Wonderful views for Wirral walkers

Our Autumn walk, led by Dr. Andrew Read, explored woodlands, fields, moorlands and the coast around West Kirby.

We were delighted with the turnout for our Wirral walk. As well as CPRE regulars, Ramblers and members of the Manchester Weekend Walkers, we were joined by a group of international students who have made their home in Liverpool for the year, studying at the University of Liverpool as part of the Erasmus programme. The walk was arranged as one of the Liverpool City Region’s COP26 events.

We met at West Kirby rail station for a health and safety briefing and overview of the day before setting off to our first view point, Grange Hill, where one of the volunteers kindly gave us an impromptu and fascinating talk about the war memorial.

Walking through woodlands on Caldy Hill and to the Mariners Beacon, we stopped to look at (and photograph) the spectacular views across the Dee Estuary to North Wales, with Hillbre Island in the foreground.

Our route took us through Stapledon Woods, across farmland, and then to Royden Park where we stopped for a picnic lunch. Sadly the Secret Garden, which we had planned to visit, was closed.

There was plenty of conversation – for many, it was the first organised walk they had taken part in since early 2020.

Refreshed by lunch, our band of 28 walkers and one dog carried on through the woods towards Thurstaston.

The more adventurous of the group scaled Thor’s rock, an outcrop of the underlying red Triassic sandstone,  whilst the rest of us stayed at the bottom and marvelled at the graffiti carved into the rock’s surface.

Continuing through the woods, we then walked up to the top of Thurstaston Hill to the viewing point. Thurstaston Common is an SSSI, with a range of wetland and drier heath plants, including sundews in sheltered, boggy patches.

Our pathway down took us across the bracken and heather of Thurstaston Common…

before we walked through Caldy village, stopping to look at an ornate stone cross in the churchyard, and encountering a short but very heavy shower!

The beach provided many instagrammable moments for our group before we continued to walk around the edge of the West Kirby Marine Lake.

Many walkers chose to go on to the pub and finish the day with a well-earned pint!

Many thanks to Dr. Andrew Read for organising and leading the walk, and to all those who came along to spend some time in the countryside with CPRE!