A Chester to Eccleston Round 20th November 2024

 

The River Dee and Chester Wier from the Handbridge road bridge.

The River Dee and Chester Weir.

The River Dee, Chester Weir and Salmons Leap

Chester Weir.

The information board about Chester Earl's Eye Meadows.

On the path adjacent to the Meadows.

On the wintery path heading towards Eccleston.

St. Mary's Church, Eccleston, taken from the riverside path.

A female Mallard.

The drake Mallard.

St. Mary's Church, Eccleston.

The impress gates to St. Mary's Church, Eccleston.

Duke's Drive.

Autumnal leaves on Duke's Drive.

The Chester entrance to Duke's Drive.

The River Dee looking towards Handbridge from the Grosvenor Road Bridge.

Back at the cross in Chester.

In the rows, heading for Godstall Lane and liquid refreshment.

Walk stats: 8.6 / 12 miles. Includes walking to and from Upton for Fran and Nigel. Climb: 150’,
Time: 3 hours 45 minutes. Overall Walk average: 2.2 m.p.h.
Temperature: 5 Celsius to 8 Celsius, although in the bright sunshine around mid-day, it felt much warmer.
Beaufort Wind Force: 0 Not measured, but no noticeable wind was felt throughout the walk, so we can confidently say it was pretty calm.
Group: Martyn, Nigel and Fran.
I had an appointment for an RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) Vaccination, we ended up having a walk from Chester to Eccleston leaving Northgate Street at about 10-00. The outward route took along the riverside path to Eccleston, and the return route took us along Duke’s Drive.
As expected, the riverside path was quite muddy and waterlogged in places, but at least it wasn’t icy. There was still plenty of snow lying on the adjacent fields, but it was warm enough for the snow o have thawed on any pavements we walked on.
Lunch was taken, using a bench near to the footpath leading directly to Eccleston Church. It was very pleasant sitting in the warm sunshine, watching a pair of Mallards going through courtship and more.
We saw lots of people out walking dogs and while we had lunch several people went past were out just enjoying walking on this bright and sunny day.
Birds seen or heard included: Jackdaw, Herring gull, Eurasian jay, Black billed magpie, Moorhen, Black headed gull, Mallard, Common blackbird, Long-tailed tit, Cetti warbler, Winter wren, European robin, Eurasian jay and Woodpigeon.
Overall, a very enjoyable walk, it would have been a crime, if we had decided not to walk, just because it was cold and the MET Office had put out an Ice Warning on the roads.
After walk drinks were enjoyed at Duttons in Godstall Lane, Chester. This is J.W Lees venue. It was disappointing to find that Traditional Les bitter is never stocked and Lees MPA is the only real ale that was on offer. However, this light refreshing brew did go down well, but I was impressed by having to ask several times for the glass to be topped up. At £5-15 a pint, I wasn’t going to accept short measures!
I decided to catch the 15-02 bus home, and despite the bus filling up with school children from Catholic High, I was home by 15-30, in time to clean my boots before the Sun went down.
I did however use warm water, rather that use the feezing cold water from the water butt!

A Bus Trip and Walk In Search of a Pebbly Beach 16th November 2024

Hope Mountain to the right of Hope's Place Farm. (Taken from the bus)

The entrance to Hawarden Castle. (Taken from the bus)

Looking towards Halkyn Mountain from the road in Bagillt. (Taken from the bus)

Holywell town centre. (Taken from the bus)

Still raining at Prestatyn Station. (Taken from the bus)

The entrance to Gwrych Castle. (Taken from the bus)

Cefn yr Ogof above the Valentine Inn at Llanddulas.
Llanddulas is the start of my walk today.

St. Cynbryd's Church, Llanddulas.

The rolling waves at Llanddulas beach.

More rolling waves at Llanddulas beach.

The Sun trying to put i an appearance over Cefn yr Ogof.

(taken from the Coastal Path next the Llanddulas Beach).

Great cormorants perched on the wooden groynes.

Even more rolling waves near Llanddulas beach.

The classic Great cormorant pose drying out its wing feathers.

One of the Pensarn Notice Boards.

Pensarn Beach looking towards Rhyl.

The Great Orme in the mist (taken from Pensarn Beach).

The pebbly beach I was looking for at Pensarn.

The main lake in Pentre Mawr Park, Abergele.

