The Trans Pennine Trail From Southport to Crossens and A little More 29th May 2026

Southport Marine Lake

The official start of the walk.

Southport Pier and Beach.

Southport beach / marsh.

Distant views of Blackpool.

I think they must play golf near here!

Southport Golf Links and Hesketh Golf Club or near to this roundabout.

The white flowers are Wild Radish and the yellow flowers are Sea radish.

Looking across RSPB Marshside Nature Reserve.

Black tailed godwits and Black headed gulls at RSPB Marshside Nature Reserve.

Lapwing, Black tailed godwit and Black headed gull at Marshside.

Tufted duck and Avocet at Marshside.

Tufted duck at Marshside.

Black headed gulls and chicks at Marshside.

A Common coot at Marshside.

Mute swans at Marshside.

Viper's Bugloss.

Probably our best view across the Ribble Estuary to Blackpool Tower.

Snow in the Summer / Curastium tumentosum.

A Grey heron on the outlet gutter near Crossens Pumping Station.

The Trans Pennine Trail from Crossens Criffel Granite Stone.

The embankment and England Coastal Path shown on the previous photo.

(This will be the start of the next part of the walk heading towards Preston.)

At the end of our walk today (The Crossens Criffel Granite Stone).

The information plaque on the Crossens Criffel Stone

Distance: 6.4 miles. Climb: 75'.
Time: 4 hours 6 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.8 m.p.h. Overall walking average: 1.6 m.p.h.
Temperature: Max to 22.8 Celsius in the warm sunshine at lunch. Nevertheless, it did it felt much cooler than that as we walked along the coast.
Beaufort Wind Force: 2 - 3, mainly a very pleasant Light breeze, but it times id did increase to a 9.2 m.p.h. Gentle breeze.
Group: Martyn and John L.
The weather forecast looked much better for walking today, and in reality, it was perfect for walking, largely sunny, no rain and a welcome cooling breeze.
This was a very different day out for me, involving three bus journeys, four train journeys as well the walk (the objective of our day out).
Initially, we caught the earliest Liverpool train that our Merseytravel saver tickets allowed us to use. It left Chester just after 9 and arrived at Southport just after 11.
The first objective of the day, was to locate the start of the Trans Pennine Trail in Southport.
How far we would go, depended on how we were feeling at about 15-00, our location and where we could catch a bus back to Southport.
I had never been to Southport, so the we passed the worst of the seaside towns “attractions”, the amusement arcades on the way to the sea shore.
Southport pier was pretty impressive. A good beach, but the sea was a long way out, if you wanted a swim. Needless to say, there weren’t many people on the beach!
The beach became more and more covered by vegetation as we approached Marshside.
This for me was a bonus as this was the area where we saw good numbers of Skylarks singing as well as a small murmuration of about 500 starlings.
Just before RSPB Marshside Nature Reserve, we could clearly see Blackpool Tower and the Big Dipper across the estuary.
We decided to stop for lunch near the entrance of the track that led to RSPB Marshside Nature Reserve Visitor Centre, where there was a seat that overlooked a couple of scrapes on the reserve.
This was a bonus for me, as I could do a bit of birdwatching as I had my lunch.
Birds seen or heard today included: Skylark, Meadow pipit, Jackdaw, Carrion crow, Greylag goose, Canada goose, Common starling, Sedge warbler, Reedwarbler, Tufted duck, Common coot, Mallard, Common blackbird, Blue tit, Blackcap, Goldfinch, Common coot, Avocet, Shelduck, Oystercatcher, Herring gull, Barn swallow, House martin, Common redshank, Black tailed godwit, Lapwing, Grey heron, Mute swan and Little egret.
We saw lots of flowers as well, including: Sea radish, Wild radish, Viper’s Bugloss, White clover, Red clover, Buttercup, Daisy, Dandelion, Wild rose, Ox-eye daisy and Yellow / Flag iris.
Towards the end of our walk, the path overlooked part of the Ribble Estuary Nature Reserve, and we had our clearest views of Blackpool Tower.
At Crossens, we did start on the King Charles III England Coast Path, but quickly changed our mind, and decide it would be better option to go back to Banks Road and catch a bus back to Southport.
We effectively ended today’s walk at Crossens Criffel Granit Stone on Banks Road near the Pumping Station.
We had to wait about twenty minutes before the Stagecoach X2 arrived to take us back to the centre of Southport.
It seems 20 minutes was the waiting time for us, as that was the time we had to wait each time waied for a bus or train. 
On the way back, we had excellent views of the excellent views of the impressive Hill-Dickenson Stadium – all Everton need now is a team to match!
Overall, a very enjoyable day out, I even managed to call in at the Square Bottle for a Steak and Ale Pudding with a pint of Rooster’s Yankee before catching the 19-17 bus home.

The Eglwyseg Escarpments and More from the Monument 27th 2026

The start of the climb on the path above Trevor Rocks.

Still climbing.

A good viewpoint above Trevor Rocks.

Fran's spotted a riverside caravan site, can you?

Dinas Bran in the distance?

A juvenile Stonechat.

