And what a walk it was

Well it was a lovely evening, not as hot as I had imagined that it was going to be so I treated myself to a stroll. The ambitious plan was to repeat a ten miles walk around Southport than I had completed last year – but common sense prevailed and I opted for splitting the walk into two halves – I’ll do the second half soon. The walk starts at the southern corner of Hesketh Park in Cambridge Ward and heads south straight into Southport town centre. Next we stroll over Eastbank Street (doesn’t Poundland open until late? – it was 18:45 when I walked passed there and still customers were leaving the place!) and onto Lord Street before going up the alley way (or cooey if you’re from these parts!) and hitting Promenade. Now I turned right after the pedestrian crossing walking passed another war memorial and over the wooden plank bridge then taking a right hand turn just before Princes Park and heading towards the bridge parallel with Marine Parade. From there I took a left and walked through the car parks by Pizza Hut and McDonald’s before finally hitting the Coast road (Marine Drive).

After all these turn-offs it was now a case of “straight on” for the next few miles as I had the Irish Sea (very distantly) by my side and was occasionally accompanied by cyclists and joggers. I must add here that by this time I had zipped up my fleece as the wind on this road is the stuff of legends! After some time I eventually hit the Marshside area which I have to admit is one of my favourite places to be in the whole world – it’s special because it’s like a long gulp of water when you’ve been thirsty or a chicken sandwich when you are really hungry – or more pragmatically it’s so serene after walking by the side of a 50mph B-road! Such a shame that nobody had conveyed my sentiments to the countless midges and horse-files whom were in a rampant mood – my insect repellent kind of worked in that it did repel them…but they had to get up close and personal before it had any effect!

Marshside Road terminates at the junction of Preston New Road (A565) and Manor Road (A5267) and here was my final treat for this walk as this now presented me with the chance to call in at the Spar in order to buy two of their Red Apple flavoured water – which is not only extremely low in calories but very cheap as well! Here I turned right onto Preston New Road and walked for a further mile or so south towards the town centre eventually walking past Hesketh Park before arriving at home some one hour and 55 minutes after departing.

I plotted the route on google maps and was impressed to see its’ length was over 6 miles – not bad for a Tuesday evening!

View 19/4/11 in a larger map

How often is it when everything that you want from a walk is encompassed in the walk that you do? It’s rare…at least for me it is. Say for example Pendle Hill, I like a stiff climb every so often but I also like to be able to fly along a stretch of relatively flat land – you don’t get much of that in the Pendle region. Example number two Rivington Pike: I like a good view of the scenery that I am actually in, for the most part of the Rivington walks that I have done – the great scenery that you get – is of everywhere else!

Yesterday we went to Ingleton in order to do the “Waterfalls” walk. At first I objected to us paying £10.00 in order to park and walk but now, having done the walk – it’s almost worth double the price. For the amount of safety railings (and you DO NEED these or else for all off the edge of some of the paths!) and steps that have had to be built, the grounds staff and the fact that you are pretty certain to get parked, it’s really worth it!

The “Waterfalls” walk has everything, short but (in some cases) wickedly steep stretches where nutters like me can bomb up them and then spend the next few minutes hyperventilating, good long flat stretches, fantastic views not only of the immediate environment – waterfalls aplenty, but also of neighbouring Ingleborough – it isn’t on most walker’s top five list for nothing; it’s a stunning giant of an hill (actually as it’s over 2000′ it is a mountain!). The “Waterfalls” walk also has spots where one can take in refreshments – which is not only a sound revenue generating idea; it’s an important thing to do (we seldom take in enough liquids in our daily lives let alone whilst out on a walk).

There’s a real sense of this being a ‘family’ walk, there is no part of it that a reasonably unfit person can’t get ’round! Of course some of the uphill parts although not long, arduous stretches, would prove potentially lethal to anyone suffering from an heart condition or in recovery after heart surgery; but for the rest of us there was nothing that would have one thinking to one’s self ‘I’m never coming here again!”. The temperature yesterday was a factor in that it was like summer! I mean by this like the summers that we used to have where one could see the sun in person – not a photograph to which we longingly refer!

All in all it was a great day out – we took rather a long time to do what is essentially an undulating 4.5 miles walk but it was fantastic to have Chris back in the swing of her photography, this walk was not short of opportunities for her to hone in her skill again after what has been a long bleak spell.

Circumstances beyond my control, Chris having to go into work for two hours meant that the initial planned walk to Great Hill and back from White Coppice had to be postponed and an alternative found.

Since my last walk(slide) over Southport’s ‘The Moss’ in December of last year I had been thinking of extending the walk to capture another favourite area of mine in Southport – the top end of Birkdale – and if I could join up the two walks via Jacksmere Lane calling in at the delightful Saint Mark’s Church then so much the better.

I had never in my wildest dreams even hoped that the weather would be so nice. If there is a perfect walking weather then yesterday had it. The sun almost poured down as I set off at 11:32 to undertake my 10.87 mile walk.

View The Moss via Birkdale in a larger map