An Afternoon Stroll Along New Brighton Promenade 24th December 2025

Heading for Liverpool Docks on the rising tide.

Heading for Liverpool Docks on the rising tide.

Fort Perch Lighthouse.

Fort Perch.

The entrance to Fort Perch.

The new home for Everton FC.

Anfield, home of Liverpool FC.

The Floral Pavilion at New Brighton

The entrance to Vale Park.

Oystercatchers and Ringed plover.

View across New Brighton Marine Lake.

Mural on the wall of New Brighton Marine Lake.

New Brighton Marine Lake.

Turnstones and Common redshank on the pontoon in New Brighton Marine Lake.

Little egret.

Leasowe Lighthouse from the Coast Guard Lookout.

Not Moel Famau, but at least it is the hills in North Wales.

View across West Kirby Marine Lake.

View across West Kirby Marine Lake.

Hilbre from West Kirby Marine Lake Promenade.

Distance: 4.8 miles. Climb: 100'.

Temperature: Around 5 Celsius. Beaufort Wind Force: 3, just a Gentle but cool breeze.

Birds seen or heard included: Feral pigeon, Black headed gull, Herring gull, Little egret, Oystercatcher, Ringed plover, Common redshank, Turnstone, Common starling, Pied wagtail and Carrion crow.

This was a good day for walking, cool but bright and sunny. Lots of others thought so as well, I've never seen so many people walking along the promenade at New Brighton.

Later on West Kirby Marine Lake was equally popular, with parking spaces next to the lake being hard to find.

Cwm Conwy, Castle Wood and Moel y Gaer 10th December 2025.

On the way to Cwm Conwy.

Crossing the Afon Conwy.

A good section of the path in Cwm Conwy.

Fallen trees and the Afon Conwy

Nigel at work with a hand saw.

Mike finishing the job with a bit of brute force.

The Afon Conwy in Cwm Conwy.

Descending the bridleway to Wat's Dyke Way.

Getting past on a fallen tree on Wat's Dyke Way.

Another fallen tree to be negotiated.

It looks impossible to get past this blockage, but thankfully there was a way round on the left.

Waiting for everyone else to reach Castle Wood.

T*he view from my lunch spot.

About to vacate their lunch spot seat.

The final climb on Moel y Gaer.

Moel Famau from inside Moel y Gaer hillfort.

Some of the ramparts on Moel y Gaer Hillfort.

Rhosesmor from Moel y Gaer.

St. Paul's Church, Rhosesmor.

Distance: 6.7 miles.
Climb: 1010’.
Time: 4 hours 32 minutes.
On the moves walking average: 2.2 m.p.h.
Overall walk average: 1.5 m.p.h.
Temperature: 9.7 – 11.2 Celsius.
Beaufort Wind Force: 3 - 4 Gentle to Moderate breeze. Max 15.7 m.p.h. Moderate breeze on the top of Moel y Gaer.
Birds seen or heard included: Common blackbird, Winter wren, European robin, Jackdaw, Herring gull, Common pheasant, Carrion crow, Woodpigeon, Black billed magpie and Fieldfare
The forecast for today, was with rain unlikely but quite windy with possible gust up to 47 m.p.h. Temperatures were forecast to be around 10 Celsius, but feeling around 6 Celsius.
In fact, it was much better than the forecast, with lots of warm sunny spells. It did feel cool towards the end of our lunch time, but we soon warmed up once we started to walk again.
Distant views were generally pretty good, once we had any height, near the start as we descended towards Cwm Conwy from Rhosesmor and later on when we were on the top of Moel y Gaer.
After all the rain, I was expecting it to be muddy and boggy in places with some paths being flooded. In fact, underfoot was much better than expected. The only challenge came in the form of “wonky” stiles near Rhosesmor and fallen trees in Cwm Conwy and along Wat’s Dyke Way Path.
Using a hand saw and some brute force enabled Nigel and Mike to clear the worse obstacle in Cwm Conwy.
Lunch was taken on the common land near the Blue Bell, where a bench and stone commemorating King Charles III visit in 1972, provided somewhere for us to sit.
The best views of the day came when we were at the top of Moel y Gaer, where you get good 360-degree views, including the Clwydian Hill, the Cheshire plain and the Dee estuary.
Overall, a very enjoyable walk, celebrated with an excellent pint of Lees bitter at the Blue Bell Inn in Halkyn.

A Short Walk from Parkgate 3rd December 2025

 Moel Famau from the Old Baths, Parkgate.

New seats and picnic table at the Old Baths Car Park, Parkgate.

Getting ready to set off.

On the way to the Wirral Way.

The Wirral Way is quiet today.

Lunch time in Stanney Fields Park

Lunch time is nearly over.

Crossing the bridge.

View of Moel Famau from the Neston - Old Quay Path

The last time we came, this was a very muddy path - no mud now!

Crossing the field from Neston Old Quay to Neston Reedbed.

The delightful Neston Reedbed Path.

You can just about tell it is a Common kestrel

Christmas decorations at the Donkey Stand, Parkgate.

One of the Donkey Stand information board.

One of several Grey herons seen on he marsh off The Parade, Parkgate.

Distance: 5.0 miles. Climb: 272'.

Time: 2 hours 46 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.5 m.p.h.  Overall walk average: 1.8 m.p.h.

Temperature: A cool 6 Celsius at the start, but 8 Celsius from mid-day onwards, and feeling much warmer later on as we walk along The Parade at Parkgate.

Beaufort Wind Force - not measured, but the wind was hardly noticeable.

Group: Martyn, Sue and Michel, Elaine, Nigel, Mike, Fran,, Sue P with Lilly the well behaved spaniel.

Birds seen or heard today include: Common blackbird, Grey heron, Mallard, Teal, Common starling, Black headed gull, Herring gull, Blue tit, Great tit, Carrion crow, Moorhen, Common kestrel and Cetti warbler.

Another good turn out for our monthly short walk, possibly encouraged by Nigel informing us last week, that he would be bringing some of Elaine's excellent mince pies.

We arrived at our lunch spot  in Stanney Fields Park just before mid-day, but no-one objected to having an early lunch. As usual Elaine's mince pies went down well with everyone, especially with one member of the group who forgot to bring any lunch. Thanks again, Elaine.

The surprise of the day, was finding one of the usually muddy paths had been made into a surfaced path, similar to the one behind Neston Reedbed.

We arrived back at cars, having had a really enjoyable walk and already looking forward to the next one.

We all went straight home, which meant that I was able to clean my boots outside in the warm sunshine before the light faded.