|
The Thurstaston and Irby Album
We are fortunate to live in a
most attractive part of Merseyside. More
information on the Thurstaston and Irby Sites of Special Scientific Interest
and Sites of Biological Importance is detailed here. Click on each small image for a larger copy and feel free to use
these images in any way you wish. Please let us have your photos to add
to this page. Apart from the painting 'Irby to the Dee' on the second
row, you are free to use any of these images for your own purpose. The
copyright of the painting is owned by the artist who can be contacted
through Irby Methodist Church. |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
St Bartholomew's Parish Church
Thurstaston. |
St Chad's Parish Church Irby. |
The knave of St Bartholomew's at
Thurstaston, looking East towards the altar. |
A board containing the arms
of Queen Anne.
This board does not obey the 'rules' of hatchments
and may have been simply painted as
a memorial to Queen Anne who died in 1714. |
Mounted in the ringing chamber
in the bell tower, the first ever peal board in Thurstaston, celebrating the
first Quarter Peal rung by a home band since the church was built. The
full story is told here. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
The tower is all that remains of the second church on the
site at Thurstaston. For more details,
go here. |
A stone set into the East
wall of the old tower. The stone records the names of the churchwardens and the
date, 1824, of the completion of the second church. |
'Irby to the Dee' by kind
permission of the artist, Margaret Lang. A mural in Irby Methodist
Church Hall. |
Thurstaston to Heswall, a
composite photo taken from the Wirral Country Park. |
The Dungeon
waterfall,
Thurstaston. The name Dungeon is most likely derived from the Old
English Dunge or Denge, meaning land of, or next to, the marsh. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
The Dungeon valley, Thurstaston
in winter. |
The Dungeon Valley, Thurstaston
in winter. |
The Wirral Country Park,
formally a railway line. |
The site of the old Thurstaston
station on the Wirral Country Park. |
The Visitors' Centre and the
pond at the Thurstaston Country Park. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Winter sun on the Dee estuary. |
One of the most photographed
views in the Wirral - Sally's Cottage at Thurstaston beach, looking north. |
Thurstaston beach looking south. |
Across the Dee estuary from
Thurstaston |
Dawpool Farm, Thurstaston,
formerly a busy Victorian dairy farm, now converted to private houses. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Irby and Pensby seen over the
roof of Dawpool Church of England Primary School
|
Thurstaston Common, separating the twin villages of Thurstaston and
Irby, is a popular destination for walkers from all over the North West of
England |
The marker stone on the summit of Thurstaston Hill at the
west end of the common. On top of the stone there is a viewfinder
erected in memory of Andrew Blair, founder of Liverpool and District
Ramblers Association. |
The view from the marker stone
across the estuary of the River Dee to the Point of Ayr and the mountains of
Snowdonia in the distant background. |
The Cottage Loaf at Thurstaston
crossroads. Formerly tea rooms, it is now a busy family pub. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
The main road through the centre
of Irby, Thingwall Road, looking East. Only one or two ancient
buildings have survived in this area. |
The
Irby library and the
stocks. |
The
Anchor Inn, Irby, one of the oldest buildings in the village. |
The
footpath from Irby to Thurstaston following the line of the hedgerow with,
in the far right corner of the field, a swamp that used to be the site of a
village well. |
A
derivation 'Thor's Stone' for Thurstaston is almost certainly fanciful.
Thor's Stone on
Thurstaston
Common, once thought to be an ancient man-made feature,
is either a
glacial erratic,
a result of weathering of the
bedrock of the hill or most likely the site of a small quarry. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| The
Thurstaston Hill escarpment looking North towards the Caldy Rugby Club
fields. |
The
acid soil of
Thurstaston Common supports a wide variety of heath and bog flora and
fauna. Usually dry, there are some areas that trap water in small
ponds. |
The
village green at Thurstaston. The first week in March and the
Snowdrops will not be in flower much longer. |
Blackthorn on the edge of Thurstaston Common in the first week of March.
|
Gorse
on Thurstaston Common in March. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
The footpath from Heswall to Thurstaston in late May. |
The Dungeon Wood in late May. Compare with the
photos on the third row above. |
May again and the last of the Marsh Marigolds that grow
in one particular spot at the top end of the Dungeon path. |
Green Alkanet, a member of the
Borage family grows in profusion under the trees on Thurstaston Green
throughout the summer. |
Hedge Cranesbill, also found during the summer on
Thurstaston Green under the trees. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Harrock Wood, less well known than Thurstaston Common, is
another piece of National Trust land and is a Site of Biological Importance.
