Sefton Coastal Footpath - or not?

We awoke to a warm day with a cloudless sky and the wind much reduced. We opted for a coastal walk, based in details in a Sefton Council booklet which we picked up yesterday in Southport. We aimed to cover the middle section of the Sefton Coastal Footpath from Ainsdale to Blundellsands. Sadly, all the information that we could find about details of the footpath were very vague. Only the Long Distance Walking association had a proper list of waypoints but they were only available to members!

On the way to Ainsdale Station we picked up some filled rolls for lunch but were disappointed to discover that the station car park (we planned to walk as far as we could and then return by train which is never far from the coast) was full! Fortunately we found room in a nearby street.

Off then down to the beach, passing this roundabout sculpture about an amazing event in the Thirties when a transatlantic flight took off from the adjacent sandy beach!

Pontins - if you overlook the rather minimal looking accommodation - clearly offers a day's family entertainment for a bargain price - £1 per person with free parking.

We turned south along what we hoped was the correct path although there was no actual label for the specific footpath. The former hotel, now all boarded up, is a very sad distraction from the landscape.

The rest of the morning we spent walking the Dune Path North which is well marked with white topped poles. (Later we discovered that other paths in the group use different colours)

This section of dunes was remarkable for the number of different wildflowers we could see - not much else to say so just a range of pix. (If you are not interested in wild flowers, just scroll to near the bottom!)

This orchid was not the best specimen of its kind but it was so determined to grow right in the line of the footpath that we thought that it needed to be honoured!

Several 'wet' spots are protected as known habitats for natterjack toads - alas none were showing themselves today.

A few wild bees were out foraging but we did not see any honey bees.

We did hear later that although the evening primrose is quite prolific on the dunes it is not a native. It is thought that it may have come with the night soil which was exported from the city out to the coast in large quantities, much of it coming by canal. It may also have arrived in this country through the importation of cotton, for which Lancashire was once so famous.

Now on the Blue route - still no sign of the Sefton Coastal Path. This took us on some rather different landscape on the edge of the woods.

On then to the Old Fishermen's Path and, at last, the first (and only as it turned out) sighting of the Sefton Coastal Footpath. As it was now lunch time we diverted a few metres onto the beach and sat on the edge of the dunes. Shortly after we sat down, before we had time to unpack our lunch, a walker came by and we had quite a long chat. She is a keen walker and knows the Cornish Coastal Footpath, walking the section from Mullion to Falmouth earlier this year. However, we were later rather grateful as she sang the praises of a tea room run by a church in Formby, close to the beach, which is open only on Fridays and Saturdays.

After lunch we continued along the flat sandy beach - much the same as earlier in the week when we walked northwards towards Southport but the wind was no longer propelling us along!

Several kilometres later we arrived at Formby Point and took a signpost towards the car park and inland, with our only other sighting of that footpath! We avoided the car park itself as we went straight in to the edge of the town and, yes, indeed there was a delightful and most welcoming tea room at St Luke's Church. We enjoyed not only two pots of tea each but also slices of yummy cake.

Several members of the church were keen to chat and we learnt quite a bit about the church's origins. Although there had been a small chapel here from ancient times, this had already been demolished by the time the Formby family (considerable landowners at the time, descended from a favoured member of Richard II's court) built this church in the late nineteenth century.

One of the more striking features is a beautiful rose window in the west end, featuring many of the wild flowers to be found on the nearby dunes.

We finally made our way to Formby station where we took the train two stops back to where we started. Alas, the modern pedestrian crossing obscures some part of the original mosaic station name, in whichever direction you look. On the platform were some less usual contents of the plant boxes - vegetables and herbs of many different varieties! On the way back to the boat we called at a Co-Op for some items to make tonight's dinner.