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There was a huge turnout of twenty eight strollers for today’s walk. We assembled at Maghull North Railway Station in front of Andrew Edwards’ sculpture “Compassion In Conflict” in memory of Moss Side Military Red Cross Hospital and the soldiers who were treated for shellshock there in World War One. Leaving the car park, we followed the path north between the railway and the Poppy Fields estate to emerge on to Park Lane. Here, we turned left and made our way over the railway bridge to Millbank Lane, passing a gate with a sign warning not to feed a diabetic pony. Hadn’t thought of ponies with diabetes before! Turning into Millbank we passed farms, riding school paddocks, off leash dog running fields and the “Hidden Corner” campsite. Seems funny to think of people coming to camp in Maghull. At the end of the lane, a footpath carried on through open fields with the railway embankment to our right. The footpath led us to Butchers Lane and we followed this before turning into Brookfield Lane. After a couple of hundred yards, we turned right on to a wide path through fields back towards the railway. A tunnel took us under the line and we followed a footpath around the field before stopping for a drinks break. Although it was cloudy, it was warm enough for shirt sleeves. A train passed on its way to Liverpool and we then continued through several fields with only stalks remaining from the wheat harvested in recent weeks. We reached Prescot Road and crossed to St Mary’s Church. We were a little late for Mass, so after a brief stop and group photo, we crossed a stile at the side of the Church. The stile, while quite sturdy, was fairly high and this led to strollers using various styles (pun intended) to get over it. The longer legged of us had the advantage here! Once everyone had cleared the stile and a narrow path through bushes and brambles, we came into a small pleasant copse of trees at the edge of Mossock Hall Golf Course. We passed the Club House and made our way along the entrance drive towards Cunscough Lane. As the drive crosses several of the fairways, one of the golfers had to wait patiently whilst all twenty eight of us passed by before taking his shot. He said he’d rather wait than have an audience for his shot! We walked along Cunscough Lane for about five hundred yards keeping well into the hedge for the stretch with no footway, before crossing and taking a tarmac path through open fields which became a footbridge over the M58 Motorway. Soon we came to some trees and a derelict farm – once Cunscough Hall – and then on to a path with tallish grasses on one side through more fields. This path was extremely uneven underfoot but we all managed it without ankle sprains. At the end of this path was a tall hedge, then we went through thick bushes and trees on both sides before crossing a field with Himalayan Balsam growing along its edge. Just before we came out on to Outlet Lane where it joins Spurriers Lane, bushes flanked both sides of the path with damsons fruiting on some of them. We stopped here to let the group close up and saw a group of ten swallows perching on power lines. Not sure how many swallows you need for a lamentation or a swoop. While we were stopped, David Scott gave us the history of the name Spurriers Lane (Mr Spurrier, a spur maker or both) and told us about Cunscough Hall and the meaning of Cunscough (King’s Wood). The land and Hall were once owned by the Abbot of Cockersands and the farm produce was taken to Cockersands Abbey. He also pointed out some old buildings across the fields which were munition stores in the wars for ammunition made in Kirkby. We continued our walk along Spurriers Lane passing the Carla Lane Animal Sanctuary before emerging on to Prescot Road. We took care crossing the busy road and walked towards the M58 roundabout. As we passed the roundabout, the service station construction came into view. “Opening Soon” said the banner on the fence. This looks optimistic judging by the slow progress being made. We then walked along Maghull Lane and School Lane to reach the housing on Goldcrest Road where the views across the “land east of Maghull” are soon to be spoiled by the large housing development due to be built there. Returning to our starting point at the station, we’d clocked up six miles and managed to finish before the rain started. A very interesting walk with more parts of the locality I’ve not walked before.
Thanks to Brian and Brenda for planning and organising and to David for the local history.