On the path leading to Helsby Hill.
The way ahead.
Spring has arrived.
No awkward stile now and even steps to help!
Our lunch spot sitting in the Sun at the Memorial on Frodsham Hill.
The new Runcorn bridge from our lunch spot.
The view from our lunch spot, looking towards Liverpool.
Liverpool's Anglican cathedral as seen from our lunch spot.
No preferences here, this is the RC cathedral from our lunch spot.
Enjoying the mud on the Sandstone Trail heading from Frodsham towards Helsby.
Helsby Hill from the viewpoint North of Woodhouse Hill fort.
The Middle way path contouring around Helsby Hill - mud nearly over!
Walk stats: Distance: 7.7 miles. Climb: 988'. Time: 5 hours 18 minutes. On the mover walking average: 2.3 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 1.4 m.p.h. (That's a lot of stopping!)
Group: Martyn, Roger, Jim, Mal and Wendy.
This turned out to be a better day weather wise, than most of the forecasts said it would be. We were expecting lots of showers, some heavy, especially after lunch, but at least it would feel quite mild. In the end we had one shower just before lunch, but in reality I didn't have my waterproof jacket on all day.
After all of the recent rain we have had, paths were at times on the muddy side, and to my surprise it wasn't Wendy grumbling about the mud this time, instead this time was Roger!
We arrived at the entrance to Woodhouse Hill Fort at 11-00, and decided that we would miss out exploring it today and continued on the walk heading towards Beacon Hill and Frodsham, arriving at the Memorial on Frodsham Hill at about 12-30.
This was the perfect lunch spot, with the Sun shining and plenty of available seats with good views over the Weaver and the Mersey towards Liverpool. We had good views of both the old and the new Runcorn bridges.
After lunch we were following the Sandstone Trail for most of the way. This is a really good section except for the time it took us negotiating the muddy boggy parts. We did get glimpses of good views through the trees as we followed the contouring path.
The last part of the route followed the Middle contouring path across Helsby Hill, perhaps going over the top might have been the better option today.
We arrived back at the car, thankful that we had had a good walk and despite all the muddy boggy paths encountered our boots were relatively clean and wouldn't take much effort to clean.
Birds seen or heard today included Carrion crow, European robin, Eurasian jay, Black-billed magpie, Common pheasant, Woodpigeon, Dunnock, Common blackbird, Mallard, Shelduck, Winter wren, Blue tit, Great tit, Chiffchaff, Common pheasant, Wood nuthatch, Goldfinch, Treecreper, Grey wagtail and Common buzzard.
After walk drinks were enjoyed at the White Lion at Alvanley, where Robinson's Dizzy Blonde went down well. It was a good sized pot of tea - I managed to get four cups out of it!
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