FREE news from around Wirral’s Coast ion dit r E e mm 13 Coastal Scene Su 20 Photograph of West Kirby from Hilbre by John Ball John Hilbre by West Kirby from Photograph of The last two weeks of glorious sunshine have brought thousands of visitors to Inside this issue: Wirral’s coast. Beaches at West Kirby and New Brighton have been especially busy and extra Lifeguards have been on duty during the weeks leading up to the schools Wirral Walking Festival 2 summer break. Tim Fowler, Wirral Council’s Lifeguard Service Manager, has Wirral RSPB Manager 3 arranged for additional training for staff including use of the jet ski for patrol now that more people than usual are taking to the sea to cool down in the July sun. The Wirral’s Bathing 4 Coastal Rangers are also ensuring that volunteers are taking precautions when Beaches working outdoors and bringing suncream, a hat and drinking plenty of water Port Sunlight River 5 throughout the day. School groups are also being advised to take particular care and Park especially those crossing to the Hilbre Islands. A light breeze will have a cooling The Big Beach Clean Up 8 effect but it still doesn't protect from the harmful rays of the sun and what should be an enjoyable day out is too often ruined by not taking simple precautions. Away from Hilbre Island 9 the coastal sites walkers are being plagued by gnats and midges and the Cleg or Geophysical Survey ‘Horse Fly’ but these aren’t going to be as bad as being stung by the Lesser Weaver Volunteering and the 10 Fish that lurks half buried in the sand in shallow water. The painful sting from its John Muir Award spines can require hospital treatment and so advice will always be to wear something Summer Events 11 on your feet when crossing tidal channels and consider wearing something on your Programme feet at all times when on the beach or paddling. Sadly inconsiderate people do leave Leasowe Lighthouse & 13 rubbish on the beach, some even thinking that burying disposable barbecues or soiled Ranger Roadshows nappies is acceptable behaviour! Wirral’s Parks and Countryside Staff, our contractors and volunteers all work hard to ensure that our beaches and foreshore can Wirral Footpaths and be enjoyed throughout the year and are working especially hard at the moment - some Open Spaces 14 wearing protective clothing, safety boots and gloves in the hot sunshine whilst Preservation Society thousands are able to relax and enjoy the efforts of their labour! Nature’s Calendar 15 Enjoy the summer and enjoy our wonderful beaches—but please take care! Useful Contacts 16 Page The 2013 Wirral Walking Festival We’re still waiting for some feedback on overall participant numbers but I’m delighted to report that the 2013 Wirral Walking Festival seems to have been a great success! A few events were cancelled due to poor pre- booking numbers and a few of the non-booking events had low numbers attending but feedback generally is that most walkers really enjoyed the events and that most were well attended. A few walks were so popular that we could have booked all the places several times over so I guess that will give us some ideas of what to include in next year’s event! Preparations for next year will be starting shortly and so I would like to take this opportunity to ask any groups and potential walk leaders to contact me if they would like to get involved. The Walking Festival Committee will be asking all contributors to this year’s event if they would like to be involved again and below are some pictures from this year’s event kindly provided by Phil and Cynthia Sadler from the Hoylake Photographic Society. To register an interest in next years event e-mail: [email protected] Buggy Park Fitness at Ashton Park Spring on Hilbre with the Wirral Coastal Rangers Ness Gardens Bidston Moss with the Wirral Footpaths Society Birkenhead Park, Bidston and Flaybrick Cemetery with the Wirral Rangers Page 2 Colin Wells—Wirral RSPB Reserves Manager I was delighted when I heard that Colin Wells, RSPB Site Manager for the Dee and Mersey estuaries received and accepted an invitation to attend nd Her Majesty the Queen’s Garden Party at Buckingham Palace on the 22 May in recognition of his long service with the charity. His partner, Lynne Greenstreet - one of our Coastal Rangers based here at Wirral Country Park had the grand honour of attending with him. Whilst I know Colin from the successful wetland creation and management of both Inner Marsh Farm and Burton Mere Wetlands reserves and through the many partnership birdwatching events that we run together I didn’t know a great deal about the background to his career with the RSPB - one that actually amounts to over 38 years having started work with them in 1975 at the tender young age of 19! The RSPB have had a presence on the Dee Estuary since 1979 when over Colin with a Bittern at Leighton Moss 2,000ha of saltmarsh off Parkgate was purchased. Formerly known as Gayton Sands - it is now part of the RSPB’s Dee Estuary Nature Reserve. Colin’s first job was in the Lake District working on the nest protection project for the only pair of Golden Eagles in England. After that, he worked at several reserves throughout the country as a contract warden, including Handa and Coquet Islands, Strumpshaw Fen, Bempton Cliffs and Killiecrankie where he became a permanent staff member. In February 1982 he was ‘sent’ to Leighton Moss in Lancashire to become. the assistant warden there. It was in 1984 that Colin came to be on the Dee Estuary replacing the existing warden. Under his leadership, the RSPB’s reserve increased in size after the purchase in 1986 of 30ha of poorly drained arable land that soon became Inner Marsh Farm Reserve. The size of the reserve increased even more in 2006 when Colin learned that Burton Marsh Farm was for sale when the owners came Colin and Bill to ask if RSPB wanted to buy it. This purchase provided the RSPB with additional saltmarsh areas which is now sensitively sheep grazed and managed for breeding birds such as Redshank and Skylark and for the internationally important wintering wildfowl and waders. The farm purchase also came complete with 1,800 sheep and an abandoned sheepdog called Bill - so Colin’s talent as a shepherd was hastily developed overnight. (A good home with a local couple was soon found for Bill whose skills at helping Colin and the reserve team round up the sheep was found to be totally non- existent!) A couple of years later the owner of Burton Mere Fishery decided to sell his business with the aim of retiring too. With the aid of external funding from organisations including the Heritage Lottery, Biffa, North West Regional Development Agency and DEFRA, it enabled the RSPB to purchase and develop the land which is now known as Burton Mere Wetlands to provide their customers/members with a greater visitor experience with ‘access for all’ facilities. The final aim of linking Burton Mere Wetlands and Inner Marsh Farm reserve via a timber boardwalk is still in progress. There is still plenty of work for Colin and his team of staff and eager volunteers to do and with no hint of retirement on Colin’s part! Congratulations to Colin on his long service recognition….. and for those of you that know Lynne YES she is pictured here wearing a frock! Colin and Lynne said “the weather was good – no rain and late afternoon sunshine. We were amazed at the number of people that were there and it was a thrill just walk- ing in through the main entrance to Buckingham Palace on the red carpet! Cups of tea, various sandwiches (including cucumber of course) and cakes were served. The commonest bird in the Palace garden was the Green Woodpecker which was the start of the ‘Palace Bird List’; but we were highly amused by the single Grey Lag Goose that wandered across the lawn in the direction of the tea tent! We thanked the duty police officer for taking our photograph on a day that we shall always remember!” Colin and Lynne at the Palace! Page 3 Wirral’s Bathing Beaches Information on Wirral’s Environment Agency designated Bathing Beaches at West Kirby, Meols, Moreton and Wallasey is now available to view on the Wirral Council website. Results show previous years water quality along with the current year water quality results as tested by the Environment Agency. For information visit: www.wirral.gov.uk/my-services/leisure-and-culture/parks-beaches-and-countryside/coast/bathing-waters In addition to these Environment Agency designated and monitored sites Wirral Council’s Environmental Health Pollution Control Section monitor water quality at additional sites at New Brighton Beach, Leasowe Bay, Red Rocks (Hoylake), West Kirby Marine Lake and Thurstaston Beach. All these results can be found by visiting: www.wirral.gov.uk/my-services/environment-and-planning/pollution-control/bathing-water-quality All the results are passed to the Marine Conservation Society who publish the Good Beach Guide each year and in 2013 three Wirral beaches appeared in the guide as ‘Recommended’. Out of the 60 sites tested for water quality in the north west only the three Wirral sites at Red Rocks, Moreton and Meols have been recommended. A new bathing water quality chart can be viewed on the Wirral Council Website along with previous years data for all nine tested sites.