2009 Walk - Day 1 Liverpool - Maghull

This morning I started my 127 miles journey in Liverpool. Having seen a fairly apocalyptic weather forecast for the morning, I decided to delay my start by a couple of hours, which became three when a hopeless ticket clerk caused me to miss my train. It all workout OK though, when I left Lime Street at 11 it had stopped raining and stayed dry for the rest of the day. I picked the canal up in front of the Liver Building where there is newly completed link connecting the canal to the south docks

There is no footpath along the canal until the other side of Stanley Dock, so I followed along the nearby road - passing this crazy-looking ventilation building for the Mersey Tunnel - until I finally found the rather non-descript gap-in-the-wall entrance to the start of the footpath.






As expected, this part of the canal was not particularly spectacular, like most inner-city canals with plenty of high red bricked walls and bland modern industrial units, but the wildfowl were quite varied - with plenty of young and the odd architectural gem from back in the day.


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Yearning for some greenery, I quickly made way through Kirkdale, Sandhills and Bootle, catching a distant view of the dock-cranes.

Reaching Litherland, the canal is caressed on one bank by Primrose Valley for a couple of miles and I found a spot for lunch, which i shared with this lady who wandered over for a chat.

Enjoying the lush backdrop, I pressed on towards Netherton, encountering the first swing bridge. I'm guessing these were added when the canals were in decline and barely used. I do like the idea of cars having to stop for a passing barge.





Next up was the first gem of the canal for me - Aintree Racecourse, never been before- it does look fantastic.



Open fields were now order of the day now as the canal first skipped over the River Alt then ducked under the M57, before I met a couple of Herons. At first, I thought they were sculptures as they were both stood perfectly still and I was a bit surprised when the first one suddenly took to the air.








Shortly after the M57, came the M58 before I arrived at the day's destination Maghull which was a welcome sight. 12 Miles down 115 to go, the left leg is feeling a little stiff but hopefully after a good night's sleep I'll be good to go again tomorrow.