Every September lots of places open their doors and welcome the public in to see what secrets they have been hiding for Heritage Open Days and some of the Natural Breaks ladies took advantage of this fabulous opportunity!

Kath, Karen and Rebecca ventured over the water to visit Birkenhead Priory and were really impressed.  It has a fantastic history, it is the oldest standing building on Merseyside and was founded by Benedictine Monks in 1150.  For nearly 400 years they ran the original ‘Ferry cross the Mersey’ service.

Everyone was really welcoming and friendly and Kath and Karen braved the 110 steps to climb to the very top of the tower. The views over to Liverpool were stunning and it was a bit windy at the top!  They looked down into the Cammell Laird shipyard just next door and watched some people welding a huge ship it was amazing!  Karen said “I wonder if Sue’s husband is in that big crane?”.

Kath, Karen and Rebecca had a look around the old Priory and read about the life of a monk. They went to bed at 9pm and had to get up at midnight for “matins”, there was a lot of work and praying – it didn’t sound that nice!  There were also facts about the plague, royal visits and the dissolution of the monastery, it was really interesting.

Karen spotted a tiny spiral staircase and went to explore.  It went up to a hall that had dressing up clothes in it and she couldn’t resist!  

It is such a beautiful, peaceful location in the middle of such busy-ness – the ship yard, industrial units, the exit of the Birkenhead tunnel, it is a little oasis.

Kath, Karen and Rebecca took a short stroll to the river side and watched the ferry go by. 

It was a gorgeous day.

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