The Mersey Tunnel

The Mersey Tunnel has been a significant part of my life.

As a child, I spent an awful lots of time shuttling between the two sides of the River Mersey.

Now I find myself, once more, doing the daily commute through it.

So when himself suggested that we do the Tunnel Tour, I jumped at the opportunity.

The tour starts in the art deco building at St George’s dock.

You know you are nearly there when, you see this original payment booth from 1934 when King George opened the Queensway Tunnel.

The  2.01 mile tunnel was dug by hand, it took 1700 men, 9 years to build.

Sadly, 17 lives were lost but really that is quite amazing when you think about it.

This original pick axe is on display in the room where the tour starts.

Although no longer in use, the original control room from the 1960’s certainly caused a stir.

It was like a scene from an early James Bond film.

Nevertheless, Mick the engineer, was quite insistent that the original was much more efficient than the computer version used now.

There were plenty of dark corners and at the other end of this passageway, there was a hole in the wall.

The youngest was invited to throw a stone through the hole and it hit the water pretty quickly.

The River Mersey was not far away – yikes!

This ventilation fan is original and still in full working order.

It was very impressive and extremely effective.

This corridor led to the car deck, which is the bit that I drive along at least twice a day.

The corridor also led to the refuge points that were installed in 2004.

The refuges were very reassuring, there are seven of them, they each have a video link to the Tunnel Police and, are linked by a walkway below the road surface.

Underneath the car deck was another tunnel that they call Central Avenue.

It was meant to be used for trams but the idea was quickly abandoned, it is now used for cabling and the main ventilation fresh air supply duct.

As regular users of the Tunnel, all three of us really enjoyed the tour.

Himself was fascinated, I was reassured and the youngest enjoyed the novelty of finding out what was behind the familiar walls.

Tunnel users will love this tour, although most of the other people in our group had never even driven through it, but still seemed to enjoyed it.

It is worth two hours of your life just to be throughly entertained by the double act that are the guides Billy and Ryan.

They were very welcoming and kept up their hilarious banter from start to finish.

If you get the chance, give it a go!

Have a lovely day!

 

My Captured Moment! #19

 

The south Lakes Safari Zoo – Circa 2009!

‘ I do not care that there is a Lemur behind me – what time is lunch?’

Seriously this child was, and remains, so difficult to impress.

Like the inhabitants, she perked up after she had been fed!

I loved this zoo, it was fab!!!

I also love this picture, it makes me laugh out loud!

Have a lovely day!

 

Speke Hall – A walking tour!

As another weekend of gloomy weather beckoned,  Jack still needed to be walked so off we went to Speke Hall.

Unusually for us, we didn’t visit the house this time. Instead, we chose to make the most of the dry weather and explore the grounds. We were hoping to do a bit of a Geo Cashing but when we read the reviews online, it seems they may have been moved and my phone was rapidly running out of charge.

So  instead, we wandered through the garden to the pond. It was such a peaceful place that looked lovely even on such a dull day. I liked the reflection of the trees in the pond and tried to capture it, you may have to use your imagination here,or just believe me that it was a very pleasing sight.

Eventually, we continued our walk around the perimeter and came to a clearing in the wooded area, we could see the River Mersey and somewhere, not too far away, on the other side is our house. It was strange seeing the opposite coastline, we are so used to looking over in this direction, but we could make out The Eastham Ferry Hotel, so all was well ha!

We completed the circular walk and ended up back in the garden which was full of beautiful flowers. These pink ones were everywhere and looked so perfect.

I was told this Ice cream was Cornish but I wasn’t convinced, despite checking with the lady selling them. What do you think? Too pale? Me too!

 

 Have a lovely day!

Oh Anglesey!

Good Morning, it’s a new week and the sun is forecast to shine all week! 😄

On Friday, a restorative visit to the beach was required!

As a family, our favourite bolt hole is Anglesey in North Wales, so that’s where we headed with a picnic packed. When we arrived just before lunchtime, the sky was the same grey colour that we had left on the Wirral, but it would take more than that to deter us.

Our first stop was beautiful Aberffraw beach. It was quite busy for a week day and there seemed to be an abundance of black labs, much to Jack’s delight. We walked for about an hour, over the sand dunes and across the beach.

We then made our way toward Rhosneigr but found a deserted beach en route. I have tried to find out what it is called but I think it is just one of those small beaches typical of the area.

We pulled into the tiny parking area and set up base camp. Lunch consisted of the usual picnic fayre and a little barbecue of Quorn sausages. It was delicious.

We stayed around for an hour or two just hanging out, reading, listening to music, exploring the caves and snacking!

Jack was delighted with having so much freedom.

The only issue with deserted beaches is there are usually no facilities, so when it got a bit chilly and nobody could hold on any longer 😉,  we packed up and headed to Beaumaris.

Beaumaris has a little high street with lots of coloured buildings and a castle at the end. There are many small independent shops like; a sweet shop, a florist selling lots of garden plants, bookshops and a massive kitchen ware shop.

We admired the view of the Menai Straits and Snowdonia before heading home.

It was a great day and just what was needed to recover from a rough week. We were able to put things back into perspective and prepare for Himself’s birthday on Saturday.

Have a lovely day!

Cheshire Ice Cream Farm

One of our favourite places to visit is just outside The Wirral, a hop, skip and a jump into Cheshire in fact. It is the The Ice Cream Farm. So when Ms Glade was home for half term this is where we found ourselves one afternoon.

There is one issue with this wondrous place, it is impossible to quickly decide on which flavour to have. There are another three sides to the menu just like the one in the picture above. They usually have a box for you to pop in any suggestions that you might have for any future flavours. In the past I have suggested Baileys, who wouldn’t? and, rhubarb  and custard. Clearly, I wasn’t alone because both flavours are now available.

Usually, while tucking into our ice cream, we have a wander outside and look at the animals housed in roomy paddocks with access to lots of food and water. However, there was lots of activity in the paddock area, it’s obviously undergoing a facelift and the animals have been temporarily moved.

There are booths inside to sit if it’s raining, although they can be difficult to come by because it’s usually so busy.   In better weather there are benches outside and a brilliant play area that is safe and interesting for the young explorer, although Crazy Daisy’s also offers an indoor option. There is also an area outside, to the side of the original house, where you can pay for extra rides such as quad biking.They also host birthday parties for children and adults can make their own flavours in The Artisan Room.

There are always improvements being undertaken and it seems to change every time we go. I have been going regularly for years and remember back at the beginning when, you could see the cows being milked next to the counter where you purchased your ice cream, with just a pane of glass separating the areas.

It is a lovely way to spend an afternoon!