Formby Point Squirrel Reserve

One of the few places on the Sefton Coast where the sea can reliably be in.
Unlike the marshy nonsense that are the Ainsdale and Southport beaches, and ignoring the muddy mess that is Crosby, Formby Point is all beach baby.
Once you pass through the Squirrel Reserve and past the wonderful pines you will enter a sea of dunes. If you can hall your feeble body over these monstrous dunes you will be presented with an amazing site, the Irish Sea.
Never too busy, even during the peak of summer, Formby Point is what a beach should be.

It’s remarkable that you can get on a train at somewhere like Central Station and within the hour be at a place like Formby Point. The Freshfield stop is even on the same road as the nature reserve’s entrance. It’s like it was built for idle bags of skin such as myself.
Even on a day when the kids are off school and the car park is jammed with honking vehicles and horrible young ‘uns shrieking for ice cream, it only takes a few strides into the surrounding pine forests before silence descends and you feel like a Sasquatch. Since the conifer woods grow from sand swept in from the coast, there’s no entangled undergrowth or litter. It’s just pine needles and bare trunks. Nothing else. It’s tremendously other-​worldly.
Oh yes, there is something else. Squirrels! Loads of ‘em! Tee hee, look at the cheeky rascals scampering around and eating monkey nuts from your hand! Tee hee!
Then suddenly the forest stops and you’re out on a vast stretch of beach that would take the entire population of Denmark milling about on it before it even looked a little bit busy. It’s a fantastic place for contrasts.

Supposedly one of the last places in England where the red squirrel still thrives, this is a popular day-​out destination for nature lovers and beach lovers alike, since it’s situated very close to the ocean.
I’ve never actually seen a single squirrel here in the two or three times I’ve visited the reserve. The first time there were signs up saying that due to a squirrel pox, not many of the little guys were out and about. I don’t know if things have improved since the last time I was there, but it seemed a bit strange to go to a squirrel reserve and not see any squirrels. Hopefully that has changed?
There is a nice forested area though that’s a breath of fresh air if you live in the city, and as it’s so close to the beach it’s great to bring your swimming suit and a picnic and spend the whole day here. In remotely warm weather, there are also generally ice cream vans skulking about waiting for easy victims.