Wyre Way ...Coast to Hambleton
First we take the tram…
First we take the tram…
It used to go clackety,clack, but now it's silent as
a vow
Except for the robot voice that tells us brusquely, “hold tight now”.
Smoothly we glide past shops, through the town
Heading west, Fleetwood bound.
Passing by pastures still - looking north, see the mill?
Rossall Beach, Rossall School, Fisherman's Friend (they're not cool!)
At terminus we take the ferry…
Backing slowly from the pier
Heading for Knott End - ever so near!
A majestic mini cruise across the Wyre,
But here no need for formal attire!
So our walk begins :-
Up the jetty, towards the cafe,
Let's stop now and have a coffee!
Refreshed at last and striding out
Follow the river. Is the tide out?
Across the golf course and to the hall-
Beware now walker of a rogue ball!
'Wyre Way' the signposts say.
Follow closely keep this way.
Around the fertile fields we trek
Upon the embankment – “mind your step!”
Keep lookout for migrant birds,
For geese graze here in hungry herds.
Cross the stile - up we go
(Waiting for the rather slow)
Past caravans lined up in rows
Where the lane to Staynall goes.
Hemmed in by hedgerows nicely thick
Now amble here and not so quick-
For the smaller birds dwell in these
Singing tunefully to please.
Look across the river and stop awhile,
See the Country Park - why it's only a mile!
It's not far now to Hambleton
Where we catch the bus into town.
So don't delay, don't despair
By Wardleys Creek - we're almost there!
Boats tightly drawn to hug the shore,
Only half a mile, no more.
At last, through the houses, past the pub,
Catch the bus --home -- ahh! hot tub…
Except for the robot voice that tells us brusquely, “hold tight now”.
Smoothly we glide past shops, through the town
Heading west, Fleetwood bound.
Passing by pastures still - looking north, see the mill?
Rossall Beach, Rossall School, Fisherman's Friend (they're not cool!)
At terminus we take the ferry…
Backing slowly from the pier
Heading for Knott End - ever so near!
A majestic mini cruise across the Wyre,
But here no need for formal attire!
So our walk begins :-
Up the jetty, towards the cafe,
Let's stop now and have a coffee!
Refreshed at last and striding out
Follow the river. Is the tide out?
Across the golf course and to the hall-
Beware now walker of a rogue ball!
'Wyre Way' the signposts say.
Follow closely keep this way.
Around the fertile fields we trek
Upon the embankment – “mind your step!”
Keep lookout for migrant birds,
For geese graze here in hungry herds.
Cross the stile - up we go
(Waiting for the rather slow)
Past caravans lined up in rows
Where the lane to Staynall goes.
Hemmed in by hedgerows nicely thick
Now amble here and not so quick-
For the smaller birds dwell in these
Singing tunefully to please.
Look across the river and stop awhile,
See the Country Park - why it's only a mile!
It's not far now to Hambleton
Where we catch the bus into town.
So don't delay, don't despair
By Wardleys Creek - we're almost there!
Boats tightly drawn to hug the shore,
Only half a mile, no more.
At last, through the houses, past the pub,
Catch the bus --home -- ahh! hot tub…
Kathleen Curtiss
Cherestanc VI
Nothing’s duller
than accounts from farms
a thousand years
ago, but open Domesday:
there, above the
name of Cherestanc,
sits a roman VI,
the count of carucates,
the tract of
land an oxen team could plough
and, even now,
September’s morning mist
will cling to
Garstang’s water meadows
like a skin of
bovine breath condensing.
Norman Hadley
Wyred For Sound [Stanah
Country Park]
From above the thread of
stream
silent yet sibilant sidles
seaward
Skippool and Wardley's
wresting
the shake snake-handled
sidewinder.
Over there is where
Illawalla dressed
in Hindu glamour as Mumbai
let us
dream we were briefly
Maharajahs
John Travolta-ing for
Saturday Night
Shebas sashaying mouthing
medleys.
Salt
Wooden noses point to shore
sand grasping hulls
movement halted
salt water returns
waves parting rigid ranks
they tug at their leashes
Lindsay Mulholland
