Hilbre Island summer walk

This morning we walked from West Kirby to Hilbre Island. I'd seen the route in a guidebook of coastal walks and thought that although the round trip is only around 7km that it would be quite exciting. Sheffield is a long way from the sea so coastal walks always have something extra to offer.

It's quite an expanse of sand to the first staging post of Little Eye but we started with confidence as the tidetable and guidelines for timing are all displayed at the slipway at West Kirby. We were very fortunate that the timings were optimum for a day trip. Even though the walk felt quite adventurous to us there was a steady stream of people making their way to the rocky outcrops.

It's essential to depart from West Kirby to avoid channels and potential quicksand between Hilbre Islands and Hoylake. The rocks are a very red sandstone and have only sparse vegetation. Historically there was an active telegraph station but now there are some bungalows that look like holiday homes and a nature reserve.

The weather was mixed, some sunshine but also some have squalls that we could see blowing in across the Dee estuary. There were lots of seabirds that we weren't able to identify and we were sure that we spotted a seal. As that was the extent of our naturalist skills we returned to the shore for lunch before walking to Hoylake along the coast and returning on a route that included part of the Wirral Way.