7 Miles
Walkers:- Anthony (leader) John R, Martin
Danny, James, John W
Not being this weeks leader John W abandoned all sense of responsibility and failed to tell driver Martin that we were picking John R up at the top of Penwortham Hill not at his home. So John R had to wait a little longer as we detoured !
As we approached Southport we spotted Danny's car in front and latched on to it till we arrived at our first destination Ainsdale station.
A short wait and then we arrived at Freshfield station where we bought our tickets AFTER the journey. Strange !
Leaving the station we began our walk wending our way through archetypal "Leafy Suburbs" where to mortgage a house would need an "arm and a leg" the "Shirt off your back" and "Your last drop of Blood". Soon , however, we were plunged into pine tree clad dunes as we headed for the beaches.
Here we walked for some minutes through a beautifully dappled landscape with the aroma of pines filling the air and the feel of soft sand beneath our feet.
Then we burst out into the bright sunshine where a confusion of paths led across the open areas. Here too we were joined by the world, his friends and their dogs and a little grit entered our eyes as little plastic bags hanging on bushes spoke of lazy dog owners and a dog fight broke out as we passed by.
With a car journey and a train ride behind us coffee time had past and gone and we now sought a lunchtime spot. The world and her friend were occupying all the obvious spots and our way led us into an unexpected and large, heavily populated car park where a friendly ice-cream seller pointed us in the direction of the squirrel sanctuary,
Plunging back into the wooded dunes we were on squirrel alert but it seemed the squirrels reciprocated with "Meanderthal" alert and kept themselves well hidden. The sanctuary, however, generously provided us with a picnic spot. Here we happily munched to the obvious puzzlement and amusement of passersby ... AND.......... a squirrel with becoming redness displayed itself to us.
The path through the sanctuary led us in a loop back to our original path (to the site of the dog fight ) where we discovered several truly delightful wood sculptures
The trail was called the "Asparagus" trail in honour of an agricultural business once practised here.
John is seen here hiding behind an outcrop of asparagus which looks alarmingly phallic to the writer. It also has echoes of the scarily amusing cult movie "Tremors" Where giant worms come bursting out of the ground.
We crossed our original path and made our way through the dunes till we arrived at the vast sandy beach.
"We were not the first that ever burst into that sunlit scene" (A misquote from "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" ) Indeed we were rather surprised at the incredible number of people playing on the beach.
Now our path lay along this vast beach where the sand made walking rather hard but blue skies and sunshine helped us along. After about half n hour our leader led us off the beach and into the dunes where a once again a multiplicity of paths opened before us.. No problem - we were led unerringly along the true path.
Here we come to a fork in the road - Honest !
Once again a narrow winding path led us through the steeply undulating dunes before debouching onto a wider path heading back towards our starting point.
A final coffee break at a handy pathside table before a final stretch of cycle infested track (Sorry Mike but they kept "Creeping" up on us. None seemed to have heard of bicycle bells.)
A large bird caught our attention. John W identified it as a Kestrel but was not certain. The heat of the afternoon was proving tiring as we tramped towards our final destination and again "Des Res's" were lining our route - No peeling paint or lawns less than pristine could be seen. On our right the trains whistled past as we approached Ainsdale station and our shandy filled glasses courtesy of Martin.
A good walk benefitting from constant sunshine and loads of interest. Well Done Leader.
