ST ANNE's TRAIL

 TRAIL OR TRIAL ?

Trailers :-  Jim, Danny, Anthony, John.

Parking in St Annes seemed to be something of a scattergun affair with a seemingly random mix of yellow lines and "free" spaces. We eventually found two spots quite close to each other just outside Ashton park our first destination.  Then a Cafe ?

 

Starting our walk by entering Ashton park and passing the magnificent Memorial.

As we pass the memorial the realism of the sculptures was remarkable.

Into the parks cafe (above) for our now almost obligatory "Start the day" coffee/tea

I am sure you have seen enough pictures of elderly men drinking brews (Maybe later) so just a photo of Danny examining some pictures for sale

The United reform church.

I think owls must be an easy subject for our clever wood sculptors  as there always seems to be one along with whatever others are found. They are still way beyond anything I could do....... i.e. Nothingl

Here is an example of the ubiquitous " Noctua Ligneus". Not an endangered species.

 

From Clifton Drive, where we had parked our cars, we now followed St Anne's Rd West heading towards the shore and the Pier.

Before reaching the pier, however, we visited an old friend.   Flowers ?  The flowers ?  Was it his birthday ?  When I say "An Old Friend"   he is.....   as we have dined with him on several occasions. The surrounding "Arcades" offering excellent seating and shelter at "Butty" times.

LES DAWSON of course...... He was everyone's   lugubrious friend

Now C'mon You two look lugubrious like what John is doing.

Leaving the "Sunken Gardens"      Les's abode.     We walked past the pier it's immediate neighbour.

The sands had been recently raked and looked invitingly pristine.

Are these huts part of the pier's business or are they like other resorts, particularly on the south coast, for daily hire during the summer ?

A little further along the promenade and came to this memorial.

The memorial to the victims of the "Mexico Tragedy. The face on the statue is that of William Johnson The Cox'n of the St Anne's lifeboat the "Laura Janet"

This memorial is to a very sad and tragic event where three lifeboats launched into heavy seas going to the aid of the "MEXICO".  27 brave volunteers lost their lives.

Leaving the memorial behind we followed Coastal Walk around the outer path which took us past the boating lake and round to the lifeboat station.

Here, amongst the flags  and concrete, was a pathway recording the names af crew and those who had, over the years,  been rescued by the lifeboats or indeed had perished (?)

A brief stop on the promenade before heading towards St Anne's Square and the High Street.

But not before passing the paddling pool....... hopefully there's a way to seal the wall before filling with water.        See ARROW.

This building we passed was of a most unusual design.

The next notable building we passed was at one time the town hall. Not sure it still is but the Blue plaque on it's wall tells us it was once a hotel. It's name seems to imply that it was built during the period when Hydro therapy was very much in vogue.

Searching for a cafe as we walked through St Anne's square ( square ??) we had to peer through the window of this cafe as it's name instructs. (See bottom right.)

No more views of elderly gentlemen imbibing I said earlier...As if..... SORRY

Danny with flowers and a heart. Not, perhaps, the image Danny would wish to promote but it has a certain resonance.

Through Ashton park making our way back to the cars.

The information on the "Mexico" memorial told us that many of the victims of the tragedy were buried in the Parish church grounds. This was on our route home so we stopped to look. We found none although our visit was admittedly brief.

 

The photos on the blog are always printed in "Extra Large" format.  Not this one as there is already something extra large in view.      JW.........DIET !!!!!

THE PARISH CHURCH

Let's finish on something uplifting..................... Some lovely flowers.

Not the most scintillating Town Trail we have followed

THE END

JW

LEYLAND

 WILD WINDY WORDEN

Woeful Walkers :-  Danny, Mike, John and Anthony

The weather forecast was not unreasonable. The weather, however, was. 

Mike looks like he is expecting low temperatures. He was right !  We were told that the ambient temperature was -5  The wind chill factor took it down to -8. Cold indeed.

After a short search we parked in a side street at the top end of the park and crossed the bridge to start our walk.

Before that, however, a bold robin checked us out from the edge of the pavement.

The first thing we encountered as we walked the through the park was a well maintained and imaginative children's play area.

Three bears in the sand ?

Rocky, Stoney and Bouldy(er)

and one play item that Danny could not resist.

The suspension looked very powerful but I suspect rather on the springy side making driving rather difficult.

 

To keep out of the chilly blast we followed the muddy path through the small wood next to the park boundary.

It took only a few minutes for us to reach the main entrance to the park marked by this rather magnificent arch.

John outside looking in. The rest on the inside looking out. (Don't know why i bothered saying that 😐? )

Then back onto the narrow path between the trees.

It wasn't long before we reached the main car park. Two Hours Free. With car registration number on the ticket. NO RETURNS ! Seemed a reasonable compromise so that the car park had a turnover of users and wasn't fully occupied all day.

Here we made a decision.  Go immediately to the cafe across the open and very chilly park or continue down the lengthy flight of steps to the brook where the dampness in the air might make it even colder.

Warm cafe ....... No competition !🍵

As we settled to enjoy our steaming coffees or teas a loud crash made us look up. Anthony had somehow managed to slip of the bench and hit the flagged floor with enough force to leave him stunned. The cafe staff immediately dashed across to help but it was several minutes before he was helped to his feet.

With Anthony still a bit groggy we decided to end our walk.  John and Mike walked back across the park to the car was and drove through the park to the cafe

We thanked the good ladies of the cafe. Said our goodbyes and left for home,

THE END

JW