Helsby Hill
Sandstone Helsby Hill stands 370 feet (110 metres) above sea level, a prominent landmark rising above the Cheshire Plain, it looks out over the marshes and the River Mersey.
A trig pint stands at the summit. On a clear day the Liverpool skyline is visible with the outlines of the Anglican and Metropolitan Cathedrals standing out. The mountains of North Wales are visible to the west. The top the mast on Winter Hill can sometimes be discerned.
The view from the trig point
The name derives from the Old Norse 'Hjallr-by', meaning 'the village on the edge', the area was settled by the Vikings in the tenth century AD. The hill is the site of Helsby hill fort, an Iron Age hillfort.
There are various routes up the hill.
Helsby Quarry Nature Reserve
Helsby Quarry, a former sandstone quarry, which opened as a Woodland Park in 1990, has been awarded Green Flag status, a prestigious award which is the national benchmark for parks and open spaces.
Sandstone was extracted from the quarry from the early nineteenth century until the 1920s.
Much of the stone was transported by ferry to Liverpool and Birkenhead on the Wirral, where several buildings, including the Customs House near Canning Dock, were built of stone extracted from Helsby Quarry.
The quarry's colourful carpets of bluebells and yellow primroses in spring become a green gem in summer and in autumn and winter the rock faces are especially striking.
There are rock faces and a a tunnel, which enable sandstone formations from the Triassic period (251-199 million years ago) to be viewed. Helsby Quarry Local Nature Reserve is a great place to spend an afternoon exploring the history of the area and enjoying the wildlife.
Trees consist of mainly Rowan, silver birch, willows and beech, woodland understory includes alder, hornbeam, whitebeam and guelder rose.
Ground flora include ground elder, pungent wild garlic, cow parsley, cowslips, ivy, foxgloves, vetch, rose bay willow herb, sweet smelling honeysuckle and red campion. Non-native plants include daffodils, crocus, and bluebell (plus native bluebells).
Birds include blue and great tits, various finches, woodpeckers, tree creepers and nuthaches. Mammals which the reserve provides a habitat for include hedgehogs, foxes, rabbits and grey squirrels.
The grassland areas are good for birds, bats and various invertebrates such as a variety of butterflies, hoverflies, colourful dragonflies, and damselflies.
Small mammals include shrews, voles and weasels.
The mostly bare quarry face support plants such as mosses, lichens, feverfew, yellow rattle, birdsfoot trefoil and knapweed. The site is a Regionally Important Geological Site (RIGS).
Follow the Country Code
*Be safe- plan ahead and follow any signs.
Protect plants and animals and take your litter home.
Keep dogs under close control
Leave gates and property as you found them.