A Birthday Breakfast, Drink and Five Bus Rides 16th August 2025

The breakfast location.

The breakfast.

The drink location.

The drink, but not made by Thatchers.

The identity of the drink can just be made out on the pump clip behind the bar.

I caught the 07-59 Holywell bus at the top of the road, and thankfully it was on time. The bus arrived at Holywell on time, but it was 1o minutes later when we were allowed to get off.  Road works and traffic lights resulted in congestion around the bus station.  It was even worse later on, the A55 was closed in both direction due to sheep wandering onto the road and the diversion sent all of the normal A55 traffic through Holywell.

Consequently the 26 from Holywell to Mold was due to leave at 11-50, but ended up being 20 minutes late.

Breakfast at the Market Cross, no longer a Wetherspoon, but serving similar food. The breakfast was really good, with well done bacon as requested.  Beer choice was down to just two real ales, but as I was only drinking coffee today, it wasn't a problem!

It was too warm for me as I waited for the  13-00 bus to Mold from the Blue Bell, so much so that I sheltered in the shade of the nearby garage until I saw the bus come round the corner.

Thankfully the 13-00 bus to Mold was only 10 minutes late, so the congestion in Holywell must have eased slightly.

My journey from Mold, started with the 4X to Hawarden and then 11 from Hawarden home, a seamless journey, as I got off the 4X, the 11 arrived.  Back home before 15-00.

Overall an enjoyable way to spend a few hours on my birthday.

Parkgate and Around West Kirby Marine Lake 13th August 2025

Canada geese on the Donkey Stand Flash.

Little egret on the Donkey Stand Flash.

Grey heron on Donkey Stand Flash.

Common redshank on Donkey Stand Flash.

Greenshank on Donkey Stand Flash.

Avocet on Donkey Stand Flash.

Black hesded gull and Lapwing on Donkey Stand Flash.

A male Stonechat by Donkey Stand Flash.

Greenshank on Donkey Stand Flash.

Grey heron and Moorhen on Bevyl Road Flash.

Spoonbills on the Boathouse Flash.

Spoonbills and Grey heron on Boathouse Flash.

West Kirby Marine Lake from near the yacht club.

Common redshank on the sand bank near the outflow stream from the Marine Lake.

Turnstone, starting to lose its Summer plumage.

Turnstones on the bank near the Marine Lake.

A foraging Lesser black backed gull.

Great cormorants on estuary sand banks.

A Herring gull getting ready to jump into the Marine Lake.

The RNLI heading for Little Eye and Hilbre.

Looking towards Red Rocks from West Kirby Marine Lake.

A new and interesting information board onthe site of the old baths at West Kirby Marine Lake.

I was surprised to learn that you can see Anglesey from here, but not today!

Today, you could only just make out the Point of Ayr Lighthouse.

I didn't expect to see a tractor going round the Marine Lake.

The weather forecast for today indicated that wouldn't be a sensible to spend five hours in open countryside, so I decided to do a bit of birdwatching, mainly from the comfort of my car at Parkgate.

I did however, walk around the Marine Lake at West Kirby, tempted by a  pleasant breeze and the temperature only just 21 Celsius on the car thermometer.  By the time I got back to the car, the temperature had already reached 24.5 Celsius and starting to feel more humid.

In all, I only walked 2.0 miles, and was glad that I wasn't going to go any further!

Birds seen today included: Avocet, Lapwing, Black tailed godwit, Little egret, Barn swallow, Feral pigeon, Greenshank, Common redshank, Grey heron, Mallard, Spoonbill, Canada goose, Moorhen, Stonechat, Herring gull, Lesser black back gull, Black headed gull, Great cormorant and Turnstone.

 

Parkgate and RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands NR 9th August 2024

Parkgate Promenade, looking towards Donkey Stand.

Little egret and Common redshank on Donkey Stand Flash.

Waders on Donkey Stand Flash.

Common redshank, Black tailed godwits and a Black headed gull on Donkey Stand Flash.

Looking across Donkey Stand Flash towards the Clwydian Hills.

A Grey heron and Little egrets on Boathouse Flash.

Oystercatchers on Boathouse Flash.

Looking back towards Parkgate Promenade from near Bevyl Road.

A Grey heron with Little egrets on Boathouse Flash.

Looking towards the Point of Ayr lighthouse from the Old Bath's Car Park at Parkgate.

Looking back towards Parkgate from the Old Bath's Car Park at Parkgate.

Lots of Canada geese on the Main Scrape at RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands NR.

Looking over the Main Scrape towards Moel Famau and Connah's Quay Power Station.

The Main Scrape at RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands RSPB.

A Little grebe seen from the Reedbed Screen.

The same Little grebe.

A Great white egret hunting on the Reedbed.

A farmyard goose and Greylag goose on Centenary Pool.

