FAIRHAVEN

TWO MEETS TWO  4 Miles

Walkers :- John W, Martin  +  Paddy , Anthony

Last week the car park was solid with more cars waiting to get in. This weeks car park was virtually empty.  Why ?

Was it John W casting a shadow over it (careless photography) ?  No ! It was the £4.50 charge when there was free parking all around.

The car park led immediately onto the revamped section of the promenade. An excellent job too.

As you can see the day was cold and clear with a low sun washing the colour out of photographs.

The promenade was nowhere near as quiet as it looks in this picture, Just as in the parks we have visited in recent weeks Lytham was alive with walkers alone, in pairs  and with dogs. 

We were walking on the new promenade which at this point was on the seaward side of Fairhaven Lake. Looking across the lake we could see the famous "White Church" in the distance.

We had never walked this stretch before and were quite surprised to see this  "Drainage " pipe spewing water out onto the sands. We presumed it was an overflow from the lake although it did seem rather a lot.

The next photo is of John W about to....

.................................... do absolutely nothing !

We continued to follow the far side of Fairhaven Lake until we eventually arrived at the road.  We followed the road for about  two or three hundred yards before turning back to the prom shortly after passing a shelter with seats. Not very far along the prom we bumped into Anthony and Paddy. ( a suitably socially distanced " bump " of course). They were doing a different walk going in the opposite direction. We had to stop for a coffee break so we turned back to the seated shelter.

The photo lies. We were DEFINITELY socially distanced. It must have been the angle from which I took the photo. 😏

As we sat with our coffees Anthony checked his phone to discover that Lancashire had been placed in Tier Three of the covid restrictions --- Ah Well !

 As we parted to continue our separate walks. John and Martin took to a footpath which ran parallel to the prom.

During recent walks it has been invariably the case that friendly greetings are exchanged with people passing by.

This young lady, part of a group with dogs, had a very unusual but successful way of controlling her happily bouncy spaniel.

Very soon we were back n the promenade again heading in the direction of Lytham's famous windmill.

The tide was well out but as we walked we noticed that the tide was not the only thing that was out.

Can you spot what it was ?

Of course you could. It was a car with it's bold driver engaged, we surmised, in shrimping or cockling or some other commercial fishing pursuit.

Very strange. Very much an anachronism.  Why ?

We didn't go as far as the windmill but turned inland, beckoned by the lure of "facilities" in Lowther Gardens. (Pathetic Eh ! ) Once again Martin's magic key proved useful as others queued for the remaining two doors.😈

Lunchtime. People were queueing at the cafe but  we had brought sandwiches knowing that our walk would be a little longer this week. We quickly found a bench to sit and munch.

Two old fellas sitting on a park bench in the sunshine.

Is that a CLICHE or what ? (thanks to the young lady who took the photo for us.)

During lunch a little friend joined us

begging for a scrap or two. He (or she ?) got a bit .

Just a few yards away (do you think I should be writing in metres in the 21st century ?) was this chap.

I think he's fishing for something. Doesn't look desperately happy about it though. Perhaps that was his car we saw earlier - now submerged beneath the waves ?

Aha ! He's after the goldfish !

Lunch over we set off to leave the gardens but came across this sign.

"What a good idea" said John W  "I'll have this one. Can I take it home now ? "

Just a little further on , however, we got a stark warning !

"Be careful. I adopted a tree last year and look at me now,"
 

After leaving the gardens we followed the road out of Lytham heading towards Ansdell. A left turn down Fairlawn Rd. took us back to the coastal road. This heading towards St Anne's. We turned right and walked along this road passing as we did "Stella Matutina" the care home well known to Anthony and John. We stopped here to say hello to Ann a friend who works there.

She told us that she would be contacting Anthony to arrange for us to do a concert at the home as soon as it was allowed. (for those who do not already know there are those amongst the group who claim....I repeat..CLAIM to be musicians and do perform at places such as Stella )

Leaving the home we now made our way to Fairhaven lake and the end of our walk. The sun was getting low in the sky by now and the clouds were getting darker.

We found parts of the Fairhaven Lake Park blocked off as major refurbishments of the cafe and boating facilities were taking place.

As we passed the RSPB centre we discovered that there was a defibrillator for the birds.. How nice !

I joke of course. There were defibs.  at several points on our walk which considering the average age of the indigenous population and the numerous visitors is an excellent provision.

Past the refurbishments and back into the park we of course had to visit the "Spitfire".

Ooh ! A close call for Martin.

That's enough Spitfire pictures ! Back to our parked cars and off home. 

But what's this ? Never seen a car this "Colour" before. Is this the motoring equivalent of Marmite. Love it or hate it.  Can't decide which myself.

Can't follow that sooo.............

THE END

JW

W