The Wirral - part III

This is the third part of my introduction to the Wirral; a set of postings to show you where I live. Part I was a general introduction; part II showed some of the buildings; and this section is devoted to Wirral’s countryside.


Birkenhead Park contains a number of specimen trees as well as open ground and a large lake. It has recently been renovated and the lake has been dredged.


On the banks of the Mersey is Eastham Country Park, an area of woodland where the Grey Squirrels happily feed out of one’s hand.


This is a good place to find fungi in the Autumn.



In the centre of the Wirral is a red sandstone hill – Bidston Hill. Covered in a mixture of pines, birches and heath it is a lovely place to wander on an autumn day as the Birch trees change colour.


Caldy Hill on the western side of the peninsula gives a splendid view over Caldy and West Kirby and out to Hilbre Island in the River Dee. The hills of N Wales can be seen quite easily on a clear day.


This is the view from Hilbre Island back to the shore of Wirral at West Kirby with Little Hilbre in the foreground.


Hilbre is a Mecca for birdwatchers and when the tide comes in a host of birds like Grey Plover, Knot and Dunlin crowd around its sandstone shore.


The gardens of Liverpool University at Ness are beautiful and have a fine collection of heathers.


Royden Park has a beautiful pool and a walled garden.


In the walled garden there is a splendid herb garden and a miniature cornfield with all the old cornfield flowers.


Thurstaston is a wonderful area of mixed woodland and heath in which wildlife abounds.



It is adjacent too Royden Country Park and one can walk from Greasby village to the shore at Thurstaston without leaving countryside and only needing to cross one main road.


Thurstaston has a number of sandstone outcrops which are ideal scrambling grounds for children. This one is known as Thor's Rock.

From Thurstaston there is a walk in either direction along the old railway line which now forms the Wirral Way country park.


There are lots of footpaths and a few quiet lanes on the Wirral. The hedgerows in some parts are a mass of Blackthorn in early Spring.

This is a just a taste of the Wirral countryside and parkland, I hope you enjoyed it.

A bath in front of the fire

I should really have put this on my Memories Blog but I wanted to give it a wider audience. I have been looking for this photo for a while.

It shows GB having ‘a bath in front of the fire’ as we termed the luxury of not having to go up to the bathroom on cold winter’s days. Mum would fill the bath with pans of water from the hot tap in the kitchen which in those day’s relied on the boiler behind the coal fire.

GB looks just as happy now as he did then but perhaps not quite so cute; and I shall spare you an up-to-date picture of him naked!

Addictions

OK, Papercages, I’m a bit slow off the mark but here are my five addictions:-
1. Peanut butter
2. Photography
3. Reading
4. Sleeping
5. Blogging

And here is proof:-

One Billion and One Cards!

The U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately one billion valentines are sent each year worldwide, making the day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year, behind Christmas. Does this picture count as a Valentine? If so make that 1,000,000,001!

Valentine's Day or Saint Valentine's Day is a holiday celebrated on February 14 by many people throughout the world. In the West, it is the traditional day on which lovers express their love for each other by sending Valentine's cards, presenting flowers, or offering confectionery. The holiday is named after two among the numerous Early Christian martyrs named Valentine. The day became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.

The day is most closely associated with the mutual exchange of love notes in the form of "valentines." Modern Valentine symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten notes have largely given way to mass-produced greeting cards. The sending of Valentines was a fashion in nineteenth-century Great Britain, and, in 1847, Esther Howland developed a successful business in her Worcester, Massachusetts home with hand-made Valentine cards based on British models. The popularity of Valentine cards in 19th-century America was a harbinger of the future commercialization of holidays in the United States. The U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates that, in the US, men spend on average twice as much money as women.

Another Saturday Sally

I know links to other people’s blogs are a lazy way of doing a post but as always there are a few folk whose blogs I think everyone might like to visit. So here is another Saturday Sally or Ramble Away from My Chair.


You may be enjoying or suffering from the snow right now, or not getting any at all. Whichever category you are in I recommend Wiltteri's blog - there can be few finer snow and ice photographers than Wiltteri with whose kind permission this photo is reproduced.

A true blogger who puts a real effort into her postings is the inappropriately named Woman of No Importance.

And thirdly, Shabbygirl’s interesting blog – A Fish’s Beach Wishes.

Enjoy.