GC44GXG WWay54 – PARKGATE (Traditional Cache) in North West England, United Kingdom created by Wirral Geocachers

This cache has been archived.

Wirral Geocachers: After 48,000 logs on the WirralWay and ill health its time to archive them.
Thanks to all for doing the series.

GC44GXG ▼

A cache by Wirral Geocachers Message this owner

Hidden : 3/1/2013

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

The Wirral Ways 40th Anniversary

The “Wirral Way” is a 12-mile countryside path which follows the route of the former Birkenhead Railway route from West Kirby to Hooton. The old line, which closed in 1962, follows the River Dee estuary for 7 miles between West Kirby and Parkgate, and then heads across the Wirral to Hooton.

The Wirral Country Park was the first designated country park in Britain, and is based around the Wirral Way. Work started on the park in 1969, and the park was formally opened in 1973 by Lord Leverhulme. Thus, 2013 is the 40th anniversary of both the Wirral Country Park and Wirral Way.

This series of caches is along the full length 12-mile length of the walk. The majority of hides are micros, but there are a few larger containers to be found. For those walking the whole trail in a day, the hides are relatively easy so as not to delay progress. There are however several more difficult hides already in existence on the trail for those who want to include a few challenges in their walk!

PARKGATE is a village on the Wirral and is situated on the coastline of the River Dee, adjoining 100 square kilometres of salt marsh, separated by a sandstone former sea wall. At the 2001 Census Parkgate had a population of 3,702.

Parkgate was an important port from the start of the eighteenth century, in particular as an embarkation point for Ireland. The River Dee, which served as a shipping lane to the Roman city of Deva (Chester), had silted up, in part by 383 AD, creating a need for a port further downstream. Quays were built, first at Burton and later near the small town of Neston but further silting required yet another re-siting slightly further downstream near the gate of Neston's hunting park. Hence the settlement of Parkgate was born.During the years when the port existed, two distinguished guests stayed in the local hostelries. One was Lord Nelson's mistress, (Lady) Emma Hamilton, who was born in nearby Ness and who used to bathe at Parkgate, apparently as a cure for a skin complaint. The other was Handel who stayed in Parkgate before sailing to Dublin in April 1742 for the first performance of Messiah. He had finished Messiah in the summer of 1741 and at most he could only have added minor touches to the work in Parkgate. As the Dee silted up even further, Parkgate became unusable as a port and was superseded by the Port of Liverpool, on the nearby River Mersey. Towards the end of the eighteenth century Parkgate was popular as a seaside resort with baths, but this diminished as the sands of the estuary were consumed with grass.

We appreciate write-ups of what you did and what you saw when finding these caches in your logs, but will be happy with brief comments for the majority, as long as more detailed logs are provided for the key hides (those with place names in the cache titles).

Good Luck, and we hope you enjoy your walk along the wonderful Wirral Way

(This cache is being maintained by Mr Donut and Leisurely of the Wirral Geocachers)

When you have completed the whole series, you may display the following fabulous badge on your profile, kindly created by Sir HarveyJJ.