Forgive the (failed attempt at) alliteration, this is just a short post to brag about completing my walk1000-miles challenge. The walk on which this happened took place on a Sunday morning – I imagine this is most walker’s favourite time to do their walking, in and through the villages of Birkdale and Ainsdale.
The weather forecast had warned their wood be rain, so I took my cap! I ambled through the estate and for the first time ever, turned right from the road at Town Lane and down Moss Road. Of course I have walked in this direction previously, but this is the first time that I used the Town Lane road proper – because it’s only been open since October! Anywhoo, at Moss Road’s culmination I turned left onto Guildford Road, still not raining and headed on along this flat stretch of urbanisation which seems to go on and on! At roughly 3/4 of the way down (?) the road the rain started (boo!), only gentle at first so it was just a case of putting the cap on. The next mile or so would see me leave brilliant Birkdale I do like it here in spite of this essentially being just a sprawling housing estate. Ainsdale was next. I rounded the corner adjacent to the roundabout on Liverpool Road and took the zebra-crossing as this can be one busy road. Next I continued on Liverpool Road all the way to Kenilworth Road (why is it named after Luton Town FC’s football stadium? Don’t know!). Whilst not exactly new ground to me, this is not a road that we drive along much and that in all honesty I have not set foot on since 2015 when I had a couple of guitar lessons from a nice gentleman named Mike. The lessons went nowhere, I still have guitars but I haven’t even picked one up since their purchase this spring!
Back to the walk, by now I realised that with the changing of direction, my neck was now far more exposed to the rain, and the volume of rain had increased exponentially! The solution was obvious – put the hood up! This in turn made everything that little bit warmer and a lot more muffled. Unlike Friday’s walk at Marshside were the sound of birds was with me for over an hour, well, I think I heard a goose back in Halsall! The only constant sounds having been traffic, in the right place (and intended state of mind) traffic noise can be kind of soothing (I’m wired different, have you not been paying attention?), on a Sunday morning stroll – because believe me I was not pounding the pavements at any kind of velocity, it was a bit of an annoyance. With it being so long since the last time I was walking in Ainsdale – the end of 21 I believe, I wanted to take it in more than I would normally loiter in urban centres, to get the feel of the place. Marshside may be my favourite area of Southport but Ainsdale is an eager follower. Coincidentally, Kew (where I live) comes further down the list than you would want to hope for. But back to the walk, as I approached the train station at Ainsdale the rain seemed to intensify, irritating droplets kept dangling off the peak of my cap and this was wearing on my patience a little bit. With nowhere dry to sit down I opted to stand in the station’s entrance for a moment or two. Sadly there was nothing even remotely photogenic and the rain added nothing to our normally extraordinarily picturesque sky. Two minutes of waiting in the rain was a minor relief for my feet, the rain had now stopped seeping down my spinal column and to be honest, the railway station was not that captivating, I pressed on.
Once more at the same roundabout I veered left which brought me onto Liverpool Road once more and from here I headed towards lower Birkdale – it always feels like I’m going downhill on this road – in this direction, by car or on foot! The main noticeable point was the degradation of the footpaths which at one point no longer looked concrete / tarmac / whatever they are really made of and looked leaf-mould-y, for want of a better adjective! In places this could be really quite hazardous in rain and downright lethal in snow / frost / ice! All the same I managed to not fall over, save for one exceptionally hairy moment and before too long was crossing the road and turning right onto Eastbourne Road. This is where I need to brush up on my local knowledge, there are a lot of roads that can lead me from Liverpool Road to Kew Road and onto Bentham’s Way without going all the way to Eastbourne Road, but after all, I was in it for the mileage so for this one time we’ll disregard the fact that I walked about a mile-and-a-half further than I need to purely out of the fear of taking a wrong turning (this is eminently possible in Birkdale – it’s like a maze!). Kew Road feels far longer than it really is, I don’t know why as it is lovely in its variation, lots of rows of semi-detached and terraced houses, some with gardens some with driveways, in summer it’s really quite lovely. When that droplet of water is an ever-present companion it just seems to take a long time traversing the street. But traverse I did and before very long I was passing that stupid roundabout at Moss Road and heading up Bentham’s way. A careful crossing of this very busy road and I was finally onto a little stretch of rural paradise – the south-eastern stretch of Kew Woods. This rural passageway crosses over the ravine which plays host to the oddly named Fine Jane’s Brook (who was Jane and how ‘fine’ was she?) and the outer edge of our estate. A further ten minutes, hey when did it stop raining, and I’m back at home. My step total is impressive: 21,547 which means I’ve done over 8 miles on this one walk, I have passed my 1000 miles!
Walk type: Urban.
Suitable for couples: Yes.
Families: You can do better than this for families although Ainsdale is just lovely for all ages.
Dogs: I’m going to deter anyone from walking their dogs on this route as it’s mainly paved and not fun on furry feet!
Time to complete: around three hours for a reasonably fit person with time for a photo or ten (I took none and kind of regret this now!).
I now need a backup cap as the one worn today got soaked!