Day 2 - Broad Green to Stockton Heath

We woke up to beautiful sunshine, had an amazing full English breakfast in the B&B and full of new energy set off to the Broad Green Railway Station.

As we pulled into the car park we straight away noticed a few familiar faces:
Dave Cheetam (Roy's cousin) and Rich Robinson (his best mate)
Chris Tynan (voted the Day's Tour Guide)
Paul Brady (keeping day's bird list)
Ken Abbott and Gill Davies with their dog Charlie
Phil and Ann Abbott (Ken's brother and his wife)
Laura Bimson
Kelly Sapsford ("bike pusher" for Anna)

On route we were joined by:
Rhodie Blythe
Trevor and Liz Greenhalgh (on brompton bikes)
Jenny Jones
Robert Cheetam (Roy's cousin who was late and had to run the first mile to catch up with us)
Professor David Norman (who first taught Roy how to ring birds)
Peter and Jo Firth with their adorable children Jessica and Lachlan (on scooters) and Lucas (in his Mountain Buggy) and their dog Dandy

We started the walk where we finished last night and almost immediately came cross a similar obstacle as yesterday. With a lot of experience we dealt with this one quickly and marched on towards Warrington. The weather was pleasant with just a little drizzle and even some sunshine.
Just after Hale Village we came across our first A-frame. To battle this obstacle the wheelchair's armrest had to be removed.

 

70 Black-tailed Godwits were appreciated on Carr Lane Pools, as were the mass of Marsh Orchids on Pickering's Pasture.We had a lovely lunch in the cafe at Pickering's Pasture after which Roy had to be transported in the vehicle to meet us under Runcorn Bridge, as 52 steps in 5 zigzags were impossible to tackle even by the FourX.

 

 

 

Arrival in Warington was celebrated by the natives.

 

 

As we progressed along the Trail we encountered more A-frames which for some reason got progressively narrower.  To go through some of them we had to not only remove the armrest but the headrest as well.

 

When we arrived at The Ferry Inn the rain settled in. Some of us had a quick pint in the pub while the rest got on with changing the batteries. With batteries full of charge Roy went into a race with Jessica and Lachlan on their scooters. We did not see the results of this race as they fast disappeared from our view. The rain stayed with us until the end and it was getting late and 10 hours in we decided to shorten the route this evening by about 2 miles and settle for a fish and chips in the pub instead. It was a long tough day but great cormadery and we all really enjoyed it.

The 2 miles will have to be tied onto tomorrow's already long day - so it looks like an early morning start.