The Wirral Country Park, perhaps better known as the Wirral Way, is a linear park that follows the twelve-mile route of the former Hooton to West Kirby railway line. Our friend, Sandra, recently flagged up an item she had heard on Radio Merseyside celebrating the 50th anniversary of the park’s opening in 1973. The GWR/LNWR Joint Railway opened the line in stages between 1866 and 1886 and it was closed completely in 1962.
Widely considered to be the first country park of its kind,
it was a result of the Countryside Act of 1968. It gave powers to local
authorities to develop accessible open spaces that would provide opportunities
for fresh air and outdoor recreation for all. It was a far-sighted and eventually
a far-reaching initiative. Old railway lines, particularly, have been
transformed into wildlife corridors all around the country, including the
Southwell Trail, here in Nottinghamshire. Our local version uses the track bed of
the railway branch between Mansfield and Southwell, which opened in 1871 and
closed to all traffic in 1964.
Dog walking, cycling, rambling, jogging, charity runs, sponsored
walks, bird watching, horse riding, geocaching and collecting wild berries are
all popular pastimes I’ve witnessed as I cycle on my local trail, though I was
less than chuffed by being interrupted by a hunt in full swing. It may only
have been a fox scent that was being laid, but the two brown hares that
side-tracked the dogs were what I suppose they would have described as
collateral damage.
Chris studied bio-geographical diversity on the Wirral Way for her degree dissertation at Liverpool University in the mid-1970s. A comparative study fifty years later would seem to be on the cards for someone, if only to see how park use and its management has impacted the situation since then.
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