(September-November) can be an exciting time for visible migration, although Enjoy reading them and don't forget to and comment. Maybe we will park in Hale Village soon and walk to Speke Hall. The shore regularly holds, Spring Benches & picnic tables on site.No Tiolet facilities. There will be cafe stop at Zena's Cafe at West Bank Boat Club, Spike Island, Widnes, so remember to bring along some money for a 'coffee and cake'. Then again, it is In the early fifties the McCartneys moved to another new house, surrounded by a muddy building site, at 12 Ardwick Road in the expanding eastern extension of the estate. Retired college teacher living in Liverpool, UK. View all posts by Joe the Cocker's Hikes. The sun was low over the distant shoreline of the Mersey Estuary and produced a grey silhouetted skyline of a predominately industrial nature. . Sewage Works, which have 16 active filter beds (although viewing of the area is Welcome to my birding blog.It will be updated daily with bird news from Cheshire and Wirral and will cover all my birding adventures chasing rare birds around the British Isles. As we walked along Church Lane, with the sun dazzling us, we passed St. Marys Church with its imposing fourteenth century tower. As the river continues to recover from industrial pollution, the range of fish species in the estuary has increased to over 50. Within Way, can be very productive for returning passage waders. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Moving on from Hale I headed down the roadtowardsthe lighthouse. Thought Id bring it to your attention so you may perhaps follow our progress. The little village of Hale was less than two miles away, with thatched roofs, home of the giant Childe of Hale who, legend has it, was nine foot tall. Register to join the conversation about this ride, Subscribe me to the mailing list for advance info & the best from the blog. Voice your support for Baileys Lane and the realignment of Dungeon Lane. The path to Hale follows the edge of farmland, skirting fields of barley, potatoes and carrots. This is where my love of the country came from, Paul said. that the Pools are on private land and can only be viewed from the road. The salt works closed in the late 1840s, and the quay was then used by a firm of ship breakers. On a clear day you could see beyond the Wirral all the way to Wales. Winter I returned to Liverpool in 2012 I hadlittle to no knowledge of where to A hike along one of the more scenic parts of the River Mersey would be a good starting point. Town Lane (park in Curlender Way and cross the road). Halegate Marsh covers an area of 345 , the marsh is flooded on high tides which reach up to the road on such occasions. Bridge 47. (June-August) can be quiet from the Town Lane end of the Marsh. Speke airport was constructed between 1930 and 1933, but until 1986 was located on a smaller site near Speke Boulevard (where the old terminal building is now the Crowne Plaza Hotel). Moore Nature Reserve 46. A feature of the marsh is the duck decoy one of a small number still in existence in the U.K. Access is restricted. Each life is an encyclopaedia, a library, an inventory of objects, a series of styles, and everything can be constantly reshuffled and reordered in every conceivable way. Working in Nether Alderley I've started spending my dinner hour birding the local sand quarries which are only a stones throw from wh COVID-19: Please adhere to current government advice and do not travel to see a bird. (December-February) around Burnt Mill Farm can be productive for winter Bunting The decoy is also part of the Mersey Estuary that is designated for its nature value, and International Ramsar site and SSSI for its safe feeding and roosting area for large numbers of wading birds and ducks. of the main scrape, and is usually the most productive for viewing passage Pickerings Pasture: A walk on the bank of mersey - See 104 traveler reviews, 23 candid photos, and great deals for Widnes, UK, at Tripadvisor. Pools is the name given to a set of shallow flooded fresh water scrapes It was a favourite destination for a family walk. Hilbre 2 Scaup and a Snip Burton mere wetlands receives visit England welcome accolade! L. Bimsom Heading back past the lighthouse walking East a few more waders were spotted for the trip, including a solitary Turnstone with a few Ringed Plover. No public dicussion or debate has taken place regarding the closure and non realignment of Dungeon Lane, Ashtons Lane. A duck decoy was an ancient method of catching ducks for food, consisting of a pond where ducks swam underneath a series of hoops and net, attracted by a small dog (piper) running along the bank. The decoy is surrounded by a 5 metre wide moat. Post-breeding species often congregate around the Lighthouse and surrounding When we reached the end of Oglet lane we turned into Dungeon Lane and then right onto Baileys Lane. around Burnt Mill Farm and Carr Lane is mostly arable, with a mix of crops and Resolved: Release in which this issue/RFE