The Wirral Way

Around this time last year I went for a walk along part of the Wirral way with two old friends. I’ve been intending on walking the full 12 mile length of the disused West Kirby to Hooton line for a while and as I was visiting family last weekend it seemed like a good chance to try out the full length of the walk. Originally I had planned to start at Hooton Station and end up in West Kirby but as the British Open Golf was on at Hoylake it made sense to do it the other way around. So, after dumping the car at Hooton station car park, I made my way on the Merseyrail via Birkenhead to West Kirby to start the walk – a journey somewhat complicated by a burning train and the bus replacement service for people who don’t like golf.

I normally go on long walks with the dogs but on this occasion I was meeting up with a two legged walking companion which has the advantage that he won’t go chasing after squirrels, won’t wander off with the wrong people because they have a picnic basket and won’t growl at cyclists. Actually, I’m not entirely sure about the last one but at least I didn’t have to chase after him with a pooper scooper. In fact there seemed to be more cyclists than walkers on the route – possibly because they were more likely to overtake us than other walkers. For the most part the two groups get on quite happily although I did have to watch myself because I often mistake two cyclists for one when I see them I peripheral vision.

I had expected to see more relics from the railway. Of the stations, many have disappeared altogether or are merely hinted at  by an anachronistically named “Station Road”. Thurstaston Station, however, retains its platform along with the Wirral Way visitor centre.

The route does, however, still have many of the original railway bridges intact. These now serve the purpose of keeping traffic away from the country walk / cycle path which is no bad thing.

Towards the end of the walk (assuming one starts at West Kirby) is Hadlow Road which has been preserved as it was in 1956 when passengers last used the station.



The only slight downside of Hadlow Road is that it is the last really interesting thing before arriving at Hooton which does make the last mile or so a bit of a chore.

Even details of the ticket office have been maintained down to the stationmaster’s cat. I seem to vaguely recall that the cat was there when my father showed me the station in the 1970s. I suspect that it has been stuffed.

Overall it was an enjoyable walk. Being on the flat, the 12 miles took just over three and half hours and my friend seemed to survive the distance quite well. Whether he survived me prattling on inanely for the best part of four hours is another matter.