14 members of the Rambling Group took advantage of the lovely Spring sunshine today and had a ramble through the local countryside around Rainford. Parking at a local cafe we started our walk along the Rainford Linear pathway.
Rainford Linear Park is a 3-mile green corridor that stretches along the former railway line between Crank and Rainford Junction. The original railway line branched from Rainford Junction via Moss Bank into St Helens and has been transformed into a nature-filled footpath, interspersed with local history information boards. We walked along the first couple of miles of the path stopping to read some of the information boards which bore the information about accidents in the area dating back to the 1800’s. One of the most tragic being the tale of a little 12 year old called Emily Hampson who had already worked at the colliery for 2 years before her death in 1866, being crushed by a wagon. The inquest returned a verdict of accidental death although it was noted that the jury regretted that a girl of such tender age had been put to work in such a way.
Leaving the pathway we crossed the Rainford bypass and walked along green paths and byways into the open countryside. At one point we were joined by a rather large Alsatian who despite its size was very friendly and had come out of a farm yard with its doggy friend to meet any passing walkers! Having survived the close encounter we came across a beautiful farm at the crown of the hill where the owners obviously had an affinity to the motor trade as they had several old petrol pumps in the garden. How we wished the Esso petrol was still 1 shilling and nine pence as indicated on the pump!
Having stopped at a strategically placed fallen log for a quick snack break, we followed a long straight tree lined road back across the bypass and then re-joined the Linear path back to Rainford Junction station and returned to our start point, having taken a ramble a little over 8 miles. Here we enjoyed a lovely lunch sitting outside in the warm sunshine before our quick journeys home to Maghull. Our next ramble will be on Thursday 3rd April and we welcome anyone who would like to join us, as we venture further afield with the ( hopefully) better weather ahead.
You had a beautiful day for the walk, good walk, good company, good weather – great day by the look of it.