Ducks sheltering in the reeds in Pentre Mawr Park.

Gwrych Castle from Pensarn Railway Station Bridge.

The Foryd, Rhyl. (taken from the bus)

Walk stats: 5.0 miles. Climb: 200’,
Time: 1 hours 45 minutes. Overall Walk average: 2.8 m.p.h.
Temperature: About 10 Celsius
Beaufort Wind Force: Mainly 0-2. Mainly Calm /Light air, but did increase to a Light breeze long the Coast Path from Llanddulas to Pensarn.
Group: Martyn.
It was a very light rain for most of the outward journey as far as Llanddulas. Even at Llanddulas there was rain in he air, but never enough to make me use my umbrella.
Distant views weren’t that clear, although I could just about make out the Great Orme.
Birds seen or heard included: Carrion crow, Jackdaw, Great cormorant, Grey wagtail, Herring gull, Eurasian jay, Black billed magpie, Moorhen, Black headed gull, Mallard, Mute swan, Common blackbird, Shelduck, Oystercatcher, Pied wagtail and Woodpigeon
As forecast, the rain had stopped completely by about 12-15, although the Sun was only seen through the clouds.
Having successfully found the pebbles/stones I wanted, I decided to call in at the Central Hotel in Shotton where I enjoyed a Mixed Grill with a pint of Purple Moose’s Plum Porter before catching the 17-45 bus home.

Rhosesmor, Sychdyn and Northop 13th November 2024

 

Moel y Gaer, but not on our route today.

The Clwydian Hills, but I can't see Moel Famau!

Are they sheep or cattle?

Just very small cattle!

On route towards Ram Wood.

The Gwysaney Hall Sycamore.

Gwysaney Hall.

Or lunch spot.

The path to Northop from our lunch spot.

I've had better views from my lunch spot!

Saint Eugain's and Saint Peter's Church, Northop.

Looking back towards Saint Eugain's and Saint Peter's Church, Northop.

Heading towards Soughton Farm.

A good view before hitting the road back to Rhosesmor.

Autumnal colours in Coed Cefn.

A close up of the Autumnal colours in Coed Cefn,

Walk stats: 8.9 miles. Climb: 902’,
Time: 5 hours 7 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.5 m.p.h. Overall Walk average: 1.7 m.p.h.
Temperature: 11.5 Celsius to 12.5 Celsius
Beaufort Wind Force: Mainly 0-1. Mainly Calm, but occasionally just about a Light air.
Group: Martyn, Fran and Nigel.
The weather forecast indicated that there was little chance of rain, winds around 8 m.p.h., but some Sunshine.
This was pretty accurate, although we see brief see more spells of sunshine than on suggested on the forecasts.
It did feel quite cool as we set off from Rhosesmor, but it wasn’t long before I felt my Paramo jacket was the right choice.
Leaving Rhosesmor we took the path heading near to Cefn-eugain. This was a mistake as several stiles on this route were broken and not so easy to get over (at least not for me!). In future, when we do this walk, we will use the alternative path following the Wat’s Dyke Way.
We also had problems finding the path through the wood on the way to Ram Wood. We eventually found the stile we needed to escape and continue on the planned route, but we never made it to Ram Wood!.
We also missed out Big Wood by taking the path on the south west side of Gwysaney Hall. It meant a little more road walking, but did miss out the notorious boggy section through Big Wood.
Lunch was taken on the path heading towards North, south east of Soughton Hall (hotel).
Fruit cake was again provided, and this time there was even more evidence of cherries in the pieces of cake on offer.
Distant views weren’t that clear, although the mast on Moel y Parc was easy to see, we never saw the top of Moel Famau.
Birds seen or heard included: Carrion crow, Jackdaw, Rook, European robin, Common blackbird and Woodpigeon
After walk drinks were enjoyed at the Britannia Inna t Halyn, where the Lees Bitter went down well as did the welcoming wood burning stove next to where we sat.
Sarah has done a good job in bringing the Brit back to life. The menu looked pretty good too.

Walks and Dates November 2024.

 

Saturday 2th November 2024.

No walk planned.

Contact me if you fancy a local Saturday walk.

Wednesday 6th November 2024.

West Kirby, Gilroy Nature Reserve, Grange Hill Caldy Hill and the Wirral Way.

