Coast to Coasting #3: Squirrel tales

Growing up in the 1950s in England often involved reading Squirrel Nutkin by Beatrix Potter and / or being taught how to cross the road by Tufty Fluffytail the road safety red squirrel. But in today’s England, red squirrels are an endangered species; they have all but been pushed out by the bigger, introduced grey squirrels except in a few  remote or island locations, mostly in Scotland or Wales. 
But you don’t have to go to a remote location to see English red squirrels. The National Trust looks after a reserve of ancient Scots pines running down to the beach at Formby, near Liverpool - one of the top 10 picnic sites in the UK - that is also home to a thriving colony of 400+ red squirrels who have dodged predation by local cats and grey squirrels.

Angela and Mark took me to the reserve on my first morning in the UK where they took the two wonderful photos posted here. 
You can tell when the squirrels are coming because twigs and cones patter like rain from the branches at the very tops of the trees, then the squirrels themselves start to spiral their streamlined bodies and feathery tails down the tree trunks and if you are very lucky they come and sniffle out food on the ground. Or greedily collect way too much bedding moss, like the one in Angela’s photo.

The red squirrel population has fallen since the introduction of the grey squirrel in the 1870s from around 3.5 million to around 120,000, only 15000 of whom survive in England.
Endangered red squirrels are also hanging on by their cute little curved claws in the Lake District, where Beatrix Potter lived and wrote, many of these places are along the Coast to Coast walk.
Staying at the historic Haweswater Hotel is treat enough in itself, with its high terrace above the lake, great food and luxury period rooms. But the hotel’s best attraction is the red squirrels who turn up on the terrace at 7.30 am to eat the special squirrel food put out by Ben the manager. All I had to do was perch on the garden steps around this time and throw peanuts to the little red furry bandit who mugged me for squirrel mix and then sat almost at my feet to munch his breakfast.
 So you can see a red squirrel very easily in England after all, and within 25 metres of an ice cream van and a bare kilometre from the beach; or just 10 metres from your own breakfast.

Breakfast companion at the Haweswater Hotel