Happy New Year to all – and welcome to my first post of 2019! I’m really excited about the year ahead and about sharing some of my adventures with you as we travel around the sun one more time. I’m quite new to blogging myself and have been inspired by some great writers who I have found over the past year or so; I look forward to following my favourite blogs again this year and to making some new discoveries.
And so it begins. January arrived, dry and bright. I carried on with the ruthless clear-out I started after Christmas, and I even got out into the garden for a bit of a tidy up in preparation for the start of the new growing season. Spending time in the sunshine always makes me feel good, no matter what the time of year.
Today was reasonably mild and the sky a joyous blue, so I decided to make my first seaside outing of 2019.
Formby is a coastal town between Liverpool and Southport in the north-west of England. Its abundance of very rich and celebrity residents (including premiership football players) and luxury properties has resulted in the dubious nicknames Califormbia and Formby Hills. The chances of me recognising (or even having heard of!) a reality TV ‘star’, a current ‘soap’ actor, or a football player are roughly equal to the chances of one of them recognising me. I was really hoping to see some of Formby’s other famous locals, the indigenous red squirrels whose abode is the large area of National Trust pine woodland which stretches out along the Formby coast. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be on this occasion.
Temperatures had dropped overnight and the ground frost sparkled in the sunshine. Sections of felled fir trees had been left on the path.
There are two approaches to Formby beach: the first which is shorter and probably more popular involves a very energetic scramble over a range of steep sand dunes; the second – which I opted for – took me on a longer, beautiful meander through the dunes along a sandy path. The azure sky and the landscape reminded me of long ago Aegean holidays.
Several benches along the walk have been dedicated to the memory of people who loved to spend time here. What a lovely way to be brought to mind each time a loved one or stranger sits for a while to admire the vista.
On top of the dunes, sand mountaineers looked out to sea.
Squawking magpies kept their own lookout from the trees tops.
And apparently it’s never too cold for an ice cream.
The National Trust has laid a long board walk to make the beach accessible for prams, wheelchairs and folks like me who don’t climb dunes.
The entire path from the Lifeboat Road car park down to the beach is navigable for wheels and bad knees. Here, I made some new friends in their stunning hand-knitted jackets.
The board walk ended and the wide beach came into view. The tide was out and the firm sand was perfect for walking. whether on two legs or four.
One of my new colourfully-clad friends insisted we had a long game of throw and fetch the stick. Fortunately, he did all the running!
With my playmate called away to rejoin his family pack, the steps of the lifeboat station served as a convenient bench for me to sit for a while and enjoy my first beach visit of the year… hopefully, the first of many.
What a wonderful way to start the new year. I hope 2019 will be filled with more similarly beautiful experiences.
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Thank you. I hope so too! 🙂
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Looks a marvelous way to blow away those cobwebs. Those doggy jackets look marvelous! What a great way to start 2019. X
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I couldn’t believe it was 2nd January with the sky so blue. It certainly blew away the cobwebs! Those dog jackets were brilliant! 😃
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It was the perfect day for a walk. I was out and about in the local countryside, but it would have been lovely to visit the beach. Went to Formby one January on a very similar cold bright day a few years ago. X
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I hadn’t been to Formby for a few years and had previously only been in the summer months when the beach becomes very crowded. I read something about the Lifeboad Rd path and board walk and fancied a stroll. I’m so glad I did. Hugo would love it there! 🙂
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Yes he would and he has been once. Winter beach walks are the best…and no dog restrictions either. Yay! X
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Thank you for the walk. The dogs looked splendid. I love a beach walk in winter, and this one looks great.
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Thank you. It is a very popular spot. You can’t really tell from the photos just how many people were there.
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Lovely way to start the New Year, we had a New Year’s Day walk at our favourite beach too. 😊 Looking forward to reading about your travels and adventures in 2019! X
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Thank you. I’ve never been to any Scottish beaches beyond the border region, so it would be great to read about your beach walks too! 🙂
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There’s a short post and a few photos about it on my blog if you’re interested.
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I’ll take a look. Thanks.
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