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Sefton Park, Princes Park, St James Gardens – 27/02/2022

Making the most of the better weather, twenty six walkers (and three dogs) met at St Michaels station and made our way to Sefton Park via Lark Lane. After a brief drinks stop at the Café, we took the long path towards the obelisk, passing a beautiful strip of crocuses on the verge. We left the park and reached Princes Park via Windermere Terrace. Brenda gave us an outline of the history of the park and we set off along the lake’s edge with coots and cormorants on the banks. We were hoping to find the grave of Judy the Donkey. Judy had pulled a cart for the gardeners in the early 1900s and took children for rides. In 1909 she allegedly rescued fifteen teenagers who had overloaded a boat and capsized on the lake. We found the grave amongst an array of snowdrops with a headstone commemorating her life. She died in 1926. Soon we reached the end of the park at the Sunburst Gates. Appropriately, sunshine came out for a few minutes to show them at their best. Across the road we entered the magnificent Princes Boulevard. This once run down part of Liverpool has been transformed into a beautiful avenue through Toxteth. A dedicated cycle path keeps cyclists safe, but also away from pedestrians who have their own attractive path with many installations and plaques detailing the history and heritage of the area. The multicultural nature of the community is evidenced at the end of the boulevard, where nine different places of worship can be seen with a plaque detailing each’s history. Grand three storied ex merchants houses line both sides of the avenue. At the end of the boulevard we came to Upper Parliament Street and a short walk to St James Gardens, once a cemetery, in the grounds of Liverpool Anglican Cathedral. Here, Brenda gave us the history of the gardens. As well as superb views of the Cathedral, the gardens contain the Huskisson Memorial and the only surviving natural spring in Liverpool. We left the gardens by a tunnel through the rock, lined with recycled grave stones. This took us out between the main entrance to the Cathedral and the Oratory, where funerals took place before burials in the cemetery. We thanked Brenda for organising and leading the walk and for the interesting facts en route.