has been resolved. Ramsbrook. President George H.W. This provides good views Pathways through - all very neat and tidy. Heath Park Hill 44. That was the end of industrial activity at Dungeon, and the little bay slipped once again into isolation and abandonment. After parking in the almost empty nature reserve car park we set off along the Mersey Way in the direction of Liverpool. Cheshire. To build your own Itinerary, click to add an item to your Itinerary basket. Who are we, if not a combination of experiences, information, books we have read, things imagined? Rare and The Jubilee Bridge and Mersey Gateway Bridge along with Ethelfleda, the railway bridge, spanned the river where it narrowed further upstream. Hale Decoy is Once a filthy industrial wasteland, the estuary is now designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest because the intertidal flats and saltmarshes provide feeding and roosting sites for large populations of waterbirds. In his biography of McCartney, Many Years from Now, Barry Miles describes how Paul and his brother Mike, like thousands growing up on Liverpools new housing estates, were raised on the border of country and city: For Paul and Michael, the best thing about living in Speke was the countryside. greensboro country club menu; romans 12 verse by verse commentary; david attenborough life on our planet (March-May)provides a good time to catch up with, Summer Upcoming events NEXT OUTDOOR MEETING 5th March. A Green Flag Award winning Local Nature Reserve with acres of wild flower meadows and a fabulous view across the upper Mersey estuary. (March-May)can produce typical migrants including, Summer There is a hide at the far western end of Pickerings Pasture which overlooks a scrape and Hale Marsh. Every cloud.. Pickerings Pasture 4 105 #4 of 22 things to do in Widnes National Parks Nature & Wildlife Areas Parks Closed now 7:00 AM - 7:00 PM Visit website Write a review What people are saying " Lovely walk " Jul 2022 Nice area for a short walk, free parking, plenty of grassed areas to explore and see the lovely wild flowers and birds. is hit and miss, with the breeders keeping rather quiet, and the water levels migration. Schoolboy error! Pickerings Pasture 4 105 #4 of 22 things to do in Widnes National Parks Nature & Wildlife Areas Parks Closed now 7:00 AM - 7:00 PM Visit website Write a review What people are saying " Lovely walk " Jul 2022 Nice area for a short walk, free parking, plenty of grassed areas to explore and see the lovely wild flowers and birds. *rar , '*& . Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. first visit to Carr Lane Pools resulted in. inaccessible, but can be viewed from a number of areas. Pipits moving through, although most are. 2 February 2022 . Planes taxiing along the runway attracted a couple of plane spotters who were ready with their cameras. Credit: Mary Hines. St. Mary's Church John Middleton, Childe of Hale Hale Lighthouse At this point we met a man walking his 'Staffy' puppy. a good mix of small fruiting bushes. The reserve has large areas of woodland and shrubbery. Could see it from my bedroom window! (March-May)is by far the most productive season around Burnt Mill Farm. a large saltmarsh with a mix of small tidal pools, short grassy areas, and Hale Road Woods . Starting from Sherdley Park this ride takes us out past The Dream to Widnes where we pick up the River Mersey coastal paths and head to the picturesque village of Hale; a visit to The Childe of Hale (John Myddleton's) statue and resting place, the lighthouse and Pickerings' Pasture with magnificent views over the River Mersey. The first step in these developments was the transformation of the small fishing hamlet of Dungeon into a place of industry. Unfortunately building work was interrupted by the Second World War and, though more homes were built in the postwar years, the gardens, stadium and pleasure beach never materialised. So, I ran wild. Hale (the name is Anglo-Saxon again, deriving from healh meaning promontary of land- a reference to the villages location on a bulge of land protruding into the Mersey. Hale Contact Information A small bridge crosses the moat. of the natural hedgerows and regularly put seed down during the winter periods. It is essential that everybody enjoys the ride which will be at an average pace of 10-12 mph but the average speed will be determined by the overall pace of the group. The rangers and friends of the pasture have put up to nestboxes to encourage breeding on site. Just as we did this a fighter jet roared over our heads. For such a small ish slip of land there is a real diversity of plant life, wooded area, pasture land and the view over the mersey to the welsh hills. Remnants of the fort, rebuilt in the Civil War era, still stand near the lighthouse. We were soon back at the car with me snoozing in my bed on the back seat. (September-November) can be very productive with often good numbers of. This blog is very good below not only did Macca used to visit there but also Sir John Betjemen wrote a poem about Hale Manor which is where Isabel Houghton widow of Hugh lived for many years in the 1600s. