Despite the heavy rain and train delays, sixteen Stramblers met at the Pier Head. It wouldn’t have surprised me if the walk had been cancelled, but we set off with brollies up and fingers crossed. One good thing was that the wind was very light and behind us. We headed south past the Museum, Albert Dock, the M&S Arena and the Queen’s Dock building – now converted to apartments and called The Keel. There are two bronze statues on steel columns in front of this building depicting ship repair activity. By the time we reached the John Hulley statue, the rain had stopped. John Hulley organised six Olymic Festivals between 1862 and 1867, and chaired the first meeting of the National Olympian Association in Liverpool in 1865. He was one of the “Founding Fathers of the Modern day Olympics”. We passed Cobourg Dock, the Yacht Club and Marina before crossing the entrance to the dock. There was little activity on the river but Navy fleet support vessels RFA Tidesurge and RFA Fort Victoria could be seen undergoing maintenance at Cammell Lairds. After passing Brunswick Business Park and the Chung Ku restaurant, we could see the sandstone entrance tunnel of the Southern Extension of the Liverpool Overhead Railway, built in 1896. We were soon on the prom in front of Riverside Drive and called in at the Britannia pub for a coffee break. Leaving the pub, we continued along the prom past the Festival Gardens site and the “Southern Grasslands”. The remains of the jetty used by the Mersey Ferries for the International Garden Festival in 1984 came into view and we soon reached the Three Bears Café at Otterspool for lunch. After lunch, a few hardy souls then walked back to the Pier Head while the rest of us walked to Aigburth Station and took the train back.
Thanks to Sheila and Judith for organising and leading the walk. The next walk will be on 28th March in Chester.