Our walk started at 9.45 am from Walton Hall Gardens Car Park.  The weather was dull with a cold wind so we started off briskly across the car park then down the steps to the bank of the Bridgewater Canal.  Here we were sheltered from the wind so we could slow down to our normal pace as we made our way towards Moore.  The pretty scenery along this stretch of the canal was spoilt a little when we came to the horrible looking bridge which takes the A56 Chester Road across the canal.  We had forgotten that there was once an older Chester Road leading out of Warrington but a short distance further along the canal we came to the old Chester Road underbridge which carried the old road under the canal.   Many of the old bridges spanning the canal are very attractive and contain some odd features.  In the picture the girls had pondered on why a chunk of wood had been built into the bridge and what had excavated the hole at the top of the wood (woodpecker?).  The next thing that had to be debated was the contents of the pipes spanning the canal with water being the majority choice.  Though the sign on the barge probably reflects our normal progress we soon came to Moore village with the village store and old Methodist Church nearby.  At the point we left the canal and walked along Runcorn Road until we reached Moore Lane.  After a short distance along Moore Lane we came across Caravan Park.  This triangular park is abutted by railway lines on two sides and Moore Lane on the third side and though the park looked attractive it is possibly not the quietest place to have a chalet. A little further down Moore Lane led us to the Manchester Ship Canal with Moore Nature Reserve almost immediately on the other side.  This 186 acre reserve contains 4 large lakes, extensive woodland and open grassland.  Owned by Peel Holdings, development work on the reserve is ongoing and the reserve should improve even further in the future.  Our difficulty was in deciding where we should walk as the reserve was too large for us to cover it all.  We decided to cover the west side first and in we went.  This side of the reserve was hilly with short rabbit grazed grassland with a good covering of Gorse bushes.  Lapwing Lane pool which lay below us to our right contained a small amount of ducks including Widgeon, Teal, Shoveller and Mallard.  To our right we passed an area of about 3 acres surrounded by black plastic sheeting supported by wooden posts.  The plastic had been sunk into the ground a rose to a height of about 1½ feet above the ground.  Must be to keep out rabbits was out first thought but we then noticed rabbit droppings within the enclosed area.  A short discussion then ensued on how high rabbits could jump as 1½ foot did not seem high enough to prevent rabbits crossing.  At the time we could not think of anything better but since a wildlife expert in the Cheshire Wildlife Trust gave me the answer.  The plastic sheeting was to prevent Newts re-entering the enclosed area.  They had all been removed because this area was designated for the new visitor centre.  A fishy story indeed but the person insisted that it was true.  As we walked on we were pleased at the standard of footpath on the reserve and as the picture shows they were generally wide enough for two people to walk along side by side.  After crossing to the east part of the reserve we walked through the Birch woods, passing Brickwood pool, and came to Pumphouse pool where we saw van parked down a muddy track next to a new hide that was being built.  The two workmen were having lunch but were happy to have a chat and answer our questions.  They told us that two Bitterns had been seen in the reedbed by the side of a circular hide only about two hundred yards away.  Though we were on a walk and not a birdwatching trip the chance to see Bitterns was not to be missed so into the circular hide we went.  This was an excellent hide with the ground outside coming almost up to the bottom of the windows and thus making the hide less obtrusive from the outside.  The approach to the hide was equally good being along a corridor with the banking of each side hiding your approach from the birds on the water.  There could have been Bitterns in the extensive reed bed surrounding the hide but we were unlucky in the few minutes we had to spare.  We carried on walking down the muddy track and came out onto Eastwood Road.  Turning right we walked under two railway bridges then down a footpath which ran between the River Mersey to our left and the Runcorn & Latchford Canal to our right.  At the end of the path we came to the A5060 Chester Road which led us to the A56 Chester Road and back to our car at Walton Hall Gardens car park and the end of our 6½ mile walk.  Where to go for lunch?  We then remembered that the Church Green pub at Lymm was only 10 minutes away and the decision was made.  The only question was whether the special offer of two meals for £4.95 was still on.  It was and the meals were great.  An excellent day and we will definitely be back to Moore Reserve in the future.

INDEX PAGE for the THURSDAY GROUP WALKS