 ...growing in the gaps between bricks. We also spotted the "Family Coat-of-Arms"...

 ...as part of one of the gates. In amongst the fallen leaves we also saw more fungi...

Once we were on the tow-path, we crossed over the River Bollin...

 ...the canal being some height above the river...

 On the fields below, cattle lay, chewing the cud...

 The hedgerows had holly, rowan, and elder berries and rose-hips as well...

 We left the canal, down some steps. and once we had passed the "Swan with Two Snics", and re-crossed the Bollin, we headed along a path between fields of more cattle...

 ...back to the Café and Shop for lunch...

Another enjoyable Sunday Meander completed...
A slideshow of the photographs I took is available at https://sharalike.com/s/jmpV or embedded below...

The Pheasant - our 32nd Walk and Pub Lunch

The 6.138 miles route to the Pheasant, 7.2637 miles (11.6899 km) in total, including the walk from the Pheasant to Hightown Railway Station, can be seen at...

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=6727209

and, after 2 weeks in California, the sunshine was welcome.

This was our 32nd Walk and Pub Lunch.

Much of the route has been covered in other walks but no less enjoyable we saw...

•  Butterflies,

• berries, and other hedgerow fruits

• the Leeds Liverpool Canal,

• Ducks,
  

• Geese,
  

• Buzzards,
• River Alt, 

• sadly, dead hedgehog 

... and much more.

Even better the sun was shining!

Eventually we arrived at the Pheasant for Lunch...

You can see how it did on the Maghull Foodie Blog.

After Lunch we finished the walk by going to Hightown Station...

...here we caught the train back to Maghull.

Another enjoyable meander in the North West of England.

P.S. Take a look at the video, of the photographs I took, below...

...or visit https://sharalike.com/s/hDYH