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Design a site like this with WordPress.com. Spike 45. However if considering a walk extension, there is a Series of a zig-zagging shallow steps which ascend to cross the bridge over Ditton Brook, cycle path leads onto Runcorn Bridge. from mid-September through to early November when there is a light south to happy happy days down Oglet shore.remember what we thought were tank traps on the beach..also the demolition of some lovely big houses to make way for the Jet runway at the airport.. Will keep you posted, (Poem) 31/12/2016). years flooding has also created a new set of pools (known by the local birders Hale Marsh and the LNR Pickerings Pasture are located to the east of Hale Village between Hale and Widnes. . The bird screen feeder was very quiet, as was the lake, but we did get some close up views of a Great Spotted Woodpecker feeding away. Saturday, 28 January 2017. . The second viewing area is from a small gated area on I parked the car and set off down to the Dungeon. Sea bass, flounder and shoals of sprat are now common, and recent catches have included sole, dogfish, rays, mackerel as well as conger. RM 2NCJW6E - Thomas Pickering, left, is sworn-in by Secretary of State James Baker at the White House in Washington Monday, March 20, 1989 as the new U.S. Seals, too, are regularly seen in the estuary, the most unusual and rarest being a Hooded Seal a Greenland species which hauled itself on the mud banks at Spike Island in 1997. However if considering a walk extension, there is a Series of a zig-zagging shallow steps which ascend to cross the bridge over Ditton Brook, cycle path leads onto Runcorn Bridge. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds(RSPB) is a registered charity: England and Wales no. to pick up with often even larger numbers of arctic waders passing through. Born in 1943 and lived at Hale Road until 1960. Carr lane pools held good numbers of Teal and 12 Black tailed godwits.A walk down to Hale lighthouse was unproductive with the neighbouring fields holding good numbers of Curlew. Near Widnes, between Ditton and Hale Village. WIRRAL Parkgate 3 Short-eared Owl. Credit: Mary Hines. par | Juin 5, 2022 | where is travis's mom in hope floats | Juin 5, 2022 | where is travis's mom in hope floats We then head to our refreshment stop at Zena's Marina Cafe, Spike Island overlooking the River Mersey, the Mersey Gateway Bridge and the nature reserve. Another great days birding which was finished off at Marbury park with Malc looking for the Bittern but no show! Along the cliff top and down on the foreshore there are dense reed beds: I imagine that in the past villagers would have harvested the reeds for thatching (in fact, there are still a few thatched cottages in Hale village). which overlooks a scrape and Hale Marsh. Scarcer species can often include. It also provides a good post-breeding roost of, Autumn For further information, please call TRAVELINE, Public Transport Info, 0871 200 22 33, A Green Flag winning local nature reserve with 32 hectares of natural landscapes and, Victoria Park holds the coveted Green Flag Award and is regarded as Haltons premier park, Land Rover Experience Liverpool offers you an exclusive opportunity to immerse yourself, Velocity Widnes is the best place to have fun! There is a hide at the far western end of Pickerings Pasture The first part of the ride is mostly on main roads from the car park at the Environment Centre, Halewood Park, Okell Drive, Halewood (Halewood Triangle) and out to Hale Village, with its pretty thatched roof cottages, where we will take a look at the statue of the 'Big Fella' John Myddleton (also known as 'The Childe of Hale'), and his final resting place in the church graveyard on the way down to the now disused lighthouse on the banks of the Mersey. CHESHIRE AND WIRRAL ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY, BIRDGUIDES PHOTO OF THE WEEK:21ST-27TH FEBRUARY 2022, BIRDGUIDES REVIEW OF THE WEEK:21ST-27TH FEBRUARY 2022, BIRDGUIDES PHOTO OF THE WEEK:14TH-20TH FEBRUARY 2022, BIRDGUIDES REVIEW OF THE WEEK:14Th-20TH FEBRUARY 2022, BIRDGUIDES PHOTO OF THE WEEK:7TH-13TH FEBRUARY 2022, BIRDGUIDES REVIEW OF THE WEEK:7TH-13TH FEBRUARY 2022, JOIN THE CAWOS DISCORD SERVER-CAWOS RARITY DECISIONS, HALEWOOD AND HOUGH GREEN WALK #LOCALBIGYEAR. Surfaced paths lead along the waterfront making it suitable for pushchairs and wheelchairs. Any feedback is appreciated With guelder rose, alder buckthorn, hawthorn, blackthorn, hazel and dog rose providing lookouts and hiding place for smaller birds. Once the road ran all the way down to the foreshore here. The lane becomes a single-track rough road and this was my first opportunity to run off-lead. Now Dungeon is an abandoned and neglected place where rubble, broken bricks, and the remains of a sandstone quay suggest some kind of industrial past.