A stoll along the sand
Get the new year off to a good start with a walk along the sand. Sadly I couldn't make it to this walk, but as always chris has stepped up to provide an excellent write up for the walk.
The walk to Hilbre yesterday was great-with 17 of us making the walk across the sand in cold, but unbroken sunshine and literally without a breath of wind (even the longer rushes and grasses were completely-bereft of any waft whatsoever-not often you can say that about that huge expanse of unsheltered wilderness of sand!!
The temperatures were very cold with tide lined pools of water still frosty and iced as were the thousands of mini inkell sized lug-worm blow-holes each cuppomg little deposits of ice. The temperature at lunchtime, in the insipid January sunshine barely lifted (and then only fleetingly) to 3C..
We saw lots of bird species including Pale Bellied Brent Geese (in their droves-dozens of them!!), Sanderlings, Oyster Catchers the first Fulmar that i've seen this year and 4 or 5 Atlantic Grey seal seals floating around and poking their nostrils and heads up every now and again in the channel between Hilbre and the Constable bank.. The sea in the hazy sunshine and lack of any breeze looked a milky blue color and was completely ripple-less, and if you forgot about the temperature-looked really summery.
The views from the main island-as ever-were sublime and as fine a wide sky as can be seen anywhere in the North West!!
Good company and stimulating conversation both on the walk and in the cafe afterwards and the kind of post-walk rosey glow that you always experience after the day spent in the cold, but sunny weather-and as folk all agreed, as fine a way to brush away the kind of stale, down at the mouth dissolute feelings that the period between Christmas and spring a-proper can bring... Proving again that no matter waht the time of year and whatever the weather-you can get out and enjoy the real freedom and life affirming benefits of getting up off the arm chair and getting out and striding-out doing summat in the company of like minded folk, getting to know some new friends and getting ready for the coming weeks endevours--Great Stuff!!!
Don't forget the next walk is going to be Anglesey coastal walk next month - Llandwyn Island and Maltraeth beach! Date and time TBC...
Will be a maximum of 17 places so "first come first serves!!"
And, really, reall don't forget - these walks ain't some kind of old style - gentle and part of your (risk-averse) wellbeing, tick-a-box, therapy program-kind of affairs! They are open to one and all - Service users, wokers and folks with no links at all or in anyway to services - no boundaries (Apart from some basic rules around clothing/kit), no labels and no disinctions whatsoever and they still go ahead irrespective of what the weather brings on the day-they are not intended to cosset-but to inspire and to "have-a-go!"
Chris Shaw
CEO, Advocacy in Wirral
