Spring walks on Merseyside

By Ade Blackburn

Merseyside has some excellent spring walks to explore, ranging from city trails around Liverpool to scenic walks in areas such as Wirral Peninsula and Calderstones Park.

1. Rimrose Valley Country Park

Crosby’s Rimrose Valley Park sits by the side of the Leeds Liverpool Canal and includes the delightful Brookvale Local Nature Reserve.

As Sefton’s only non-coastal reserve, Brookvale provides a unique green oasis amongst what is otherwise a heavily populated and industrialised area. With its interesting network of pathways and raised boardwalks, Brookvale and Rimrose Valley as a whole, provide opportunities for quiet countryside walks in an area where those activities are scarce.

The site now boasts a mosaic of several habitats including Reed-bed swamp, Rimrose Brook, a hand-built pond system and Willow Carr woodland.

Rimrose Valley Country Park: 29 Parklands Way, Liverpool, L22 3YX.

This walk in Birkenhead explores 100 of acres heathland and woodland with historic buildings and ancient rock carvings. The Bidston Hill park includes a 16th century windmill, the grade II listed Bidston Observatory and Bidston Lighthouse. The hill rises to 231 feet so there are fantastic views of Wirral from the summit.

The park is a great place to walk and you will find lakes, woodland and pretty gardens to visit on a series of surfaced footpaths. There’s also a number of Grade I listed buildings to see.

Bidston Hill: Boundary Road, Wirral, CH43 7PD.

3. Calderstones Park

Lovely Calderstones Park in Liverpool covers nearly one hundred acres of land. There’s easy to navigate footpaths taking you to woodland, lakes and a beautiful botanical garden. The area is also home to 4000 species of plants with vibrant colours in the summer months.

The park is named after a number of ancient megaliths that are said to be older than Stonehenge. Other highlights include a 1000 year old tree, a peaceful Japanese garden and a park cafe.

The Trans Pennine Trail runs past the northern edge of the park. You can pick this up to continue your walking in the area and heading west will bring you to Sefton Park.

Calderstones Park: Calderstones Rd, Liverpool, L18 3JB.

Enjoy waterside walking and cycling along Britain’s longest single canal, the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. The canal runs for 126 miles across the Pennines, passing many villages, towns and cities with a fascinating heritage and industrial history. There are also many scenic locks, viaducts and some wonderful countryside to enjoy.

Walkers can enjoy the whole route from Leeds to Liverpool, while there are several sections for cyclists too. Near Burscough, you’ll pass the wonderful Martin Mere Nature Reserve where you can look for otters, flamingos, beavers and thousands of water loving birds.

5. Liverpool City Walk

This long circular Liverpool City Walk, through the centre of Liverpool, visits the most famous sights. You’ll visit the waterfront, Albert Dock, Liverpool Festival Gardens, Sefton Park and Princes Park on this ten mile trail. The route uses the waymarked Trans Pennine Trail and is also suitable for cyclists.

The walk starts at St John’s Gardens where you can view The Gladstone Monument dedicated to the memory of W. E. Gladstone, a former Prime Minister, who was born in Liverpool and died in 1898.

After exploring the gardens, the route leads to the Cavern Club and then heads towards the waterfront passing Liverpool ONE. The area includes the attractive Chavasse Park and a chance to enjoy a walk along the Liverpool Canal Link on Mann Island.

Climb to the highest point on Merseyside and enjoy fantastic views as far as Snowdonia in Wales, on this Billinge Hill walk in St Helens.

The walk starts in Longshaw, where there is a footpath into the woods of the Billinge Plantation. Follow the woodland trails south and you will gradually ascend to the hill summit on the other side of the plantation.

The hill stands at a height of 587 ft, with excellent views towards Great Orme in Wales, Blackpool tower, Greater Manchester, Winter Hill and the Derbyshire Peak District. You’ll also see a beacon tower at the summit and several large transmitter masts nearby.

Billinge Hill: Billinge, St Helens, WN5 7NW.

7. Formby Beach

Explore the beaches, sand dunes and woodland in this beautiful nature reserve at Formby Beach. The area is famous for its wildlife, with the natterjack toad and the red squirrel being the major highlights.

The reserve is run by the National Trust so you will find a series of well laid out footpaths and waymarked trails. There is a squirrel trail through the lovely pine woodlands, where you can look out for the growing population of red squirrels.

There’s also an asparagus trail where you can learn about Formby’s asparagus heritage. The trail also passes through farmland with Hebridean and Herdwick sheep.

Formby Beach: Victoria Road, Formby, Liverpool L37 1LJ.