Horizontal Spaniel Ears ! Molly.

Had an early Easter holiday on Thursday , so we took Molly for her first beach day out . She is 9 months old now , and we went to Ainsdale near Southport.
I love this photo of Mrs H and Molly . As you can see it was a little breezy.. to say the least.. horizontal Cocker ears ! She loved the beach especially when we went into the maze of sand dunes . My poor old knees are still aching from that ...

 

Awww, bless Dogs just love beaches.

 

@HarryS I was there last month and there were so many dogs on the beach it made me embarrassed about not having a dog since (ours died) last year and there were so many dogs there.



P.S. A lovely dog! Was that part of the beach near the caravan/portakabin(?) that sells refreshments (only been there once, didn't see anything on the beach worthy of pics apart from dogs).

 

Mine (opposite) loves the beach,but after the 1st May we can't go on some parts of the beach as it is a no go area for the summer. So she will go to the allotment more,which she loves as 3 of the plot holders have small treats in their sheds (please lads this is better than the beach)

 

I was there today, I live 10 minutes drive from there! Megan loves chasing rabbits through the grassland and dunes :-)

 

looks great , we used to go as kids on a day trip out and walk through Freshfields Nature reserve and through to the sand Dunes , we also took the "cockers" with us so happy memory thanks for posting I remembered most days it was blowing a gale

 

I too remember Freshfields when I was little. Lot's of fun on the beach and in the sand dunes. If my memory serves me right, there were lots of 'red' squirrels there that we used to feed nuts too. And hey, I got a cocker spaniel too, 14 and a half years old now.

Gazania

 

@Scrungee , we parked near there , after paying £4.50 to park the car !
All the west coast beaches are like this , huge expanses of sand fringed by sand dunes . So you have lots of the classic golf links courses there , Royal Birkdale and Royal Lytham. Further down the beach is Freshfields , Formby point with the dune pine forest and one of the few red squirrel reserves.
The beaches around southport are getting bigger. We walked along Southport pier last year the pier is about 1 mile long and it was high tide - the sea was still 200 yards away at the end !
Photo of pier in 1860 where the sea came up to the promenade . Now you walk over the marine lake , playing fields and a retail park before you reach the current promenade.

 

Ouch!

That's (near Formby Point) where I parked for free last month (before the parking charges kicked in this weekend). Didn't see any Red Squirrels and walked north along the beach to Ainsdale (& back).

£4.50 saved doing it that way round.

 

my first and only ever time feeding a red squirrel by hand , I even found the pea nut on the path.

 

Last time I went to Formby point was 6 years ago we took the grandson to see and feed the squirrels. Unfortunately at that time the colony had a virus which nearly wiped them out . I understand now that they have recovered.

 

If you get to Freshfields at 8.00am you can park for free (the rangers aren't around at that time). Also they feed the squirrels on the tables close to the entrance so you have an almost guaranteed to see 1 or 2. Lovely there at that time of the morning, before all the summer hoards arrive, worth the early start.

 

@Gazania Another cocker here as well, 13 and a half years!!!

Val

 

I have had so many walks in the hills and mountains with my cocker over the years. A couple of years ago he struggled to get across some boulders and I knew then that he was slowing down. It came as a bit of a shock to me! This year he is still active but has had a few problems, like having most of his teeth taken out, and developing a couple of large growths that we don't talk about. I have just give him his spring no.1 haircut. After I have finished you would never know he was a cocker spaniel! I'll find a pic and post it later.

Gazania