Formby Photo Gallery

Formby Beach looking west toward the Irish Sea

The dunes between the pinewoods and the sea

Low tide at Formby Beach — wide open sand

Formby Beach is great for shells and rockpool finds

The beach on a busy summer day

Birds on the beach — Formby is on the Sefton flyway

Dogs are welcome year-round at Formby Beach

The dunes are genuinely wild — this is what wild looks like

Dune vegetation coming through in spring

Ainsdale Beach, just north of Formby

Horse riding on the Formby and Ainsdale beach

One of the best dog beaches on the Sefton Coast

Ainsdale beach looking west — dune grass, wide sand, Irish Sea

Marram grass path through the Ainsdale dunes

Ainsdale dunes and pinewoods — the transition zone between beach and woodland

Waymarker post in the Ainsdale dunes — follow the markers

The main path through the National Trust pinewoods

Into the deeper sections of the woodland

Mature Scots pine — some over 100 years old

Morning light through the pines

Looking up through the canopy

Spring wildflowers in the woodland

Fungi on fallen logs — autumn is peak season

The variety of fungi here is an indicator of ancient woodland

Woodland floor detail

Oak and pine side by side in the mixed woodland sections

The main National Trust Formby entrance

Victoria Road, L37 1YH — the start of it all

Book via the NT app before you leave — no signal here

The site map at the main visitor point

The trails are well signed

Use the NT car park — don't park on Victoria Road

Cycling trails are marked with yellow stamps on the trees

Safety information and tide warnings on the Blundell Path

England Coast Path — runs the length of the Sefton Coast

Mermaid's purse — the empty egg case of a small-spotted catshark

Barrel jellyfish — one of the largest species found on the Sefton Coast

Compass jellyfish — named for the brown markings radiating from the centre

Whelk egg mass — looks like bubble wrap, feels like it too

Razor clam — the living animal burrows vertically in wet sand

A winter morning's worth of beachcombing on Ainsdale

Driftwood casting a heart shadow on the wet sand at Ainsdale

Old boat buried in the Ainsdale dunes — the coast reclaims everything eventually

Conservation pond for natterjack toads — Britain's rarest amphibian

NT information boards explain the conservation work

Pine cones — the squirrel's favourite food source

The history of the pinewoods — planted in the 19th century