The wood runs south from Thingwall Road in Irby, opposite Glenwood Drive. |
Across the road from Harrock
Wood, a public footpath follows the brook part of its course towards Arrowe
Park, then turns north west towards Irby Mill. |
Ox-eye Daisies in a hay meadow |
Germander Speedwell growing as
an attractive weed on a grave in Thurstaston churchyard. |
High tide and yachts race
offshore in Dawpool, the area of deeper water off Caldy. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Honeysuckle in the hedgerows on
the Thurstaston to Heswall path. |
Birdsfoot trefoil (yellow)
and Golden Saxifrage (green) growing among the grasses at the side of the
Wirral Country Park footpath in May. |
Tiny Scarlet Pimpernel
growing in the gravel at St Bartholomew's. Often difficult to find,
its flowers only open in direct sunlight. The small white flowers are
Common Storksbill, a member of the Geranium family. |
Thurstaston Common.
Heather
in July.
|
The last of the common
spotted orchids flowering in July on the North edge of Thurstaston Common. |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Foxgloves on Thurstaston Common
in July. |
Rosebay willowherb on
Thurstaston Common in July. Sometimes called 'fireweed' this was a
common sight in bombed areas in the Second World War. Introduced as a
garden plant in the 18th and 19th centuries it has since become naturalised. |
Great Willowherb, late
August, Thurstaston village. A relative of Rosebay Willowherb and
sometimes called Codlins and Cream because of its similarity in colour to
codlins (stewed apple) and cream. |
A fumitory, probably wall
fumitory growing 20 yards back from the road in Irby village on the footpath
from Pensby. |
Looking North West from
Thingwall Road in Irby. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
The Thurstaston Hill
tiangulation pillar. 'Trig points' were a fixed point, usually on a
hill, to give surveyors a frame of reference for surveying the UK in the
days before Global Positioning Satellites were available. Typically, a trig
point is a concrete post set on a high point such as a hill. |
The plate on top of the
pillar, on which a theodolite would be secured. The trig point is at an
accurately surveyed position from which to sight other trig which survey
other stuff relative to one or more trig points. |
The registration panel on the
side of the pillar. A typical sighting might have been to Moel Famau about
15 miles to the South West in a straight line. Follow
this link to see the summit of Moel Famau. The trig point is on
the left of the picture. |
An Ordnance Survey benchmark cut
into the wall at the corner of Station Road Thurstaston, by the village
green. For an explanation of benchmarks and how they were used, go
here. |
Electric fence posts,
Thurstaston, late afternoon in December. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Gateways, Thurstaston in
December. |
Home to the stable. |
A robin, late afternoon on
Christmas Day 2005. |
Late snow in Thurstaston in
March 2006. |
Sledging on the field opposite
the Church. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Wood Anemones on the
Dungeon path,Easter 2006. |
Marsh Marigolds a few
yards from the anemones on the same path, Easter 2006. |
Celandines on the bank in
Church Lane Thurstaston, Easter 2006. |
Wood Sorrel in the Dungeon
Waterfall gully, Easter 2006. |
The Dungeon waterfall from an
unusual viewpoint, deep in the gully itself. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
A few yards below the Dungeon
waterfall. |
Colourful all year round, Red
Dead Nettle on the Heswall path at Thurstaston. |
Worth a little trouble to search
out, Dog Violet in the path from Thingwall Road behind Arrowe Park. |
Another 'waterfall' - this one
is on the same path, behind Arrowe Park the stream has cut 'steps' in the
softer sandstone on its way down from Irby. |
A fine example of common spotted
orchid on thurstaston common on 15 June
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
The same plant in close up... |
...and closer still. |
Elder |
A display of cotton grass at
Kitty's Flash, Thurstaston Common in March. |
|
