{"id":55977,"title":"Meols Shore \u2014 After the Tide","description":"Where Ships Once Gathered&nbsp;The shore at Meols can appear quiet now. &nbsp;At low tide the sea retreats far from the land, leaving wide flats of sand stretching toward the horizon.  Gulls drift above the shoreline and the wind moves softly across the grass","content":"<p><strong>Where Ships Once Gathered<\/strong><\/p><p><span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>The shore at Meols can appear quiet now.<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>At low tide the sea retreats far from the land, leaving wide flats of sand stretching toward the horizon. Gulls drift above the shoreline and the wind moves softly across the grass.<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>But this coast was once far busier than it appears today.<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><img src=\"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/dg7ijazqwdoteayqkvfcq5lz7jfd6tetkixcl9vfk7hyudgp.jpg.jpg?w=1140&amp;project=beastly-boroughs-416041&amp;v=2\" alt=\"dg7ijazqwdoteayqkvfcq5lz7jfd6tetkixcl9vfk7hyudgp.jpg.jpg?w=1140&amp;project=beastly-boroughs-416041&amp;v=2\" \/><\/p><p>For many centuries ships travelling across the Irish Sea paused along this stretch of the Wirral shore. Just offshore lay the sheltered waters known as Hoyle Lake, where vessels could anchor while waiting for the right tide to enter the Mersey or the Dee.<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>From the sands near Meols, goods and travellers could move inland across the peninsula, following the line of villages that runs along the central ridge.<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>Storms have occasionally revealed small reminders of that earlier activity \u2014 coins, pottery and fragments of metalwork uncovered briefly in the sand before the tide returns again.<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>Standing here now it is difficult to imagine the shoreline filled with ships.<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>Yet the sand still sometimes gives back small traces of those journeys.<\/p>","urlTitle":"meols-shore-after-the-tide","url":"\/blog\/meols-shore-after-the-tide\/","editListUrl":"\/my-blogs","editUrl":"\/my-blogs\/edit\/meols-shore-after-the-tide\/","fullUrl":"https:\/\/beastlyboroughs.com\/blog\/meols-shore-after-the-tide\/","featured":false,"published":true,"showOnSitemap":true,"hidden":false,"visibility":null,"createdAt":1776355041,"updatedAt":1776355126,"publishedAt":1776355125,"lastReadAt":null,"division":{"id":405864,"name":"Beastly Boroughs"},"tags":[{"id":4551,"code":"the-greengatherer-notes","name":"TheGreengathererNotes","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/the-greengatherer-notes\/"}],"metaImage":{"original":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/kiwqrihkvyokmcvjgjl3rfrrm0ontqvmndal0logxi3ru0ii.jpeg","thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/kiwqrihkvyokmcvjgjl3rfrrm0ontqvmndal0logxi3ru0ii.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/kiwqrihkvyokmcvjgjl3rfrrm0ontqvmndal0logxi3ru0ii.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"metaTitle":"","metaDescription":"","keyPhraseCampaignId":null,"series":[],"similarReads":[{"id":55976,"title":"Walking the Sands at Meols","url":"\/blog\/walking-the-sands-at-meols\/","urlTitle":"walking-the-sands-at-meols","division":405864,"description":"The tide had already begun to retreat when I reached the shore this morning. &nbsp;Along this stretch of coast near Meols the sea travels a long way out, leaving wide flats of sand stretching toward the horizon.  From the promenade the water can appear distant, almost like another shoreline far beyond the first","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/avzvxen35xcgvxzvfwqknptlsafvzad41bzt364ykk5shhfm.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/avzvxen35xcgvxzvfwqknptlsafvzad41bzt364ykk5shhfm.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":55978,"title":"The Viking Villages of the Ridge","url":"\/blog\/the-viking-villages-of-the-ridge\/","urlTitle":"the-viking-villages-of-the-ridge","division":405864,"description":"Walking inland along the old ridge paths, a pattern begins to reveal itself in the names of the villages. &nbsp;Greasby. Irby","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/l0ldoe3dxaflb4xwoqtzp0slwbpnvjapyefpuztpjplycvem.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/l0ldoe3dxaflb4xwoqtzp0slwbpnvjapyefpuztpjplycvem.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":55979,"title":"The Ridge That Runs Through the Wirral","url":"\/blog\/the-ridge-that-runs-through-the-wirral\/","urlTitle":"the-ridge-that-runs-through-the-wirral","division":405864,"description":"Walking inland from the coast, the land gradually begins to rise. &nbsp;It is not a steep climb, but a long gentle lift that runs through the centre of the peninsula.  From certain paths along this higher ground, the view opens in two directions \u2014 west toward the Dee estuary and east toward the Mersey","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/hjeqka3pyczkmjewfkp6ptyr8m1tzhjbp2grlmx7wfj7ox7o.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/hjeqka3pyczkmjewfkp6ptyr8m1tzhjbp2grlmx7wfj7ox7o.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0}],"labels":[]}