Travelers Tales 2026

Marton Mere

Monday 11^th - Friday 15^th May

Marton Mere Holiday Village - ///goat.gentle.maybe

This was one of those short breaks to checkout an unfamiliar Holiday Park & Nature Reserve. Not too difficult to get to by Public Transport and the Nature Reserve can be accessed from inside the Park.

The Holiday Village grounds and accommodation all seemed to be in good condition and there was a well-stocked Co-op mini-market and a good choice of venues to eat out or have delivered. There are loads of  footpaths in the area and I walked to Stanley Park via Sherwood Woodland. Both venues deserving a full day on their own. I will probably go back there to use as a base for visiting other places of interest.

Marton Mere itself was a disappointment. I think the write-up for the place, (*260 types of birds call this area home), must have been produced some time ago. It's a Local Nature Reserve and probably relies on volunteers to maintain the mere and reedbeds. There are not many places where you can actually see the water and there was nowhere I could see that would encourage wading birds or waterfowl to the area.  Nothing much was seen from the hides because you couldn't see the water for the reeds.

Seen on the water during my stay were a few Herring Gulls and Lesser Black Backed Gulls, a Coot, a Pair of Mallards, two  Canada Geese and three Greylag Geese. The only bird of note around the mere was a Common Whitethroat. The few Sedge Warblers that I heard were too far away from the footpaths to clearly identify them. Very few flying insects seen during the week and that was probably because of the low temperature that was struggling to get into double figures throughout my stay.

As birding holidays go is was quite underwhelming. However, I had some nice walks and found a couple of places worth going back for. I enjoyed my time away from the flat and walking unfamiliar footpaths.

* I think the write-up refers to WWT Martin Mere.

Windermere

Monday 20^th - Friday 24^th April

White Cross Bay Holiday Park - Windermere, ///blanks.impeached.shows

My first time for a holiday at this location. The Parkdean Resort has a Marina on the shore of Windermere and a Deer Park with Nature Trails. Bus Stops at the gates so handy for going down to Windermere Station and Bowness Pier where you can cruise the lake; getting on and off where you fancy. Or head up to Keswick passing through Ambleside, Rydal, Grasmere, Thirlmere.

Chester Wetland

Thursday 02^nd April

Towpath Entrance via Kissing Gate ///tracks.link.froze

I was in Chester for an a.m. Dental Appointment and decided to spend the rest of the day paying my first visit to Chester Wetland. The wetland is inside the Countess of Chester Country Park and is bisected by the Shropshire Union Canal. The Parkgate Road entrance is 200 yards from a Bus Stop with many other access points around the Park. You can also walk along the towpath from City Road if you're not overloaded with "stuff". 2.5 mile walk and there's a bench at the gate so you can rehydrate and take aboard some protein.

To be continued.

Birding at Heysham