Avocets feeding on Centenary Pool.

A Lapwing on Centenary Pool.

Lapwings on Centenary Pool.  

You can just about make out the peewit call of the Lapwings through the dominant calls of the Greylag geese.

A young Common lizard  on the fence, basking in the warm sunshine.

I couldn't resist taking a photo of this beautiful Water Lilly.

Just a short 4 mile morning stroll along the Promenade at Parkgate, followed by a visit to RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands NR.

Birds seen or heard today included: Marsh harrier, Lapwing, Common redshank, Grey heron, Oystercatcher, Little egret, Teal, Mallard. Canada goose, Greylag goose, House martin, Barn swallow, Herring gull, Black headed gull, Black tailed godwit, Moorhen, Common coot, Great white egret, Shelduck, Winter wren, Woodpigeon, Carrion crow, Jackdaw, Rook, Gadwall, Tufted duck and Pied avocet.

The highlights of the day was a large Common toad that walked over my foot along the boardwalk and later seeing a juvenile Common lizard on the fence, basking in the sunshine.

It was quite windy, so butterflies were few and far between. In fact I only saw several Large whites and just one Speckled wood.

 

Chirk - Offa's Dyke, Two Canal Tunnels and A Castle 6th August 2025

The entrance to the Chirk Canal Tunnel - the start of our walk.

About to leave the Chirk Canal Tunnel on the way to Chirk Bank.

Leaving the chirk Canal Tunnel.

Looking eastward from the Chirk aqueduct down into the Ceiriog Valley.

Looking westward from the Chirk aqueduct.

The road leading to the Bridge Inn at Chirk Bank.

A narrow boat crossing the Chirk aqueduct.

The Afon Ceiriog not far from where we saw the Dipper.

The path heading for Pentre Wood.

The start of the path through Pentre Wood.

There's hugging a tree and there's hugging a tree!

Distant views of Chirk Castle from the Ceiriog Trail south of Brongarth.

Somewhere in the photo is a very young foal.

Another chance to spot the two young foals.

The steep descent on Offa's Dyke Path into the Ceiriog Valley.

About to leave the "Quiet garden"  in the grounds of Chirk Castle. 

Another view of Chirk Castle.

On Offa's Dyke Path, heading for the Llangollen Canal.

Back on the Llangollen Canal towpath.

One of two juvenile Mandarin ducks seen on the canal.

Heading for the Whitehouse Canal Tunnel at Chirk.

Back at the Chirk Canal Tunnel.

Nearly there!

Distance: 9.3 miles.
Climb: 1115'
Time: 5 hours 33 minutes.
On the move walking average: 2.3 m.p.h.
Overall walk average: 1.7 m.p.h.
Temperature: Around 21 Celsius throughout the walk. The 26 Celsius measured at lunch, seemed a little high, and probably meant the instrument wasn’t out of the direct Sun long enough.
Beaufort Wind Force: 0 – 2. Mainly no noticeable wind, but at one point, it briefly reached a welcome 7 m.p.h. Light breezes.
Group: Martyn, Mike, Fran and Nigel.
We parked the car on Ffordd-yr-Orsaf (Station Road) and started the walk by dropping down onto the towpath and heading through the Chirk Canal Tunnel. This meant that today we would In fact go through two canal tunnels.
As expected, the canal was pretty busy with holiday makers on narrow boats, a challenge for some when negotiating the canal tunnels where no-one had a definite rite of passage.
Our only challenge today was getting around or over fallen trees in Pentre Wood and a closed road.
As a Welsh learner, Fran had the opportunity to have a chat with another Welsh learner that we bumped into on our way to Chirk Castle.
Chirk Castle was very busy, but we managed to find pic-nic tables and benches in the quiet garden, a place that lived up to its name as thankfully, it seemed to be off the radar for most visitors.
In the afternoon, Mike had an unpleasant encounter with a biting horsefly and had to take steps to ensure the culprit was no longer in a position to bite for a second time!

Perhaps the surprise of the day was the height of the reeds on the edge of the canal near Chirk Marina. Thankfully they had cut to allow access to the towpath.
Birds seen or heard today included: Woodpigeon, Common blackbird, Carrion crow, Common buzzard, Common pheasant, Dipper, Mandarin duck, Mallard and Wood nuthatch,
We did see lots of butterflies including: Small white, Large white, Peacock, Meadow brown, Speckled wood and Gatekeeper.
Overall, this proved to be a good day for walking, not too hot, no wind and no rain.
A very enjoyable and varied walk. All that was needed now was to head for a suitable hostelry for refreshments.
After walk drinks were enjoyed at the Pant-yr-Ochain at Gresford, where Purple Moose’s Cwrw Eryri was the drink that slaked the thirst of most of us. Mike, as the driver, seemed happy enough with is pint of Coke!