Another Stonechat.

Impressive storm damage in the Eglwyseg Plantation.

Time for another discussion.

The Eglwyseg Valley and World's End from our lunch spot.

It must be time to leave our lunch spot.

In theory there is a Cuckoo singing, but only the singing Skylarks can be heard.

The Eglwyseg Escarpments ahead.

Looking back at the Eglwyseg Escarpments.

It looks like I am finding it hard work!

The hard way and the easy way.

The hard way.

The easy way.

Two tracks on the moors that need exploring.

Tormentil in flower on the moors. 

Heading toward Trevor Rocks.

Dinas Bran from Trevor Rocks.

At the start of the path above Trevor Rocks.

Distance: 9.4 miles. Climb: 1730'.
Time: 6 hours 20 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.0 m.p.h. Overall walking average: 1.5 m.p.h.
Temperature: 19.0 Celsius to 22.0 Celsius, although it felt much warmer than that towards the end.
Beaufort Wind Force: 2 - 4, mainly a very pleasant Light breeze, but it did gust to a 17.6 m.p.h. Moderate breeze (enough to blow hats off!).
Group: Martyn, Nigel, Fran and Mike.
The weather forecast looked too good, but rather on the hot side in the afternoon. This was enough for Fran to suggest an early start, so we set off an hour earlier than usual.
This meant that we at the Monument before 09-00 and at our lunch spot around 11-30. Lunch was taken from a spot that overlooked the Eglwyseg Valley and World's End.
Distant views were good, but somewhat hazy.
It was wall to wall blue skies all day and Sun hats and Sun cream were the order of the day.
This was a day when any cooling breeze was very welcome.
Birds seen or heard today. Included: Common blackbird, Carrion crow, Jackdaw, Willow warbler, Chiffchaff, Stonechat, Meadow pipit, Common whitethroat and even a Cuckoo was heard calling from the Eglwyseg valley. Some of the group believed they had seen a Common buzzard.
Overall, a very enjoyable walk, celebrated with liquid refreshment at Sun Inn, Trevor. Magic Dragon (formerly Plessey) brewery’s IPA went down well.

Gronant Dunes NE and Connah’s Quay NR 23rd May 2026

A Barn swallow perched on the wire near the entrance to Gronant Dunes NR.

Flag iris next to Prestatyn Gutter.

Coots on Prestatyn Gutter.

A Pyramidal orchid next to the path through the dunes.

Looking towards the Little tern Hide.

Looking past the Little tern hide towards Point of Ayr Light House.

The Little tern colony nesting site, protected by electrified fencing.

Looking towards Prestatyn and beyond to Yr Eryri.

Sea purslane next to the path through the dunes.

Sea holly in the dunes.

Skylarks singing in the dunes.

More Pyramidal orchids.

Even more Pyramidal orchids.

Another Common coot on Prestatyn Gutter.

A Little grebe at Connah's Quay Nature Reserve.

A Little egret at Connah's Quay Nature Reserve.

One of two Little egrets on Connah's Quay Nature Reserve Dee Hide Scrape.

Ash Pool from West Hide car park..

Black tailed godwits, Mallards and Shelduck take off from Ash Pool.

Time: 2 hours 3 minutes. Overall walking average: 1.3 m.p.h.
Temperature: 15.2 Celsius to 20.0 Celsius.
Beaufort Wind Force: Max – 2, just a Light breeze.
Group: Martyn.
The weather forecast looked too good to stay at home and sit in the garden, so I thought that it would be a good idea to visit Gronant Dunes Nature Reserve to see the Little terns.
I did see the Little terns, but the hide nearest to the nesting birds wasn’t yet open, so I will have to visit again in late June, when the hide is open.
The bonus today was seeing Swifts, the first that I have seen this year. Seeing and hearing lots of Skylarks was also a joy to behold.
Flower-wise, there were good numbers of Pyramidal orchids in flower next to the path through the dunes.
Birds seen or heard today in Lower Gronant and Gronant Dunes NR included: Common pheasant, Common blackbird, Chiffchaff, European robin, House sparrow, Black billed magpie, Blackcap, Cetti warbler, Winter wren, Mallard, Skylark, Barn swallow, Swift, Little tern, Herring gull, Lesser black back gull, Great cormorant, Black headed gull, Oystercatcher, Canada goose, Sedge warbler, Reed warbler, Woodpigeon and Mallard.
As it was on the way home, I decided to call in at the Connah’s Quay Nature Reserve. It was around low tide, so I wasn’t expecting to see much. The bunded pools were almost dry, so Little egrets were the best that they could offer.
Ash pool was a little better with more waders and wildfowl present.
Birds seen or heard in Connah’s Quay Nature Reserve included: Little egret, Shelduck, Goldfinch, Blackcap. Stonechat, Woodpigeon, Little grebe, Canada goose, Rook, Greylag, Mallard, Lesser black back gull, Black headed gull, Rook, Carrion crow, Tufted duck and Black tailed godwit. Overall, an enjoyable few hours birdwatching, before it became too warm and I need to seek the shade.