Yay we’re back … it’s time to blog again.   We’re off on some more walking adventures – this time The Wirral, Chester and North Wales.   Having spent a fabulous weekend in Liverpool at the Rock and Roll Marathon ( a true mixture of running and partying), we got up early and felt relatively bright this morning, donned the trusty old walking gear, picked up the poles …. and jumped into the car!

Yes we’re doing things a little different this time.  Having analysed last year’s South West Coastal Path ‘endurance’ walk we have made the following amendments to our strategic planning:

1.  We’re going to take it a bit easier!!!  Not pack in the miles like last time – aiming for between 5 and 10 miles a day depending on terrain.  No we haven’t got lazy – we just want to be able to stop for breath occasionally, admire the views along the way and get back to base early enough for some relaxation time.
2. We’re not following a daily guide – this time it’s the old faithful ordnance survey map + a whizzy new OS app.  This way we can adjust the distance to our fancy.
3. We have a car with us this time – it does mean some forwards and backwards stuff but on a positive note means no rucksack carrying (hurrah) or paying out the £25 per day for luggage transfer.
4. Rather than move accommodation every day, we’ll be staying in a central area for 3,4 or 5 days and use the car/bus/train to ferry us around to starting and finishing points.  We’ll still be walking most days but we’ll actually be able to unpack and feel a little settled.

So lots of new ideas …. let’s see how it all pans out.  And let’s see how far we get.  Aiming to be away for 3 – 4 weeks.

Day 1  Seacombe to Meols

Drove through the Kingsway tunnel, leaving Liverpool behind and made our way to The Wirral.  We planned to walk about 5 miles today as Steve was suffering a little with aches in his knees and hips after his half marathon yesterday – well having achieved 13 miles in 1:52 he did deserve some consideration! As it happened we walked for 8 miles – but it was a pretty easy stretch by anyone’s standards – promenade, no hills, perfect weather – that’s my kind of coastal walking!

Not the most scenic of routes but some interesting industrial views across the Mersey, reminders of days gone by and reinvented docklands.  Some stunning houses nonetheless – huge – I imagine you get a lot for your money here.

When we decided to call it a day, we managed to find our way back to the car via two buses … then drove to our airbnb in Bebington.  What a find.  We are here for 5 nights and it’s a fascinating house in the Port Sunlight village.  The village was built to accommodate workers in its soap factory, it’s amazingly pretty, all Grade II listed buildings.  James, our airbnb host, has renovated this house to a high standard and it has lots of interesting Port Sunlight memorabilia.

Day 2   Meols to Thurstaston

A gorgeous sunny day to be setting out for a walk (what a change to last summer!!)  A drive followed by a train ride took us back to Meols where we finished off yesterday.  We started off on more promenade paths – bliss!  We admired the picturesque views of wind turbines against the blue sky.

We took up the alternative coastal path route which was along the sands – didn’t seem much risk of the tide coming in – you needed binoculars to spot the sea!   We said it was like walking in the desert, miles of sand and the sun burning down – no camels though!

We ventured seaward to take a closer glimpse at Hilibre Islands situated at the mouth of the Dee Estuary – we didn’t go all the way as the sand looked to be getting a little boggy and we didn’t know enough about the tides.

We walked on past Hoylake and its magnificent golf course and into West Kirby where we stopped for a picnic lunch.  We had parked the car here but decided to walk on as it was still earlyish and our feet and joints weren’t yet worn out.  We’d had a little look around West Kirby earlier – seems to be a beautiful town, might have to venture back for a little retail therapy.  Felt so at home here as it’s sort of my namesake – the mouth of the Dee Estuary, we passed the Dee Hotel (interestingly a Wetherspoons) and we parked in Dee Lane – well I’m not likely to find a town called Deirdre am I !?

So on we walked and after some more promenade and sand we actually reached a more typical coastal path – it took us through woods (with a few little hills) and a disused railway line still with some pretty coastal views.  We made it as far as Thurstaston before we called it a day – just 6 miles today.

Got back to base in good time, got stuck into this blog and guess what …. we’re now going for a run!!