Due to a family emergency the expected leader of our July ramble was suddenly unavailable, so rather than cancel we decided to revisit a walk we had done about 18 months ago. Starting from Sefton Village we took the well used path to Lunt Meadows and followed the route of the River Alt to Bains Bridge.
From here we followed the course of the river to the man made barrier at farm land, then circuited back into the meadows. The paths were particularly overgrown which was surprising given the number of people who walk the routes. The area was quiet today with very little bird life to be seen. Equally it was devoid of humans too so we had a very peaceful wander through the area which is only a stones throw from home. Leaving the meadows we took the country lane to Homer Green, and then walked along the footway by Ince Blundell Hall. until we reached the road to Carr Mill farm. The usual plethora of animals were seen here, dogs, ducks, geese, hens and goats all living together in the field. The paths here were clearly very unused as the grass was almost as high as the wheat in the adjoining field, but having battled our way through we mounted the very precarious steps back up to the pumping station. Stopping here for a quick snack we then took the very stony path up to the Cheshire lines and headed back in the direction of Maghull. For many of us this was our first opportunity to walk on the newly laid recycled tyre pathway which has recently been laid. This added an extra spring to our steps as the day had been quite humid and we had set a good pace. Reaching Maghull we took the path along the old tip road to re-join the tracks into Lunt Meadows completing our 8.5 mile circular walk. No ramble would be complete without socialising at the end, so true to form we availed ourselves of the hospitality of the Punchbowl beer garden for a well earned drink at the end of our hastily rearranged local wander.