HEST BANK

TODAY'S ROUTE (23rd March)

 WET ! WET ! WET !     6+ Miles 

DRIPS :-  Vic, John W, Mike, Danny, Anthony.

Wet Wet Wet !  No, not the name of a 7's pop group but three wet Thursdays in a row.

We started from an almost submerged car park

.....and headed south along a wet and windy shoreline.

With Danny in the lead as usual

And raindrops on the lens already

The rain, though not just at that time heavy, was relentless and we were glad when a cafe hove in sight.

Posted on the cafe window was this rather ominous warning.

With the tide at it's height and a stiff wind dashing it against the shore the path which continued along the shore, was not passable and we were forced to cross the rail lines and continue along the highway.

After  we had walked in the direction of Morecambe for a short time, a narrow alleyway led us away from the road, back over the railway down to the shore again.

As we cross the rail bridge we discovered that Anthony had admirer(s) in the area.

Bright sunlight flooded the lens in this photo and falsely promised an end to the rain. NOT YET though.

Back on the edge of the sea the rain increased dramatically. Even briefly turning to hail. The wind blown sea itself was quite turbulent with large waves crashing into it's rock defended edge.

here's Danny exposing himself to a blasting from the wind and rain as he looks back to see where the rest of the group had gone.

They soon emerged from the shelter of a large building.

The rain finally began to ease as we again joined the road just North of Happy Mount Park.

The rain had not entirely stopped as you can see from the drops  misting the camera lens.

Groups of waders waited on the rocks for the tide to expose the sand and mud where they feed, Redshank , Sanderlings and Knots seem to be amongst them . 

I think this group consisted of Redshank and then the possibility of Turnstones, Sanderlings or Knots but It would take a real ornithologist to properly identify these very similar (To amateurs) birds

A group of anglers were catching small flatfish called dabs (Plaice) as we passed by.

The fish were only small and were returned to the sea.

A little further down the prom and we met up with Venus.

"Don't forget. No swinging Danny"  "I can assure you I am NOT swinging. Just tickling Cupid's toes." 

Once in Happy Mount Park we soon found a suitable place to shelter as we had lunch

Our eco-friendly Danny often brings bird food to distribute as we dine.

It invariable brings the birds. In this case, Wood pigeon, feral pigeons, bluetits, Coletits, and magpies.

Lunch over we continued through the park

Here, to everyone's amusement, a little girl was splashing through the puddles.

I am not sure that elderly gentlemen should be taking photos of young children but grandad was with her and we did ask permission.

The above photo was taken by Mike. I think the tree moved !!!!!

This brave and cheeky squirrel outfaced us until we were only about 3 yards away.

After leaving the park we followed a WET path cross country towards the canal crossing two railway lines.

As John trespassed (minimally) on the railway to take this photo the roar of an approaching train behind  gave him a real scare until he realised it was on the other track a little way off.

Did I say this footpath was WET !

The next bridge we came to had even more water underneath it. But it was supposed to have.

We were now following the Lancaster canal through Slyne as we headed towards Hest Bank.

Dwellers on canal banks often enjoy creating a "Theme". This one is somewhat OTT   but nevertheless amusing and entertaining.

As we stopped on a bench to finish our flasks we somehow began talking about childhood TV shows.  Do you remember these ?

Skippy the bush Kangaroo

Lassie

...............  the dolphin (what was it called ?)

We even sang the theme tunes to......

Maverick

Cheyanne 

Wagon Train

The Lone Ranger (with Tonto)

Gunsmoke

Wyatt Earp  etc.

Can you recall any others ?

Can you see any Meanderthals in this photo ? NO !   Neither can I.    I had been abandoned.  A brief stop to reorganise my rucksack and they've gone. Leaving me Bereft !

I shall give them a piece of my mind when I catch them up. 😔

However, when I caught up with them, my piece of mind had to stay where it was..(probably just as well as there isn't a lot to spare)  Mike had suddenly remembered the name of the Dolphin... FLIPPER !  Well done Mike.

                                                              🐬

Our conversations usually highly intellectual (if you believe that ?? ) can sometimes descend to the trivial.  As on this occasion.    AND WHY NOT ?

We left the canal by another narrow alleyway.

What's that plant ?

It's possibly a Wood Spurge or Spurge Laurel

 Back on the coast road we walked North till we came to Pasture Lane.

Which would in turn take us to Shore Lane and the car park.

Could that be the "Lone Ranger" we mentioned before. No, of course not.

Have you have been watching the murder mystery "The Bay" on TV ?

If so you will recognise this place.

You may have noticed that after we left Happy Mount Park  the photos show the sun is shining, After a thoroughly wet morning the afternoon became warm and sunny.

JW

p.s.  Dear readers, don't forget you can contact the writer of this blog on email. guitar2pluck@yahoo.co.uk  Tell us what you like about it or perhaps more pertinently what you dislike about it. Suggestions for improvement or questions about the content.  We would love to hear your views.