NATURE ECSAPES
DAY OUT: Sefton Coast, Merseyside
ALL ABOARD THE SEFTON EXPRESS
Natural wonders come thick and fast on this invigorating rail ride along Merseyside’s sandy west coast, promises Neil Coates
Stretching north from Liverpool to the sea-marshes of the Ribble Estuary, the Sefton Coast can be stunning on a late-spring visit.
Vast sandhills – England’s largest – emit an ethereal luminosity of colours; elegant evening primroses glow in the dune slacks; natterjack toads chorus; red squirrels scurry through fragrant pinewoods; waves swash an endless sandy shoreline where nimble-footed sanderlings and sandpipers feast. Mother Nature really enjoys herself here.
NORTHBOUND TRAIN
In Liverpool Bay, ships glide across the briny; ghostly wind turbines turn languorously while the declining evening sunlight silhouettes the distant purple-headed mountains of North Wales. The perfect way to experience this memorable coastline is via regular, reliable trains serving Merseyrail’s Northern Line, which threads just inland of the ever-changing liminal landscape.
To loosen your rambling legs, hop o at Blundellsands and Crosby Station and seek the promenade, where fringing grassy downs are vibrant with the heavenly song of skylarks. Along the foreshore, oystercatchers and curlew feed below Antony Gormley’s Another Place sculpture – the strangely disquieting humanform statues staring sightlessly out to sea. Rejoin a train at nearby Hall Road and venture north to Freshfield; the ideal place from which to discover the area’s natural wonders.
“VAST SANDHILLS EMIT AN ETHEREAL LUMINOSITY OF COLOURS AND ELEGANT EVENING PRIMROSES GLOW IN THE DUNE SLACKS”
CURIOUS CREATURES
Walk west on Victoria Road to the National Trust’s Formby Red Squirrel Reserve. Scots and Corsican pines planted as dune stabilisers in Victorian times are a rare redoubt for these acrobatic, enchanting mammals. Well-marked paths string amidst the trees, all-but guaranteeing a sighting.
Between the woods and the sea are the colossal sandhills – intriguing mini-mountains rooted by marram grass, dimpled by sandy vales and secreting damp slacks where newts and sand lizards live and rare plants including sneezewort and bartsia bloom as vivid, colourful oases.
At the beach; turn right, scanning the sinuous strandline for mermaid’s purses and razorshells. Be alert for the signed Fisherman’s Path taking you back inland to the woods. Turn left along the waymarked Sefton Coastal Footpath into Ainsdale National Nature Reserve, where the woodlands and sandy byes host rare butterflies and orchids. Ainsdale station is a handy end to this inspirational journey.
Neil Coates is a Manchester-based writer specialising in walks and pubs