Thurstaston Common, Caldy Hill and More 7th January 2016

Walking over Thurstaston Common.

Is that North Wales - view from the toposcope on Thursaston Hill.

A pit stop at Thor's Stone on Thurstaston Common.

Escaping from Thurstaston Common.

The view from Caldy Hill as we started to descend.

The view across the the estuary from the beach slightly south of Caldy.

Heading along the beach towards the "Smugglers Cottage.

"Is that our group in front, I can't keep up!"

Walk stats: Distance: 7.4 miles. Climb: 1288' (Wind assisted GPS reading, probably nearer 800').
Time: 4 hours 10 minutes. On the move Walking average: 2.2 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 1.8 m.p.h.
Group: Martyn, Sue and Michel, Annie, Celia, David S. and Tim.
We arrived at the car park, hoping that the weather forecast was right and that the light rain we were experiencing would soon stop and we would soon be walking in sunshine! However it did last a little longer than expected and it was only as we approached the toposcope on Thurstaston Hill that we got our first glimpse of sunshine and the North Wales Coast!
 Thankfully it was dry for the rest of the day, but our boots wouldn't agree! We found plenty of waterlogged paths and fields to test them, but as far as I know we all still had dry feet on arriving back at the car.
 We did get views from the top of Thurstaston Hill, but we have seen better!
 Lunch was taken on the East side of Stapleton Wood, where three of us enjoyed the luxury of a bench provide in memory of Bob and Sue and the others took advantage of conveniently placed logs. The views across a field still smelling of recently deposited manure didn't seem to bother most of us, and least it was a view towards Thurstaston Hill.
 On this occasion we headed for Caldy Hill and the descent was delightful, almost like a mini-ridge walk!
 Arriving back at the beach at Caldy we were met with a fairly brisk breeze, but thankfully it was in a North westerly direction and on our way back to the cars at Thurstaston Country Park.
 Birds seen or heard today included: Black-billed magpie, Herring gull, Eurasian Curlew, Oystercatcher, Greylag goose, Moorhen, Common coot, Mallard, Common redshank, Brent goose, Common blackbird, Blue tit, Great tit and Woodpigeon.
 After walk drinks were enjoyed at the Wheatsheaf at Raby, where several of the Brimstage brews were sampled.
 Overall an enjoyable walk with our legs telling us that it felt more than a 7.4 mile walk!