Memory Flashback

One of our members has fond memories of the Wirral Way when it was a train track. Living in lower village Heswall where his parents ran the greengrocers shop, Derek at the age of 11 gained a place at Caldy Grange Grammar School. To attend every day he and other boys and girls used to ride on the steam train each morning along with some of the pupils that came from as far away as Ellesmere Port and Neston, etc.
Girls attending West Kirkby High School had to travel in the front carriages. While the boys travelled in the rear carriage. The boys alighting at Kirby Park Station climbed the wooden steps and through a wooden gate, (the gate still exists) onto the road then walked through the old village up and over the hill to school in all weathers, (imagine that today).
I presume the girls went one stop further and alighted in West Kirby just round the corner from their school.
Some years later Derek was secretary of the West Kirby Homing Pigeon Society, birds were sent from West Kirby station to Hooton on the steam trains for races. The racing pigeons were identified and marked in the station waiting room then the baskets carried across to the Electric Train Station Offices to be weighed and paid for. This whole area the old sheep pens, plus a small row of shops is now the site of West Kirby Concourse, Fire Station and car park, with the start of the Wirral Country Park Wirral Way on the opposite side of the road. Many thanks to Derek Cotgrave for this interesting little glimpse into the past.

If you have a fond memory or maybe an old photograph you would like to share send it to

 Sandy.Cameron@btinternet.com

There are lots of picnic locations along the way, just pick your own favourite spot, sit back and enjoy.

Q: How long is the Wirral Way.

A: The Wirral Way is about 12 miles long in Total, from West Kirby to Hooton Rail Station

Q: Who owns the Wirral Way.

A: Originaly the Wirral Country Park was formed under Cheshire County Council, now the administration of the whole park and Wirral Way comes under the jurisdiction of both Wirral Borough Council, and Cheshire Council.

Q: Can I travel the whole route.

A: You can Walk, Ride, or Cycle along the whole route and only in two or three  locations do need to use or cross roads. In each location there is minimal road traffic for most of the time, so its pretty safe for the whole journey. There are numerous places you can visit just off the main track, there are Hotels and Pubs within easy reach for refreshments.

Middle of the year 2010 Wirral Country Park,

A truly fascinating place for recreation, with great open grass areas for picnics or just to laze about and watch the para-gliders when they are in action, dozens of seating locations to bask in the sun and appreciate the views, etc Also a great place of learning, the Country Park Rangers an absolute mine of information from down on the beach, up to up in the sky with the birds, bees, and flying insects, down on the ground with even more birds, and crawling insects, not forgetting the abundance of flora & fauna.

Way back in 1866 a single line rail track opened from Hooton to Parkgate 20 years after that the line was then extended to West Kirby, the steam trains carried coal from Neston Coal Mine plus all the farming and dairy produce to the markets further afield. For about 90 years this trains service carried goods and passengers, men going to work, children going to school, day trippers to the wonderful beach resorts like West Kirby, then on to trains that could take them to Birkenhead and Liverpool, in fact even the Queen travelled along this line on a special occasion in 1957, the very last train went from West Kirby to Hooton Rail Station in 1962.

But in 1969 Cheshire County Council applied to the Countryside Commission to turn this abandoned derelict rail route into the very first Country Park in Great Britain, and this was all down to Captain Lawrence Beswick, the commemorative plaque is situated in the middle of the green at Thursaston Country Park.

The park and all the trails, track and footpaths have evolved ever since into this delightful special location for relaxation, leisure, and learning. Mainly down to the hard work dedication and great pride of the Country Park Ranger Service, working for Wirral Borough Council and Cheshire County Council.

A reorganisation in 1974 saw the Wirral split into Cheshire at the Neston Hooton End, and West Kirby to Heswall end coming under the jurisdiction of the Wirral Borough Council.

The Wirral peninsular bounded on one side by the River Dee and on the other By the River Mersey, is full of historical facts and information, etc. There are in existence great parks, open spaces, heathland and dales, but none so special as the Wirral Country Park, the very diversity of natural trees, shrubs, scrub, flowers, plants ranging from sea coast plants and wild life, to dense woodland and rolling fields, home to numerous native wild life species and exotic visitors during the changing seasons make This Country Park unique.

In the visitors centre at Thurstaston, you can pick up leaflets and pamphlets that give you a wide variety of topics to talk about, there are books and manuals about Walking, Cycling, Horse Riding, and visiting special places of interest like the Tinkers Dell, Cubbins Green, Thursaston Common, Hilbre Island, The Dungeons, Heswall Dales, Parkgate Promenade, Neston Coal Mine, etc You can Walk, Cycle, Horse Ride for about 12 Miles for the most part off road passing through delightful avenues of trees, overlooking fantastic view across the estuary to the North Wales Coastline, rolling fields and carefully manicured greens of a golf course or two.

Take the footpaths that lead to delightful villages like West Kirby, Caldy, Thursaston, Heswall, Gayton, Parkgate, Neston, Thornton Hough, Ledsham, and Hooton, sampling the local hostelries and eating establishments on offer. If you are not sure what wild life to look out for, ask the staff at the Country Park Centre for advice, they can guide you on what to look for, plus there are many photographs on display at the centre, and whatever you spot tell the rangers, they regularly collect information and data for collation to national organisations.

You may have read in a number of publications about dwindling flocks of birds or massive losses in the Honey Bee populations. Information quoting percentage losses in various species of wildlife.

Numerous articles about how global climate changes are effecting our own countryside and the complex interaction of the Flora, Fauna, Insects, and Wildlife have on our everyday living, well this is where all the valuable information gathered tells the true picture of our planet.

 So just by a simple exchange of views you can have some input to gathering these valuable sightings and snippets of information that can make a huge difference on how we treat our open spaces, plus what is important to the population of humans on this planet.

Always remember from Little Acorns, Massive Oak Trees grow and flourish.

Sandy Cameron (member WCPFG)