Merseyside exploration

This afternoon was summer time, from about 1pm to 6pm, so I decided that it would be a nice idea to use some idle time in town to go and explore a part of the Mersey that I have not yet been to. Off I went, taking my trusty bike, and found that there is a quite a nice and completely deserted stretch of shore where one can get by just near the river bank. However, I also discovered that there are places for bikes and places that are not so great for bikes, the river bank around the airport being of the latter kind. It was hard work! 

As everywhere around here, this area is no longer what it used to be - one can see the remnants of old docks and factories all over the place - for example this one...

A little further upriver, they have actually taken a former industrial estate (still quite smelly) and turned it into a Nature Reserve, complete with bird-watching hideouts and everything! Nature does recover quite a lot, if given time. Anyway, it was also quite a lot sunnier than expected, such that my right arm is now significantly darker than my left ...