Distance: 9 miles

Climb: 400' .

Start. South Parade, West Kirby. Grid ref: SJ214860. Park near the Life Boat Station and old Baths, towards the Southern end of the Marine Lake.

Leave Chester at 09-00 a.m. 

Those planning to walk: Martyn, .

Those not walking: Mike, .

Usually we start this walk by walking around the Marine Lake and the walking along the beach to Red Rocks, but high tide is at about 13-19 and is at 8.6 m / 28.1.

We should be able to walk along the beach from West Kirby to Red Rocks.

Assuming we can continue the walk in a clockwise direction.

At Red Rocks follow Stanley Road to the cross roads at The King's Gap, turn right and at the roundabout go straight to Station Road.  After crossing the railway turn right into Carr Lane and follow this to its end when it becomes a footpath.  At a junction of paths, turn right towards power lines. When the path meets a fence turn left along the fence. This footpath eventually goes to Gilroy Nature Park and then onto Gilroy Road. 

 From here we will head across Grange Hill and descend to the beacon on Column Road.

 From the beacon, our route takes us south to Caldy Hill to met King's Drive. Heading down hill, turn right onto a path that leads to the Caldy Road.  At Caldy Road we will turn left and the right into Croft Drive West. At the junction with Croft Drive, we will turn right, heading towards the estuary.  We will then turn right and follow the Wirral Way as far as Ashton Park in West Kirby and then head west through the houses back to South Parade and the start of our walk.

Saturday 9th November 2024.

No walk planned.

Contact me if you fancy a local Saturday walk.

Wednesday 13th November 2024. 

Rhosesmor, Sychdyn and Northop.

Distance: 9.0 miles. Climb: 1000'.

Start: Parking area next to playground, Rhosesmor. Grid ref: SJ214681.

Leave Chester at 09-00 a.m.

Those planning to walk: Martyn, Nigel and Fran..

Those not walking: Mike, Sue and Michel.

This walk includes the "Northop - Sychdyn" walk from the booklet "Rural Walks in Flintshire". The "Northop - Sychdyn" walk starts from Northop and is only five miles. The car park in Northop is very small, and when I went on a reccy it was full. Starting at Rhosesmor overcomes that problem and extends the walk by four miles.

The "Northop - Sychdyn" walk is described as including a traveller's resting place, grand houses, parkland and woodland. It is also described as a moderate walk with many stiles and some boggy places.

The "Northop - Sychdyn" walk was completed fo the fist time in 2016.

 The link-up paths from Rhosesmor include many of the paths that we have used on Gwystaney walks from the same parking area.

Saturday 16th November 2024.

No walk planned.

Contact me if you fancy a local Saturday walk.

Wednesday 20th  November 2024.

The Trent and Mersey Canal, Great Budworth and More.

Start: Marbury Country Park car Park (Pay and Display £2-50 last time). Grid ref: SJ652763.

Distance: 7-8 miles. Climb: 1000'.

Leave Chester at 09-00 a.m.

Those planning to walk: Martyn, . 

Those not walking: Mike. 

The main 7 mile walk is taken from the "Pathfinders Guide to Cheshire". This is described as a varied walk with plenty of historic interest, including the Anderton Boat Lift.. The extra mileage will be made by exploring the Anderton Nature Park, Marshall's Wood, Carey Park, Ashton's Flash and Neumann's Flash.  Bring binoculars with you if you can. 

Saturday 23rd November 2024.

No walk planned.

Contact me if you fancy a local Saturday walk.

Wednesday 27th November 2022.

Cwm Conwy, Castle Wood and Moel Y Gaer.

Distance:7 - 10 miles. Climb: 1200'.

Start: Rhosesmor. Parking area next to the children's play area. Grid ref:SJ214684.

Leave Chester at 9-00 a.m.

Those planning to walk: Martyn, Mike.

Those not walking: .

This walk is based on a walk  from Dave Berry's book "Walks Around Holywell and Halkyn Mountain".  The Cwm Conwy walk is one of my favourite walks in the Halkyn area at any time of the year. The extension continues the walk as far as the old cemetry at Halkyn, but any additional extension would need to include Halkyn Mountain itself - not to everyone taste! 

Saturday 30th November 2024.

No walk planned.

Contact me if you fancy a local Saturday walk.