Razzle dazzle

Such a fun Easter Sunday - a day of crossing peninsulas and spanning great rivers.

A real sea fret descended on the Wirral, though this didn't stop us spotting the amazing Razzle Dazzle 'Snowdrop' makeover crossing over from from Woodside to the Pier Head.

and what a backdrop  - can't wait for the three Cunarders to descend on Liverpool in May - the Liver Building will be dwarfed.

then it was a hop and a lift up onto the old Liverpool tram and a trip back in time down to the Birkenhead tramway museum

of course Mum remembers them first time round!

 and I just love the old Egerton Bridge

so then it was a quick shimmy over to West Kirby and lunch with live performance by Sam Wise, at the lovely Tanskey's.

then an impulse decision to eat even more, and zoom over to Parkgate for some of Nicholl's AMAZING ice cream, also brought us into a little patch of sunlight . . . but you can see the mist rolling in over the Irish Sea ahead!

and there's no hiding the evidence !!!

But later, back in West Kirby on a walk around the Marine Lake, it was quite eerie in the chill damp mist with not even a glimpse of the Welsh hills just over the Dee estuary.

and you can see here what this wonderful walk usually looks like from one of my blog posts last year - West Kirby in the sun

the hundred

So this was another adventure with our nonagenarian, back in a still sunny September

and another place on the Wirral I'd never been to in my life before!
The priory grounds have been restored recently and you can read more about the history in this great blog - Birkenhead Priory

natually we climbed the tower . . .









and peeked over to Cammel Laird's on this side of the mighty Mersey and the Pier Head on t'other

and in the Priory museum, we remembered about the Wirral Hundred where I was born!

We were just about to leave when one of the curators invited us up some old stone steps to the HMS Conway Chapel - a real gem and just fascinating! 

especially as Mike so vividly remembered as a child when the Conway was grounded, and then in later years caught fire, in the Menai Straits - read the story here

And to our amazement there was a massive link with the once Poet Laureate - John Betjeman - who served on the HMS Conway for serveral years after leaving school.  This is one of his poems, lesser known than 'Sea Fever' but all about the Conway tradition that seagulls are the returning spirits of cadets who have crossed the bar.

Such an interesting day!!