National Trust - Formby — Attraction in Sefton

Does anyone else think the National Trust Staff at Formby are unless? Just how many malingerers are paid full-time to sit in the two carparks? Is collecting cash from non-members and loafing about in land rovers from 9 to 4 their entire job description? Did the older male supervisors recently only recruit young girls to keep them company? Could this be another horrible scandal just waiting to happen? Or maybe these days young female staff are hired just to sulk and be passive-aggressive to visitors. It doesn't seem possible they were hired for environmental knowledge. Sadly being arrogant and stuck up towards visitors seems to be the norm for many Formby National Trust staff these days. Could it be that sleazy, unpleasant leadership at Formby is at the heart of the whole problem? Watching staff daily it seems unless visitors are giving them money any normal pleasantries, help or even eye contact is missing. Paid staff at Formby never collect trash, they have volunteers to do that. They don't fill the many potholes, repair fences, mend boardwalks, prune trees, or care for the plants or wildlife NO they have external contractors to do all that. Maybe they are far too busy on their mobiles, to be pleasant or even smile. So when you get someone that hired a whole quango of unpleasant, lazy, poisonous staff what can you do? Over the last few years cheap family fun days out at Formby have been replaced with expensive ones. Currently, the idle staff at Formby ignore, motorbikes, people breaking bottles and large Asian families lighting barbecues. Two NT staff sat in a NT van for hours yesterday only getting out once to lock the toilets at 4 pm and go home. Does no one ever check up on uncaring unless leadership? When you get a job with the National Trust Formby is it for life and you never get questioned or evaluated? Does the Head Office in London not care so long as the money keeps rolling in? Is it OK to forget to check on senior staff? Does the National Trust think repairing the infrastructure in the North West worthless? Does the National Trust care if we have polite, active, friendly, caring...

I took my first trip to Formby Woods yesterday (23rd August).

Travelling from Kirkdale it only took just over half an hour to get there by train. Getting off at Freshfield station I headed straight along Victoria Road to the woods and beach.

As I wasn’t travelling by car there were no parking fees to pay 👌🏻. As I’d brought my own food along for the trip I’m not certain where you can buy food here. There is a little kiosk where you acquire a map for your walk, but whether they had food or drink to buy, I’m not sure 🤷🏻‍♂️. There was an ice-cream van there, always nice for something cold on a warm day 👌🏻.

I found the walk to be pretty straight forward in following the specific routes. I’m a rebel though, so I went in various directions (think that’s called being LOST 🤔😆).

There is seating dotted around the woods or if you want to you can just sit on the floor.

From an adults perspective, I would say there is enough there just to enjoy the ambience and the quietness. For a child, they may enjoy the initial excitement of being in the woods, but I didn’t see much else to keep them entertained.

Maybe a nature trail with things to spot on the map to keep them focused would be good 🤷🏻‍♂️.

It is also home to Red Squirrels, although during my visit they were proving very elusive 🤦🏻‍♂️. I did however see signs that there has been an outbreak of Squirrel Pox and sadly 4 have died. So sad when I know they are low in numbers already. 😞

I then headed to the beach which was only a short walk from the woods. Just be prepared that in good weather, this place can get busy pretty quick.

Overall, I enjoyed a nice afternoon out and will definitely go again, maybe in the Autumn when the colours...

We visited on Saturday 1pm. The place was very busy and we couldn't even enter the car park as it was full. So as the rest of the people we tried to park on the road... If you lucky enough, you might find somewhere to park. Beware of the parking wardens and angry residents! Residents were standing in front of their houses trying to swat the visitors away giving them all the talk how the roads are blocked and congested.... Like the visitors could do anything about it. The parking was nowhere big enough for all the visitors pouring in on the hot day. So make sure to arrive early to even get to the carpark, otherwise face the residents. Now the beach... Beautiful long strip of sandy beach. But beware! On the busy day the sand got all moved about and the thousands of sand hoppers were disturbed, swimming for their life and clinging on legs, toes making your dip in the sea very uncomfortable and bloody. Yes, bloody! My son came out bleeding from his legs from the multiple cuts all over his legs. I got multiple sea creatures clinging onto my legs too, but I felt sharp pinches only as they didn't penetrate my skin. However, it was not pleasant either way. So hence the 3 stars, otherwise it is a nice...