St. Nicholas' Church, Burton.
On the path through Burton Wood.
Are we still on the right path through Burton Wood.
Moel Famau from the Burton to Neston Road.
Looking across the Dee estuary towards the Clwydian Hills from the Burton to Neston Road.
Lost sheep?
The Sandstone track leading to the Wirral Way.
A delightful new lunch area on the Wirral Way East of the Neston Cutting.
On the Dee estuary path from the Old Quay heading towards the Harp Inn.
The Harp Inn - chosen location for after walk refreshments.
Walk stats: Distance: 8.0 miles. Climb: 414'.
Time: 3 hours 58 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.5 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 2.0 m.p.h.
Group: Martyn, Roger, Sue and Michel, Mal, Jim and David S.
Today looked like being a good day for walking, although we were expecting it to feel pretty cold with strong cold winds gusting in. Once again, we were lucky with plenty of warm sunshine and only the occasional cool breeze to keep us cool.
In the past we have always been unsure about which path to take through Burton Wood, but today we had success and kept to the described route throughout.
As on previous walks, Mill Lane from Ness proved to be busy with traffic, but all vehicles slowed as the passed us.
The second bonus today was finding a new area of seats made out parts of tree trunks arranged in a circle around a large piece with a carved bear on one side. This was a perfect lunch spot and being in the warm sunshine was another bonus.
This was the last walk before Christmas for some of the group, so the traditional fortified fruit cake was provided.
The muddiest part of the walk was dropping down from the Wirral Way to the Old Quay where the access to one of the gates was surrounded by water that looked too deep for our boots, we had to climb over the nearby fence with two horses looking on.
Sections along the estuary were a little waterlogged, but nothing that we couldn't cope with. As we passed the Harp Inn, we noticed that its new opening hours were Noon to 11-00 p.m. each day, so we decided to return later for our after walk refreshments.
We arrived back at the car, having had a really enjoyable walk, missing out on all the bad bits that had been in most forecasts for the area.
Birds seen or heard today included: Woodpigeon, Common buzzard, Little egret, Black-billed magpie, House sparrow, Eurasian curlew, Common blackbird, Goldfinch, Carrion crow, Common chaffinch, Fieldfare, European robin, common kestrel, Lapwing, Grey heron, Teal and Black-headed gull.
On returning to the Harp Inn at Ness, one side (the one with a roaring fire) was too full, but thankfully there was room for us in the other room. Holts' Bitter was the beer of choice, but Mulled wine with a mince pie went down particularly well. Two types of coffee were sampled too.
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