Administratively, a scutter of a day as we cleaned up our flat in Liverpool before vacating it, drove to our new accommodation at Southport, then had a train ride back to Formby to then walk to Southport. Whew! Despite the hectic activity, we enjoyed a braw and raw day's walking on the immense Lancashire sands and under cathedral-like skies were, at times, buffeted by cold North Westerlies.
The weather forecast for today changed constantly over the last couple of days, starting with foreboding promises of heavy rain and thunderstorms but, fortunately, tempering as time went on. On the day it was slightly overcast but with those lovely, silvery, layered clouds that occasionally break to reveal narrow bands of blue heaven.
From Formby railway station, where we finished up yesterday, we had a short walk down to the beach area where we meandered through the National Trust Formby Woods. The Sefton Coastal Path runs through the dunes at the bottom of the woods, but we chose to stay in the trees for a while, knowing there was plenty of beach walking to come, enjoying the luxury of a hard path and the flora and fauna of the woodland habitat. Before we hit the beach, we passed an asparagus farm, the first I can remember seeing on my coastal travels.
From Formby railway station, where we finished up yesterday, we had a short walk down to the beach area where we meandered through the National Trust Formby Woods. The Sefton Coastal Path runs through the dunes at the bottom of the woods, but we chose to stay in the trees for a while, knowing there was plenty of beach walking to come, enjoying the luxury of a hard path and the flora and fauna of the woodland habitat. Before we hit the beach, we passed an asparagus farm, the first I can remember seeing on my coastal travels.
When we did move to the sands, we initially walked through the dunes, following a meandering path up and down and round about. The Marram Grass, growing in thick abundance on the dunes was both wet and very sharp, the razor tips seeking out bare flesh and places of weakness in our clothing. The beaches when we moved to them did not disappoint. Dr Ruth Livingstone wrote to me the other day describing them as 'immense' and they are that and more. As we walked the cloudy skies cleared to be replaced by a blue spaciousness that with the immensity of sand and sea highlighted your irrelevance to the beauty of the place.
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Beach Walk | |
When we arrived it was a receding tide. As the sea retreated huge acres of feeding ground for the local bird populations was uncovered. Walking just by the damp edges of the sands the surface was littered with millions of worm casts and I have never seen such an abundance of Razor Clam shells or shells of their length. Over the whole expanse of the beach jelly fish had been castaway on their own little desert islands.
Coming from the water's edge, a rigid system of seniority seemed to be in operation between the different bird species. Silver-speckled Sanderlings scuttled about close to the crashing breakers, their dash to escape from the turbulent waters almost comedic in effect. Oyster Catchers huddled behind them in the cold North-westerly breeze, while further back Herring Gulls roared, soared and cried. Right at the back, the smaller Black-headed Gulls preyed on the discard of humans, their summertime black hoods already starting to disappear. As we neared small and larger groups of Sanderlings they would rise in murmuration, displaying exquisite aerial ability.
Coming from the water's edge, a rigid system of seniority seemed to be in operation between the different bird species. Silver-speckled Sanderlings scuttled about close to the crashing breakers, their dash to escape from the turbulent waters almost comedic in effect. Oyster Catchers huddled behind them in the cold North-westerly breeze, while further back Herring Gulls roared, soared and cried. Right at the back, the smaller Black-headed Gulls preyed on the discard of humans, their summertime black hoods already starting to disappear. As we neared small and larger groups of Sanderlings they would rise in murmuration, displaying exquisite aerial ability.
The effort off the last few days was catching up with us, as well as the consequences of the long, lazy Co-vid lay off. At Ainsdale we took advantage of the small coffee van and enjoyed hot drinks, as well as welcome bacon and egg barms. As we sat eating and drinking in the sand dunes, under the beady eye of a thuggish looking gull, a number of people passed by, exercising their horses across the beach. Later, as we walked the second half of the adventure, we spied a few hardy people cooried together in the sand dunes, trying to enjoy the summer day but still find respite from the cold wind. You could almost hear Billy Connolly shout at them 'appreciate, appreciate, appreciate '.
We stayed on the beach until we almost reached the pier at Southport. By then the clean sands had started to give way to wet areas of Marram Grass and there was a lot of surface water around on top of the sand. The tide had turned and, fearful of becoming another statistic in the emergency service remembrance book, we made for the promenade and finished the day on the road. It had been our intention to continue round to the village of Banks and, had we been able to secure another cup of coffee without queuing, we might have made it. As we searched the skies darkened and with the threat of heavy rain, we decided an early day was a good idea.
Despite being a busy day, it was still a good day with lots of interest and highlights. However, although the walk was only ten miles, most of it was completed on sand and that is no easy task.
Despite being a busy day, it was still a good day with lots of interest and highlights. However, although the walk was only ten miles, most of it was completed on sand and that is no easy task.