An Autumn Walk

As we descend into the depths of Winter, I thought I'd better take my camera out on our daily Inca walk and capture some Autumn moments before it's too late.

 Still some golden leaves clinging to our neighbour's cherry tree in the field behind our house.

 Mist over the River Dee between the Wirral Peninsula and the Clwydian Hills of North Wales.

 I think the badger sett is all hunkered down ready for the cold weather to come. Mr Badger hasn't been spotted for a while now.

 Inca all set for her trot along the Wirral Way. This is a stretch of country park which follows an abandoned railway track for twelve miles, and passes very close to our house. We walk on it every day, but we still haven't completed the whole lot!

 We always walk along the lower path ..... (this is where the old tracks used to run)

 ... and we always return along the higher path, at the top of the embankment, which is now a bridle path for horses. 

 The higher path lifts you almost to eye level with the trees.

 I've been admiring these berries for weeks now. I love the way they've draped themselves artfully around the fence.

 It's usually hard to take a good photo of a black dog, but I love this one of Inca surrounded by the autumn leaves.

 Back home .... 

.... can't believe we've still got some apples on our tree. 

We've had a bumper crop this year.

Time to wipe the mud off Inca's paws, and put the kettle on!

Waiting in ....

So, today was the loveliest day of the year so far and we couldn't go anywhere until 

 a special delivery arrived. 

We waited all day, and after a few heated phone calls it eventually turned up at 6p.m. and the day was gone.

Determined to salvage something we came up with a plan..... an evening picnic! 

We drove down to one of our favourite spots, close to home

A short walk down a path ....

to this bench above Caldy beach.

Our pretty picnic basket had a rare outing and was packed with tasty treats.

 And we looked out across the River Dee to the Welsh hills.

 The little boats were waiting for the tide to come in.

 The last rays of the sun made everything shimmer .... and we thought ..... it doesn't get much better.

And what was the special delivery that kept us waiting?

It was .....

... our new shed!

Woo hoo!!!!!  I'm so excited!

The Hunt for Spring

As it's officially the first day of Spring I thought I'd see if I could find any signs of it around on the Paradise Peninsular

Wrapped up in my warmest coat and looking at the miserable grey skies today, 

I wasn't expecting much.

A few tiny daffodils have ventured forth. 

We usually have lots of these in our garden .... but not this year.

A few brave snowdrops sheltering behind our caravan.

Some blossom at last.

A hint of green shoots appearing on lots of the trees.

Something is starting to grow in the field behind our house.

I was glad to discover there are little shoots all around us, 

maybe Spring will suddenly burst forth in time for Easter.

Here's someone who doesn't care what season it is.

One happy lab helping me on my quest today ... 

she's just pleased to find lots of sniffs out on our morning walk.

Glorious!

Hasn't the weather been wonderful this week!

Sadly, I've been cooped up every day in a hot classroom, but we've had some glorious walks on the Wirral way each evening!

A Postcard from Birkenhead Priory

Today I'm sending you a postcard from another hidden gem from the Paradise Peninsula ....

Birkenhead Priory is the oldest standing building on Merseyside, and dates from 1150. It stands on the very edge of the river and the monks who lived there offered hospitality to travellers making their way across the Mersey to Liverpool. They provided the very first ferry service. The tower in the centre is part of the church of St Mary which was built on the site.

There are some original parts of the priory still standing ....

... but there are some other interesting stories to tell. Inside the church tower there is a plaque to commemorate the loss of the H.M.S. Thetis .... a submarine which was lost in the Mersey on its trial voyage in 1939. A hundred lives were lost .... 99 crewmen, engineers and even the river pilot. The hundredth man was one of the rescue workers.

We climbed the 101 steps to the top of the tower .... passing the mechanism of the church clock on the way.

The names of each man who died is remembered on a small plaque, and they can be seen all the way to the top.

It was  a lovely clear day and the views from the top of the tower were worth the climb. The priory has been surrounded by the huge shipyards of Cammell Lairds for the past hundred years .... 

you can see the dry docks and cranes below ....

Lairds was a huge employer in the area ... most families on Merseyside are connected in some way to shipping. My father-in-law worked here in the sixties, and my husband got to see the launch of several famous vessels when he was a child.  Of course, those days have long gone, and at one time the shipyards closed. Today, there is some work going on in these large sheds, apparently they're building decks for aircraft carriers, but it certainly doesn't employ the thousands of men it used to.

Across the river we had wonderful views of Liverpool's finest buildings ....

The Anglican Cathedral dominates the skyline.

The old and the new stand side by side now ... the Liver Buildings at the Pier Head, and the new skyscrapers that have grown up around the city in the last few years.

Back on ground level, I found I quite liked the way the cranes tower over the remains of the priory .... both have their place in Birkenhead's heritage.

There's a very small information centre tucked away across the courtyard, which tells more of the history of the area .... but at this point the battery in my camera ran out .... so that will have to be the end of the visit!